FIA in Silicon Valley

FIA in Silicon Valley

In September 2015, the “International MBA” undertook a pioneer study trip to Silicon Valley and Seattle, focusing on entrepreneurship and innovation, coordinated by prof. James Wright with partners from Vanderbilt University. One of the high points in this new project is the chance to compare these two distinct entrepreneurship ecosystems, as well as their respective business models.

Usually, when we think about entrepreneurship, Silicon Valley comes to mind as the main reference. However, by starting in Seattle and getting to know the important innovative business and technology movements as well as artistic movements, such as the grunge scene, brought an interesting contrast to this vision, where companies were born and florished, such as Boeing, Starbucks, Microsoft and Amazon.

In Seattle, our program began with visits to Starbucks and Amazon. The major highlight, synthesizing conversations with both companies, was the total focus on “user experience”. At Starbucks, this is taken so seriously to the point of building a central roaster along the lines of "Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory", so that consumers and employees can witness in a playful manner the entire coffee production process. At Amazon, another interesting point was the agile way each department gathers to create distinct solutions for customers, although based on a basic internet platform, and how managers defy all with the question "Are you thinking big enough?”.

Starbucks along the lines of "Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory"

Source: Profuturo Photo Archive

On our second day, we visited Microsoft, where we were acquainted with its vision of the future regarding new technologies in a fully connected world. Check out this video:(https://www.dropbox.com/s/iveaqz0ukitd1nd/Microsoft%20Futurist%20Movies.zip?dl=0)

Also in Seattle, we visited the Bezos Innovation Center, focusing on education and stimulating innovation, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, with a vision of business efficiency oriented towards inspiring projects of high social impact.

For the second part of the trip, in the vibrant Silicon Valley environment, the group enjoyed Innovation lectures with Vanderbilt University Professor, David Owens, who led students to reflect upon the different factors on which great innovation depends. Owens also accompanied students to Stanford University’s D. School and shared his experience of working at IDEO, the most recognized design thinking company in the world.

In Silicon Valley, we had contact with the world of startups during visits to Google and Coursera, witnessing the great effort made to create informal environments that stimulate innovation, as an extension of the university environment. In fact, all companies we visited in Silicon Valley have great relationships with local universities.

Concluding our visits at HP Labs (HP's development laboratory) and Intel, where we could discuss not only the companies’ business strategies and innovation processes,  but also promising areas for the development of new technologies. Additionally, we talked with the Intel investment fund manager, responsible for investments in startups from several countries, including Brazil.

In Silicon Valley, we had an integrated view of the innovation ecosystem, from the sum of different players’ perspectives, such as startups, major technology companies, universities, investors, and even students were able to add to all of these experiences and critical discussions.

In both environments, Seattle and Silicon Valley, we visited companies that excel in their fields and possess a few common denominators: innovation in their DNA, a "maker" culture that encourages the swift validation of new ideas and prototypes, obsession with user experience and valuing errors as a critical part of the learning process, repeating at all turns the mantra "fail fast"!  

In conclusion, this pioneer study trip by a Brazilian business school to Silicon Valley consolidates FIA’s position as an innovative school, aligned with global tendencies and providing its students with the opportunity to study and experience highly innovative environments and bring new global outlooks to their professional performance.

Article by Andrea Resernde

 Assistant Professor at Profuturo-FIA
Translated by Joseph Pavão
Profuturo-FIA International Admissions

Study trip photos:

Source: Profuturo photo archive 

Travels to the Land of Productivity - USA Trip

In September, the FIA Executive MBA travelled to the USA for a week of classes and company visits. One of the striking observations for our team from Brazil is the high level of labor productivity in so many of the service and manufacturing industries in the USA. With a per capita economic output more than 5 times higher than Brazil´s, the classes and the company visits showed many different approaches and opportunities for accelerating productivity and economic growth in Brazil. 

At Jack Daniel´s, we saw a fairly simple production process, making a delicious beverage with high added value. Great marketing, and a lot of high technology presented as very traditional bourbon production methods come together to generate substantial profits and growth for the parent company, Brown-Forman, exporting half of its production as one of the top five premium brands of whiskey worldwide. Nissan automobiles, with a highly automated production system operates one of the most productive auto plants in the World, in Smyrna, Tennessee, where we visited and discussed international quality standards. At the FEDEX global hub, in Memphis, we saw how more than 2 million packages are routed to their final destinations as 120 planes offload then fly again only 3 hours later,  to their final destination. An amazingly effective service operation the connects people and businesses all over the world every single day. 

How is such productivity achieved? The classes at Vanderbilt on Innovation, Strategy and Decision Making, Managing Risk presented techniques, approaches and methods to create value, while classes on Leading Teams, Coaching and Managing Change brought lessons for our executives on how to get the best results from the most important asset the people who work and manage the corporations.

All this in the beautiful setting of the Vanderbilt campus, where the Owen Graduate School of Management brings together experienced students,  great professors, and an opportunity for free exchange of ideas, in one of the most productive research universities of the USA. In all, a very worthwhile experience. 

Prof. James Wright

See some photos:

Crisis and Opportunity

A few weeks ago we were at Vanderbilt University with FIA’s Executive MBA, and a week later, I was in London, participating in the International Accreditation Council of AMBA – Association of MBAs.

These were important times in the current economic crisis; in the U.S., Congress rejected the original Bush administration rescue package on the day we started our classes, and in London, during our meeting with an executive from RBS - Royal Bank of Scotland his company lost over a Billion pounds while we spoke!

Opportunities? Whoever is buying these shares, like Mr. Warren Buffet, is acquiring big companies at low prices. Countries like Brazil, which took more a conservative approach in financial markets, are likely to suffer less damage and will recover faster.

If financial value created by speculative bubbles is lost, concrete positions in productive assets are opportunities for growth. According to "Success Made in Brazil" a book by Donald Sull of Harvard University, Brazilian executives are masters at dealing with volatility. Living for years with volatile rollercoaster markets, they have learnt to hoard liquidity in times of plenty, develop talents and skills in readiness for more favorable times, and to act quickly and decisively when golden opportunities arise.

In personal terms, this is the time to protect ourselves from the storm; to study and to prepare oneself for golden opportunities in companies and businesses that will emerge even stronger from a time of crisis.

James Wright

Crise e Oportunidade

Nas últimas semanas estivemos em Vanderbilt com a turma do MBA Executivo Internacional, e uma semana depois, estive em Londres, participando do Conselho Internacional de Credenciamento da AMBA.

Foram momentos importantes na atual crise econômica; nos EUA, o Congresso Norte Americano recusou a proposta de salvamento inicial do governo Bush no dia que começamos nossas aulas; em Londres, um Conselheiro representando o RBS – Royal Bank of Scotland, agüentou numa reunião durante o qual seu banco perdeu 25% de seu valor na bolsa!

Oportunidades? Quem está comprando estas ações está adquirindo posições em empresas expressivas a preço baixo! Os países e setores que se portaram de maneira mais conservadora estão aptos a atravessarem a crise com menor desgaste e recuperarem suas posições de desenvolvimento mais rapidamente.

Se valores inflados por bolhas especulativas se esvaiam, posições concretas em ativos produtivas são oportunidades de crescimento. Segundo apurou o livro “Sucesso Made in Brazil” de Donald Sull de Harvard, os executivos brasileiros são mestres em lidar com volatilidade; preservam sua liquidez obtida nos momentos de bonança; desenvolvem talentos e competências essenciais quando os mercados são favoráveis; esperam ativamente nos momentos de intempéries, e agem rápida e decididamente quando as oportunidades aparecem.

Em termos pessoais, isto é o momento de resguardar-se das intempéries; estudar (fazer um curso?) e preparar-se para as oportunidades de ouro nas empresas e negócios que sairão da crise fortalecidos.

James Wright

Vilanova University Students visit FIA

On October 14th FIA Business School had a group of 25 alumni from Villanova University a private university located in northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States.

Villanova, named after Saint Thomas of Villanova, is the oldest and largest Catholic university in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. For more than a decade, Villanova University has been ranked #1 by U.S. News and World Report in the Best Universities-Masters category in the northern region.

They participated on a lecture of Professor Alfredo Behrens on “Brazilian Culture and Software Exports” and a Case Study on “Strategic Implementation in a Brazilian IT Services Company” with Cadmus executive, Alexandre Bergamo, a former student of our Executive MBA.

See pictures below: