I started my first Master of Global Management module in December, an intensive 5 days of 10 hours of class. The way the program works is it combines Tulane students with MBA students from other countries, including Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico and Guatemala. Across 6 modules over the two years, we all meet together for intensive classes that rotate to different countries. The last module was in New Orleans, and I was joined by a diverse group of students, most of them in Executive MBA programs with years of experience. My colleagues are all a bit older, some own their own businesses, several work in CPG, and several in the energy industry, among other things.
Following the December module, we start working on a long-term project that culminates in the May module in Paris. I’ve been working on a cross-country team consisting of me, a Tulane PMBA student, a Tulane Masters of Energy student from El Salvador, and Executive MBAs from Colombia and Venezuela. We will be working on a project for the Colas Company, a French-based 11.7 billion Euro global road construction company. The company has a presence everywhere in the world – except South America. So, our mission is to analyze in our teams the different South American markets, and present a report on the market potential of each country. Our team has been analyzing Brazil. Then, as a class, we narrow it down to 2 countries and develop market entry strategies for Colas, which we will present to the entire C-Suite of executives in Paris in May. AWESOME!
This project is exactly the type of project I was looking forward to in coming to B-school – international expansion, cross-country project team, market entry strategies, an industrial company with an entrepreneurial spirit, and serious exposure to top execs. Not to mention I get to travel to 4 different countries this summer for different modules!