Last week, we at IESE Business School celebrated our 2016 Global Alumni Reunion – GAR, as we call it. I had the honor to serve as Academic Director together with my colleague Professor Núria Mas. It was such a pleasure to welcome 2,500 or so of our 45,000 alumni from all over the world! The […]
Cultural Differences: What’s Our Attitude Like?
Last week, I talked a bit about the Pre-Doctoral Workshop that I led recently at Strathmore Business School in Nairobi. Today, I would like to consider the cultural differences and what our attitude should be like. On the last day of the Workshop, participants received a certificate of attendance that I had to sign. As soon […]
Uncategorized
Managing with Purpose: Contribute Solving Societal Problems
Last week I got my “African shot”: I visited Strathmore Business School (SBS) in Nairobi where I led a Pre-Doctoral Workshop. Upon return, I participated in IESE’s Symposium on Business Ethics. The two activities connected well: many Workshop participants were interested in research topics related to societal problems, and the role that business leaders can […]
How personal networks matter in Africa
Last month, the annual meeting of the Strategic Management Society (SMS) revolved around the theme “Strategies in a world of networks.” Have you ever heard anyone say “connections are not important in this part of the world”? That would be quite unusual, don’t you think? It’s no surprise, then, that networks matter in Africa just […]
It takes local management to succeed in Africa
At a meeting with the management team of a company in Nairobi, I was asked: “Our company started operations in Nigeria two years ago. So far, we have not succeeded. Based on your discussions with Pan-African companies, why do you think this is the case?” I had some seconds to reflect. It could not be […]
