Round the world with a Master's.
Cinco Días.com
Páz Álvarez - 5 September, 2009
A year ago, Jaime Santamaría, 43, took up the challenge thrown down by Cinco Días at ESADE in Barcelona: to write a diary of his experiences on the first edition of the Global Executive MBA(Gemba). This global post-graduate is taught in countries that span the world - the United States, Brazil, Argentina, India, Spain and Russia - and attracts executives from a range of different cultures. The second edition, with 30 students, mostly American, Asian and Spanish (only three compared to eight the previous year) has already started at Georgetown University in Washington. It costs 90,500 euros.
WASHINGTON. Take-off
"June 2008, I travel to the United States filled with the excitement of embarking on my new project. I'm taking part in the first edition of Gemba, launched by Esade and Georgetown University.
Beyond the classic disciplines of a traditional MBA, the programme offers the chance to acquire and develop the knowledge and skills for managing business in a global economy, of particular interest to me because of my highly international profession. But that's not all: the course has input from the School of Foreign Services in Georgetown, the most prestigious international relations educational institution in the world.
The six training modules are taught in six different countries, so we'll come out with a broad overview of what globalisation actually means for both consolidated and emerging economies.
That's by the way: now I and 38 colleagues of more than a dozen nationalities are in Washington to start on the first module of Gemba. The Riggs Library, a Neo-Gothic style library within the university, has been chosen to host the welcome reception for all participants.
We are a diverse group including Americans, Europeans, Latin Americans, Arabs and Asians, from the worlds of banking, energy, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, IT and finance. A group rich in experience, ranging from Washington lobbyists, directors of major corporations, entrepreneurs and businesspeople to a US marine.
Days before we started, Esade had given us our teaching material: cases supplied by business schools, text books, articles published in the Harvard Business Review, Financial Times, The Economist and the New York Times.
Judging by the sheer volume and quality of the material alone, the course was going to need dedication and effort. This is our first contact with the reality that awaits us in the following months: little free time, exams, papers and schedules, often working from 8.30 in the morning to 20.30 in the evening for 11 days running, Saturdays and Sundays included. The level is demanding and we have little free time to get to know other participants.
It's normal to become friendly with people in your group, never more than six, with whom we do the group work that we hand in during the course. The Spanish share fellow-feeling. Meal times are a great ally. Dinners are set at 18.00 in the evening, but some of us prefer to eat later. We're a group with similar personal and age profiles so it's easy to reach an understanding.
I discover something very gratifying: working with people from other cultures helps you be more flexible with others, and simply accept cultural and professional differences, learn from them and give credit to their strengths.
In Washington, we started to see how the United States was facing up to the new scenario of the global economy. Working from the perspective of the top political and military world power gives us a greater awareness of the global nature of the course. We address key elements of globalisation with the study of commercial relationships and international investments, with particular attention to the role of the World Trade Organisation.
We visit the Departments of State and Commerce where we see how the United States offers support to the country's companies worldwide. Meanwhile, Spain wins the UEFA Euro 2008 Cup. Fiesta!!!
BARCELONA. Already a team
Late August. The second module starts in Barcelona.
For the first time I catch the AVE from Madrid and use the time to prepare my classes. What will the get-together be like, some weeks after the experience in Washington?
When I get to the Pedralbes hotel I discover that most of my colleagues have already arrived and are having an improvised dinner on a nearby terrace. Great. Others join us later after their cultural visit to the National Art Museum of Catalonia, organised by Esade.
I have the sensation of a re-encounter with people I've known for ages. The classes start in a module that focuses on corporate strategy and finance, leadership and micro-economics. We become immersed in the consumer industry with a simulation of global competition in teams.
Several teachers with experience in companies like Lindtt, Chupa-Chups and Solano supervise us.
We make an incursion into the mass sport business with a presentation of the model of the FC Barcelona football team.
Visit to Intermón Oxfam and dinner put on by Codorniu in its historic cellars.
I like Barcelona, but my thoughts are in Madrid. Our Catalan colleagues make great efforts to ensure we have a pleasant stay, with visits to the Gothic Quarter and the works of Gaudí.
I note the economic growth of the city. We have dinner in the open air in restaurants near the Marina, take a turn in a catamaran, look out over the city from the Mirablau Bar.
Summer comes to an end, and my mind is 600 kilometres away. It's just one month before my second child is to be born.
ARGENTINA and BRAZIL. Immense
November, and a new meeting. My first trip after becoming a father.
The third module is divided between two scenarios: Argentina and Brazil.
Meeting up with my colleagues again has become a familiar experience.
In Argentina, a country with a very rich agro-food history, we feel at home, and Brazil is a discovery, it captivates us right away with its economic and human potential. I'm surprised by the courses in social and political networking, emphasising the importance of developing abilities in managing your own professional career.
We put into practice some role play that helps us adopt a wider perspective on the different actors that can influence how a company operates, and on how emotional intelligence has an important place in managing companies and their human capital.
In Brazil we visit Petrobras, we analyse the expansion of Banco Santander in the country; we arrive at Bunge, one of the top Brazilian companies in raw materials. And between classes and visits, just a bit of tango and samba.
INDIA. Team and yoga
We start out from Bangalore airport. Crowds of people in constant movement. But the classes are the antithesis of this apparently chaotic scenario.
We look further into management development: negotiation, the use of innovation and team-work technologies.
We bring out everything we've experienced in earlier modules. We do projects for several multinational companies like Cisco, Phillips and Infosys, and we present their managers with proposals to help them solve management problems in improvement areas.
We visit several companies that help me grasp the signs of identity of this country. I enjoy an introductory session to yoga. Silence, breathing, more silence. A global manager has his own moments of silence and solitude before times when he needs to be relaxed to take the right decision.
The incredible skill of the rickshaw drivers!
MADRID. How can we get over the crisis?
Now past the half-way point, we evaluate what we've learned and apply it to the present. The financial and economic crisis is gathering force. We keep our feet on the ground.
Gemba adapts to the ongoing situation.
It's curious to see how an American or an Asian perceives the crisis. Over six days, we analyse the origin of this financial and economic event, with the plus of particular viewpoints, of each participant from the perspective of our place of origin.
In the Bank of Spain we study the Spanish regulation and the strength of the Spanish system. We are received by the Prince and Princess of Asturias in La Zarzuela. It's May, we go bullfighting and have dinner in places filled with Spanish flavour.
MOSCOW. The change
My arrival coincides with my birthday, and my colleagues throw a party in a Ukrainian restaurant. Back in the classroom we find two different countries: the traditional Russia and the new Russia. This is illustrated in both the subjects studied and the visits we make.
No concept leaves us indifferent, and nothing fails to surprise us. Once again, the country's culture and the course's content went hand in hand, as we were seeing the political and economic functioning for ourselves.
Visit to an oil refinery with traditional management, then to a new company with a highly aggressive model and its eyes set firmly on exports.
NEW YORK and WASHINGTON. The home run
Summer 2009. Gemba was coming to an end.
More than a year of intensive work, after journeys covering thousands of kilometres, living together with people who had become friends, making unforgettable discoveries, exploring the realities of different countries. A tour around the economy, politics and culture of world powers and emerging countries, combining theory and practice on the way.
One last stage lay ahead: a module focussing on the New York financial markets, the economic institutions in Washington and the growing importance of corporate social responsibility.
Visit to several financial firms, fund managers and investment banks, all conveying optimism for the reactivation of the market and the return of some kind of normality. Indeed, the green shoots do exist in the US, and you won't just find them playing sport in Central Park!
We discover the International Monetary Fund and the Federal Reserve, where we note the efforts being made to roll out regulations that will prevent a new financial crisis.
In Washington the most outstanding experience was the graduation ceremony. It was held in Gaston Hall in Georgetown University, a hall replete with history and wisdom. The same hall, I later learn, where several weeks before Barack Obama had given his first speech on the economic situation.
Our robes make me think of Harry Potter! And I'm thrilled at having been able to take part in such a unique experience".
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