History & BackgroundIn 1883, two immigrant Argentines, Juan Echegaray (from Basque) and Robert Fraser (from Scotland), created a partnership for manufacturing low-cost jute soled canvas footwear – called Alpargatas – the inspiration for the name of the company. As immigrants flooded into Argentina, demand for this low-cost product grew quickly, allowing the company to first …

Make sure the benefits of any addition to an organization’s systems outweigh its costs. Martin Reeves (Senior partner, BCG). Simon Levin (Professor, Princeton University). Thomas Fink (Physicist and mathematician). Ania Levina (Project leader,BCG)