Full-time MBA International Week 2017: Doing Business in Mexico

From March 6-10, the IPADE Full-time MBA Program (MEDE) hosted 282 students from 28 international MBA programs for the annual International Week- Doing Business in Mexico program. Every year, a group of business students enrolled in elite MBA programs from around the world gather at IPADE Business School to share experiences and knowledge, enrich management practices, and explore doing business in Mexico. During the 2017 edition, participating students traveled from Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Guatemala, Italy, Japan, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Vietnam to engage with the theme ‘Emerging Markets.’

Over the course of the week, participants engaged with distinguished faculty members from IPADE, as well as renowned businesspeople and international experts. Speakers included Juan Alberto González Esparza, former Director of Microsoft Mexico; Pablo Moreno Valenzuela, President of Grupo ampm; Edmundo Vallejo, Director of the innovAD program; Fernando Aguirre, former CEO of Chiquita Brands; Rafael Ramírez de Alba, Director of IPADE’s MEDEX program; and IPADE faculty and staff.

During his welcome address to students, MEDE Director Ernesto Bolio highlighted the three primary objectives of International Week. As Mr. Bolio mentioned, the purpose of the program is to:

• Facilitate an improved understanding of how business is conducted in emerging markets, including Mexico and the rest of Latin America;

• Find new opportunities to do business in the region;

•Strengthen each students’ network to maximize their professional capacity.

Participants were each assigned to a team when they arrived in Mexico City, and each team was required to submit a project at the end of the week. The project asked each team to present an export plan for a product that could be exported from an emerging market, or an import plan for a product that had the potential for success in Mexico.

In addition to the academic sessions held during the week, participants conducted site visits to top Mexican companies Grupo Bimbo, Kidzania, and Volaris, along with tourist visits to the Historic Downtown of Mexico City, the pyramids at Teotihuacan, and the Mexico City Anthropology Museum.

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