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:

Trip to USA - International Executive MBA Group

Our International Executive MBA group together with some other FIA students headed to the US for one of the international modules last September. Owen Graduate School of Management – Vanderbilt University, hosted us for a whole week of organized lectures and activities. Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Strategy, Decision Making and Managing Change were some of the class topics that were held during our stay. 

We also enjoyed several visits to outstanding companies. FEDEX innovated by creating the overnight delivery industry, and we visited their super hub in Memphis from 11:00 pm to 2:00 am, when hundreds of airplanes converge from all over the world with cargo and correspondence which is delivered by 10:30 am the next day. An intense and superbly managed operation does this incredible task in a short period with wonderful precision.

At Nissan, we toured the most productive car factory in the USA, where Japanese techniques meet American workers and robots help productivity and quality. Production is being set up at the Smirna plant which we visited for the all-electric Nissan Leaf, as well as battery manufacture, while producing some of the bestselling traditional Nissan cars on the Market.

Jack Daniels was also a great visit! In this small town near Nashville, the world’s 5^th largest selling whiskey brand is produced integrating the most traditional production systems in the US with modern marketing techniques that make the Tennessee whiskey a global success for generations.

And as we were in Nashville, the opportunity to visit country music clubs and venues like BB Kings was an obligatory part of the experience!

Great classes, exceptional companies and a good time were had by all.

Learn about Vanderbilt our long term partner in this and many other initiatives in both research, student exchange and teaching, with the Owen Graduation School of Management:  

For the past 25 years, the Vanderbilt Executive MBA has remained one of the premier, full 60-credit MBA options for busy executives. Consistently ranked in the top 25 in Business Week’s poll of Executive MBA programs, Vanderbilt’s EMBA program is proven to help mid-career managers, executives, and business owners achieve their personal and organizational goals.

All of their programs at the Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management come with a promise to students:

“Here is a place where you will be challenged to achieve your potential; find support as you shape your future; discover lifelong friends and mentors; and open doors to new possibilities.”

Vanderbilt University EMBA students at FIA in May 2010

Vanderbilt University EMBA students at FIA in May 2010, FIA Business School received the Executive MBA students of the Owen Graduate School of Management from Vanderbilt University.

In one more event in a partnership that has lasted for our 40 years between FIA, USP and Vanderbilt.

FIA Business School helped organize a one week series of company visits, classes’ annual events for the executive students. In a joint class by Prof. James Wright, Fia and Vanderbilt students discussed Brazils energy matrix to 2020, and the Brazilian expertise in fuel ethanol, ultra-deep sea oil production and the development of a national energy matrix which is 47% renewable!

Cocktail, dinner and a visit to Morumbi, the São Paulo team soccer stadium guided by our IMBA student, Fabio Correa, made up some of the social activities of the visit.

The EMBA Vanderbilt group is coming to Brazil

Vanderbilt University is one of the most prestigious private Universities in the United States.

The EMBA group is coming to Brazil as part of their program studies for a lecture with the FIA International MBA on 5th May.

This group of students has a special interest in Global Business, the Brazilian business landscape and how both Brazilian and Multi-National companies operate in Brazil and Internationally. They are very experienced professionals with an average of 12 years business experience in diverse fields of industry and professions.

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