MBA participants, faculty and staff are collaborating on making this anniversary a date to remember! There will be an Alumni afternoon in the new Solvay School building and a Gala in the wonderful setting of  the Brussels Stock Exchange! Wee are looking forward to this big event!

MBA Solvay 20-years

The MBA class 2010/12 can so take a little breath: it is now a good time to celebrate the MBA Solvay community! On December 9 the MBA Solvay, together with the Student Government and the MBA Solvay Global Women Network will invite students, alumni and professors in the new building to attend a special speaker – Xmas event!

Hugues Pirotte, MBA Solvay Academic Director, will welcome Mrs. Annick Monseuux, former president of Pirelli, to speak about the topic of gender in the business world: “What does it take to climb the pink ladder?”.  Mrs. Annick Monseuux, started her career in 1987 in the software industry, before entering the core of B2B marketing for both Pirelli and Teleroute, in different local and international marketing management roles. Her next career move led her to general management positions still with Pirelli and Wolters Kluwer, initially as Managing Director of a start-up in Italy, then as Chief Operating Officer, heading 25 countries and finally as worldwide Sales and Marketing director for Truck Tires, a €1billion business. She then moved to Executive Board Management, as President of Pirelli franchise-like retail network. In 2008, she started an independent activity supporting her international customers in growing the value of their business (WW sales and marketing organisations design, BU Management, M&A, Commercial Strategy Design and Reorganisations), offering in parallel her professional experience to social businesses to support the launch of commercial activities.

And after the keynote intervention, Vali Lalioti, MBA Solvay class 2009, will introduce the audience to an interactive executive coaching session: “How business coaching can help business leaders unlock difficult challenges and their organizations reach a whole new level…”. Vali Lalioti is an executive coach (http://www.valilalioti.com/) and she will answer your questions on how executive coaching works in a highly interactive and thought provoking session.

A walking cocktail will end the evening and give opportunity for networking with the MBA Solvay community!

The MBA Solvay class 2010 “just graduated” on July 3: 47 students, with 26 nationalities, 23 languages and 81% of non-local participants.

Even this year, the MBA Solvay really positions itself as an international Master in Business Administration in the heart of Europe, the best place to start a global career. Saturday 3th July 2010 was indeed unique for many people in Brussels. This year again, on that particular day, the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management contributed to the creation of the top business Belgian professionals, making the network of MBA Solvay alumni wider, stronger and more diversified than ever.

But maybe for two people this particular moment was even more special…..We have interviewed the 2 students who had been awarded the BEST MBA SOLVAY STUDENT 2010 diploma: Rie Werner (Ft) and Erik Vennekens (Pt) who  both graduated with high honors!

First of all, congratulations to both! We would like to know more about the life of our best students of this year.

How did you manage to combine your private lives together with the considerable academic workload you had to face during your MBA?

Erik: Which private life? Just joking. I must admit that some of the people around me were wondering whether I was still alive at certain moments. But thanks to the organization of the courses in blocks of two months and in concentrated periods within those two months, there were still quite some moments where I could pick up other activities besides the MBA. I must say that I most admire the people in my class who combined a full time job, the MBA and a new born in the family. Hat off to them!

Rie: The MBA was an intense experience; no doubt about that. For my part, I was privileged to have an encouraging husband and a flexible babysitter. At the same time, it was important for me to still have other activities outside the MBA like running or seeing friends for dinner. I used these moments to fresh my mind and reload my batteries

What is your recipe for “the best in class”? Any suggestions for future participants?

Erik: Help yourself by helping the people around you. I personally came to the most interesting insights by discussing with my classmates. The interaction is most crucial. Never step away from sharing with others what you have worked on or discovered. This will open up new opportunities for interesting discussions and insights.

Rie: We are all different and everybody needs to find his or her own way. My advice, however, would be: Stay curious, open and jump into the MBA experience with both feet. Listen and ask questions. Dare to take your stand and to challenge yourself. And keep in mind that the MBA takes a good deal of self discipline, persistence, and planning.

You just graduated from the MBA Solvay: What do you think you will bring with you? Which  “lesson” you will mostly keep  in your life?

Erik: Apart from the interesting and enriching panoply of new hard skills I have learned, I have been submerged in a bath of intercultural differences. For me this was the first time I worked on projects with non-Europeans. This was a very enriching experience. You could say that you don’t need an MBA for this, but I would disagree with that. The MBA creates a setting where you need to achieve but where you can also experiment, which is quite unique.

Rie: The MBA has been a great experience. I have gained a lot of new insights both professionally and personally. The MBA definitely has changed my way of thinking in several ways. If I should mention one “key lesson”, it would be that “everything is possible”. Instead of focusing on problems or obstacles, the Solvay MBA encourages to see the opportunities in every situation; to raise questions, seek advice and to challenge the assumptions or the rules of the game.

How did you life change with this MBA?

Erik: These two years have definitely changed the way I look at the functioning of a company and, in a broader perspective, at society. My original background is of a technical nature, so things like NPV and five forces were completely off my radar before the MBA. I feel I have a much completer look at the way a company works. This has definitely changed the way I function professionally. It has helped me to better understand the needs of my colleagues and thus increased the transversality of my approach.
In terms of self-development I have discovered the power of the “work hard, play hard” approach. Although known to me on paper, I had never really put it to practice. For me work was work, basta. The MBA (and my fellow students of course) forced me to change my view on this in a very natural way and I am very happy with the result.

Rie: One of the strengths of the Solvay MBA is the diversity, both in terms of nationalities, backgrounds and experiences. During the last year, I have come to appreciate this diversity. I have learned to take the time to listen, understand and proactively seek other perspectives before taking important decisions.

Having done some aftermaths, would you recommend this MBA to any friends, colleagues..etc..? And what would you suggest them to benefit the most from?

Erik: I would definitely recommend it to others. I have found the quality of the professors exceptional and very refreshing. The fact that this program brings together top lecturers from all over the world adds a big plus. What also sets this program apart from others is the intensive coaching on a personal level. High quality feedback is given on a personal basis, both on the side of group interaction and on the side of career development. This program really takes the time and effort to allow you to advance on your personal development.

Rie: Actually, I did just recommend the Solvay MBA to a friend who will start the programme next year.  Based on my experience, I gave her 3 pieces of advice:
1) Make sure to prioritize the personal development pillar and the CAP – despite tons of other deadlines. Personally, I learned a lot about my own strengths, weaknesses, motivations, drive and ambitions.  And I got some useful tools that I can use for the rest of my life
2) Remember that the probably most important lessons are learned not inside the class room but in interaction with your class mates
3) Enjoy and have fun! The MBA-year passes by too quickly!

Alumni of the panel discussion 2009

Another special event for the MBA Solvay community is coming soon! The MBA Solvay Alumni Day! This has become a tradition of the MBA Solvay community, a yearly celebration of the MBA Solvay Community. For the third year now, this exclusive event will bring together the alumni, participants, faculty and corporate partners of the MBA Solvay, with the aim of facilitating networking between alumni, students and corporate, discussing an important hot topic for business and new careers, strengthening the skills of our alumni.

The event will be hosted by our corporate partner Delhaize; it will open with a high level conference on supply-chain management, with the main intervention of Michel Eeckhout, Ceo of Delhaize and other keynote speakers. Followed by an alumni panel discussion – among which Carl Fransman, MCa Solutions and Sergio Barberino, P&G – and moderated by Dirk Van Den Berghe, SVP Procurement Delhaize and Hugues Pirotte, MBA Director – the key-topic will be analyzed from different perspectives and industries. A walking lunch and networking session will close the morning. The event will take place on June 19 2010 and will be another special occasion for an alumni reunion, together with current participants, faculty and corporate members!

As every year, the MBA Student Body has organized a special exclusive event, the MBA Solvay Gala, which will take place Saturday May 8 at the Albert Hall. The entire community, current students, alumni,  future participants, professors and staff of the MBA Solvay will join in this exclusive night for dancing, networking and celebrating together!

Exceptionally this year, also the candidates already entered in the admission process, can join the exclusive event and benefit from a special price!

More details and the invitation are availabe in the following link: http://www.solvay.edu/EN/Programme/mba/MBASolvayGala2010.php

Carl Fransman is one of the more active MBA Solvay alumni. His drive and commitment are behind the Alumni Newsletter and he is also sharing his knowledge in the Business Voice seminars. If you are an alumnus and would like to publish in the blog, contact MBA Solvay and we will arrange for your participation.

Over the couple of the last quarters I’ve come to deal with several companies where a strict “no cash out” rule has been enforced. While cash-flow rightly rules during credit-crunch times, these non-discriminatory decisions should raise some eyebrows. All too often do we see that during upbeat times no expenses seem barred whereas during tougher times the rule is simply inverted.
I believe management is slightly more complex than that. Investments should always serve a purpose and, when they do, they should lead to competitive advantage, which in turn should lead to a better position in the market. Therefore, I’m very surprised to find that even very cash-laden enterprises seem – let’s put this lightly – reluctant to even consider investments.
Queries to find out why this is the case typically lead to either one of the following answers: “this is a decision made at the top” or “this is dictated by the market”. Dictated by the market? What sort of investor turns down an investment with a positive ROI? And decision made at the top? Either these companies are headed by people who turn down opportunities because of what they read in the papers or the people at the intermediate stages are incapable (or even willing) of making a serious case with top management to justify the proposed investment.
Luckily, there are exceptions. If the corporate world mimics the natural world- then in the race of survival of the fittest- these are the companies I chose to bet on to emerge on top of the food chain. Not only are they more likely to catch a lucky strike (how can you win at the lottery if you don’t play?), but also they show that no matter what, they keep looking for ways to outperform. And that’s what true managementship is about: evaluating, sensing and, above all, taking action.
Let’s take an small example: a company running above industry-standard level could chose to invest in a cost-saving project. This would cost them roughly €3 million and would lead to an inventory reduction of roughly €70 million, whilst maintaining service levels this is important as during the downturn, most companies just burned off inventory to then find themselves in a situation where they could no longer serve their customers!). Now, it would be too easy to say they would save €67 million! No, eventually, the inventory would get sold. Therefore, if that company had a WACC of 8%, they’d still be saving €5,36 million – and that’s without considering other benefits than the capital expense. That’s still a positive ROI within one year!
If this weren’t spectacular enough, let’s now go back to the argument that “the markets” want the company to maintain it’s cash flow. Well, an expense of €3 million would lead to a non-expense of €70 million! Who wouldn’t wish to be the CEO able to announce the news that internal efforts have lead to this result? Not only would you be pleasing the investors but the freed up cash should allow you to make other strategic decisions in times when most competitors are standing still.
The best of it all is that the above-mentioned example is real! There is real potential in many businesses and with these sorts of return, many possible financing scenarios can be thought of.
So, if MBA should stand for something, it should really be Management By Acting!

Of Vietnamese origin, Trinh completed her university studies in London before moving to Belgium, where she quickly learned French and Dutch, and started working for a wholesale distributor of specialty technology products.

When Trinh was considering to apply for an MBA she had some doubts about it bringing value to her. But then she spoke to a friend and alumnus who had really enjoyed the amazing learning experience of MBA Solvay.  With this insight she took the decission to apply. Having 5 years of professional experience she considered it was time to stop for a year and learn new management skills, taking into consideration her long term goal of starting her own company.

What does she think of her MBA? Its been just amazing. During the 10 months of the full time program she has worked with people from around the world, who have very high intellectual skills and who are very down to earth at the same time. Another highlight for Trinh is the faculty: amazing professors from top schools around the world, most of whom are also active professionals with current experience in business.

The interview was recorded right before the end of her MBA, during our Alumni Day 2009. Trinh Dang has graduated with her class and celebrated the end of a great 2008-09 year.

If you want to speak to a former student of MBA Solvay, you can contact Chiara Battistelli, our Admissions manager.

Sergio came to Belgium in the midst of a difficult personal and professional moment. He was forced to move due to the closure of the company’s office in Italy where he used to work. He wanted a change and decided to apply to MBA Solvay. His new managers made a big effort to keep him in Procter & Gamble and with his MBA he has changed jobs into a more technical career. After the MBA program Sergio is working on innovative areas for his company such us the redesign of the supply chains and making small and flexible manufacturing processes for developing markets.

Today, sergio feels that he fits perfectly into the company, is proud of it and says that he owes that to MBA Solvay, because of all the experience and external freshnes that it brought to him.

Hamish wanted to do an MBA to get into corporate strategy, and the  MBA was the primary vehicle that helped him achieve his goal. The first job that Hamish got after MBA Solvay was to work in marketing and strategy of the Brussels headquarters of a multinational firm. Without the MBA he could never have gotten it and it has been a great stepping stone for his career.

Why did he decide to do it at MBA Solvay:

• Because of its location in Brussels, the heart of Europe and its easy access to lots of different countries.
• Lots of different nationalities.
• The gender balance.

Hamish is currently Vice President Sales and Marketing Europe at Recall, a global leader in information management.

More testimonials recorded at the MBA Solvay Alumni Day 2009 are coming. Sign up to our blog’s newsletter to make sure you do not miss them.