It is commonly considered that “Electric mobility has turned into a topic that is starting to electrify and mobilise the public”. Jean-Luc Martin detailed the initiative being undertaken within France to expand the use of such Renault electric cars as Kangoo, Fluence, Twizy and Zoé, and the positive impact that it is having on such cities as Nice and Strasbourg.

 
Jean-Luc Martin is graduated from the French Business School ESSEC. He has worked in sales and marketing functions in computer and software industry at Cap Gemini then in a start-up, Alsys, the Ada language specialist. He worked at Alcaltel Câbles on electronics components as product manager before joining EDF in 1993.

 
Ruddy Racon is currently the Marketing and Campus Development Manager at EDF, and President of the EDF Alumni Association. He studied Maths applied to Social Sciences at Paris Dauphine University and New Technologies Management at Metz University. He also holds an International MBA from IE Business School in 2010.

 
Mr. Martin also spoke about the ´Electric Odyssey´ (www.electric-odyssey.com) project being experienced by two young French engineers. They are currently making history by being the first to travel around the globe in an electric car, like the first flight crossing the channel back in 1909. It seems that these little clean vehicles are already changing the Motor Industry in France and hopefully this will continue in accordance with the Carbon-free vehicles plan of 2009.

Kim Goddard

The audience, consisting of both Swiss and Expats living in Switzerland, many of whom were already working in the branding and marketing sector, took part in a highly interactive event and had the chance to get a taste of what a real Master Class might be like at IE.

Led by IE Associate Dean of the Masters in Management and also Professor of Marketing since 2006, Professor Boehm has spent the last decade researching and consulting in the area of customer management which has had a profound effect on his thinking as a marketing professor at IE Business School. He believes that his work on customer relationship management has broad implications for the corporate world.

Not only informative and thought-provoking, the sessions were also filled with light laughter, as Professor Boehm cited cases from Diamond Shreddies versus the square Originals, Red Bull and its alternative Slow Cow, to the infamous Pepsi versus Coca-Cola case. He explained that the best way to hold customers and attract new ones is to ensure you have a unique value proposition that is both rationally and emotionally different. He also addressed how to build a meaningful, differentiated brand as well as how to fully deliver a brand experience capable of driving revenue and profit growth.

The events finished with a networking cocktail, where the audience could interact with Professor Boehm and IE Alumni, who were also to keen to listen to Professor Boehm once more. We will be back shortly in both Geneva and Zurich!

 Kim Goddard

William Ramon Pacheco

Since this is the first of possibly a few posts, I should take a moment to introduce myself. My name is William Pacheco and I am a part of the April 2011 intake for the IE’s IMBA program. I am originally from the United States, but more specifically, from the state of Florida. I graduated from the University of Florida and worked for 6 years with Accenture then for another 5 years with Pfizer before coming to IE to begin the MBA program and also my fellowship with the International Development team. I cannot say enough about my time here; much has been learned, many friendships have been made and much fun has been had.

The reason for this post however, is to highlight one of the key offerings that I feel has made my time here at IE especially enlightening. While most business schools these days offer case based learning techniques, several courses I have taken during the year have featured simulations that give a student such as me a better feel for what “a day in the life” of a specific career is really like.

One such course is Marketing Strategy for Decision Making, an intense 5-day, 20-session and team-based simulation. While most marketing courses follow a standard case format, this class allows you to make all the relevant marketing decisions for two fictional markets, and in both cases you do not compete against the software, but rather, you compete against your colleagues. Each teams strategy and tactics affect the other teams and create a situation similar to the real world where there is no set mix of decisions that will guarantee you a win. The team dynamics are great and the daily recap by the professor provides great guidance, ensuring that you learn from the decisions you made regardless of the outcome. This was a truly rewarding class.

Ignacio de la Torre

IE Professor Ignacio de la Torre will be holding a Master Class titled “Financial History: what can we learn from our mistakes?” on Saturday, June 9th.

The Master Class: Did you know that the “originate and distribute” model was widely used in the US in the 80s with catastrophic consequences? Why are financial mistakes repeated over history? Only through a careful analysis of what financial stupidities are committed over time regularly can we spot the true natures behind financial follies… after this analysis we can extract common lessons to prevent future financial crisis and to forecast the future of finance.

The Professor: With fourteen years experience in diverse fields of investment banking (corporate finance, equity research, specialist sales of media stocks, generalist sales of European equities and derivative sales at UBS and Deutsche Bank), de la Torre has been a Professor for IE for the last six years, teaching creative accounting, macroeconomics, finance & valuation courses. Professor De la Torre has also founded a business, the Internet retailer www.tododvd.com where he acts as a board member.

IE MASTER CLASS: Building Successful Brands

IE Business School и Siemens предсталяют  грант на обучение для женщин с образованием в области технологий и желанием открыть собственный бизнес.

Мадрид, Март 2012. Хуан Хосе Гюемес, президент Центра предпринимательства в IE Business School и Роза Гарсиа, президент Siemens в Испании представили проект Women’s Entrepreneurship in Europe ’12.
Women’s Entrepreneurship in Europe ’12 -  это своего рода конкурс среди женщин с инженерным образованием на лучшую бизнес идею.  Автор самого интересного проекта получит грант на обучение на  одной из мастерских программ в  IE Business School. Проект был представлен на конференции посвящённой женскому предпринимательству.  Особенное внимание получил вопрос, как привлечь женщин в сферу технологий, какие возможности для них существуют и как мотивировать их на создание бизнеса в этой области.
Главная цель проекта Women’s Entrepreneurship in Europe  ’12 – сделать привлекательными для женщин такие сферы как энергетика, электроника и механика. Идея проекта возникла из убеждения, что кооперация между наукой и бизнес образованием  послужат толчком для значительного экономического роста в Европе
Единственное условие для принятия участия в конкурсе: диплом в сфере технологий, полученный не ранее 5 лет назад. Учащиеся последних семестров тоже допускаются. Кандидатам предлагается загрузить на www.wee.ie.edu 3-минутное видео о своей идее и её преимуществе перед конкурентами а также своё  CV. Загрузить видео будет возможно  до 15 мая. Судейская панель, состоящая из руководителей департаментов Siemens и профессоров IE Busines School выберет самый инновативный проект с наибольшим потенциалом, а его автор получит грант на обучение на программе Master in Management  в IE. За время обучения Вы получите все необходимые знания и навыки для воплощения Вашего проекта в жизнь и возможность стать предпринимателем в области технологий.
Подробности на www.wee.ie.edu 
О Siemens
Siemens является мировым лидером по разработкам, производстве, инсталлированию высоко-технологических систем  в энергетике, медицине, индустрии. В компании работают более 360.000 сотрудников по всему миру. В 2011 году  продажи Siemens достигли  €6,321 миллионов, на 55% больше, чем в 2009-2010 году. 

The event also comprised a small presentation about how to recruit with IE, to consolidate IE’s brand recognition among top employers.

But the story does not end here! the Alumni Club is organizing a set of “company visits” (mainly Italian firms) where our hosts will have the chance to “show off” facilities and do some employer branding, while Alumni will get to know different working environments. These events will involve a small group of 10-15 Alumni.

Stay tuned to know more about our activities!

“Russia is “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma” – Winston Churchill could not have explained it better. 

Up until the 80s Russia was behind the “steel curtain”, unavailable for foreign investment. The 90s have seen the frenzying madness of the Western invasion and the radical change of the business practices. Back then to grab a piece of the Russian market was easier than stealing a candy form a child – consider just one example: the Production Sharing Agreement of the Sakhalin II project. As the government was regaining its stake and say in the “free” market in the 2000s, foreign investors (including those who helped the country survive the cash-lean 90s) are being gradually ousted either by giving preferential contractual terms to the national companies, by imposing quotas and restrictions (e.g. visas) or by direct attack as in the case when importing of Georgian wines was completely banned. Yet, it’s a BRICS country and the market potential is enormous, and having a Russian location on your CV is well-regarded by the international headhunters. If you are young, ambitious, you are not afraid of challenges and multiple setbacks, you want to learn fast and make your career double-quick, Russia is definitely for you. The question is: are you definitely for Russia?

Whoever is adventurous, young, and female with an entrepreneurial spirit for technical innovation, should participate at the business idea competition called WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN EUROPE, which is an alliance between Siemens and IE Business School.

Why did Siemens collaborate with IE to launch this business case competition where they look for young women, who are able to generate technical business ideas and opportunities?

IEs core values embrace both: entrepreneurial spirit and a strong commitment to supporting women in their transition to senior management and leadership positions. In both aspects, entrepreneurship and women leadership, IE Business School has already gained an international reference.

Siemens reputation is also built on its technological excellence, innovation, quality, reliability and internationality.

So this joint project by IE and Siemens is the perfect alliance to promote successful entrepreneurship among young women with technical training in Europe. The goals are designed to promote scientific-driven innovation, boost young women’s ambition, and build entrepreneurial and constructive attitudes among European youth in order to create new growth opportunities.

The entire contest is about finding IDEAS – to find out more about it, have a look on the website: www.wee.ie.edu  - there you can find out more about the rules, participants and all other details you might like to know!

But it a nutshell: Submit your business idea project in a video of 3 minutes until MID-MAY!