MBA Graduation
Humility, Integrity, Courage

The 41st MBA graduating class enters the business world better prepared to face today’s leadership challenges, thanks to IESE’s unique focus on values and the enriching experience of living abroad.

More than 200 IESE MBA students, reflecting around 40 different nationalities, were reminded of the importance of adhering to values in their future management careers, at the 41st annual graduation ceremony held at IESE’s Barcelona campus on May 5.

Keynote speaker Werner Wenning, chairman of the board of management of the German pharmaceutical company Bayer, told the Class of 2006, “During the course of your studies here in Barcelona, you have already been introduced to values such as integrity, honesty and respect for other human beings and for nature. The challenge now is to actually live by these values in practice. How can we get from merely writing values down on paper to actually seeing employees implement them over time in their dealings with each other?

“The primary task of an executive consists of influencing employee attitudes and actions in a positive way. And one's own attitudes and actions send out the strongest signal of all. Every executive must be conscious of this!"

“As an executive, one has to show motivation and enthusiasm, and live by the values one stands for; in short, one has to be a role model."

“This also includes the ability to have the courage in difficult times to make decisions that are sometimes unpopular. For without courage, no process of change can be advanced.”

Leadership Lessons

These sentiments were echoed by class president Luca de Agostini when he addressed his fellow graduates.
“One lesson I would like to share with you is from Reuben Williams, our fellow MBA from Scotland and former officer in the British Army. During a class, Reuben listed the three leadership qualities that, in his opinion, we will need most in future: humility, integrity and courage. I could only agree with Reuben and because his words were among the most inspiring I had heard, I asked for permission to quote him."

“He said, when you are confronted by a tricky accounting problem or an operations dilemma, you can turn to the textbook or the technical note for the solution. However, if you have to be the bearer of bad news, the taker of difficult decisions or the leader representing a group pf people in adverse conditions, there is no textbook. It is in these situations where you will have to fall back on your character, and it will be to your benefit that you are not just known as, but really are, someone who is true to his word, who is down to earth, and who is straight. It will be to your benefit that you have shown those leadership qualities of humility, integrity and courage. They will never let you down.”

Luca de Agostini also cited the advice of Nick Shreiber, former CEO of Tetra Pak, who spoke on campus and was also interviewed in the previous edition of IESE Alumni Magazine.

“Mr. Shreiber said, Turn paradoxes into opportunities. He explained how we should refuse the either/or excuses, such as either good quality or low price. Instead, we should always seek to achieve even what at first sight might seem impossible. We should keep a positive attitude that will help us to embrace the genius of the AND rather than relying on the tyranny of the OR.”
It was vital leadership lessons such as these, gleaned from keynote speakers and fellow students over the two years of the MBA program, that enriched the IESE experience well beyond the core learning of the classroom, said de Agostini, who also helped organize IESE's annual Case Competition in April. “Officially these were so-called extracurricular activities; however, we all know how important they have been in making our IESE experience so special. Without them, the MBA would not have been the same,” he said.

“Equally important was spending two fantastic years abroad, living in a unique city between the mountains and the sea, learning Spanish, studying in a stimulating, international environment, and making new friends from all over the world,” he added.

Valuable Experience Abroad

On this point, Bayer CEO Werner Wenning agreed that the experience of living abroad, particularly in Barcelona, was instrumental in shaping his own leadership ability. Wenning related how he had started out his career at Bayer by being sent to Lima, Peru, and ended up working there 10 years. “Being forced to find my way around in a foreign land, learn the language and take on responsibility – that was an extremely valuable experience for me.”

Also presiding over the graduation ceremony were Ángel José Gómez Montoso, president of the University of Navarra; IESE Dean Jordi Canals; Associate Dean Antonio Argandoña; Secretary General Fernando Peñalva; and Antonio González-Adalid, president of the IESE Alumni Association.

A Million Ways to Do Good
THIRD EDITION OF "DOING GOOD AND DOING WELL" CONFERENCE DRAWS TOP SPEAKERS

This year’s annual “Doing Good and Doing Well” conference opened with the question “what is the purpose of business?” The inquiry, proposed by keynote speaker Mark Goyder, was met with several answers ranging from making money, to creating value for shareholders, to answers more in line with the spirit of the conference, such as providing good for society.

After some heated discussion from MBA students, IESE alums, conference participants, and other audience members, Goyder, Director of Tomorrow’s Company, shared his answer that “business is about serving the needs of human beings” and added that this definition includes human beings in whatever role: customer, shareholder, employee, or citizens. In that respect, he continued, the brilliance of business is that businesses are like unique individuals in that they can be done in more than a million different unique ways.

The profitability of social responsibility is not important, he argues - what is important is that businesses be allowed to define their own values, and live up to them, and that they be transparent enough to allow society to determine what is acceptable.
He also argued that corporate social responsibility shouldn’t come from government imposed regulation, as this only stamps out diversity. “I want to be part of a society where businesses stay unique, define their own values, and get tested against these values.”

Goyder’s organization, Tomorrow’s Company, sets those values very high. The not-for-profit company is a research and education charity dedicated to creating a positive future for business, and one that makes sense to staff, shareholders and society. They do this by publishing research and gathering information to put into the public domain in order to improve investment systems, create a better approach to leadership and governance, and close the gap between business and society.

Other speakers during the conference shared the purposes of their businesses and how they were working towards doing well and doing good in society in their own ways.

Across Borders

In a session moderated by IESE Professor Johanna Mair, three social entrepreneurs fielded questions on the difficulties of expansion, government subsidizing and measuring results within not-for-profit organizations.

“It’s really a question of how much energy we have to take on a new market,” answered Kresse Wesling of Bio-Supplies Limited, regarding the challenge of expanding a not-for-profit enterprise. Her company provides businesses with environmentally-friendly disposable products such as soap, paper towels and light bulbs at lower costs than their less eco-friendly counterparts. After a successful start in Hong Kong, they have recently moved into the U.K. market.

Also commenting on problems of expansion was Emma Coles of FreePlay, a company that makes wind-up and solar powered products such as radios and uses them to provide education and information to countries in Africa. When infiltrating Africa and other developing countries, they realized their products where designed specifically for Western markets and had to re-think the design. “Organizational and political problems are one of the biggest barriers,” she said.

MBAs Pitch Business Ideas
Forum Brings Together IESE Students and Investors

On April 6, IESE once again organized its unique NAVES Forum, which gives MBAs the chance to present business plans before a select group of investors.The event was coordinated by professors Pedro Nueno, Julia Prats and Rama Velamuri. Those whose projects are selected are eligible to receive funds from FINAVES, a group of capital risk funds which provide seed money for projects that have outstanding potential.

The nine projects presented at this year’s forum were:

Aurora Guides
Timothy Rottach presented his idea for audioguides that feature information on the world’s most important destinations. The guides can be downloaded from the Internet and heard via laptop computers and mp3.

Handmade Smoothi Company
Cedric Guinand, Thomas Banne and Thomas Smith put forward their idea for the distribution of healthy yogurt that is offered at a reasonable price. One of its key ingredients is milk produced by high quality Welsh farms.

Car Collision Center Barcelona (CCC)
Mathias Bulach and Jordi Carci delivered a presentation on their idea to create a national network of multi-brand repair centers for insured vehicles who are members of the CCC services. In addition, members will enjoy other special benefits from membership.

Prestametubolso.com
Pilar Arias and Pablo Orvañanos described their potential venture that features a virtual store, in which customers can rent handbags from an exclusive collection.

Integrated Sourcing Solutions
Dhaval Monani offered investors the chance to participate in a project centered on the manufacturing of components for buses, available at a low-cost but with high quality, and through distributors in China and India.

Tech Outdoor
Zdnek Necas’s project focused on satisfying the demand for high-quality, high-performance sportswear.

Shine
Tatian Fonseca and Alanna James developed a business plan for offering lessons for diverse styles of dancing. The service would also include massage services and childcare during the day.

Convertel
Floris Van de Geijn and Paul Koch offered a plan involving integrated call center services for small and medium-sized companies.

D-Light
Clea Hamm pitched the idea of wholesome, nutritional products for those looking to combine health with good food.

U.S. Ambassador Promotes Free Trade
Eduardo aguirre SPEAKS ABOUT U.S.-SPAIN RELATIONS AT IESE

Eduardo Aguirre, the United States Ambassador to Spain, recently spoke at IESE Business School about bilateral globalization and in particular the growing relations between Spain and the U.S. Addressing an international audience of MBA students, he pointed out a number of areas where the two countries are working together to improve the global landscape, including ongoing work in Afghanistan and development and democracy in Latin America.

Additionally he accentuated the importance of ongoing economic progress worldwide, stimulating economic growth and opening up markets for free trade.

As the former Vice Chairman and COO of Export-Import Bank of the U.S and former President of International Private Banking for Bank of America, Aguirre offered valuable insights on the effects of globalization on the banking industry.

The large Hispanic population in the U.S. and the country’s open market make its economy enticing to foreign entities, he pointed out, adding that there are numerous possibilities for “tapping into a market of over 40 million Hispanics in the U.S.”
However, this doesn’t come without challenges. International banking and the globalization of this industry, for example, require regulators. “There has to be a balancing of consequences” in the banking industry, he said, especially since this sector can easily be misused for illegal activity. Aguirre also predicted that in this new international playing field, mid-sized banks would have a hard time staying in the game. Larger banks have the money to build infrastructures, which can offer better services to customers and smaller banks have the appeal of being a “boutique bank.”

Trade Benefits

“Free trade is one of the building blocks of prosperity in the world,” stated Aguirre, commenting that it is in the best interests of all countries to have competitive trade markets. He commented specifically on public bidding for construction projects and the importance of opening up contract bids to foreign companies. Doing so ensures competition in the market, which allows consumers to have the best end product or service, he said.

IESE's Global MBA in Shanghai
The program shifts to the CEIBS campus For Latest module

“Each time I complete a module, it confirms that IESE was the right choice for me.”

That’s what one member of the Class of 2006 told Miguel Angel Ariño, who has taught decision analysis during the Global Executive MBA program and has served as Associate Academic Director. Comments such as this come as no surprise to him, he says. The program is set to hold its China module in Shanghai in July, on the campus of CEIBS, a longstanding IESE partner school. The program includes residential modules in Madrid, Barcelona and Silicon Valley.

IESE’s Global Executive MBA attracts participants from 20 different countries and as many different industries, who are all “very committed, because they recognize that this is the educational and managerial opportunity of their lifetime,” says Prof. Ariño. “This is a very international program, with 80% of participants coming from outside Spain, bringing a wide range of experiences and backgrounds, as well as representing high levels within their organizations.”

The personal touch; considering the human dimension within organizations; ethical approaches to doing business today: these are central to IESE’s philosophy of business education. Despite the emerging popularity of these themes at other business schools, “for us, this is not the latest marketing or PR exercise,” says Prof. Ariño. “If we weren’t being authentic, or were simply following a fad, people would soon see through that. But this has always been rooted in our way of doing things.”

New Agreement Opens Doors to China
IESE and FundAción ICO Sign Accord

IESE and Fundación ICO (Institute of Official Credit) have recently signed a cooperation agreement between their respective Executive MBA and the Asia-Pacific programs.

As a result, scholarship recipients studying in China with financing from Fundación ICO will join the intensive international week that students in the Executive MBA program take at the China European International Business School (CEIBS).

The Executive MBA program, which is based in Madrid, includes modules in the United States and China. Members of this year's class were in Shanghai May 22-26, for the Asian segment of the program.