IPADE @BU case competition

Just before we all went on to enjoy some well deserved vacations, a group of 4 ipade students went to Boston to participate in the Boston University's International Tech Strategy Case Competition.

Our proud representatives were (from left to right) Omar, Jonathan,  Ricardo and Gabriel. They were up against UNC, IESE and Berkeley. Omar posted on his blog a few words about his experience in the competition, which we are reproducing here.


There is something about losing that the winners rarely get: a piece of own's reality. Winning is a mesmerizing drug that limits you to perceive all the lessons that a competition has to offer to your personal story. Only through the eyes of a loser is that we question our own goals, personal skills, perceptions, dreams and illusions.
Nevertheless, trying to fight pride that comes by winning is way sweeter than trying to  fight the one from losing, specially when you lose in something that you thought you were up to the challenge for...
This last week, a group of other three brave colleagues (Richard, Johnny and Gabo) and I embarked on the endeavor of showing the world what our MBA at IPADE has to offer. This was the 5th Boston Tech Strategy Case Competition held in Boston University.
Don't get me wrong here, the experience was one of a kind, we had all the fun that we could, Boston University logistics and hospitality was simply first class, we met new people, old friends and I even got to drive a car through the cosmopolitan streets of Boston. However, I'm not here to tell you about the details and results of the event as Debra has already done an excellent job in describing everything nice and fluently in the official Case Competition blog: http://casecomp.blogspot.com. Therefore, my intention here is to explain how this experience was felt through our own eyes.
Maybe to others the result just matched the expectations, however, to us things look a little different. However, I am a witness that we did everything we could and were prepared to do. We developed a consistent and well-thought concept that we still believe Ericsson should follow, In fact, what we presented intuitively matches the proposal of one of the finalists. Definitely the intuition that IPADE has been generating in us is high-quality as, to arrive to pretty much the same conclusions, the finalist team had to perform a lot of analysis and hard number-crunching. (You can familiarize with our proposal by downloading our presentation HERE).
Ok then, so why didn't we win? Hours of preparation, a team thoroughly chosen, great talents and skills in the team and a well-developed synergy and intuition: why didn't we get to the finals then? These are the insights (or rationalizations) generated by our team in trying to explain our failure:
a) Focus on the how, not in the what: we thought it was all about selling the idea but it wasn't. They cared a lot for the presentation skills, but for them those are just bottom-line. It is not about learning how to sell your idea but about developing such a well-thought and internalized analysis, that presentation quality should just flow naturally from the mind and heart. Hard job to be accomplished in 24 hours...
b) Lack of experience in researching for data: We are 100% case method, this means that all the information that you need to analyze in a given case or problem is always present either in the text or in the exhibits at the end of the case. However, this was totally different. We had myriads of information formats, sources and frameworks, and we had to decide which of them would be relevant or not to our solution. Not an easy task for the unexperienced...
c) Inability to unblock the writer's block: At about 6 or 7 in the afternoon, we had three blackboards full of relevant and interesting information and proposals. But we were just looking at our faces without understanding what to do with it: how was the best way to present it in a compelling, coherent and well presented story-line? We had planned to sleep about 6 to 8 hours, we end up sleeping none. At about 11 in the night, the writer`s block unblocked almost by itself. We started putting our thoughts together in the presentation and then prepared to deliver the message. Difficult job for some tired and frustrated storytellers...
d) Focus on Emerging Market possibilities, instead of in the high value created by new technologies in the developed countries: One of the tasks of the case was to tell a case story about how would the initiatives proposed look like in a specific application. We, of course, focused in the intricacies and needs of our Emerging Market Economy. This was excellent as the financial results indicated an increase of 9 cents per share per year, by only spreading this initiatives in the Emerging Markets already present (compared to the 16 cents gained in 2008). However, they were expecting us to think like venture capitalists: not how to solve tough problems and make money out of it, but how to gain the most money with the least of efforts, and talking about Internet Mobility (the case's topic), the big bucks are in the developed countries, where streaming tv and remote video gaming are well spread, require tons of bandwidth and are growing exponentially.
e) Not up to the challenge of the raising of the stakes: If you compare last year's winning competitors to our performance, you could easily tell that we would have made it to the finals. However, the competing universities are definitely noticing the importance and exposure that this competition has been gaining with the years and they sent their heavy artillery. There is simply NO WAY that this year winners would have developed such a thoroughly analyzed and perfectly conveyed McKinsey-like performances in just 24 hours, even less for some of them who actually slept. They had a very good idea of the challenges in the industry, they talked both to industry and technology experts, to the researchers that are currently developing the new strategy frameworks that will be bestseller books next year, to the managers and decision makers of companies like Ericsson and they rehearsed the language, concepts and vocabulary they use in the verge of this new mobile internet era. We thought we would be able to crunch all that insight in 18 hours, hard job to do for guys whose experience and insights come more from analyzing the past than by shaping the future...

The results were fair. The judges judged well. We didn't deserve to win. We deserved to be humbled by our assumptions and to be encouraged by understanding that, even though our intuition is accurate and compelling, we still need some skills to build if we are to fulfill the developed-countries' tech-industry complex requirements. However, I think that not everything was a loss. I believe that we were able to portray that IPADE people are professional. That we are objective, we live by our values and maturely value the quality when we see it. That we value more the people we are with, than the material results we can get from them. We worked excellently as a team. I would definitely had chosen the same team even if I'd known we were going to lose. And most of all, I don't believe that any other team proposed something as magnanimous as ours. Others proposed socially responsible actions as well, however, even when they proposed what Ericsson should have or do, I didn't see any team that would clearly state what they were expecting Ericsson to become. We were not mediocre, we wanted money, we wanted our piece of the pie, but not only that. We developed a concept that aims not only to create economic value, but also aimed to make Ericsson a company focused in value co-creation, innovation orchestration and community managing. If I'd say that we achieved something, was to demonstrate ourselves that in our minds we have the goal to create a better world, one in which technology and strategy work harmoniously together to enhance the quality of life of our own. And even though we didn't return as heroes, it makes me feel happy to know who my colleagues and I are becoming at IPADE. Thank you everyone both in Boston and in Mexico. This experience will definitely be added to our list of life-changing ones.

Kudos to the IPADE team! Read More!

Two ways to know our culture

Throughout the DBiM week, many things happened, and all of us had the chance to see what Mexico is like to day and some examples of big, global companies founded, run and headquartered in Mexico. And all of that is great, but this wouldn't be a complete cultural exchange if we leave our cultural roots unexplored. And we did this in two ways:

First, a visit to the Anthropology museum, which is renowed as one of the most beautiful, complete, engaging, rich and enriching places to visit if you want to know about mexican history.In fact, it possesses the largest collection of pre-Columbian art in the planet, which distributed amongst its 24 rooms, constitutes the biggest museum in Latin America.

But this place goes beyond showing pieces, they actualy have reproductions of the actual places: pre-hispanic buildings, archaeological zonez, etc. So instead of looking at the piece alone, you get to have a feel of how it fits in its cultural environment. And that's not to mention the fact the the place itself has a great architectural structure. Oddly enough, it's a historic museum capableof giving people a thrilling run for their money.

But a museum, no matter how great it may be, will remain a museum, so secondly, and as a way to close our week, we took our guests to kow one of the most ancient and fascinating civilizations on this side of the ocean, i'm talking about the enigmatic city of Teotihuacan. Teotuhuacan attracts over 2 million visitors every year, especially during the spring time,when a lot of people climb the Sun Piramid (the largest building of the zone) to "charge themselves" with the equinox sun. -it is believed that recieving the spring equinox sun in the top of the Sun Piramid gives you energy for the rest of the year.

Just to give you an idea, when the aztecs, by far the most commonly known mexican pre-hispanic civilization, arrived to what would become their homeland, they encountered with Teotihuacan's ruins, and came to believe this was a former city of their gods (Teotihuacan means "the place where the gods are born", according to some experts and "city of the gods" according to some others). And this was because of two reasons:

1. First, of course, because these were some really old ruins,but also
2. Because of the high level of complexity and precision that is evident in every house, temple and building, which they considered to be of a superior order, something only gods could do

We hope that these two activities have helped our fellow guests to gain a better understanding of the mexican culture as a whole, and let me just finish by stating that if Mexico manages to live up to its predecessor's glory, then our future will look really bright

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A kids’ day!!!

If I could say in one word how yesterday was I would say: kid.

I know that all of us have different experiences in our lives, but I think that most people can agree with me that one of our funniest experiences we had in our life, we had it when we were kids.

When we were kids the world was our playground, it didn’t matter if it was an empty room or if it was a room crowded with adults. A kid’s imagination is a great tool that we usually forget to use when we grow up.

Yesterday we remembered how it was being a kid through the eyes of KidZania customers, boys and girls from 6 to 12 years old.

We visited KidZania, which is one of the most interesting entrepreneurial initiatives in Mexico. In KidZania formerly known as “La Ciudad de los Niños” (The Children’s City), the kids can use a role play game in which they learn how to work as fireman, policeman, actors, chefs, etc., but in this place also big sponsors like Domino’s, Comex, Marinela, Televisa, etc. can interact with the kids, marketing their products and conducting a market study.

We experienced all of these on a tour surrounded with kids, who were running, jumping and yelling. At the end of the tour we entered to a conference room where Xavier López, (CEO and founder of KidZania), explained the business model to us. He remarked that KidZania is not only an entertainment park it’s a business engaged with Mexico’s children, trying to help kids and their families to be better citizens.

During the morning we also had two very interesting sessions, the first one we had was a case called “Pineda Covalin” which is a high fashion company that is inspired by Mexican traditions. One of the founders of Pineda Covalin, Cristina Pineda, came to the session and talked about the designing experiences and also what challenges the company is facing today. She said: “If you want to be global, start being local”. At the end we all got an invitation to the Pineda Covalin fashion show in April.

We also got a great and interesting lecture about the Political Perspective in Mexico, the discussion was very passionate.

At the end of the day, I reflected, that we have to try to enjoy little things in life, and from time to time try to see life from a kid perspective. Read More!

Social action @ DBiM

So, as we were saying in one of our earlier posts,IPADE students also have community services (and it's not from deteniton or anything like that, it's 100% willingly) . Well, as a part of the international week, the guys and girls have been assembling and selling some earthenware jars, cups and pots with traditional mexican candy and are selling it to those of our visitors interested in having 100% authentic mexican pottery and helping a noble cause at the same time.

With the help of our kind purchasers, we will be able to continue our efforts to improve this community's life quality. Thanks to everyone who has contributed to our cause!!

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DBiM Day 3

To sum it up, today was about contrast between three very different spheres: the goverment, the big multinational companies and the new, innovative entrepreneur-driven enterprises. The day began with the visit of Manuel Ángel Núñez, who is the current governor of the state of Hidalgo. It's not very common to have this kind of visitors, but the role of the politics is crucial to understand the whole social and economic picture of the country. Also, Manuel was one of the key negociators of the North American Free-trade agreement (NAFTA).

He talked about the overall environment that surrounded these negotiations, and the new challenges Mexico must face and the role of the political leaders in it.

After that,we had Jesus Sotomayor, who has worked and initiated a large number of successful business in the telecommunications business (such as the mexican branch of AT&T, just to mention one of them). He came to tal with us about the the entrepreneur spirit, and broke one of common places of this kind of discussions by stating that entrepreneurs are both born and formed.

Jesus has the knowledge and the skills, of course... but most importantly, he has so much PASSION that it's impossible not to feel thrilled and with a lot of enthusiasm after even the quickest chat with him. All of us felt renewed energies and huge inspiration for our future projects, whatever and wherever they may be.

It was evident form te very beginning what the key for his success was: his intense, open-minded personality, combined with a sharp mind, an extremely developed sense of humor and "buena onda, no mamila" way to get along with people. Here's some quotes so you get a feeling of it:

"Please forgive my english aztec accent"
"Feedback is the food of champions"
"Banks in mexico are curious,they have this tendency to always lend people to all those who don't need it and never lend money to those who need it"
"Entrepreneurs don't need money as much as they need ideas"
"My english sucks SO WHAT??? i'll still do business with english-speakers"
"The biggest mistake an entrepreneur can do is to try to sell his company, instead of selling himself"
"Never seek to sell something, seek for the other one tu buy it" (No lo vendas, que te la compren)
"Aways kind, never arrogant" (Buena onda, no mamilas!!)

After lunch, we went on to on of the most representative and important mexican companies in the world: Bimbo. We actually had to prepare carefully for thisvisit, watching our dressing to comply with the strict sanity measures needed to go in there. We were able to witness the production process and the overall ambient of the company, and also had a quick presentation of the financial performance of the group (which you can find here) Read More!

News flash from Kidzania!!!

Just in time for our visit later today, we recieved breaking news from our fellas at kidzania. Check it out!!

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Ready to Rumle... La Lucha Libre!!!

When someone asks you, "what are some mexicans traditions that a foreign person most know?"

My usual answer is "Lucha Libre", I have to be honest, Lucha Libre is not like going to a museum, or to the pyramids, it's a very interesting place where the mexican folklore arises.

It's not a fancy place where you can ask for some wine, it's a "plaza" (arena) where you can yell for some "chelas" and "chicharrones". It's a place where you can wear a wrestling mask and support good or evil.

The good ones in Mexico are the "Técnicos" or the technicicians also the scientists, they represent the wrestlers who follow the rules, they are the acrobatic ones. The other side is the "Rudos" or the rude people, they don´t follow rules, they cheat to win, and they are the funniest ones.

Mexico's Lucha Libre, it's a show in which some of our ancient traditions prevails, for instance the wearing of a mask has to do with the aztecs whose warriors wore masks in combat.

That's enough "rollo" (chit-chat), the first thing you notice when you enter the coliseum is that there is an important social mixture, you can find people who own a BMW or people who own a bike. Both of them can have a unique experience, the world of economical injustice evaporates.

Once we entered, the staff gave us some directions, for instance, we couldn't get up of our seats because we may disturb the people behind us.

The people of the organization of the show gave us a "chela" (beer), then the students had a beer in one hand and used the other to point at the wrestler they want to support.

Then all of us began to cheer on a wrestler, we yelled at him "el verde" or the green. In that match the Rudos won. When the show was progressing, the mexicans students were teaching the international students some popular phrases, so they could yell to the wrestlers in the ring.

There was very muscular wrestler who became the favorite for the girls and the most hated for the guys, it was very funny. During the match, a "vendedor" (sales person) sold mexican wrestlers masks. A lot of people bought them, and suddenly the show was in our place too, there was a narrow line that was blurring between the audience and the ring.

At the end of the show came the star of the evening, "Shocker el 1,000% guapo" (the 1,000% handsome), it was the funniest match I've ever seen.

When we were leaving, the students who were still wearing the masks improvised a wrestling match, it was so funny, because some of them were very skinny and also with no athletic abilities for gymnastics.

Finally my conclusion is, if you want to live a Mexican experience, you have to go to the "Lucha Libre"!

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DBiM Day 2

First, Gustavo moreno, one of the top executives of Grupo Modelo brewing company, talked to us about their strategic management process, based on Kaplan and Norton's Balanced Scorecard . We discussed the challenges, pros and cons of this process, and the particularities of the implementation. Check the presentation he used here

Then, Julián Sánchez, one of our best proffessors in terms of Managerial information and Control, discussed with us the Gas Metropolitano case, and explored the balance that control and empowerment maintain, the fragility of this balance and the particular aspects that must be taken into consideration in the mexican culture, focusing of the processes of pressure, opportunity and racionalization, which leads to temptation and, utimately, to cheating. We also explored the triggers for each kind of control system: beliefs, boundaries, diagnostics and interactive.

And then, we went on for grupo Modelo's headquarters, and got a taste of their processes (and the final products while we were at it). Take a look!

Oh!!! and let's not forget that little detail called LAS LUCHAS!!... we'll deal with that later tonight and have a full report Read More!

DBiM Day 1

The DBiM week has officially started!

The day started at 7:30AM with teamwork and breakfast. It was a chance for all of the students to interact and introduce themselves. Then, each team was assigned a restaurant, where they would have to evaluate the restaurant's business model. 

Restaurants included were Cafe Tacuba, La Cantina de los Remedios, etcetera.

Phd. Rafa Gómez Nava, Dean of IPADE's Master gave a welcome speech, in which he pointed out that Mexico is not a horse and hat country, not a Chavo del 8 country; Mexico is a strong value country adapting to the modern world... Mexico is a country for young and talented people... and this week is going to be a great life experience for all of us"

Antonio Casanueva set the goals for the week and suggested the main  questions students should ask themselves this week: Are there opportunities in others countries that can use a Mexican bussiness model? (see the official presentation that Antonio gave us )

In this DBiM we have 12 students from Darden, 6 from Endicott, 14 from Kenan-Flagger, 6 from IESE, 7 from Universidad Católica de Chile, 2 from IMT, 2 from Bitten, 1 from SMU and 73 IPADE's students.

Next was Edmundo Vallejo, former CEO of GE Latin  America, came over to discuss about the implications of the crisis, we discussed the main axis that need to be taken into consideration, covering the world economic forum and some interesting initiatives by ashoka.A discussion arose here, with good skeptical points made by Marcus and Rachelle that got us into thinking of the implementation barriers the sustainable projects have, and what kind of variables need to be taken into account, such as education, politics and social stability of the zone where the project would take place.

Then the group split in order to have some closer attention for each participant: both of them had sessions with Mario Zavala and Juan Pablo Nuñez, but some had Mario first and some others had Gustavo first. With Mario we discussed the Inverlat case and wiht Juan Pablo

With Mario we discussed the Inverlat case, which involved culture management and how sometimes even the best intentions are not enough to get a real synergy, because the actions that result are based on superficial judgements of the other's culture. We studied the culture as a multi-layer system where the basic assumptions are the core for everything else, but at the same time are hidden from the surface.

Mario has a fun yet pushy style, which makes up for an amazing, fun discussion that gets us to dig, layer by layer, until we reach the core of the problem.

Juan Pablo, from Grupo Pando one of the oldest companies in Mexico,  showed us a successful case of social responsibility in the southern state of Chiapas, where coffee productors passed from selling their product for peanuts and spending it on liquor to creating a valuable product and spending it on the improvement of their communities.

During a break Daniel Reilly, a student from IESE said, "we are having fun everyday", a lot of the students said that they are waiting eagerly the trip to Teotihuacan, alos the "Lucha Libre". One of the foreign students said that she was impressed of Mexico city when she saw it from the airplane, she said "I thought that i was on a sea of lights"

Later on, each team went on to explore their assigned restaurants and study their business models. We'll know more about their findings on friday, when they'll present us their work and a winner wiill be named

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