There are vast cultural differences that make it hard for Western firms to do business with China, explained recent guest lectures from the ESADE China Europe Club in my Global Marketing class. Some have to do with product preferences. The Chinese ideal of beauty is pale, white skin rather than tanned, olive skin; Chinese brides wear red dresses, not white. Then there are differences in social norms. Chinese people tend to be direct where Westerners would be discrete, yet they can be passive when Westerners would speak their mind. In view of these differences, experts propose several maxims to Western companies itching for a piece of China´s exploding middle-class market.

• Establish a local team to manage operations and negotiations. Without them, relationships suffer and it is difficult to ensure that suppliers and customers follow through on their commitments.
• “Achinar” or “Chinafy” products and trademarks to fit local tastes, as Nivea and Haagen-Dazs have done. Sales of Haagen-Dazs’ Mooncake ice cream have grown 25% annually for the last 14 years, according to General Mills.
• Consider sacrificing margins for volume, even on luxury goods. The middle class aspires to buy status symbol Western brands, but with middle-class incomes topping out at 1500 Euros per month, they are still price-sensitive.
• Be prepared for copying of intellectual property (though Chinese reverse-engineering experts prefer to call their work “homages.”) Ask Apple, whose iPhone 5 has already been pirated in China ahead of its official release, or Microsoft, which loses four computers to pirates in China for each one that it sells legitimately. Companies can combat counterfeiting by maintaining production in home markets or working with last-generation technology in China.

ESADE faces some of the same challenges in creating its brand in China. The school is currently conducting focus groups to determine the best way to translate both its name and brand meaning into Chinese characters, as Coca-Cola has done so successfully. Another dilemma is what to do about competitors’ banner ads being displayed in forums that are ostensibly about ESADE, as in the screencap below. (It could be as easy as ramping up display advertising spend.)

But ESADE appears to be doing things right in China. It has created a localized landing page, it posts on Weiboo and bulletin boards to expand its reach, and it hosts small roundtable chats in Mandarin with the Admissions staff’s resident linguist, Mary Granger. The biggest challenge is to find qualified students and convince them that Europe is the best place to embark on an international MBA.

For my classmates and I, the time is ripe to join the China boom. As many of us are headed on exchange to Asia next fall (Including me, to Hong Kong), perhaps we will.

Paying homage? The forum is about ESADE but the banners are for local business schools

It’s interesting to see themes surface in each of the videos that reflect ESADE’s values. For instance, an appreciation for the diversity of the MBA students and a desire to make the world more accepting in general. Diversity is one of ESADE’s main assets. It can be a real challenge working with people from opposite cultures, but through collaborative learning experiences and events like Gastrofest and Holi students grow to understand each other.

Other recurring themes in the videos are business ethics, equality, and peace. Enjoy!

Next Friday, April 27, ESADE hosts the 2nd Annual Emerging Markets Conference. “Emerging Future 2012 – Is the world ready?” The conference will bring together creative minds to discuss, debate, and challenge the most pressing topics concerning emerging markets today. A dynamic group of experts, practitioners, and professionals will gather together to explore ways to push boundaries of business and innovation related to healthcare, finance, or operational needs in today’s new global economy.

This conference is tremendously exciting because emerging markets provide the world with new investment opportunities and hubs for innovation, creativity, and growth. Companies from the developed world are seeking emerging market access for profitable growth, universities from around the world are strategically building relationships with emerging market institutions for research and recruitment, and international organizations are expanding capacity to meeting the growing demands and needs of emerging market economies.

From McKinsey consultants in London to healthcare professionals in Nigeria, the program will be driven by professionals whose work is at the heart of these critical emerging issues. There is a special focus on Brazil, Latin America’s largest and fastest-growing economy, at this year’s conference. The keynote speaker is Consul Sergio Barbosa Serra from the Brazilian attaché in Barcelona. Consul Barbosa Serra will reflect on both his experience in Barcelona and as the former Brazilian Ambassador in South Korea and New Zealand.

In hosting this conference, ESADE proves it understands the importance and influence of growth economies. As business schools rush to establish a presence in emerging economies, ESADE can boast of recent study tours in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, upcoming summer internships in places like Cambodia and South Africa, and thriving exchange programs in Brazil, China, and India. ESADE has also made emerging economies a priority for recruiting, in particular Brazil, India, China, and Saudi Arabia, in addition to strengthening historic ties with Latin America.

Come to the 2012 Emerging Future conference at ESADE and get your questions answered because this is one enriching event you won’t want to miss.

For more information about conference and to register, please visit our website at https://esade.campusgroups.com/emerging_future_2012/about/

Each year, adidas runs a case competition between ESADE and IESE students and ESADE has a great track record in this competition, finishing in first place for each of the past 2 years. This year there was even a surprise internship offer for the winners and ESADE continued its winning legacy for the 3rd straight year!

Given my strong interest in brand marketing, I was very excited for this competition. My partner in crime, Banele Levin was a perfect complement to my skill set for not only being a regular fitness junkie, but because he came from a completely different background. I had grown up in Tokyo; he in South Africa. My background is in marketing/branding in the music industry; he is a telecommunications engineer turned Accenture consultant. With our combined perspectives, I was confident we could apply a global strategy and combine our creativity from entertainment and telecommunications to present a unique idea.

The challenge this year was the following: “How could Reebok rebuild its current marketing strategy into a more brand-focused approach?” Essentially, Reebok is a fading brand but one whose equity remains strong, and thus a candidate for rejuvenation. Since Reebok’s acquisition, adidas Group had been trying to position the brand within their portfolio without cannibalizing other existing brands and had focused their efforts to brand Reebok as their fitness brand. We supported this positioning and came up with a strong consumer segmentation strategy for Reebok’s 3 categories (performance, fitness, and lifestyle) by focusing on different types of fitness behavior. We leveraged their investments to expand their product lines and shift their marketing strategy to focus on fitness behavior rather than their technology. We were also careful to create both short term and long term initiatives to ensure sustainability, keeping in mind not only Reebok’s goals but also, adidas Group’s goals. It was a lot of work but we had so much fun on the ideation that our energy level never faltered.

In the end, 3 teams from both ESADE and IESE presented in front of adidas representatives and Banele and I were announced as the winners! I was overwhelmed with emotions of shock, happiness, relief, and excitement. I hugged Banele and couldn’t stop smiling.

Banele and I will soon be off to adidas Group Headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany for our summer internships – Banele in Global Sales and myself in product development/branding for adidas Originals. For me, the internship gets me closer to the fabled “triple jump” – changing geography, industry, and function. This is the dream of many MBA students but in reality is extremely difficult when competing against candidates who have more direct experience. As the dream becomes closer to reality, we’re getting ready to conquer the next challenge in Headquarters.

ESADE also took 2nd place and I am proud to say that one of the team members, Juan Pablo Restrepo was also invited to interview with adidas and subsequently received an internship offer in the go-to-market division for Global Football. Another student who did not participate in the competition, Fabiana Thomé, was also offered an internship with adidas!

Our success in the case competition, and the 4 total internship placements that we were able to achieve with adidas, serves to validate ESADE’s strengths, the intelligence and passion of our student body, and how these opportunities get us closer to our career goals.

My journey to an MBA started on Facebook. A friend had posted The Economist’s ranking of the top 20 business schools and as I casually perused it, two programs in Barcelona caught my eye. I had tossed the idea around of getting an MBA for a while but hadn’t made a serious commitment to investigating programs. After researching ESADE, I realized it wasn’t the stuffy, typical business school that we hear so much about in Boston. I knew I wanted to get a degree while having a great experience and ESADE seemed like the perfect fit.

After spending far too many hours taking practice GMAT tests and retooling my application essays, I found myself at the Experience ESADE day in New York to get a better idea of what the program has to offer. Listening to the introductions of the other prospective students, I was amazed by the assortment of backgrounds and experiences. As was emphasized in the presentation, I knew I could learn a lot from this group of people and others like them. Plus, they seemed fun! I was admittedly bummed that I couldn’t stay for the cocktail hour that day as I had to catch a train back to Boston. But I left feeling assured that ESADE was going to be the best place for me.

Since accepting my place in the program, I have a huge smile when I tell people I’m moving to Barcelona for business school. I’m excited for a change of scenery along with a change of career. Though switching from being a database analyst to (hopefully) finding a position in CSR seems daunting now, I am eager to begin the process at ESADE. I am optimistic that I will gain the tools necessary to shift my career while having a wonderful time with a great group of people.

Next step, visa application!

How do you measure an MBA? In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee, in cases, in trips, in tears, in giggles…?

Last Friday the MBA was officially over. It’s a moment to look back and think in what the ESADE experience has been for me. It started the 30th August of 2010 although a lot of previous work had been done. I was convinced I had chosen a good option for my professional future. How wrong I was… it was not only the right choice professionally but also personally. I knew it was going to be hard but then I remembered the words from the poet Miquel Martí I Pol who writes “Tot està per fer I tot és possible” (Everything is to be done and everything is possible)

I could write thousands of pages about my personal experience and it will cross with many of yours. I have images of clubs, parties, dinners, nights, cases, struggles, sleep deprivation and learning experiences. It’s always summarized with a smile on my face.
It’s all about people, right? I loved the feeling I had when a special connection was created. From that moment on I knew my family had grown. Awesome experiences with people from all over the World… everyone eager to share about his/her own culture … I feel like if I had travelled all around the World without moving from Building 3.

The Graduation weekend was great. It was prepared with lots of details in order to be a big final party. Thank you to everyone: students, families, friends, staff and professors. I was lucky enough to be able to be part of the team. Another demonstration of the ESADE spirit to move things forward (as it had happened several times before). From section dinner to graduation trip… it was great to feel like nothing had changed. When meeting after several months there were no cold handshakes but warm hugs.

The ceremony was unforgettable. The students’ representatives did a great job with a speech combining humor, MBA concepts and emotions. The final video was another special moment with words from most of the students.

The dinner and party was a celebration and sharing moment. Videos, pictures, more speeches, regards from students and lecturers not able to attend and the night near the beach like a perfect ending in one of the most representative spots of our beloved Barcelona.

Maybe I’m not really specific but each of us has a unique record of each event and in the future we’ll share those, right?

And one would say “this is it”. My feeling is that it’s not an “adiós” but an “hasta pronto”. Let me finish with the words of Pere Casaldàliga, the Catalan emeritus bishop of São Felix do Araguaia (Mato Grosso):

Al final del camí em diran:
Has viscut? Has estimat?
I jo, sense dir res,
Obriré el meu cor ple de noms.

At the end of the road I’ll be asked:
Have you lived? Have you loved?
And I, without a single word, will open my heart full of names

A huge thank you very much to everyone involved in the ESADE MBA.

–Raül

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.

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