The ESADE MBA Blog · ESADE Business School · Barcelona

Archive for the ‘Life on campus’ Category

As the MBA prepares to join the ESADE Creapolis campus, it’s worth commenting on all the activities  related to entrepeneurship and innovation that are happening in the program. These activities, as a collective, allow ESADE to position itself as “the Innovation MBA”– a unique space with many schools eager to be seen as the Finance MBA, the Marketing MBA, or the Accounting MBA for established companies. While MBA students may not be the most likely to start a company from scratch, there is definitely a need for the MBA profile in small companies looking to reach profitability, solidify their brand, or expand internationally.

With that said, here’s a brief run-down of the resources available at the MBA to educate students about entrepreneurship and help them execute their business idea.

• The Entrepeneurship module within the MBA. Working in small groups, students prepare a business plan and conduct a feasibility study. The course is conducted over several terms to allow for robust study and implementation. Beabloo (a CRM platform) and Offset Options (a carbon offset consultancy) are two examples of flourishing startups that began in this course.
• TEDxESADE, an annual conference which contributes to the social debate on innovation and entrepreneurship. It will be held this year on April 13th. Speakers include ESADE faculty, alumni and staff who are respected in their various fields of expertise.
• Esade Qwest for Talent, a yearly event where startups hold workshops to generate ideas. Many also recruit MBA interns and employees. This year’s edition was held last month and featured over 100 students and 23 companies. Standout corporate participants include AirBnB (2012), Odigeo (2012), and Groupon (2011).
• The ESADE Entrepeneurship Institute, which produces academic research on best practices in entrepeneurship. ESADE faculty like Eugenia Bieto and Francesc Lamolla often publish in peer-reviewed journals about entrepreneurship.
• E-Garage, a workspace for entrepreneurs in Creapolis. Student entrepreneurs bounce ideas off one another and interact with entrepreneurs-in-residence from more established companies.

Given the increasing acceptance of the idea of MBAs as entrepreneurs (see this article in The Economist), as well as the growing uncertainty of traditional career paths, it is exciting to see ESADE offer so many resources for would-be entrepreneurs.

By First-Year MBA Student Stephen Broadbent

I touched down in the land of the Celtic Tiger with overcast skies and an appetite for Guinness stew. Our 15 ESADE MBA techies were in Dublin this week to explore the city’s technology hubs in hopes of unraveling some of the mystery around how this little island off Europe’s Atlantic coast has become the region’s technology powerhouse. And of course a little fruitful networking was part of the plan as well. We were all curious about the unique position Ireland has created for itself and how it has been faring amidst its more recent troubles to recover from the economic crisis of the last few years. What I found was a strange brew of old and new and a resilient culture clearly committed to staying the course toward development and progress.

Ireland has some powerful economic advantages that attract the world’s top tech firms, which go far beyond the tax incentive draw that often tops the news. Its proximity to the rest of Europe gives foreign firms an easy launch pad to do business in the region. Just as important, its English speaking and highly educated population create an ideal bridge for the likes of Google, Oracle and other leading companies to extend their influence across the Atlantic. It was no surprise during our whirlwind of company visits to encounter great hospitality and professionalism at every turn.

Over two days our ESADE crew visited the offices of Oracle, Symantec, Facebook, Google and Yahoo!. It was interesting to see seasoned players like Oracle and Google juxtaposed with the new kid, Facebook, which was still putting paint on the walls of its newly built offices when we arrived. The Facebook crowd was a buzz with a youthful and somewhat chaotic zeal and they were clearly ramping up for EMEA growth. Oracle offered a more traditional corporate environment with a definite sales angle for its Dublin operations. Yahoo! seemed to be holding its breath a little with a recent CEO change and corporate alliance with Microsoft’s Bing hot off the press. Symantec was, perhaps predictably, secretive about its internal goings on, though we were pretty mesmerized by its funky state-of-the-art facility. But to no one’s surprise, Google rocked the show with its vibrant blend of fun and creativity mixed with serious dedication to business. Google’s attractiveness as an innovator notwithstanding, the perks and work environment were a bounty that any MBA would envy. As we toured the Google offices, our guide, the boisterous Jane Murphy, left us salivating with images of complementary meals and in-house massage therapy, a games room on every floor, a quiet space filled with beanbag chairs for afternoon siestas, a traditional Irish pub…even a flight simulator! And with 3000 employees in Dublin, Google is clearly the dominant player out here.

Of course, the trek also served to bring our group of techy wannabees closer together over our shared aspirations to pursue careers in technology. It was amazing to see this common thread stretch across such a diverse group. In true ESADE style we represented Japan, Israel, Greece, Canada, USA, Taiwan, India, and Spain and our backgrounds ranged from engineering and IT to publishing to consulting. The evenings brought plenty of hearty food and warm Celtic music to stave off the bitter winter chill and we raised more than a few pints of Guinness to each other and our collective futures. Dublin’s charming old stone architecture and layered history actually left me feeling a strange sense of nostalgia. I think it was a familiarity to Irish culture migrated to my home in Canada mixed with school hood memories of great Irish stories by the likes of Joyce, Becket and Shaw. Dublin’s culture is rich, to be sure. And it has been made richer by its rise as a tech hub. There is an optimism here, despite the very real impact of the recession on the people’s lives. While much of the economy is struggling in Ireland as in the rest of Europe, one thing is certainly clear, the tech sector is booming and tech companies are in Dublin to stay.

By First Year MBA Student Blake Larson

Before going to Saudi Arabia, I mostly associated the country with desert, oil, and Muslims. So when the opportunity arose to join my fellow students and Professor Javier Solana on a business tour of this relatively closed country, I was eager to see it with my own eyes and live the culture in person.

On paper, our agenda was overwhelming. We traveled constantly, seeing 3 cities in 7 days. Visits to some of the country’s largest companies (Saudi Aramco, Subic, and The Bin Laden Group) and universities (Princess Nora, KAUST) as well as several cultural events allowed us to sleep only 4-5 hours per night. But every minute of every day was unforgettable. The companies and universities that we visited had incredible facilities and their leaders showed vision for the future along with an acute awareness of the present. This was true as much of the boardroom at Princess Nora University as of the Aramco drilling room where we watched technicians hunt for oil.

We also saw the incredible beauty of the desert during a day of camping, Bedouin-style. It is hard to fathom the desolate desert, with camels roaming in the distance, while we raced 4×4 vehicles in the sand. Saudis head to the desert to spend meaningful time with friends and family away from the demands of everyday life. Our experience was similar, though we took some creature comforts with us in the form of satellite TV, table tennis, and shisha!

Seeing Saudi Arabia was at times eye-opening, especially in terms of how society truly revolves around Islam. Outside of their homes, women wear abayas. The shops close during prayer times. It would be difficult for me to assimilate in this society but I grew to have an incredible appreciation and respect for how rooted in faith the Saudis are.

I want to highlight the role of the Saudi people in making the tour so incredible. Regardless of whether we were touring the Ras Tanura refinery, discussing urban planning for Riyadh at the Al Faisaliah Center, or visiting the family home of our Saudi MBA colleagues, we were welcomed as old friends. Everyone went out of their way to make sure we had an enjoyable and productive trip (and to ensure we were extraordinarily well fed!). People truly opened their hearts to us. For this, I can never be thankful enough and could only hope to repay the same kindness if given the opportunity.

I acknowledge, of course, that Saudi Arabia is not perfect. Despite tremendous growth in infrastructure (The King Abdullah Financial Center), and huge investment in education (Princess Nora University, KAUST, King Saud University), the economy is still driven by the oil industry. Based on traffic in Riyadh, growing inequality and high young adult unemployment, perhaps the development has not been perfectly sustainable. But Saudi is still a young country and hopefully it can learn through its mistakes to emerge as the face of the Middle East.

In concluding I want to reiterate that seeing Saudi Arabia with my MBA colleagues was the experience of a lifetime. Most importantly, the trip served as a reminder that the world continues to shrink and that we all share more in common than we have different. To my Saudi friends, thank you with all my heart and Yalla Saudi!

Click to see photos from the MBA Saudi Trek

This weekend I was fortunate to go to the Global Sports Forum as part of a delegation from the Sports Business Club in the MBA Program. These kinds of VIP events are one of the perks of being an Esade student. I also went to this year’s edition of the Brandery, a fashion show, and many of my colleagues attended the Mobile World Congress, which is one of the world’s biggest trade fairs.

As an American, the moment I enjoyed the most at the Global Sports Forum was a panel that included the NBA’s EVP for Global Marketing Partnerships, Mark Tatum. Tatum spoke about the NBA’s profound globalization: games are broadcast in 200+ countries (and hundreds have now been staged abroad); 77 foreign players have passed through the league, from 30-some different countries. Linsanity’s viral spread, for instance, is owed in great part not to Facebook but to the Chinese Weibo! Tatum said he is flooded with calls from Chinese brands wanting to ink a sponsorship deal with Lin or the Knicks. In an era where companies are judged by their foothold in growing markets, the NBA is a gold standard.

Why is this globalization good for the NBA? First, revenue. More TV deals, sponsorships, merchandise sales, and the option to do summer tours. And second, talent. The NBA is simply putting out a better product post globalization. The sportswriter Bill Simmons recently said the league has 3 times as many marketable stars as it did 20 years ago. This means sustained quality; the alternative, relying on the megastars of the past like Jordan, Bird, and Magic, is risky because you never know when they will come along.

If only I had been able to get to the forum on Thursday; speakers included Manchester United legend Eric Cantona and American football player Justin Tuck.