Faculty Area
Faculty Expertise
- Strategy
- Consulting
- Organizational Behavior
Contact
Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management
Biography
Hernan Saenz has been at Bain for over 20 years and has lived and worked in Asia-Pacific, Europe, and North and Latin America. He is currently a partner in the Dallas office of Bain and serves as the Global Head of Bain’s Performance Improvement Practice.
Between 2008 and 2016, Hernan served the firm as the Managing Partner of the Bain Dallas, Bain Houston, and Bain Mexico offices. During his tenure, the Bain Southwest region more than doubled in size. This expansion included the founding of the Bain Houston office and Bain’s Private Equity practice in Texas, as well as the scaling of Bain’s business across all major industry and capability practice areas.
Hernan specializes in corporate transformations, full potential programs, operational turnarounds, and scale change efforts. He has completed over 100 assignments across a number of sectors, including airlines, consumer products and retail, healthcare, industrial products and services, distribution, and telecommunications.
Hernan’s articles have been published in a number of journals, including Harvard Business Review, Business Strategy Review, World Business, Wall Street Journal – Mint, and EIU.
Prior to joining Bain, Hernan was a faculty member in economics at INCAE, a business school in Latin America. In addition, he was a principal at a consulting firm serving banks and other financial institutions in Latin America.
At Cornell, Hernan’s courses focus on the analysis, formulation and implementation of business strategy. Multiple frameworks and tools are studied for each phase of the strategy process and illustrated through examples and case studies.
Hernan earned an MBA and an MILR from Cornell University, as well as a MS in economics from Stanford University. He is also a graduate of Harvard College, where he received a BA in economics magna cum laude.
Hernan is a member of the Johnson School Advisory Council at Cornell (emeritus), the Dallas Citizens Council, and the Dallas Chapter of YPO Gold. He is also involved and supports a number of other civic organizations in the Dallas Metroplex.
In 2011, Hernan was recognized by Consulting Magazine as one of the top 25 consultants globally. In 2012, Hernan was recognized by Cornell University with the “Distinguished Latino Alumni Award” for his “exceptional achievements and significant contributions to his profession, community, and society as a whole.”
Selected Publications
- Betti, Francisco; Hughes, Kristin; Saenz, Hernan; Davis-Peccoud, Jenny; Singh Srai, Jagjit; Harrison, Spencer. "Circular Transformation of Industries: Unlocking New Value in a Resource Constrained World". World Economic Forum. (2023): 17pp
- Rigby, Darrell; Saenz, Hernan; Guarraia, Peter. "5 Lessons from Automakers on Navigating Supply Chain Disruptions"Harvard Business Review. (2022)
- Saenz, Hernan; Hinkel, Josh; Morrison, Harry; Doolan, Phil. "The Circularity Challenge: Expect Disruption and Get Out in Front of It". Bain & Company. (2022): 16pp
- Betti, Francisco; Hinkle, Josh; Saenz, Hernan. "Digital Traceability: A Framework for More Sustainable and Resilient Value Chains". World Economic Forum. 25pp (2021)
- Saenz, Hernan; Hinkel, Josh; Bysong, Tessa. "Traceability: The Next Supply Chain Revolution". Bain & Company. (2021): 12pp
- O’Keeffe, Dunigan; Saenz, Hernan; Schwedel, Andrew; Devlin, Thomas. "Getting Business Resilience Right". Bain & Company. (2021): 16pp
- Betti, Francisco; Saenz, Hernan; Cronin, Ian; Stephan, Juliane. "Visibility and Traceability: The Twin Engines of Sustainable Supply Chains". World Economic Forum. (2020): 7pp
- Gerstenhaber, Greg; Saenz, Hernan. "Bending the Cost Curve". Bain & Company. (2019): 12pp
- Gottfredson, Mark; Schaubert, Steve; Saenz, Hernan. "The New Leader’s Guide to Diagnosing the Business". Harvard Business Review. (2008): 22pp
- Rogers, Paul; Saenz, Hernan. "Make Your Back Office an Accelerator". Harvard Business Review. (2007): 3pp
Recent Courses
- NBA 5790 - Applied Principles of Business Strategy
Academic Degrees
- MILR Cornell University, 1998
- MBA Cornell University, 1998
- MA Stanford University, 1994
- BA Harvard University, 1993