Dear FIA International MBA Candidates,
We are rapidly approaching the start of our 2009 International MBA Class, in just over one month.
I am very pleased to say that we are looking forward to working with a very international, well experienced and diverse group of candidates. Our group is made up of participants from the USA, France, Italy, Brazil, India, Colombia and Peru, and has an average 6 years of work experience. Industry areas represented by the candidates include IT services, oil and gas, marketing, retail, pharmaceuticals, banking and financial services, consulting, food and beverage, and agri-business.
The financial crisis that is affecting world markets is continues to have somewhat less impact on Brazil. Although export markets for commodities are down, currency fluctuations and lower energy prices are reducing the net effect, and internal domestic demand remains important, although slowing. As we saw in a recent workshop at FIA, in late December, with 3 economists and over 70 businessmen and alumni , Brazil’s GDP growth is forecast at 2.5% for 2009, fairly good when compared to -1% for the US and Europe. All in all, an exciting time to start an international MBA program and to study how companies and countries deal with turbulent times!
I look forward to seeing you in February!
Regards,
James Wright
________________
Professor James T. C. Wright, PhD.
Director - International MBA
FIA Business School
Tel 55 11 3732 3520
Website : www.fia.com.br/internationalmba
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Monday, December 1, 2008
Crise: Lições a tirar - Mesa redonda com o Prof. James e Convidados
Há muitas lições a tirar desta crise. Algumas dizem respeito à governança corporativa, outras à ética e marcos regulatórios. Todas são importantes, mas quem sabe uma das mais importantes pertença exclusivamente ao âmago do objetivo das escolas de negócios: como ensinar a perceber sinais antecipados da crise para ensinar a agir com convicção sobre informação incompleta e fragmentada e sobre a qual poucos acreditam ate que é tarde demais.
Data: 12/12/2008
Horário: 19h
Local: Unidade Butantã da FIA
Rua José Alves da Cunha Lima, 172 - Rio Pequeno - 2º piso
Inscrições clique aqui
Vagas limitadas - Informações (11) 3818-4021
Data: 12/12/2008
Horário: 19h
Local: Unidade Butantã da FIA
Rua José Alves da Cunha Lima, 172 - Rio Pequeno - 2º piso
Inscrições clique aqui
Vagas limitadas - Informações (11) 3818-4021
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Massive losses signal lack of judgment in currency bets
In emerging markets globalization typically means to have your market flooded with foreign products. Yet a few corporations, while still firmly grounded in their home emerging markets, have wet their feet abroad and have learned the hard way.
The large corporations which ventured out of advanced economies first probably have no one left on their staff who still remembers what it felt to be a pioneer venturing abroad. Yet, for an emerging market corporation frequently there are no known precedents, and of course, there are staffing problems to overcome.
One of the most difficult staffing problems became painfully obvious in the last three months, as the American dollar suddenly appreciated, reverting its longer term depreciation. The trend reversion caught most swap operators in emerging markets wrong footed. Swap operators had become used to a deteriorating dollar and seem not to have though twice that, under abnormal circumstances, such as the current financial crunch and its ensuing recession, the price of commodities would fall and the dollar with which they are paid scarcer and dearer.
Yet, in emerging markets currency swap operators continued to bet on the appreciation of their local currencies against the dollar, generating massive losses to their employers.
Brazil’s Aracruz was one of the first to get beaten to the ground. Informed sources claim that it may take Aracruz, the world’s largest producer of pulp from eucalyptus, about a decade to regain its ground. Brazil’s Votarantim’s own paper and pulp operation (VCP) got beaten twice, first as shareholder of Aracruz and then in a bad currency bet of its own, losing about a billion dollars more. Steelmaker Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) may have lost $700 million in a sour ADR swap. Poultry farm Sadia fired its CFO, who wasted $415 million, allegedly by indulging on bad currency debts beyond his mandate.
But Brazilian corporations were not alone, Comercial Mexicana, Mexico’s second or third largest retailer, threw the towel after wasting $4 billion on derivatives contracts (see The Economist, October 16). The Mexican tortilla maker Gruma had its trading halted as it disclosed losses amounting to almost $700 million. Asian corporations were not spared either. Citic Pacific, is a Hong Kong-listed conglomerate partly owned by the Chinese government and generated bad currency debt close to $2 billion, (see The Australian, October 22nd). Operators in Latin America, and in China, seem to know how to implement swaps but miss on the direction of the hedge to be made.
Such widespread bad currency debts suggest that there is a swap-training gap in emerging markets. Because the reported losses, so far, have been more frequent and larger, in Latin America, it is possible that the training gap may be larger there. This region is a relative newcomer to globalized operations and swap operators may not be as experienced, or the information sources on which their work depend, not as developed.
Of course, operators are not alone, for instance, they are rewarded on bonuses when they succeed encouraging them to take substantial risks. Their bosses should have known better, but on the other hand, aren’t they all relatively new to the international arena? The size of the losses, painful as they have been, is in itself an opportunity to internationally-oriented business schools in emerging markets, for proper training is obviously lacking.
Alfredo Behrens
Professor of Cross-Cultural Management
FIA International Executive MBA
November 2008
The large corporations which ventured out of advanced economies first probably have no one left on their staff who still remembers what it felt to be a pioneer venturing abroad. Yet, for an emerging market corporation frequently there are no known precedents, and of course, there are staffing problems to overcome.
One of the most difficult staffing problems became painfully obvious in the last three months, as the American dollar suddenly appreciated, reverting its longer term depreciation. The trend reversion caught most swap operators in emerging markets wrong footed. Swap operators had become used to a deteriorating dollar and seem not to have though twice that, under abnormal circumstances, such as the current financial crunch and its ensuing recession, the price of commodities would fall and the dollar with which they are paid scarcer and dearer.
Yet, in emerging markets currency swap operators continued to bet on the appreciation of their local currencies against the dollar, generating massive losses to their employers.
Brazil’s Aracruz was one of the first to get beaten to the ground. Informed sources claim that it may take Aracruz, the world’s largest producer of pulp from eucalyptus, about a decade to regain its ground. Brazil’s Votarantim’s own paper and pulp operation (VCP) got beaten twice, first as shareholder of Aracruz and then in a bad currency bet of its own, losing about a billion dollars more. Steelmaker Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) may have lost $700 million in a sour ADR swap. Poultry farm Sadia fired its CFO, who wasted $415 million, allegedly by indulging on bad currency debts beyond his mandate.
But Brazilian corporations were not alone, Comercial Mexicana, Mexico’s second or third largest retailer, threw the towel after wasting $4 billion on derivatives contracts (see The Economist, October 16). The Mexican tortilla maker Gruma had its trading halted as it disclosed losses amounting to almost $700 million. Asian corporations were not spared either. Citic Pacific, is a Hong Kong-listed conglomerate partly owned by the Chinese government and generated bad currency debt close to $2 billion, (see The Australian, October 22nd). Operators in Latin America, and in China, seem to know how to implement swaps but miss on the direction of the hedge to be made.
Such widespread bad currency debts suggest that there is a swap-training gap in emerging markets. Because the reported losses, so far, have been more frequent and larger, in Latin America, it is possible that the training gap may be larger there. This region is a relative newcomer to globalized operations and swap operators may not be as experienced, or the information sources on which their work depend, not as developed.
Of course, operators are not alone, for instance, they are rewarded on bonuses when they succeed encouraging them to take substantial risks. Their bosses should have known better, but on the other hand, aren’t they all relatively new to the international arena? The size of the losses, painful as they have been, is in itself an opportunity to internationally-oriented business schools in emerging markets, for proper training is obviously lacking.
Alfredo Behrens
Professor of Cross-Cultural Management
FIA International Executive MBA
November 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
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
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
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
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
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:
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:
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
QS World MBA Tour 2008
O World MBA Tour é uma feira de prestígio internacional onde as melhores escolas de MBAs do mundo, como Wharton, IMD e Berkeley participaram.
O envento em São Paulo aconteceu em 15 de setembro de 2008 com a participação da FIA, apresentando o International MBA - ministrado em inglês. Confira algumas fotos do evento:
Informações: consulte nosso site
O envento em São Paulo aconteceu em 15 de setembro de 2008 com a participação da FIA, apresentando o International MBA - ministrado em inglês. Confira algumas fotos do evento:
Nosso novo curso gerou grande interesse, pois oferece uma opção part-time às sextas-feiras, além da versão full-time. Nele os executivos brasileiros poderão ter aula em um ambiente internacional, com alunos experientes da Itália, Espanha, França, Índia entre outros, sem abrir mão da sua carreira por 2 anos.
Informações: consulte nosso site
Colabore conosco divulgando esta nova opção para seus conhecidos.
FIA Business School
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