Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Global leadership in a new era of competition

In the new, multipolar world a new type of leadership is requires.

The USA is a great country; big, democratic, entrepreneurial, successful, innovative and offering opportunities and an excellent standard of living for all. It has, like most countries, several defects; materialism, arrogance, too many guns, violence and many others. However, its institutions, capital markets and innovative companies have ensured its position as a center of excellence in management and business and a stalwart of democracy for the last sixty or more years.

China has caught the world’s imagination by its rapid growth during the last three decades, focusing on becoming the global centre for basic manufacturing, and last year became the second largest economy in the world, surpassing Japan, which shows low growth because of an aging population, but still has a high standard of living.

China has another long march ahead of it; it still must provide decent living standards for the majority of its population, who will not long accept much lower incomes than that of the prosperous coastal cities like Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing.

India has a huge potential which must be put to work in a coherent manner. It will soon have a population greater than China’s, with a huge internal market, and it has advantages in its English speaking educational institutions and a competitive approach to many services and industries. It faces enormous challenges in integrating its many distinct internal cultures, languages and beliefs, and in bringing its huge rural population into a high growth modern economy. Both India and China have a focus on improving education at all levels which will be a fundamental advantage in the long run.

Brazil has recently risen in the global public’s awareness; a recent BBC poll conducted by the University of Maryland, answered by over 28 thousand people worldwide, placed Brazil ahead of the USA, China and India in regards to a positive opinion on our country. Brazil has great potential for sustained growth, with global leadership in biofuels and 45% of renewable energy in it’s energy matrix, the deepest and largest offshore oil production systems in the world, huge expanses of arable land available for food production (without having to encroach on the Amazon), abundant water, sunlight and top level agricultural technology. Democratic and institutionally stable for over 30 years, Brazil is a multiethnic country, but with one common language and relatively small minority and racial issues. Challenges and problems abound; corruption and crime rates, although falling, are still too high, basic education is inadequate, infrastructure investments are required, and bureaucracy is endemic. But all of these challenges are also opportunities, and Brazil has a long tradition of domestic and international entrepreneurism and creativity, and the upcoming FIFA Football(soccer) World Cup and Olympic games provide a showcase for that. Brazilian companies have grown and conquered international markets , and new leadership is emerging.

FIA Business School provides international programs to create the leaders required for global competitiveness. The International Executive MBA for senior executives focuses on global strategy, with study trips to the USA, China, Europe or India giving a local awareness and sensitivity that is essential to the modern corporate leader.

The International MBA , taught entirely in English, brings in managers from four continents together to study full time or part time, in a multicultural setting within Brazil, with over 10 different nationalities represented, obtaining international awareness and knowledge of the challenges and opportunities in Brazil and other emerging markets .

The new Americas MBA brings together a select group of students from part time and executive programs in the USA, Mexico, Canada and Brazil, who study part time in their home countries for one year, and then come together in intensive one week programs at top universities in the four largest economies of the Americas. This program gives you an in-depth view of management in the Americas, the largest business region in the world, and a chance to study together and network with working professionals in all four countries.

We strongly believe that investing in top level education, creating a global mindset and preparing managers to lead businesses all over the world FIA Business School is making a significant contribution to Brazil and to global understanding and prosperity in our region.

James Wright
Dean International MBA
5511-3732-3519/20

No comments: