IESE Business School in Latin America

IESE Scores in Brazil

Pele, Zico, Socrates, Romario, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho... These are just a few of the legendary names that form part of the history of the world’s leading footballing (soccer in the U.S.) nation. But while exporting footballers around the world, Brazil is a growing economic power, and IESE has raised the stakes with two of its programs: the AMP and the PMD.

With 8,512,000 square kilometers (the America’s third largest country after the USA and Canada) and a population of 172 million (the most heavily populated country on the continent after the U.S.), Brazil accounts for 51% of South America’s GDP. With such power in terms of both human and economic resources, the country is one of the continent’s economic motors, giving it a strategic position in an ever more globalized world.

Ricardo J. Bernardo, Jorge M. Hanmal, Luís Sérgio Vilarinho, Pedro A. Carelli, Tricia Cristilli and Marco Aurelio C. Freitas are members of an important Brazilian team. They are not professional footballers and will not be found in the sports sections of the world’s press. Nevertheless, their work helps generate wealth for their country. They are some of the managers who have taken part in the second Program for Management Development (PMD) that IESE and Instituto Superior da Empresa (ISE) recently organized in Sao Paulo, the country’s main city with 18 million inhabitants. In October, they attended the program’s last module in Madrid.

“The program exceeded all my expectations,” explains Tricia Cristilli, a manager at Vivo. “This has given me the chance to re-examine my ideas and look at how to apply them in real life. When you are working from day to day, the pressure is intense and there is no opportunity to reflect. I have also had the opportunity to make new good friends.”

Vivo, Petrobras, Metro de Sâo Paulo, Pirelli, BBVA, IDOM, Bradesco, Telefónica and Atlas Schindler were some of the companies represented on the most recent programs. “We are very satisfied with the program, and I’m sure that the knowledge we have gained will help us in both our professional and personal lives.” This observation was made by Class President Ricardo Juiniti Bernardo, sector manager for Petrobras in Rio de Janeiro. Along with Jorge M. Hanmal, the class secretary, he will be responsible for ensuring that the members of PMD ’04 remain in touch over the coming years. With five residential modules, the PMD is aimed at managers who have had a minimum of five years’ experience in managerial positions and who have been involved in their companies’ strategy-making process.

“The program has been a great source of learning,” remarks Luis Sergio Vilarinho of Metro de Sao Paulo, “mainly because of the broad knowledge of both students and professors, who passed on experiences that will be extremely valuable in our day-to-day business activities. In short, the program has meant we have grown as managers, and it is an experience that will stay with us for the rest of our lives.” Professors such as Eduardo Martínez Abascal, Pedro Videla, Eric Weber and Prudencio Pedrosa from IESE, and Paulo Carelli, Carlos Alberto Racca and Paulo Roberto Ferreira from ISE, were amont the faculty members who taught in the program. “IESE decided on Brazil because the many Spanish companies that operate in the country with close links with the school wanted their Brazilian managers to have access to the teaching provided by IESE,” explains Martinez Abascal.

Speaking at the PMD Program closing ceremony, Osmar Chohfi, Brazil’s ambassador in Spain, described the importance of IESE’s relationship with Brazil in broader terms: “This interaction between business people from Brazil and Spain comes at a time when links between our two countries are growing. We have always had a cordial and friendly relationship, but it could be said that over the last 10 years Spain has rediscovered Brazil, and that Brazil is now rediscovering Spain. We have common roots and a very similar view of the world. Against this background I can easily understand what IESE is doing.”

IESE’s relationship with Brazil and ISE goes back to 1997, the year that the Brazilian school opened its doors. In 2001, the first Advanced Management Program was launched (formerly called the SEMP). The AMP is currently offered together with the PMD, along with some focused programs. The AMP in Brazil, like its counterpart in Barcelona and the program being launched in Munich in April, is aimed at senior company executives. “The essentially practical nature of the program is just what I was looking for,” says Stael Prata Silva Filho (AMP ’02), executive vice-president of operations at Telecomunicações de São Paulo. “We discussed issues that were very similar to the day-to-day business of the company, in an environment which went beyond the telecommunications sector.” Julio Fontana (AMP ‘02), president of MRS Logística, observed how important it was to be mixing with such a varied group in the classroom: “Spending five weeks with the other program participants is extremely important. It’s an opportunity to exchange ideas on how work is going, a really enriching experience. ”

Students have found that IESE’s programs have changed the way they look at business. “The AMP covers all the areas of a company’s business. Participants have the opportunity to assess their own requirements in each individual area,” says Eduardo Ribeiro (AMP ’02), vice-president of sales at Avon Cosmetics. “With the in-depth study, the quality of teaching, the broad approach to the company, the case method, problems and solutions in a variety of areas, you go back to work after each program module with much more knowledge than you had before.”

In addition to participants in its executive education programs, IESE also boasts a large number of Brazilian graduates from its MBA program who reinforce the school’s relationship with the country. The Regional Alumni Chapter in Brazil is headed by Carlos Maria Redondo (PDD-III-88), general manager of Pirelli Pneus Latinoamérica.

Brazil no longer has to rely on only its footballers to be seen as a power with a great future. Another excellent team is being formed by IESE Alumni.