Ahora que estás considerando tus diferentes opciones para realizar un MBA, nos gustaría invitarte al cocktail de Chicago Booth en Madrid.Este evento será una reunión informal con estudiantes y antiguos alumnos. Es un ambiente relajado en el que puedes conocer mejor la experiencia de estudiar un MBA en Chicago Booth. No es una presentación formal. Simplemente, relájate, toma una copa con nosotros y conoce a los estudiantes de Chicago Booth. Esperamos verte allí!

- Conoce a estudiantes y antiguos alumnos de Chicago Booth;
- Haznos todas tus preguntas en un ambiente relajado;
- Y disfruta de unas copas con nosotros.

One of the guest of honor at the conference was Mr. Jose Maria Aznar, former Prime Minister of Spain, who opened the event with a speech about the importance of transatlantic relations for the future of Europe. Mr. Aznar lamented that the current US administration is giving lower importance to this relation with Europe in favor of other regions of the world, in particular Asia and Middle East. Mr. Aznar also placed special emphasis on the necessity of creating a free market without transatlantic trade barriers and do not fall into the old temptation of protectionism as a response to the current economic crisis. Mr. Aznar explained that the liberalization of the transatlantic market regarding services, capital and knowledge is necessary to improve the competitiveness of the European Union. According to Mr. Aznar, these political and economic reforms must be accompanied by a strong commitment to the defense of freedom against the threat of totalitarianism, global terrorism and the proliferation of nuclear weapons. In this sense, NATO must take a leading role in the fight against terrorism.

The conference then hosted three panel discussions and a lunch keynote. The topic of the first panel discussion of the conference, Messrs. Alessandro Motta, Martin Rouine, Javier Ruperez and Dirk Willen Schiff, respectively Consul Generals of Italy, Ireland, Spain and the Netherlands in Chicago, discussed about the particular features of the economies of their countries, and identified the major weaknesses of the EU’s lack of a genuine common fiscal and economic policy.

The next panel focused on Innovation and Competitiveness, included representatives from the Case New Holland / Fiat Group, DSM Desotech, NAVTEQ, Aviva North America and the EU Delegation to the US. After the panel, Mr. Abe Tomas Hughes, Vice President Director of Business Development  of Case New Holland / Fiat Group for the Americas made a keynote speech about  “International Business and the
MBA – A Hands-On Perspective”.

The third panel addressed the Future of Transatlantic Finance, where executives of Deutsche bank, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and JP Morgan Securities, Inc. made a thorough analysis of the current financial panorama in Europe and the US.

Mr. Yiannos Papantoniou, former Minister for National Economy and Finance of Greece, was in charge of closing the conference with a speech and a round of questions about the Euro Crisis. According to Mr. Papantoniou, “The absence of a central supervisory authority for the financial system has created doubts as to the ability of the weaker member-countries to bail out their banks. Credit risks spread sharply so that over-indebted countries such as Greece started to borrow at much higher interest rates in relation to Germany. This tendency, reinforced by negative ratings by international agencies, may lead to credit crises, even to default. The Greek crisis has highlighted the fact that the euro is a monetary union but not a political union. It does possess a central bank, but not a Treasury. The central bank can provide liquidity in times of crisis, though only a Treasury can address problems of solvency.”

Finally Mr. Papantoniou highlighted that the Euro Crisis does also represent an opportunity for a leap forward in the integration process. “Difficult as it may seem today, unification should proceed to higher levels so that Europe attains a stronger position in the international system”, Mr. Papantoniou said.

For the European Business Group, the organization of Chicago Booth European Conference 2010 required a considerable amount of time and efforts. Organizing the first European Business Conference has been a challenge, and we would like to thank all the speakers, our sponsors; The Case New Holland / Fiat Group, Deutsche Bank and DSM, the professors, volunteers and participants for helping us to make it happened.  It is the wish of all of us to see this conference become better every year, and that’s why we have already started to work on the next year edition. There are still many challenges and opportunities for EU/US businesses to explore, and we look forward to meeting you again next year!

The European Business Group:

More information:

www.europeanconference2010.com

Chicago Booth European Conference 2010

The purpose of this conference is to strengthen the links between Europe and Booth at multiple levels. At the student level, this conference will increase the awareness of Europe in the Booth diverse student community. At the same time, since we are planning to invite professors, the European and non European faculty will have the opportunity to talk about Europe related issues. From the career perspective, it is our objective to reinforce the commitment of Booth to careers in Europe through this conference, and ideally establish new relationships with European companies present in the US that currently don’t recruit at Booth. Finally but not less importantly, we want to use the organization of this conference as a tool to reinforce the relationships between Booth European Alumni and the current students.

La cena con Aznar (que es lo que la mayoría no se quiere perder) está programada que empiece el domingo a las 7:30pm. Aznar dará una pequeña charla sobre las 8:00pm y luego podremos disfrutar de una cena con él. El formato de la cena se está acabando de determinar todavía así que no os podemos ofrecer mucho detalle al respecto pero durara hasta las 22h aproximadamente. Sabemos que algunos de vosotros tendréis que iros antes hacia el aeropuerto por lo que estamos viendo la posibilidad de hacer un formato de cena más informal.

La conferencia del European Business Group tendrá lugar en Chicago Booth el lunes 12 de abril de 9:00 – 16:00 aproximadamente.  Se está terminando de cerrar el programa y os podremos dar información más detallada la semana que viene. En cuanto tengamos más información os la haremos llegar. Aznar será el primer ponente de la jornada y hablará de 9:00-10:00.

Como siempre, no dudéis en poneros en contacto con nosotros si tenéis cualquier duda, pregunta o sugerencia.

Os esperamos en Chicago!

Un saludo,

Empieza la cuenta atrás…quedan 45 días para la conferencia MBA Internacional 2010!

Para los que andéis un poco despistados, MBA Internacional es una asociación de alumnos españoles de MBA (http://www.mbainternacional-es.org/). Durante los últimos años, se ha organizado una conferencia anual para reunir a todos los MBAs españoles que están en Estados Unidos. Una especie de evento de “networking” a la española. Este año somos más de 100 españoles repartidos entre las mejores escuelas de negocio de la geografía americana.

El fin de semana del 10 y 11 de Abril 2010 nos reunimos todos en Chicago!

El Comité Organizador -un grupo de estudiantes de Chicago Booth y Kellogg- estamos trabajando desde hace tiempo para que este evento sea un éxito!

Suponemos que tendréis preguntas… Vamos a intentar adelantarnos y contestar a las siguientes:

1. Para qué sirve esta conferencia?

2. Que actividades hay planeadas para el fin de semana?

3. Quien se ocupa del transporte y el alojamiento?

4. Puedo venir con mi pareja?

5. Cuando hay que confirmar la participación?

Ahí vamos…

1. Para qué sirve esta conferencia?

Pues básicamente para lo que quieras; para ampliar tu red de contactos, para compartir planes/ideas de negocio, para conectar con otros españoles con tus mismas inquietudes, para hacer nuevos amigos, para pasártelo bien, para hacer turismo en Chicago, para poder decir que has cenado con Jose Maria Aznar…

2. Que actividades hay planeadas para el fin de semana?

El Kick-off “oficial” del evento será el sábado con una comida con el cónsul de España en Chicago. Para los que tengáis previsto llegar antes, hay actividades planeadas también para el viernes.

La idea de los Treks Turísticos es visitar distintos puntos de interés de la ciudad de Chicago con un grupo de gente que comparta tus intereses (en industria: finanzas, energía, gran consumo, tecnología, etc. y/o función: consultoría, banca, entrepreneurship, etc.).

Programa de la conferencia

Como clausura del evento, tendremos la oportunidad de cenar con el ex presidente del gobierno español, don Jose Maria Aznar. Al día siguiente, Aznar dará una charla en Chicago Booth en el marco de la “European Conference 2010” a la cual estáis invitados a asistir.

Ese fin de semana además juega el Barça-Madrid. No dudéis que montaremos una buena para verlo!!

3. Quien se ocupa de los billetes de avión y el alojamiento?

Esto corre a cargo vuestro. Para los vuelos, recomendamos que lleguéis a Chicago el viernes por la tarde/noche o el sábado por la mañana y que volváis el domingo por la noche o el lunes por la tarde (si queréis asistir a la conferencia del European Business Group de Chicago Booth).

Hay dos aeropuertos en Chicago – O’hare y Midway – y los dos tienen línea de metro que te lleva directamente al centro de la ciudad por menos de $3.

En cuanto al alojamiento, hay muchísimas opciones en Chicago! Nuestra recomendación es que os quedéis Downtown que será lo más práctico para llegar a todos los eventos. Para ayudaros, estamos componiendo una lista de hoteles y apartamentos que os puede ser útil. En cuanto lo tengamos listo os lo haremos llegar.

4. Puedo venir con mi pareja?

Por supuesto, pero solo si es española! (Es broma!)

Sí, las parejas están invitadas a participar en todos los eventos que tendrán lugar durante el fin de semana.

5. Cuándo hay que confirmar la participación?

Cuanto más pronto, mejor! Pero sobre todo antes del viernes 5 de marzo! Para poder cerrar reservas necesitamos saber el número exacto de gente que va a participar en el evento.

También hemos creado el evento en Facebook donde iremos colgando información sobre el evento. Uniros!

Esperamos que con esto tengáis una idea más clara del evento y de porque NO OS LO QUEREIS PERDER! Más información la semana que viene!

Si tenéis cualquier pregunta o sugerencia, no dudéis en poneros en contacto con nosotros. Esperamos veros a tod@s en Abril en Chicago!

Saludos,

El equipo organizador

REQUIREMENTS:

Companies taking part in this competition must

1) Be headquartered in the US

2) Have operations out of the US

3) Be ready to sponsor international MBA applicants for full-time positions in the US

4) Have more than 20.000 employees worldwide

COMPANY NOMINATION:

Globthink readers can nominate companies for the prize using the comments in this blog until Sunday March 14th 2010

SELECTION CRITERIA:

Globthink readers will vote online among the nominated companies that fulfill the requirements from Tuesday March 30th 2010.

DECISION DATE:

Wednesday March 31st 2009.

PRIZE:

The most voted company will be awarded an interview about its recruiting opportunities on Globthink

EBG’s goals for the 2010-2011 school year include:

• Fostering a sense of European community within Chicago Booth, through social and cultural events;
• Supporting students in the pursuit of internships and full-time job opportunities in Europe, through activities such as resume reviews, mock interviews, Eurotrek and London Banking Days;
• Providing guidance to prospective students from Europe; and
• Engaging corporate recruiters and alumni groups from throughout Europe.

The European Business Group is organizing the Chicago Booth European Conference 2010 on April 12th 2010, in which the former president of Spain, Mr. José María Aznar, will be the keynote speaker.

Tango

I read this on Facebook the other day:

When I arrived to B-School I heard an echo saying: “if you aren’t a consultant or an i-banker, you are a looser”. Gradually, the voice became a music. I danced with the music. I made love to the music. But in a skyscraper in NY, the music suddenly stopped and my lift crashed onto the basement. I was initially lost but without the music I could hear my inner voice and started to think about what I really wanted to do.

Image: from the Sydney Morning Herald

Presentaciones del MBA de Chicago Booth en Madrid y en Barcelona

Estimado amigo/a,

University of Chicago Booth School of Business te invita cordialmente a las presentaciones de su MBA en Madrid y en Barcelona.

• Aprende lo que diferencia a Chicago Booth de otros top MBAs en el mundo.
• Descubre sus numerosas posibilidades académicas y profesionales.
• Conoce estudiantes actuales y antiguos alumnos: sus experiencias, sus ideales, sus personalidades.
• Despeja todas tus dudas sobre el proceso de solicitud.

Te esperamos:

• el 23 de diciembre a las 19:00 en la oficina de McKinsey & Company, Sagasta 33, Madrid. Regístrate aquí.
• o bien, el 22 de diciembre a las 19:30 en la oficina de Técnicas Lingüísticas Avanzadas, Vía Augusta 117, Barcelona. Regístrate aquí.

Un abrazo,

La comunidad española en Chicago Booth

Las Tres Gracias, por Antonio Canova

Los becarios de “La Caixa” en EEUU (convocatoria de 2008) hemos escrito esta carta a La Caixa, personalizada en su presidente, en agradecimiento por nuestra beca. Y hemos obtenido una respuesta muy emotiva.

Yo no voy a publicar ni nuestra carta ni la respuesta, no porque no sean magníficas, sino porque no me pertenecen a mí. Pertenecen al conjunto de becarios. Pero, sin embrago, me gustaría publicar mi propia carta de agradecimiento, una carta que nunca fue envíada y que nunca lo será, pero que muestra el impacto de la beca en mi vida.

Estimado señor Fainé,

Le escribo para agradecerle la beca que he recibido para estudiar en Estados Unidos.

Gracias a la Fundación La Caixa, estoy cumpliendo el sueño de aprender los valores, las ideas y los métodos con más potencial de cambiar el mundo, en una de las mejores universidades americanas. Gracias a la Fundación La Caixa, me ha cambiado la vida.

Sin embargo, sé que esta oportunidad no es gratuita. La Fundación La Caixa no me ha pedido nada a cambio, pero soy consciente de la deuda que he contraído con la Sociedad. En el futuro no solamente tendré que devolver a la Sociedad lo que he recibido. Tendré que devolver más. Tendré que hacer algo que contribuya a mejorar el mundo, algo en beneficio de todos y de cualquiera. Este es el verdadero significado de la becas de La Caixa. Seré generoso; si no, mis estudios no habrán tenido sentido.

Por otra parte, el conjunto de becarios es un grupo excepcional. Aunque somos todos muy diferentes, compartimos una manera de vivir y de pensar muy singular. No sabríamos definir esta cualidad exactamente pero sabemos reconocer inmediatamente a quien la tiene. Esto es lo que ha pasado en la semana de orientación de Indiana. Nos hemos conocido, nos hemos mirado a los ojos y nos hemos reconocido. No sólo nos hemos convertido en un equipo, sino que nos hemos sentido parte integrante de la comunidad de becarios Rebeca. Por eso, nos hemos prometido que allí donde algún becario de cualquier convocatoria y país nos pida ayuda, nosotros estaremos siempre disponibles, de la misma manera altruista y desinteresada que La Caixa nos ha enseñado.

Muchas gracias.

Cordialmente

Image: La imagen de “Las Tres Gracias” de Antonio Canova ha sido tomada de “The London Season”

I would like to share my personalized MBA Case Framework for consulting interviews. My framework is far from perfect. I will try to improve it as I am doing more cases. You can use my framework if you want but I recommend you building your own framewok. You will learn a lot doing that.

My Framework is based on building blocks.

1. Most common case scenarios (M&A, Profitability, New Product, New Market) are structured using high level building blocks (“buckets”).
2. Building blocks are shared among different scenarios
3. Building blocks are classified in groups
4. Some building are composed of smaller building blocks

I have 13 scenarios and around 40 building blocks.

First of all, remember some trends about the current economy

• USD⇓ slowly; Euro ⇑; Yen/ Euro =; interest rates⇓ but not for long; Gas ⇑

MBA Case Framework

SCENARIOS

NEW MARKET

1. Market Strategic Fit
2. Market Attractiveness
3. Financials,
4. Implementation

NEW PRODUCT

1. Product Strategic Fit
2. Product
3. Market Attractiveness
4. Financials
5. Market / Product Implementation

INDUSTRY ANALYSIS

1. Market Attractiveness
2. Supply Chain (Suppliers/ Distributors)
3. Collaborators
4. Future Market

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

1. M&A Rational (before drawing the framework)
2. M&A Strategic Fit
3. Market Attractiveness
1. Company Attractiveness
4. Financials
5. M&A Implementation:
6. Exit Strategies

PRICING

1. Product
2. Market / Company Economics
3. Pricing Schema
4. Financials
5. Supply & demand
1. Implementation

GROWTH STRATEGY

1. Market Attractiveness
2. Growth Options
3. Product / Market Strategic Fit
4. Financials
5. Market / Product / M&A Implementation & Risks

START A NEW BUSINESS

1. Market Attractiveness
2. Company Attractiveness
3. Financials

RESPONSE TO COMPETITOR / EXTERNAL

1. External Change → Costs & Revenues
2. Competition & Substitutes
3. Customer Reaction
4. Competitive Response
5. Market / Product Implementation

PROFITABILITY

1. External Change → Costs & Revenues
2. Competition & Substitutes
3. Customers
4. Company Operations (compare to competitors)
5. Options to Increase Sales & reduce costs
6. Financials
7. Profitability Implementation

TURNAROUND

1. PROFITABILITY FRAMEWORK
2. Strategy: short-term & long-term goals
3. Organization
4. Financials
5. Turnaround Implementation

INVEST IN NEW BUSINESS OR EQUIPMENT, CAPACITY EXPANSION

1. Capacity Investment Rational
2. Industry Analysis
3. Capacity Investment Impact
4. Capacity Investment Factors
5. Capacity Investment Implementation:
6. Financials

STREAMLINE A PROCESS

1. Processes
2. Customer Reaction
3. Process Changes
4. Alternative Comparison
5. Competitive advantage of changed process
6. Financials
7. Measurement

STREAMLINE AN ORGANIZATION/PROCESS

1. Processes
2. Customer Reaction
3. Organizational Changes
4. Alternative Comparison
5. Competitive advantage of changed process / organization
6. Financials
7. Measurement

BUILDING BLOCKS

RATIONALS

M&A RATIONAL
1. Increase Revenue: (boost brand, increase share, channel expansion)
2. Reduce Cost: cost synergies (economies of scale, economies of scope, learning curve)
3. Other: Diversify Holding, Pre-empt Competition, Shareholder Value

CAPACITY INVESTMENT RATIONAL
1. Capacity utilization
2. Demand increase

STRATEGIC FITS

MARKET STRATEGIC FIT
1. Objectives
2. Competencies
3. Brand fit
4. Opportunity Cost
5. Organizational Impact

PRODUCT STRATEGIC FIT
1. Fit in product line,
2. Cannibalization,
3. Increase revenue,
4. Trade up-down

M&A STRATEGIC FIT
1. Investment strategy & style
2. Size
3. Number of investments
4. Hurdle rate
5. Expertise in target industry

ATTRACTIVENESS & TRENDS

MARKET ATTRACTIVENESS
1. Economics (compare to us)
2. External Trends
3. Market Drivers
4. Customers Trends
5. Competition & Substitutes Trends (compare to us):
6. Entry/Exit Barriers

COMPANY ATTRACTIVENESS
1. Company Economics
2. Synergies: reduction, costs, technology, capacity, complementarities, network effects
3. Management: who?, strengths, worked together before? Advisory board?, key employees
4. Product
5. Brand
6. Supply Chain

MARKET / COMPANY ECONOMICS (COMPARE TO US)
1. Size
2. Growth
3. Stage,
4. Profitability (margins, volumes, shares),
5. Mono-oligo-comp

EXTERNAL TRENDS
1. Technology
2. Segments growth
3. Regulation
4. Costs

MARKET DRIVERS
1. Consumer insight
2. Technology
3. Brand

CUSTOMERS TRENDS
1. Segments
2. Channels (sell and advertise)
3. Preferences
4. Loyalty
5. Geographies

COMPETITION & SUBSTITUTES TRENDS (COMPARE TO US)
1. Players & their Targets
2. Price / Volume=Share / Quality,
3. Products (advantages & disadvantages),
4. Marketing (brand)
5. Strategy (M&A)
6. Technology
7. Competitors Response
8. Impact on us (share, revenues, growth)

ENTRY/EXIT BARRIERS
1. Non-customer
i. Capital
ii. Scale,
iii. Learning Curve
iv. Access to Suppliers
v. Legal
vi. Geographical
2. Customer
i. Customers’ switching costs
ii. Brand awareness
iii. Access to channels
iv. Network effects

OPERATIONS

PRODUCT
1. Product Mix (Price, Volume, Contribution)
2. Advantages & Disadvantages
3. Substitutes: Is it a must-have, advantages of substitutes
4. Quality
5. Augmented Product
6. Costs: R&D cost, Educate consumer, Advertising, growth/decrease
7. Patented, Proprietary

COMPANY OPERATIONS (COMPARE TO COMPETITORS)
1. Revenues Streams: Shares, Trends
2. Sales Force: incentives, presentation, training
3. Supply Chain Cost Change (Price, Volume, Quality, Delay): Suppliers / Distributors / Wholesalers / Outsourcing
4. Internal Cost Change: Rent, Labor, Marketing, Labor, Equipment, Maintenance, General, Lobbying, R&D
5. Product: Product Mix (Price, Volume, Contribution)
6. Variable / Fixed: Capacity, Economies of Scale, of Scope

SUPPLY CHAIN
1. Secured Suppliers
2. Secured Channels
3. Number – Availability
4. Their Markets

PRICING SCHEMA
1. Competitive Analysis: Prices in comparison to us
2. Cost Plus: COGS, Margin
3. Price-Taker: willingness to pay, substitutes
4. Economic Value Analysis: Reference Value, Differentiation Value
5. Non-linear pricing: Two part-pricing, Bundling

SUPPLY & DEMAND
1. Short-run outcomes: customer response,
2. Long run outcomes
3. Price affect market equilibrium

FINANCIALS

FINANCIALS
1. Attainable Share & Revenues
2. Price (profitable): only for M&A
3. Funding: Debt/Equity
4. Best Allocation
5. NPV – Break Even: Initial Investment, Ongoing Direct Cost, Ongoing Fixed Cost
6. Liquidity
7. Financial Risks

IMPACTS AND REACTIONS

EXTERNAL CHANGE → COSTS & REVENUES
1. Economy: interests
2. Legislation
3. People: Strikes, Public Opinion
4. Technology
5. Supply Chain

CUSTOMER REACTION
1. Switchers: number, why, speed, getting them back
2. Non-Switchers: number, why

COMPETITIVE RESPONSE
1. Copy Competitor
2. GROWTH OPTIONS
3. EXIT STRATEGIES

CAPACITY INVESTMENT IMPACT
1. Prices: Supply ⇑ Prices ⇓
2. Competitive Reaction
3. Opportunity cost/ economic rents

OPTIONS & COMPARISONS

GROWTH OPTIONS
1. Increased Penetration (Existing P in Existing M)
2. Product Development (New P in Existing M)
3. New Market Entry (Existing P in New M)
4. Diversification (New P in New M)
5. Cost Reduction

OPTIONS TO INCREASE SALES
1. Increase / Reduce Prices
2. Seasonal Balance
3. Improve / Increase Sales Force, Customer Service, Paying Modalities: V⇑, V/sales⇑
4. Expand to new areas: V⇑
5. Expand to niche markets
6. Increase Marketing: V⇑

OPTIONS TO REDUCE COSTS
1. Technology
2. Capacity
3. Outsource
4. Change process

ALTERNATIVE COMPARISON
1. Revenues/Costs
2. Advantages/Disadvantages
3. Choose
4. Resolve disadvantages of the solution

CAPACITY INVESTMENT FACTORS
1. PPE & Depreciation:
2. Utilization rate
3. Proximity to suppliers, distributors, transportation requirements
4. Timeline

ORGANIZATIONAL

ORGANIZATION
1. Age, Size
2. Costs / Quality / Results
3. Problems: Overburden, Bad Management
4. Most value-added parts
5. Impact in other processes / organization

PROCESSES
1. Age
2. Cost/ Quality/Results/ Delay
3. Most value added part of process
4. Impact in other processes / organizations
5. Process in competitors, standards

IMPLEMENATIONS

PROFITABILITY IMPLEMENTATION
1. Timeline
2. Other Risks

MARKET / PRODUCT IMPLEMENTATION
1. Acquisition, Merge, Joint Venture
2. Organic: Increase Capacity, Increase Channels, Invest in Marketing
3. Organization: people (Hire competitor’s management) processes, systems
4. Geographical challenges
5. Timeline
6. Risks

M&A IMPLEMENTATION
1. Organizational integration: corporate culture
2. Vertical Integration: Coordination costs, costs of using the market
3. Timeline
4. Other Risks

PRICING IMPLEMENTATION
5. Roll out
6. Communicate new price (salesmen, advertising)

CAPACITY INVESTMENT IMPLEMENTATION
1. Expand Existing Facility
2. Build New Facility
3. Lease
4. Outsource
5. Acquire

TURNAROUND IMPLEMENTATION
7. Business plan: prioritize goals
8. Reassure clients, suppliers, distributors
9. ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES

ORGANIZATION CHANGES
1. Relocate people
2. Simplify structure (role changes, direct reports, people’s response)
3. Build skills
4. Compensations & incentives

EXIT STRATEGIES
1. Keep it
2. Sell it in parts
3. Restructure it & Sell it
4. Close down

Debate on Facebook

People who speak more than 4 languages are usually bad listeners because are used to understand 20% and imagine the rest.

According to Professor Sapra:

• Increasing the reporting frequency is an incentive for managers to focus in the short-term and neglect long-run growth, which is bad for the economy
• Using fair market values in finacial statements will increase volatility in financial reports, companies will react more to the actions of other companies than to the fair value of fundamentals.
  • Analogy: The Millenium Bridge in London was built in with a special suspension design that allowed the bridge to react to vibrations, like the steps of people. The problem was that people tend to walk at the same pace, especially if there are many people and the bridge is vibrating. As a result of people moving at the same time, the bridge enters oscillates too much. The Millenium Bridge was closed for 18 months after its opening to change the suspension system.

The comparison with the Millenium Bridge Professor Sapra made, together with the clarity of his explanations and his sense of humor, made this lecture so great and memorable.

I would like to talk about her absolutely amazing presentation at TED. Professor Oster rebates many of the believes that are commonly accepted about AIDS in Africa:

1. 25 Million people infected with AIDS in Africa
2. If we decrease poverty, we will decrease AIDS
3. African countries should follow the example of Uganda to combat AIDS. Uganda’s AIDS policy is based on education

What is really amazing and innovative about Professor Oster is that she is using economics to decipher a problem that is usually part of epidemiology or public health.

Green Card in the US

One of the biggest challenges for international MBA students in the US is landing into a full-time position in a company willing to sponsor their working visa.

Unfortunately, the number of companies willing to sponsor international candidates is very small (except in consulting).

The Myths

1) Visa sponsorship involves additional costs.

FALSE. This is only around 5000 USD, which is much less than the salary they will pay you (hopefully!)

2) It is difficult to justify that you hire a foreigner because the required skills cannot be found in the US.

FALSE. It depends on how specific you are about skills in the visa application. You cannot just justify it based on the requirement to have an MBA degree and experience in industry A, because there are thousands of American falling in that description. But you are much more credible if you say you need somebody with experience developing operations strategy in industry A in country B, with experience dealing with senior management and leading multi-cultural teams, with intra-preneurial experience, fluent in language A and language B, with contacts in industry C, with a diploma thesis in field D… Not surprisingly, the way you write the Visa application influences the result.

The Reason

The main reason why companies choose not to sponsor is because the US Government can refuse a visa application without any explanation. The extension of a previously awarded visa can also be refused without any explanation. Companies do not like taking this risk. Only companies with the resources to lobby the government adequately are comfortable with this risk. The real problem is that the Government is not reliable regarding visa applications.

On top of that, the TARP program (Troubled Asset Release Program) of the US government makes things even more difficult for international MBA students, especially those interested in Banking. The TARP program is a US government initiative to address the subprime mortgage crisis and strengthen its financial sector. TARP states that companies receiving funds under TARP cannot sponsor an international student if they make an American worker redundant.

The Long Term Implications

If you look at American history, this country is currently the number one in the world because it has traditionally sourced talent from anywhere in the world. If this practice stops now, this will no longer be the US in 50 years. It will just be a second range country somewhere in the North of the Gulf of Mexico.

Additional Resources: TARP

Read this interesting  article from scholarship for USA about the impact of TARP program  on job opportunities for international students.

Approach

This post expresses what Dean Edward A. Snyder’s  welcome speech to the class of 2011 means to me. Some people may argue that statement of principles and values are just statements and have little connection with real practices. But I believe that sometimes it is important to step back and think about the meaning of what you are doing.

The University of Chicago is renowned for its schools of thought. Each school has its own approach for an specific discipline: Chicago approach to sociology, Chicago approach to economics, Chicago approach to physics, Chicago approach to literary criticism….

What is Chicago Approach to Management Education?

• Discipline-based knowledge : Business problems are complex and involve many disciplines. To understand organizations, markets, competition and succeed in business, you need knowledge from psychology, sociology, econometrics,  marketing… Other business schools focus on industries rather than on disciplines and neglect the multi-dimensional nature of business.
• Empirical knowledge: Chicago Booth believes in facts.
• Analysis: Good decisions are backed by good analysis. Analysis for Chicago Booth is discussing, challenging, fine-tuning ideas and deciding about them. The best idea is a provisional best idea. (See my post about this: What is Chicago Booth all about?). Booth is one of the few schools that focuses on the importance of decisions.
• Fundamental principles: Effective business practices should be based on fundamental principles, not on furors or fads.

So, What is Chicago strategy, then?

• Values: Chicago believes on an unified system of values. We should have the same values at home, at the school, at work, in our country, in other countries, when doing research, when teaching…
• Relations: every relation is important. Relations is helping each other, asking for help, giving help. We are receiving much support from second-year students, from alumni…
• Respect for diversity: new ideas stem from diversity. We need to cherish diversity.

Picture: belongs to wikipedia.com

MBAs apply to the row underlined.

Feng Shui Consultant (www.spi-visual.co.uk)

Jackson Pollock in Action

Many Europeans think they already know it all about America. Many see America as a country with a very short history and a Hollywood-McDonalds approach to culture, where there is not much culture to learn.

In fact, I used to think I knew much more about America than I indeed did. When I took part in the Orientation Week organized by Indiana University for La Caixa scholars, Professor Bruce L. Jaffe, prepared a quite interesting quiz about culture in America. Topics included: education system, geography, politics, employment, demographics, American units of mesurement, American sports …

I got a quit humble mark. But I am learnt quick – I hope. It is not a matter of flashing my mind with American customs. It is a matter of understanding culture in America and picking up what is good in it.