Archive for the ‘Clubs’ Category

MBASA in the mood for change – new website, statutes…

March 20, 2010

MBASA is revamping itself and there is a lot of energy it seems. I like what I am seeing. The new team has taken the leads and is really pushing forward with change. I first noticed that the communication with the students has become more professional with a new newsletter format and frequent surveys and drop-in sessions.

Then I  noticed that there is an increased link between MBASA, the student body and the program mangement. MBASA is now entitled to join and participate in the monthly program management meetings and therefore is now able to contribute the student’s views and feedback and direct them directly to the program directors and the Dean. This is a great move forward from the past and it is good step forward for a closer collaboration.

Today I get an email from MBASA informing students that they would like to change the constitution with more modern and flexible statutes in order to allow for implementing changes more rapidly. This is very proactive and I am glad to see that the change process starts at the core. In addition they sent out a survey asking for the students’ opinion on the proposed changes and this leads me to my next point.

MBASA revamped its website. The survey was conducted on their website, which I didn’t know was relaunched recently. Great way of promoting the new website that hopefully will become the center of information. What I like is that there you can also find there the archived newsletters that I mentioned earlier. The clubs are also now being migrated to the same MBASA address so the online representation of the clubs becomes more uniform.

In addition on the right you will find a calendar for all the MBASA and student related events. This is a long awaited move and I am glad to see that it is finally online. Now we just need the calendar link so that we can import it into our calendars and that it becomes automatically updated on our computers as well.

The next thing that I suggest you start a little online shop for MBASA and ESADE merchandise so that we can buy the products all year around. I truly like the ESADE merchandise and I hope that we get to see more ESADE t-shirts, hoodies, caps, etc. on campus. You might want to use the Abacus technology of the current ESADE shop website.

Good job MBASA and keep it up. I like what I am seeing!!!!

BiCE Summit (09.03.2010)

March 4, 2010

The Cleantech and Environment Club is setting up a registration table today, March 4th, starting at 10:30 outside the cafeteria on the 2nd Floor to sign up participants for next Tuesday, March 9th’s, BiCE event.

Even if your primary interest is Banking or Consulting and not necessarily in Cleantech, this is a perfect opportunity to network with Consultants, Politicians, Investors and Business Angels, Academics, Industry groups and Multinational Companies.

It’s a full day event packed with more than 30 speakers from different companies, plenty of food and drinks, and tons of dedicated interaction time between the audience and speakers.

BiCE has been featured in the Wall Street Journal Europe (March 3rd issue) under the Future Leadership Institute section. For full details or to register online, kindly log on to www.bicesummit.com

Business in Cleantech & Environment Summit 2010

Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Time: 11:00 – 19:45

ESADE FORUM
Av. Pedralbes 60-62
E-08034
Barcelona, Spain

For full details, kindly log on to www.bicesummit.com
Register here
For queries, please contact mbacleanenergyclub@esade.edu

Career Services’ reactions and promises…

February 2, 2010

After two meetings with the Career Services yesterday it seems that your feedback on the article had an impact.  It is not quite official yet but the following changes are planned for the coming days and weeks:

  • An official statement of the Management
  • Restructuring of the Career Services (apparently there will be a re-allocation of responsibilites)
  • Implementation of clear processes and K.PERFORMANCE.Is beyond staff-student ratios based on the recommendations of a famous consultancy  (not sure why a Business School spends money on a consultancy but…)
  • Survey for Career Week
  • Migration of discussion to Nexus to open up further “internal” dialogue
  • Workshops with students on how to strengthen Career Services
  • Renaming of Career Week to “Career Forum
  • More in-depth company briefings prior to campus visits
  • Differentiating between company and recruitment presentation
  • A stronger focus on developing company relationships with student clubs and academia
  • Publication of a clear hierarchical structure incl. responsibility allocations (should be expanded across the school in my opinion)
  • More transparency and new faster feedback policies
  • Publication of recruitment/interview statistics
  • and a few more…

Obviously not all of these are a result of the blog article and coincide with some changes that have been planned anyhow but it is a good development in any case.

These are all high aspirations and it is important that they are being implemented however most probably this will take some time.  However I still hope and think that it is important that the outgoing students see the changes implemented before leaving in two months.

On the other side we still have to acknowledge that they always put in a lot of efforts into attracting companies to campus, organising the career week, etc. And  you can’t honestly expect them to offer you placements. We do all need to be proactive ourselves. The crisis is bad for placements but that’s was already clear when we started, no?

In any case the latest discussions and feedback from us students have been heard. Let’s see and good job hunting!!

Guest speaker: Ignasi Cusido “Operations in a Family Business”

February 1, 2010

Please join us on Tuesday, February the 2nd at 18.30 in Room A018.

The Operations and Entrepreneurship Clubs would like to invite you to attend “Operations in a Family Business” presented by Ignasi Cusido, CEO of LAMP Lighting and member of ESADE alumni society. LAMP Lighting, which is based out of Barcelona, has been one of the leading light innovators within the industry since its inception in 1972.

Ignasi’s presentation will focus on LAMP’s Operational Strategy as it expands its international presence. LAMP is a family business that offers a personalised service to clients and is totally involved in the projects it participates in by providing a comprehensive, innovative and aesthetic service.

ESADE MBA Directory

January 31, 2010

Several readers have contacted me to provide information about the ESADE MBA that is essentially on the website of ESADE. Therefore I decided to write this directory that you will also find on the right side as a separate page for easy access (click here).

NAME: ESADE, Ramon Llull University
HISTORY: ESADE timeline since 1958
LOCATION: ESADE MBA, Avinguda d’Esplugues, 92, 08034 Barcelona, España
FACILITIES: Barcelona-Pedralbes Campus, Barcelona-Sant Cugat Campus, Madrid Campus, Buenos Aires Campus

PROGRAMS: Full Time MBA – 12, 15 or 18 months  (Brochures, Information Sessions), Part Time MBA, Executive MBA and Global Executive MBA, all other courses
RANKING: Overview (Business Week, FT, Wall Street Journal, Aspen Institute, America Economia)
ADMISSIONS: Full Time MBA, Part Time MBA
DATES: Application deadlines, interview dates, information sessions, news
GMAT: Preparation Courses
COURSE: Core courses and electives
CAREER: Parners and recruiters (Recruiter Portal)
ALLIANCES: Academic partners and Exchange Programs
FINANCE: Full Time MBA Financial Aid, Scholarships
STUDENTS: Full Time MBA Class Profile
FACULTY & RESEARCH: Directory and Profiles

STUDENT ASSOCIATION: MBASA
ALUMNI: ESADE Alumni
BLOG: ESADE MBA Blog
STUDENT LIFE: All about Barcelona and ESADE

Elevator Pitch Contest on Barcelona Radio

December 17, 2009

Saurabh Mishra, former president of the ESADE Entrepreneurship Club, just pointed out that Barcelona Radio reported about the Elevator Pitch Contest. To listen to the report click here.

If anybody wants to make a transcript feel free to add it here ;)  Did they talk about the three winners and what did they say about the system of mobile payments if mentioned at all?

Top 10 Business Ideas – Elevator Pitch Contest

November 26, 2009

Last night the jury for the ESADE Entrepreneurship Club Elevator Pitch Contest, comprising of professors and VCs, has chosen the following ten projects from 26 applicants. These ten projects will give a 3min pitch on Monday, 31st of November 2009, at 6.30pm at the ESADE Forum.

1. Ad deliverers - Eduard Cansado
2. AFADS - AbdelAziz
3. Aircraft on Ground - Pedro Martinho
4. Jet A Suits - Marc Winter
5. Cell Tag - Eric King
6. Houseactioneer – Alfredo Paul
7. Microfinance for Profit - Chinmoy
8. New in Town - Ivaylo Vasilev
9. Park IT - Joan Muni
10. Mobile Payment System - Tobias Caldeweyher (myself)

We will be closely watched by students, alumnis, VC’s, professors, IESE and local entrepreneurs. If things turn out well a project might be picked up by an investor and the business takes off. This provides a great opportunity and it will definitely be a great event. The event will be followed by a networking cocktail for all the participants. The event costs 12€.

 

Must-See Video: ESADE Entrepreneurship Elevator Pitch

November 20, 2009

The Entrepreneurship Club created a great video for the Elevator Pitch Contest, which you have to see. If the event is as great as the video then this event will be excellent. Have a look at this and special mention has to go to William and Keely for the acting! The MBA has paid out already…

Entrepreneurship Club: Elevator Pitch Contest

November 16, 2009

Deadline submission extension! Round 1 submission extended to Sun., Nov 22nd 2009!

- Submissions should be sent in documents of up to 2 pages (1 page front & back)

- Teams of up to 4 members (for the final round, select 1 person to deliver the pitch)

Over € 1000 in CASH prizes!

- All Competition participants will have access to the event and Networking Cocktail free of charge

- For non-members, non-participants: € 15 at the door, or € 12 in advance (register by Nov. 22nd)

Find out more information on the website of the ESADE Entrepreneurship Club here

- Still completely confused? Try some of the following resources:

http://www.businessweek.com/careers/content/jun2007/ca20070618_134959.htm

http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/nivi/2009/04/how-to-write-an-elevator-pitch.html

For any questions: mbaentrepreneurshipclub@alumni.esade.edu or, speak to a club Board member in your class: Ahmad Al Alami, Christian Behn, Zorina Dimitrova, Rahul Trivedi, Saurabh Mishra, William Busch, Carles Costa

Rugby Iberia Cup: ESADE vs. IESE vs. LBS

November 14, 2009

The day has come and today we will find out whether all this training has paid off. It is the day of the Iberia Rugby Cup of ESADE vs. IESE vs. LBS (women touch rugby only).  Join this great event as spectator and show us your colors. We need all your support!!

Time: 16.00 to 18.00 (Warm-up starts at 15.00)
Location: Universitat de Barcelona Sportsgrounds on Avinguda Diagonal 695  (View the  map here)
Details: Guys are playing rugby 7′s (at 4pm) and girls are playing rugby touch.

Preliminary Schedule:
16.00 LBS1 v ESADE
16.30 IESE v LBS2
17.00 LBS1 v ESADE
17.00 IESE v LBS2
17.30 IESE v ESADE
17.30 LBS1 v LBS2

Dinner

Time: 21.30
Cost: 25 Euros/Person covers food and Sangria
Location: Gran Via de Corts Catalans, 692 (map)

Late Night

Cost: We have arranged for free entry before 2am.
Location: Opium Mar, Paseo Marítimo, 34. (map )

Proudly supported by the ESADE MBA Rugby Team.

 

Presentation: Sourcing from China

November 12, 2009

Now it is November and memories about China are already fading however it surely has left a mark on all of us. It was a great experience and we learned a lot however we are still missing one important aspect of the Study Tour. In order to address one shortfall of the China Study Tour we thought it might be interesting to provide you with the opportunity to see China from the angle that has been kep hidden from us: the non-Chinese perspective!

The ESADE Operations Club and ESADE Entrepreneurship Club have invited Tom von der Heyden, 3S Managing Director, to present some realities of what it is really like to do business in China as foreigner. Many of you have already received the email from MBASA however I would like to stress that this presentation is mainly addressed to you, the participants of the Study Tour to China.

It would be great if joined this presentation this Friday because it is for you:

Date: Friday 13, 2009
Time: 5-6 PM
Location: ESADE – Building 3, Avinguda d’Esplugues 92-96, Barcelona
Room: A012

We are looking forward to welcoming you

Operations Club

Newsletter – Emerging Markets #4

November 10, 2009

Emerging Markets

Are ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) Causing an Emerging-Markets Bubble? – U.S. investors have pumped roughly $26 billion into emerging-markets funds so far this year. Of that, $15 billion came in through exchange-traded funds — portfolios that hold every stock in a market benchmark with utterly no regard to price. FT Advisor, WSJ

Latin America

Agriculture: Superpower is ready to feed the world – Malthusians worried about the world’s ability to feed itself might like to listen to Roberto Rodrigues, an agribusiness consultant and former Brazilian agriculture minister. FT

Lula sees Brazil economy growing 5 pct in 2010 – President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is confident Brazil’s economy will grow by 5 percent in 2010 and expects foreign reserves to reach $300 billion soon, he told the Financial Times in an interview published on Monday. Reuters

Meirelles Says Investors May Create Brazil Bubble - Brazilian central bank President Henrique Meirelles said “exuberant” investors might create an asset bubble in Latin America’s biggest economy. Bloomberg

Latin America will do well, but not great – The news that Brazil and Mexico have come out of the recession and are poised for solid growth should be celebrated, and both countries leaders should be given credit for their sound economic management. Miami Herald

Latin America low on Obama’s priority list – One year the election of President Obama, it’s time to ask whether his ambitious campaign promises for Latin America are being fullfiled. Miami Herald

Latin American Leaders Seek to Rein in Media, Press Group Says – Populist leaders in Latin America are increasingly making legal and political moves to silence their critics in the media, the president of the Inter American Press Association said Friday. NYTimes

Asia Pacific/Pacific

Indian IIM-A placement record – The famous business school IIM-A manages to place all 321 students within four days. India Times

Asian stocks falling third week in a row – The Asian stock markets have been experiencing the longest decline for the last 8 months. Bloomberg

Russia – German carmaker Audi is aiming at doubling its sales to 30,000 by 2015 in Russia while Gazprom is cutting its profits in half for first half of 2009. WSJ, The Associate Press

Is China unbalancing the world economies? – China is again growing at 8% and is bound to overtake Japan as the second largest economy in the world. Critics now say that this growth is at the expense of the rest of the world especially with regards to the Yuan policies. Economist economist Herbert Stein goes even further criticing that this growth is not sustainable: ” too much investment, too much saving, too little consumption”. NY Times

India – JPMorgan to Grow Indian Investment Banking Unit. Bloomberg

Indian-South Korean freetrade agreement – India and South Korea are moving closer by increasing economic ties and entering a free trade agreement. JoongAng Daily, Businessweek

Japan - Uncertainty about US Army Bases in Japan after new Japanese government has taken power and Obama heading to Japan. WSJ Reuters

Mekong Delta – The last frontier of the Asian Emerging Markets is gaining increasing attention especially now as Japan makes more economic ties. Channel News Asia, Reuters

Asia most affected by climate change – The APEC summit has concluded that it is most affected by the Economic Change and focuses more attention on environmental protection now. Xinhuanet

Obama in Asia – The US president is faced with tough situations when visiting Japan, China, Singapore and South Korea this week. Honolulu Advertiser LA Times

Africa

Angola Seeks $4 Billion in Bond Sale, JPMorgan Says Angola, which vies with Nigeria as Africa’s biggest oil producer, is seeking to raise $4 billion in the sub-Saharan African region’s largest sale of bonds. Bloomberg

China pledges $10bn in Africa loans The Chinese government has pledged to give African countries billions of dollars in cheap loans at a two-day Africa-China summit in Egypt. Aljazeera

Ghana to renegotiate $900m Vodafone deal The government of Ghana on Tuesday night said it would renegotiate Vodafone’s $900m (£550m) purchase of a leading local telecoms group after an official review into alleged “irregularities” in the deal. FT

Why deregulation is essential for Nigeria, by Yar’Adua PRESIDENT Umaru Musa Yar’Adua yesterday said that deregulation of the petroleum sector was inevitable to curb corruption and other abuses in the system. NGR Guardian News

SA terminate $5.4bn Airbus deal The South Africa government has terminated the US$5.4 billion Airbus A400M military aircraft deal, cabinet announced on Thursday. The decision which was taken two weeks ago but was only made public Thursday would have seen the southern African country acquire eight Airbus A400 military aircraft. Africa News

Why Ugandans want to work in Iraq At the Watertight security training ground in Uganda, a group of men and women are doing target practice with their AK47s. BBC

Most clicked articles last week:

HSBC On Lookout For Acquisitions In Emerging Markets -WSJ

Emerging Markets Offer Operators Best Opportunity to Gain Foothold in Growing Mobile Business Customer Market, Says ABI Research – Reuters

The Double-Edged Sword of Emerging Market Growth – Seeking Alpha

Forget China, Brazil’s a cheaper investment – CNN Money

This newsletter was sent by the ESADE Emerging Market Club. If you wish to unsubscribe please reply to this email with the word “unsubscribe” in the subject. To subscribe please email to ESADE Emerging Market Club and write “subscribe” in the subject.

 

Start-up Weekend in BCN: iWeekend (20.-22.11.09)

November 9, 2009

The worldwide phenomena of start-up weekends has reached Barcelona. iWeekend is taking place in Barcelona on the weekend of the 20th until the 22nd of November 2009. This event was mentioned in the entrepreneurship aggregator I posted a few days ago but I would like to emphasize this particular event a little further:

Start-up weekends are events for entrepreneurs, who meet over an entire weekend, with the goal to have developed a business concept by the end of the weekend. This is similar to an un-conference or user generated conference that leverages the drive, motivation and creativity of the users. On Sunday night hopefully the result is a start-up with like-minded people.

This is definitely worthwhile experiencing and you should check it out here! Happy creations!

Source: iWeekend.org

My ESADE MBA: Statistics and insights

November 7, 2009

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Update: This article made it to the 6th most-read article in a few hours and today the blog has received the largest amount of visitors in one day, exceeding the record by 22% reation!

——————————————————————————————————————————–

After having written 99 articles and having had 4000 visitors (October 1050 alone) since March 2009 I was thinking that it might interest you to find out some statistics about the blog.  The following are the 10 most read articles of my blog, which should give you an idea of the topics people are most interested in:

  1. About My ESADE MBA
  2. The Economist – FT MBA Ranking 2009
  3. Good luck for the first exam!
  4. Barcelona – Insider Tips
  5. My ESADE MBA: Statistics and insights
  6. Accomodation – ESADE Entrepreneurship
  7. Recommended Pre-MBA Readings
  8. MBA Career Portals
  9. Subjects & Seminars
  10. Pre-MBAT Soccer Match: ESADE vs. IESE

The following are the 10 most searched terms on the My ESADE MBA search engine:

  1. entrepreneur
  2. esade mba
  3. esade
  4. esade mba blog
  5. esade blog
  6. esade entrepreneurship club
  7. esade student blog
  8. my esade mba
  9. esade good at entrepreneurship?
  10. esade marketing career

I have received an increasing amount of personal emails, questions and enquiries about ESADE, the MBA and myself. A few issues keep popping up and I wanted to share my thoughts about some of these with you:

  • Many people are enquiring about entrepreneurship and marketing, which highlights the fact that ESADE is still famous for these, which also reflected in the statistics.
  • Yes, ESADE is focusing increasingly on Finance and Consulting
  • Yes, the fact that ESADE is famous for producing entrepreneurs makes it complicated to score on the salary-related aspects of the MBA rankings because usually entrepreneurs don’t earn that much at the start-up phase.
  • Barcelona plays an important role for people chosing ESADE
  • Why did I chose ESADE over IESE, IE and LBS? I will dedicate an article about this soon. Bear with me
  • What is the quality of the teaching, professors and course material?
  • Who is writing this blog, why and whether I have a link to ESADE? I would like to refer to the page About MYESADEMBA and reinforce that I have NOT received a scholarship from ESADE for writing this blog and I am free what I post here. To(un)bias-ed ;)

I wanted to thank you all for your support, comments and readership! I  hope that I keep helping you in answering some of the questions that you have been asking yourself about ESADE and the MBA. Please don’t hesitate to spread the word about the blog and happy reading :)

Newsletter – Emerging Markets #2

October 26, 2009

The Emerging Markets Club of ESADE, of which I am a member, has decided to develop a bi-weekly newsletter about Emerging Markets. These are the latest news about the market and if you wish to subscribe drop me an email and I will add you to the list.

Emerging Markets

EM Bonds strong – The emerging markets seem to be first economies to recover from the Financial Crisis as investors are buying an increasing amount of bonds issued by the emerging markets. The capital diversion to the EM is not only significant but clearly indicates where the economic future lies. Seeking Alpha

Latin America

Brazil - Petrobras issued USD 4bn in bonds, the largest issuance since 2000. Brazil’s economy seems strong and attractive despite the new tax on capital inflows. Marketwatch

Argentina spreads improve, Mexican peso falls Reuters

Argentina – Argentina’s Swap May Easily Succeed Investor Says.  Argentina’s offer to swap $20 billion of bonds that were held out of a 2005 restructuring will probably be accepted by investors who own most of the debt, Stone Harbor Investment Partners and Aberdeen Asset Management Plc said. Bloomberg

Uruguay – Leftist and Ex-President Head for Uruguay vote run-off. Former left-wing guerrilla fighter Jose Mujica led Uruguay’s presidential election on Sunday but was headed for a run-off against a conservative rival to steer one of Latin America’s most stable economies. NY Times

Mexico – Heineken’s Debt Poses Hurdle to Femsa Deal. Mexican Beer Business Offers Dutch Company a Much Needed Chance to Reduce Dependence on Europe, U.S. WSJ

Asia Pacific

East Asia Conference (EAC) – The East Asian nations are gaining in confidence, which was clearly illustrated during the conference in Bangkok. Topics included a common Asian currency as early as by 2015 to counteract the dependence of the falling USD, decreasing ties with Western economies and some even suggested to adopt new economic models specific for Asia. The dispute between the superpowers India and China however did not go unmentioned and India insists on its influence. Bernama – Asian economic model Stuff News – single currency, Xinhuanet on EAC, Reuters – decrease Western ties, Hindu – India’s ASEAN role

China-India conflict – During the East Asia Conference India and China were faced with some serious discussions about the poliitical relations as the border disputes, the relationships to the Tibetan leader Dalai Lama and the potential river diversion of the Brahmaputra away from India have reached unprecedented scale. Guardian

China – The pegging of the Chinese Yuan to the US dollar harms the export for China’s neighbouring countries. The devaluation of the USD and inheritently of the Yuan make China’s export products artificially cheap and therefore East Asian countries are pressuring China to revalue its currency. WSJ LiveMint

Best Financial Centers - The World Economic Forum ranked Britain, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and US as the best financial centers of the world. The article elaborates and highlights the pros and cons of each financial center. It is noteworthy that 3 of the 5 center are located in Asia Pacific! Wealth Bulletin

Singapore – Want to work and live in Singapore? Check out this website that provides you all the information you need about Singapore. Contact Singapore

Africa

SA farmers to rent land in Congo - The Republic of Congo has signed an agreement to lease 200,000 hectares of land to South African farmers. BBC

Rand Gain Erodes South Africa Profits, Hurting Stocks -The South African rand’s 28 percent rally against the dollar this year is eroding export earnings, slowing the economic recovery and making the nation’s equities the least attractive in emerging markets, Morgan Stanley says. Bloomberg

Nestlé Under Pressure to Renew Commercial Ties With Mugabes -International food giant Nestlé has this week come under growing pressure from groups loyal to Robert Mugabe and his family, to renew its recently severed commercial ties with the First Family. All Africa

Etisalat Invests U.S.$2 Billion in Network Expansion – Telecommunications giant, Etisalat, said it has spent over $2 billion on network expansion in Nigeria in the last one year. This is coming even as the United Arab Emirate GSM operator records over two million active subscribers in Nigeria within one year of its roll out in the country. All Africa

Zimbabwe – Privatization Opens Massive Infrastructure Opportunities. Zimbabwe plans to rehabilitate and expand existing infrastructure to support the envisioned economic growth. The government has developed a framework for the recapitalization of major public entities – a process that is opening up lucrative investment opportunities. All Africa

Kenyans to Buy Air, Bus Tickets Through M-Pesa - Listed telecoms operator, Safaricom, has integrated its M-Pesa money transfer service and data platform to enable users book and pay for their domestic air, road and rail travel through their data-enabled mobile phones. All Africa

This newsletter was sent by the ESADE Emerging Market Club.

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