By José Ángel de la Paz

The plea to install an Economic Emergency Council for prompt decision-making in the face of the COVID-19 crisis was taken up again during the webinar “Economic Recovery and the Business Sector” organized by EGADE Business School at Tecnológico de Monterrey.

“We must take urgent measures based on an analysis of the current conditions, to avoid a vicious circle of recession, unemployment, poverty, and weak public finances,” said Javier Treviño, head of the Public Policy Division of the Business Coordination Council (CCE for its initials).

The establishment of an Economic Emergency Council made up of members of the government, private initiative, academia, and the social sector, is one of the proposals in the document “Recomendaciones para el Acuerdo Nacional. 68 ideas para México”, which was delivered by the CCE to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and which includes the findings of the 11 round tables held within the framework of the National Conference for Economic Recovery.

Treviño urged the business sector to work with the Legislative Body to encourage the Government to consider the proposal.

Patricia Terrazas, a federal deputy representing the PAN party in Chihuahua, said that the Chamber of Deputies has advocated the creation of a multisectoral body inspired by the current General Health Council.

“We are urging the creation of an Economic Emergency Council that includes the private sector because we have to work beyond the (partisan) colors and ideologies,” said the president of the Finance and Public Credit Commission.

Treviño and Terrazas discussed other suggestions made to the government, which include strengthening an integrated infrastructure program, proposing that a major project be authorized and financed in each state, and supporting companies with the prompt return of VAT and the temporary deferment of tax obligations, in order to maintain cash flow and employment.

“At no point do these proposals imply privileges, bailouts, waivers, or avoidance of obligations. They are recommendations to safeguard health, stimulate employment, trigger consumer spending and boost investment and economic activity,” Treviño said.

The CCE representative also highlighted the importance of protecting value chains, with mechanisms and timeframes for reopening per sector and region so as not to break national and regional sourcing in North America.  

This webinar, part of the series “Rising to the challenge: Leadership in the face of COVID-19”, was moderated by María Concepción del Alto, head of the Master in Finance at EGADE Business School, Monterrey.

YOU CAN WATCH THE WEBINAR HERE

By José Ángel de la Paz

Recent studies indicate that 50% of CEOs experience feelings of isolation when performing their responsibilities.

It is likely that this situation has become worse with the home office and social distancing measures put in place globally due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Given these circumstances, Fernando Eguluiz, BBVA's CEO in Peru, deemed it essential to strengthen the communication with the members of the organization.

“Humans are social beings. One of the basic principles is not to lose the connection with your collaborators; they have to see you, feel your presence and know that you are close to them, even if it is through a virtual environment”, he said.

In the webinar “People as a critical strength in the face of adversity”, Eguluiz acknowledged that while CEOs cannot delegate decision-making, it is essential that they discuss their ideas with their teams even in isolation.

“It is always good to check your point of view with someone else, maybe in another location, to help you see from another perspective the same problem you are facing,” he said.

In addition, Eguluiz suggested maintaining, as much as possible, a sense of normality within the organization.

“If we spend 50 % of our time just thinking about COVID-19 issues, the organization will not be successful in the medium term,” he said.

And he added that if the organization was in the process of transformation before the pandemic, it cannot lose its way.

“In my case, I've dealt with the 'isolation' of being the CEO by staying close to my teams and bouncing off ideas with them, and above all, by maintaining a good balance between my professional, social, personal, and spiritual life,” he said.

This webinar, part of the series “Rising to the challenge: Leadership in the face of COVID-19” by EGADE Business School, was moderated by Alejandro Olivera, Associate Dean of Continuing Education at the Undergraduate Business School at Tecnológico de Monterrey.

YOU CAN WATCH THE WEBINAR HERE

By José Ángel de la Paz

Ricardo Emmanuel Rodríguez Escobedo, current student of the double degree program EGADE - UNC MBA in Global Business & Strategy, was recently initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the most exclusive honor society with the longest tradition in the United States.

Only the top 10 percent of graduate students are eligible for Phi Kappa Phi membership, which is by invitation only and requires nomination by an honor society chapter.

“I am very happy to receive this honor. Taking my master's degree has been a great experience, one of the best decisions I have ever made. I am very grateful to my family, my teachers, and my friends for always supporting me,” said the student.

Rodriguez Escobedo's nomination was submitted by the Phi Kappa Phi chapter of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Both the Belk College of Business from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and  EGADE Business School at Tecnológico de Monterrey, are in charge of the EGADE UNC - MBA in Global Business & Strategy, an international double degree program.

Rodriguez Escobedo, who is graduating next July, highlighted the opportunities for international exposure provided by the program.

“I spent a summer at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte and I loved it, so I decided to make my MBA as international as possible with another summer at the London School of Economics, and the Global Network Week, which I will be joining (online) at IE Business School,” he said.

Along with his studies, Rodriguez Escobedo serves as Business Development Manager at Terza, where he is responsible for identifying and developing business opportunities as well as building long-term relationships with clients in the United States, Canada, and Latin America.

Since its founding in 1897, Phi Kappa Phi has initiated more than 1.5 million members, including students, graduates, and teachers. It has chapters in more than 300 academic institutions in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. Its mission is to recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others.

By José Ángel de la Paz

For some years now, leadership has been in crisis, due to organizations' inability to adapt to constant change and uncertainty, which has been heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic, says Salvador Alva.

“Leaders, who can inspire an organization and take it far beyond its comfort zone, are scarce,” said the president of Tecnológico de Monterrey,

In the webinar “Sensitive leadership to face COVID-19”, Alva discussed this topic with Ignacio de la Vega, dean of EGADE Business School and the Undergraduate Business School at Tecnológico de Monterrey.

“'And suddenly, the night,' wrote Italian Nobel laureate Salvatore Quasimodo. This is how the pandemic has presented itself, in a sudden manner, filling our world with darkness, and as a crisis of great consequence that requires global leaders, as well as alternative, agile and audacious solutions, and a sense of collaboration that sadly has not taken place,” commented De la Vega.

Alva pointed out that nowadays indispensable leaders, capable of making and breaking paradigms, can feel uncomfortable in organizations that tend to uphold the status quo and are resistant to change.

“Organizations filled with followers who receive orders end up forming homogeneous groups with very little diversity of ideas and opinions. These organizations are at risk of disappearing, because they are unable of moving at the speed of change,” he said.

According to Alva, “a leader” is someone who embraces the opportunity to serve and transform, as opposed to “the boss”, who merely dictates and gives orders.

“Organizations with a “boss leadership style” become very sloppy. If you don't have the right culture to empower and move the organization, you're not going to survive,” he said.

This webinar is part of EGADE Business School's “Rising to the Challenge: Leadership in the face of COVID-19” series.

YOU CAN WATCH THE WEBINAR HERE

By José Ángel de la Paz

While it is still quite difficult to know when the post-COVID-19 era will begin, many industries are already preparing, even setting initiatives into motion, for this new future, according to Ignacio de la Vega.

“A very clear example of this is seen in universities and business schools around the world, which now operate entirely online,” said the dean of EGADE Business School and the Undergraduate Business School at Tecnológico de Monterrey.

Various deans of international business schools reflected on the implications of the “new normal” in education in the webinar “Leadership and Learning for a Post-COVID-19 World. What's Changing, Why and How,” as part of EGADE Business School's series:  “Rising to the Challenge: Leadership in the Face of COVID-19”.

“As business schools, we must adapt and find the right combination of tools and methodologies that support the education of each of our students. The technologies we are using now will be part of our toolkit in the years to come,” said David Bach, Dean of Executive Programs at Yale School of Management.

Pablo Martin de Holan, dean of HEC Paris in Qatar, pointed out that major catastrophes, such as the one we are experiencing today, accelerate the processes of transformation, but even when we try to think about the “new normal”, we still do not know what that will be like since we cannot predict the future.

“Education was already becoming more and more technological. The funny thing is that many technologies (before COVID-19) were already available but we were not using them. I can't make any promises, but I see an acceleration in the use of these tools, and it will be hard to go back,” he said.

For his part, Dominique Turpin, Dean of External Relations at IMD, noted that a major lesson of the pandemic is just how difficult it is to predict the future.

“Any business person or business school needs to be prepared for any kind of scenario,” he said.

YOU CAN WATCH THE WEBINAR HERE

By José Ángel de la Paz

The COVID-19 pandemic is not only a threat to our physical health, it can also affect our emotional and mental well-being because of the stress, anxiety, and fear caused by being overwhelmed when faced with adversity, according to Desiree Carlson Sanromán, psychotherapist and executive coach.

This expert discussed the issue with Jaime García Narro, associate dean of Executive Education at EGADE Business School, as a part of the webinar “Transitioning through uncertainty - life after COVID-19”.

Carlson Sanromán said that visualizing adversity in four dimensions is helpful in developing or strengthening our resilience:

• How much control do I have over the situation?
• How much impact does this situation have on me, or vice versa?
• What is the scope of this situation on a personal level and a collective level?
• How long can this situation last?

According to her, by conducting a self-reflection exercise based on these questions, we can come up with useful answers to get more clarity on how to face and overcome adversity.

“Rather than focusing on what we do, it is more important to focus on how we are dealing with this,” she said.

This webinar is part of EGADE Business School's webinar series: “Rising to the challenge: Leadership in the face of COVID-19”.

YOU CAN WATCH THE WEBINAR HERE

By José Ángel de la Paz

EGADE Business School at Tecnológico de Monterrey participated in the 2020 edition of CentreCourt, an admissions festival featuring the top MBA programs in the world.

This year the annual event organized by Poets&Quants, the leading global online publication for business education news, evolved into a virtual format due to the COVID-19 contingency and brought together 33 prestigious business schools who were able to interact with more than 3,000 candidates from over 75 countries through digital lectures, panel discussions, interviews, and chat rooms.

Ignacio de la Vega, dean at EGADE Business School and the Undergraduate Business School at Tec de Monterrey, had a keynote conference with John A. Byrne, editor-in-chief of Poets&Quants, in which they discussed business education trends from a post-pandemic perspective.

“The future of business education was already on the table years ago; COVID-19 is only accelerating our industry's transformation. We need to be bold and innovative to remain relevant,” said de la Vega.

Meanwhile, Jaime Martínez Bowness, director of the EGADE Business School campus in Mexico City, participated in a career development panel with representatives from the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, Cambridge Judge Business School and McCombs School of Business, led by Matt Symonds, an author and correspondent for Forbes, the BBC, and The Economist.

“Innovation, digital disruption, and entrepreneurship are at the core of our programs. Now more than ever, companies expect more from our students, especially in sectors that involve digital transformation,” said Martínez.

Eric Porras, national director of EGADE Business School's MBA programs, also participated in an admissions panel with colleagues from Harvard Business School, Kellogg School of Management, and McCombs School of Business, which led as well by Symonds.

“We are looking for candidates who are aligned with our mission, omnipreneurial leaders who are capable of creating shared value and transforming society,” said Porras.

In addition, Jorge Luis Torres Aguilar, who is both president at FedEx Express Mexico as well as at the American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico (AmCham), and who was awarded as Influential Leader of the Class of 2020 by AACSB International, was interviewed about his experience as an OneMBA graduate from EGADE Business School. 

"One of the highlights of OneMBA is its global perspective. The program allows you to live a truly global experience through a series of residencies around the world," he said.

EGADE Business School, the only academic institution from Latin America that was invited to participate, shared information on its MBA program portfolio, interacting with candidates through apps such as Whoa and Zoom.

Some of the other schools in attendance were Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, the MIT Sloan School of Management, UC-Berkeley Haas School of Business, HEC Paris and London Business School.

By José Ángel de la Paz

International academic leaders discussed the perspectives that business schools have on the pandemic during the webinar “Shaping the Future of Global Business Education in a Post-COVID-19 World”, hosted by EGADE Business School.

Juan Freire, associate academic dean of the Undergraduate Business School at Tecnológico de Monterrey, argued that academic institutions should move more towards digital educational models, and redirect their academic programs to solve relevant problems.

“There is a widespread belief that this crisis will transform almost everything in the next few years or decades. As business schools, we must show our ability to respond effectively to this new normal. If we can do that, we will have credibility in the future,” he said.

On the other hand, John A. Quelch, dean of the Miami Herbert Business School, indicated that instead of just migrating their programs to digital format or innovating in technological resources, business schools will have to adapt the content of their programs.

“On many levels, we're still going to need that face-to-face interaction, to build trust,” he said.

This webinar from the series “Rising to the challenge: Leadership in the face of COVID-19”, which is organized by EGADE Business School, was led by Juan Enciso, director of the Global OneMBA and MBA in Global Business & Strategy programs.

YOU CAN WATCH THIS WEBINAR HERE