7.4.7 Pioneer Jorge Etchebehere is a commercial agent who not only fully understands the new export business model, but also helps firms to implement it by directly working with them to upgrade the quality of their production and the way they market their products abroad. His experience selling furniture in the United States taught him that people from the United States are obsessed with quality and customer service, and that Argentine wooden furniture manufacturers need to pay attention to the smallest details in design and production in order to effectively export their products. Finally, his work with sales representatives he hired from the United States to help manufacturers adapt their furniture to the tastes of upper-end consumers of wooden furniture in the United States enabled him to begin training Argentine designers to adapt furniture to the tastes of consumers in that country. Although he is technically a commercial agent working to export wooden furniture, he is in reality more like a consultant. His only direct source of income is the commission he earns on the sales that he makes in the United States. He offers his “consulting� services to his potential clients because he believes that if these firms do not adopt the new export business model, he will not be able to export any of their furniture. In this sense, he is acting to diffuse knowledge about the export business model while at the same time trying to benefit from the diffusion of this knowledge. He often visits his clients’ factories to help them make the product and market upgrade. With regard to the former, he shows them how small mistakes in the production process lead to quality problems that will not be tolerated by customers in the United States. He also explains to them that they have to be careful about the way they dry their wood as this affects the consistency of the staining process. He also brings his sales representatives from the United States to show his clients how to adapt their products to the tastes of consumers in that country. As for the market upgrade, he works directly with the owners of these companies to convince them to commit themselves to an export project and to fulfill their promises. Etchebehere is still in the primary stages of establishing his business. Although he represents a number of different companies in the industry, his total sales for any particular year are roughly on par with that of the tenth-largest exporter in the sector. The most significant problem he faces in expanding his business is convincing the firms he represents to be committed to the project of fully implementing the new export business model.
147