Dear Full-Time MBA Students
I hope many of you will join your executive MBA student colleagues in Mgmt 786: International Business Briefing with destinations of Santiago, Chile and Sao Paulo, Brazil from January 7 to January 15, 2006. We will be in Santiago until the 11th when we transfer to Sao Paulo. Monday and Tuesday will be class days in Santiago and Thursday and Friday will be class days in Sao Paulo. Below is information that should help you in deciding whether or not you want to enroll in this one-credit hour elective course. Additional information will be available at the briefing on Wednesday, September 14th in room 212 from 11:00am to 12:20pm.
The general theme of the course is doing business in Chile and Brazil--financial, marketing, legal, and cultural considerations.
Student Journal/Paper Assignment: Students will be asked to take the perspective that they are faced with the task of setting up a subsidiary in each country or setting up a business to import from each country to markets in the United States and other countries. Students will record their insights from speakers and site visits which help them address the financial, marketing, legal, and cultural issues necessary to accomplish their task. Students may record these insights in the form of a daily journal or a formal paper which will be turned in for grade on Friday, February 3, 2006.
Other student responsibilities include liaison with individual speakers and site visit hosts as well as pre-trip and post-trip briefing reports which are explained in the course syllabus which will be made available at the briefing on September 14th and is posted to this blog.
We have asked our host universities, Universidad Católica de Chile and FGV-EAESP in Sao Paulo to identify companies for site visits from the industries below. In each country, we will have three company site visits. We will tailor, to the extent possible, the specific companies that we will visit to the preferences of those planning to go on the trip. Among the company site visits we might consider, are the following, but other options are being developed.
Manufacturing: General Motors, Johnson & Johnson, Natura
Entrepreneurship: Sebrae, Mark Lund
Export/Import: Banco do Brasil, Concha y Toro
Technology: CPM, Scopus, Aker Kvaerner
Oil and gas: Petrobrás, Ultragas
Banks: Bradesco, Banco do Brasil, ABN
The four lectures by university faculty in each country will address the four considerations--financial, marketing, legal, and cultural—of doing business in the destination countries. The content of the lectures in each country will touch on the following.
1) Cultural Approach to the National Character
a. A dash of cultural history – a heritage approach
b. Modern times – cues for understanding
c. National stereotypes
d. Avoiding conflicts – the cultural way
e. Latino machismo
f. Emotion before rationality
g. The “friendly ethics”
h. The way of doing business
2) Banking and Finance
a. The banking system – structure, requirements and constraints
b. Financial highlights on Top Ten banks in the country
c. Current financial reality
d. Inflation and its consequence on business
e. Banking performance ratios
f. Small and Micro Business main operations – a banking approach
g. Foreign Trade
3) Marketing
a. Historical overview
b. Environment and marketing
c. Challenges and opportunities
d. Highlights on country constraints
e. Entrepreneurship creating competition
f. International trade
g. new services and products market entrance
4) Legal and Economic Overview
a. Inflation and Stabilization attempts in the last 20 years
b. Domestic Economic Performance and Outlook
c. The External Accounts
d. Principal risks
e. Business and Legal Environment
f. International Agreements, ALCA
g. MERCOSUL - business and legal challenges
Your estimated out-of-pocket costs are expected to range from $3,675 to $4,175 depending upon whether you choose single or double occupancy, whether you fly as part of a group assuming 10 or more students choose that option, and, of course, your discretionary spending. A detailed presentation of the costs has been uploaded to this blog.
A deposit check of $1,000 payable to Rice University is due on Friday, September 23rd, in the Executive Education Office, first floor, west end of the building, to Sha Lee, Program Coordinator for the MBA for executives class of 2006. This deposit is non-refundable unless the course does not make for some reason. Your check should be accompanied by the deposit form uploaded to this blog.
If you can spare the time, go early to Chile. It is the beginning of summer and there are many beautiful places to see especially if you travel south along the coast.
Please contact me,
uecker@rice.edu or 713-348-4653, if you have any questions.
Thanks,
Wil Uecker