Appendix consultancy report. what companies want

Appendix for the Consultancy Report
July 2010

“What Companies Want”
Graduate education needs in a global labour market

BIANCHI Paolo
ANDERSEN Solveig
GAGLIARDI Marcello
GUERIN Julia
VLEUGELS Jenneth

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Appendix 1: Strategic vision from director International MBA

____3

Appendix 2: Characteristics interviewees qualitative interviews

____4

Appendix 3: Interview guides (category 1 and 2)

____7

Appendix 4: Interview summaries

___12

Appendix 5: List of competencies mentioned by managers
(from analysis qualitative research)

__108

Appendix 6: List of managerial competencies created by innovation department EM Lyon

__110

Appendix 7: Content web-survey

__116

Appendix 8: Results from web-survey

__119

Appendix 9: Main managerial competencies (qualitative and quantitative research)

__123

Appendix 10: Direct recommendations from managers

__124

Appendix 11: Brainstorming rules

__126

Appendix 12: Result brainstorming session

__127

Appendix 13:
Selecting the recommendations (linking direct recommendations from managers
and brainstorming results to competencies)

__131

APPENDIX

LUISS BUSINESS SCHOOL, JULY 2010

2

Appendix 1: Strategic vision from director International MBA
Impacts and implications of demography
A greater number of older, more experienced students require relevant professional education to
emphasize project and team-based contents and experiential learning. Curricula should become
more flexible and degree programmes need to become shorter and be more effective in a fastchanging environment.
Impacts and implications of technology
Information and communication technologies pervade corporations and the communities of
executives, managers, professionals, and consumers. Social networks and the emerging role of online communities have challenged the way companies successfully deliver value to the customer.
Innovating the value proposition and the business model consequently constitutes one of the most
recurrent quests to be dealt by executives.
Impacts and implications of globalization
The growth of cultural diversity in society and in business, as well as the widespread diffusion of
multinational organizations and their operational models, require a superior appraisal of the critical
role of cross-cultural content in teaching. Indeed, the requirements to form cross-cultural teams are
managing global accounts, shaping operational models in a "think global – act local" mode, and
creating global strategic alliances and partnerships.
Impacts and implications of entrepreneurial thinking
A new focus on linkages between technology and management must enhance the capability to
produce entrepreneurial strategies and innovative business models even in large and established
firms. The teaching of entrepreneurial and emerging business skills also requires to transfer knowhow and techniques proper of small and entrepreneurial companies to complex, global, and well
structured corporations.
Ethics and corporate social responsibility
The fast pace of the economy, undertaken by some new players from developing countries requires
new sustainable trajectories for growth. Energy consumptions and environmental issues must play a
crucial role in the strategic thinking of a corporation, since they might soon become a long-lasting
and hard to overcome obstacle for growth. Furthermore, accountability, transparency and equity
must be taken as a cultural mindset and valuable behavioural habit. Ethics and social responsibility
tend to become a core value embedded in the business and operational model.
All of these issues are the main challenges for the development of a new class of executives and
managers. Facing these challenges is at the core of the iMBA that wishes to provide an international
and outstanding, educational experience enabling students to become global leaders of their future
careers.
Paolo Boccardelli,
iMBA Director
Source: http://www.mba.luiss.it/iMBA/

APPENDIX


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Appendix 2: Characteristics interviewees qualitative interviews

Date: 06-05-2010
Name: Fabio Scognamiglio (male)
(and Monica Stralek (female))
Company: British American Tobacco
Position: Corporate and regulatory affairs
Company industry: Tobacco
Alumni: No
Interview category: E

Date: 06-05-2010
Name: Cesare Avenia (male)
Company: Ericsson
Position: CEO
Company industry: Telecommunication
Alumni: No
Interview category: E

Date: 17-05-2010
Name: Vito Varvaro (male)
Company: Della Valle Group
Position: Director of Operations and
development
Company industry: Luxury
Alumni: No
Interview category: 1

Date: 17-05-2010
Name: Luca Olivari (male)
Company: AT Kearney
Position: Principal
Company industry: Consultancy
Alumni: MBA Michigan university

Date: 18-05-2010
Name: Alessandro Belli (male)
Company: Pirelli Real Estate SpA
Position: Head of acquisition Tourism
Company industry: Real estate
Alumni: MBA LBS

Date: 19-05-2010
Name: Massimiliano Ferrante (male)
Company: Unilever IT
Position: Customer Finance manager
Company industry: food and beverage
Alumni: No

Date: 24-05-2010
Name: Gianpaolo DiDio (male)
Company: TL com
Position: Senior advisor
Company industry: venture capital and private
equity industry
Alumni: MBA LBS

Date: 27-05-2010
Name: Marella Lanari (female)
Company: Travelport
Position: HR director
(Southern Europe and Brazil)
Company industry: Travel
Alumni: Executive MBA LBS

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Date: 27-05-2010
Name: Roberto Magnanelli
Company: EDF Energies nouvelles
Position: Project & finance manager
Company industry: energy
Alumni: MBA LBS

Date: 28-05-2010
Name: Martin Brannigan
Company: SKY Italy
Position: Head op broadcast operations
Company industry: Television
Alumni: MBA LBS

Date: 28-05-2010
Name: Vincenzo Montori
Company: International Power
Position: head of marketing and regulation
Company industry: Oil & energy
Alumni: MBA LBS
Interview category:2

Date: 01-06-2010
Name: Alessandro Pansa
Company: Finmeccanica Group
Position: CFO
Company industry: technology
Alumni: MBA NY university

Date: 03-06-2010
Name: Alessandro Lorica
Company: Glamoo
Position: Chief operations officer
Company industry: Internet services
Alumni: MBA LBS

Date: 03-06-2010
Name: Mauro Battochi
Company: Enel
Position: Head of international institutional
affairs
Company industry: Energy
Alumni: No

Date: 03-06-2010
Name: Vito di Goia (male) and Joanna Dinolfo
(female)
Company: Federazione Italiana Giucco Calcio
Position: Marketing & business development/
Project manager EURO 2016
Company industry: sports
Alumni: MBA LBS

Date: 11-06-2010
Name: Robert Lucarini (male)
Company: Engineering SpA
Position: Technical Project manager
Company industry: ICT

Date: 15-06-2010
Name: Fillipo Ghirelli
Company: Genera Group/
Ghirelle Group holding SA
Position: CEO/ Managing director
Company industry: Construction/Finance
Interview Category: 2

Date: 15-06-2010
Name: Danilo Zatta
Company: Simon Kucher & partners
Position: Senior Director
Company industry: Strategy & marketing
Consulting
Alumni: other MBA

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5

Date: 15-06-2010
Name: Fabio Menis
Company: IBM
Position: Marketing Consultant
Company industry: Management consulting
Alumni: MBA LBS

Date: 17-06-2010
Name: Daniele Condurso
Company: Agile Servizi SRL
Position: Marketing manager
Company industry: ICT
Alumni: MBA LBS

Date: 21-06-2010
Name: Matteo Tomjoalovich
Company: SpA Birra Peroni
Position: Sales & distribution business area
manager
Company industry: Food & Beverage
Alumni: No

Date: 21-06-2010
Name: Fabiola Ciaralli (female)
Company: Acea Electrabel Trading SpA
Position:Head of BU power trading & portfolio
management
Company industry: oil & energy
Alumni: Executive MBA

Date: 21-06-2010
Name: Alberto Cozzi
Company: Abbot Italy
Position: CEO
Company industry: Pharmaceutical
Alumni: MBA Durham

Date: 22-06-2010
Name: Michele Tarditi
Company: Deloitte
Position: Manager strategy & operational
excellence
Company industry: Consultancy
Alumni: MBA other

Date: 23-06-2010
Name: Alfredo Imparato
Company: Kombel
Position: entrepreneur
Company industry: Electric & electronic Systems
Alumni: MBA LBS

Date: 23-06-2010
Name: Claudio Bracie
Company: Devoteam auSystem
Position: Business Manager
Company industry: Information systems
Alumni: Executive MBA

Date: 24-06-2010
Name: Luca benza
Company: Gallazzi SpA
Position: Production manager
Company industry: plastics
Alumni: MBA LBS

Date: 25-06-2010
Name: Michele Pugliese
Company: API
Position: Head of finance and investor relations
Company industry:
Alumni: executive MBA LBS

APPENDIX


6

Appendix 3: Interview guides (category 1 and 2)
Category 1

CREATING A NEW MBA PROGRAM FOR LUISS BUSINESS SCHOOL
May-June 2010
INTERVIEW GUIDE
Presentation of the project
Considering the impact of the crisis and the changing global environment on companies, several
Business Schools are re-thinking their MBA programs by making the effort to take into account the
new competences required for the next generation of managers. In order to understand what these
new required competencies are, LUISS Business School appointed a multicultural team of 5 Master
students. Our objective is to gather knowledge on the topic using both academic research and
managers’ insights.
Objectives of the interview
The objective of our interview with you is to understand what YOU consider as the new role of
managers in the future and therefore what competences will be required to fulfil it. We would also
be interested in identifying which, in your opinion, are the competences MBA students should
develop during an MBA program.
We will ensure that the collected information will be handled confidentially.
Next step: the quantitative research
The interview is the qualitative step of our research. We have planned to do a quantitative analysis
as a second step. If you agree, we will send you an e-mail where you will be able to answer to an
online questionnaire (5-10 minutes).
Who are the team members?
Solveig ANDERSEN, from Denmark, completing a Human Resource Management Master at
Copenhagen Business School
Paolo BIANCHI, from Italy, completing the LUISS Business School MBA program
Marcelo GAGLIARDI, from Italy, completing the LUISS Business School MBA program
Julia GUERIN, from France, completing a Master in Science of Management at EM Lyon Business
School
Jenneth VLEUGELS, from The Netherlands, completing a Strategic Human Resource Management
Master at Radboud University (Nijmegen)

Thank you very much for your time and availability!

APPENDIX


7

External impacts on companies
1. Could you name the most important external factor, out of the company´s control, that had a
major impact on the organization, within the last three years?

Economics
2. China and India may account for 50% of global GDP by 2050, and forecasts (Goldman Sachs)
claim that China will overtake Europe by 2023. World economic dominance will be shared
between the G-6 and the BRICs countries. Which competencies must present and future
managers have in order to deal with this dominance?
3. In the years to come, growth rates will slow down in the G-6 countries, and consumers’ demand
will be weak. This will cause a low-cost competition world-wide. What does this low-cost
competition imply for managerial competencies?
4. The crisis of the “real” economy started from a Financial Crisis. The behaviour of top managers
has been blamed worldwide. Considering this point of view, which characteristics should the
next generation of managers have?

5. Governmental intervention has been essential to come out of the crisis. The role of the public
sector will be prominent in the future. What competencies do next generation of managers
have to develop in order to cope with this?

Globalisation
6. As companies are becoming more and more global, managers are working in an intercultural
environment. What competencies do they need to develop in order to adapt to this new
intercultural environment?

7. How do you imagine the characteristics of the global leader, now and in five years?
8. Companies’ organizational structures are losing span on the vertical dimension (hierarchy) and
getting flatter (horizontal teamwork is increasing): how does this impact managerial
competencies?
9. What managerial competencies are needed for managing multicultural teams?
10. Information and Communication Technologies are reshaping the job design and working
conditions, what are the impacts on competencies required from managers?

Demography
11. The population and therefore employees are aging; in your company, what kind of solutions do
you see for this challenge?
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12. When a lot of employees in the company retire, what competencies are needed for managers in
order to prevent critical knowledge from being lost?
13. Very different generations are now coexisting in the company. This may generate conflicts and
misunderstandings. How does this diversity have an impact on managerial competences?

Corporate Social Responsibility
14. Companies are experiencing increasing pressure from stakeholders to invest in CSR. What
impact does this pressure have on managerial competencies needed?
15. What managerial competencies are needed in order to understand stakeholders requirements?
16. What managerial competencies are ensuring a good reputation for the company?
17. Former Prime Minister of the UK, Gordon Brown, claimed: ¨we will join a Green New Deal¨.
President Obama promised to pump $150 billion into green technology over the next decade.
Which competencies do managers need to develop to work in a world, where the so-called
“green economy” will become extremely important?
18. It is becoming an issue for companies to encourage gender diversity. How does this gender issue
have an impact on the managerial role and their expected competencies?
19. Do you see additional challenges for managers’ competencies regarding other forms of
diversity?

RESHAPING THE MBA
20. What competencies do you expect to be developed during an MBA program, ideally?

21. In your opinion, what are the main managerial competencies, needed in five years, and please
tell us how to develop them?
22. Do you see any other competences that could be important?

ADDITIONNAL QUESTIONS FOR ALUMNI
23. In your opinion, what MBA subjects were most useful for your professional career?
24. If you would attend the MBA again today, what subjects should be included, in your opinion?

APPENDIX


9

Category 2

CREATING A NEW MBA PROGRAM FOR LUISS BUSINESS SCHOOL
May-June 2010
INTERVIEW GUIDE
Presentation of the project
Considering the impact of the crisis and the changing global environment on companies, several
Business Schools are re-thinking their MBA programs by making the effort to take into account the
new competencies required for the next generation of managers. In order to understand what these
new required competencies are, LUISS Business School appointed us, a multicultural team of 5
students participating in the European Human Resources Program. This programme brings together
students from six leading European business schools and universities, allowing the participants to
develop both theoretical and practical knowledge in European Human Resources Management.
In our project work at Luiss Business School, our final objective is to reshape the MBA program; in
this perspective, we are gathering knowledge using both academic research and managers’ insights.
Objectives of the interview
The objective of our interview with you is to understand what YOU consider as the new role of
managers in the future and therefore what competences will be required to fulfil it. We would also
be interested in identifying which, in your opinion, are the competences MBA students should
develop during an MBA program.
We will ensure that the collected information will be handled confidentially.
Next step: the quantitative research
The interview is the qualitative step of our research. We have planned to do a quantitative analysis
as a second step. If you agree, we will send you an e-mail where you will be able to answer to an
online questionnaire (5-10 minutes).
Who are the team members?
Solveig ANDERSEN, from Denmark, completing a Human Resource Management Master at
Copenhagen Business School
Paolo BIANCHI, from Italy, completing the LUISS Business School MBA program
Marcelo GAGLIARDI, from Italy, completing the LUISS Business School MBA program
Julia GUERIN, from France, completing a Master in Science of Management at EM Lyon Business
School
Jenneth VLEUGELS, from The Netherlands, completing a Strategic Human Resource Management
Master at Radboud University (Nijmegen)

Thank you very much for your time and availability!

APPENDIX


10

A preliminary remark about our use of the word « competencies »: in our project we consider
competencies as an individual's ability to use one’s knowledge, skills and attitudes. So we do not
refer to the strategic core competencies of the whole organisation.

External impacts on companies
1. Could you name the most important external factor, out of the company’s control, that had
a major impact on the organization, within the last three years?

Economics
2. In the next decades, world economic dominance will be shared between the G-6 and the BRIC
countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China). Which competencies must present and future
managers have in order to deal with this dominance? How to develop these competences?

3. The crisis of the “real” economy started from a financial crisis. The behaviour of top managers
has been blamed worldwide. In this context, which attitude should the next generation of
managers develop?

4. Governmental intervention has been essential to come out of the crisis. The role of the public
sector will be prominent in the future. What competencies do the next generation of managers
has to develop in order to cope with this?
5. In advanced economies, middle classes are losing purchasing power. New business models are
being invented worldwide in order to keep prices low. What competencies should a manager
have to perform in a market where the customers ask for lower prices?

Globalisation
6. As companies are becoming more and more global, managers are exposed to an intercultural
environment. What competencies do they need to develop in order to fit in this new
intercultural environment?
7. Companies’ organizational structures are losing span on the vertical dimension (hierarchy) and
getting flatter (horizontal teamwork is increasing): what new competencies do managers need?
How could an MBA program help to develop these competencies?
8. In your view, what managerial competencies are needed for managing multicultural teams?
9. Information and Communication Technologies are reshaping the job design and working
conditions. How should an MBA program train students so that they get prepared?

Organizational demography
10. Regarding employee turnover, what competencies are needed for managers in order to prevent
critical knowledge from being lost?

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11. Very different generations are now coexisting in the company. This may generate conflicts and
misunderstandings. According to you, how could an MBA program prepare managers to this
challenge?

12. Companies are experiencing increasing pressure from stakeholders to invest in CSR. What
competencies and attitude do you expect from managers in this field? How should an MBA
program contribute?
13. Ensuring a good reputation for the company has become crucial. How can MBA students
develop the competencies needed?
14. Former Prime Minister of the UK, Gordon Brown, claimed: ¨we will join a Green New Deal¨.
President Obama promised to pump $150 billion into green technology over the next decade.
What competencies do managers need to deal with the increased importance of the “green
economy”? How should an MBA program contribute to develop these competencies?
15. It is becoming an issue for companies to encourage gender diversity. What mindset and
behaviour do you expect from the next generation of managers concerning this issue?
16. Do you see additional challenges for managers’ competencies regarding other forms of
diversity?

RESHAPING THE MBA
17. To summarize, which 3 main competencies do you expect to be developed during an MBA
program, ideally?
18. If you were an occasional teacher in an MBA program, what subjects would you teach and how?
19. What pedagogical methods would you consider as most efficient during an MBA program?

ADDITIONNAL QUESTIONS FOR ALUMNI
20. What was the best that you gained from your MBA?
21. In your opinion, what MBA subjects were most useful for your professional career?
22. If your company sent a junior manager to an MBA today, what topics should be included?
23. In your opinion, what crucial experiences should a student go through during an MBA?

Thank you very much!

APPENDIX


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Appendix 4: Interview summaries
Interview summary
Category (E)
Fabio SCOGNAMIGLIO
May 6th, 2010
Corporate and Regulatory Affairs at British American Tobacco
Tobacco Industry
(With the participation of Monica Stralek, part of the High potential program of American Tobacco

Part A competencies
According to M. SCOGNAMIGLIO, the most important skills for new hired young graduates are
related to soft skills. They must be able to adapt to different contexts, to adapt to different attitudes,
to different people and countries. Because now, managers are working with people coming from all
around the world. Therefore, it is important to have the right cultural skills in order to manage
complex environments.
Monica is invited to give her opinion. She underlines that what matters is to be able to talk to many
people from different backgrounds, to be visible in a multinational company. When we ask her to be
more precise about this idea of being visible, she explains that it means “to talk to different people,
not to be afraid to ask questions, to be open and proactive”.
M. SCOGNAMILIO adds that the more experience you have, more important become the
relationships you build within your company. In the beginning, it is important to be visible and have
contact with many people. After a while, you have to be credible. He coins a motto: « First to be
visible, then to be credible ».
Then he explains that working is not just about « doing your work », « executing your activities ».
Indeed, 50% is about relationships and interactions with other people, functions, and departments.
He mentions that this is very important in the second stage of a career. The first step is to create and
strengthen one’s network, and the second step there is a need to be more focused on the quality of
the network. When we ask for examples of soft skills, he speaks about a professional experience he
had in Germany, with other colleagues coming from all around Europe. “When you work in
international environments, sometimes it is difficult and sensible (sensitive1) to have the right
relationship with your colleagues, when they have different cultures, different attitudes, different
personal history”.
M. SCOGNAMILIO proposes Monica to give her opinion. She explains that all hard skills (good
university degree, a lot of interships…), is something normal and “given”. “If you want to start in a big
company, you have to work on your softskills”. For example, “you have to be proactive, to search for
situations where you can try to show yourself to the company”. You also need someone who pushes
you. She highlights that young hired need someone more senior to talk with and ask advises from.
1

Julia’s input (mistake detected concerning meaning of « sensible » VS « sensitive »)

APPENDIX


13

As M. SCOGNAMILIO states, “it is a daily improvement”.

Part B Recommendations for the MBA
When we ask about him about the expectations he has in mind from an MBA program, he mentions
hard skills “of course”, and then a social attitude, that is to say an ability to interact with other
people, understand different situations, and complex environments. To conclude, it is important
from a new hired person to be proactive, and be able to do marketing for oneself within the
company.

APPENDIX


14

Interview summary
Category (E)
Cesare AVENIA
May 6th, 2010
CEO at Ericsson Telecomunicazioni
Telecommunication industry
Not an alumni

Part A competencies
Leading skills and soft skills have to be strongly present in the managers, If they are not present
naturally they can be learned but it is very difficult
Communication skills are important as well
Managers first have to be leaders.
A person can be a manager and “manage” things but it is not enough. The leader has the same
organizational and analytical skills (the hard skills are given for granted) but has strong human skills,
so he must:
-

Be inspirational, inspire the team
Be a good team worker, and be able to accept to be leaded
Be charismatic
Be able to balance the potential and the pros/cons of his human resources (be a bit HR)
Have communication skills with the team and have “autocommunication”
Be empathetic, able to feel the same feelings of the teammates and act consequently
Push creativity, recognize it and boost it
Understand real needs inside the social matrix and the social changes (feel the spirit of the
era)

Why now it is more important for a manager to have such leading skills? Answer: the complexity of
the cross functional team organization often puzzles the employees who don’t know exactly “who’s
my boss?”. So the leader has to be able to drive this complexity, have charisma and be inspirational
in order to be a reference point.
The HR managers have to be able to recognize this leading and charisma potential in a candidate.
What about narcissism? An MBAer should be ambitious because he has to be conscious that he
acquired many instruments and skills, but has to know his or her limit and be “balanced ambitious”
and not overambitious.
Companies that have great performance but boost narcissism among the management risk to
crumble suddenly when a crisis appears, because everybody will think about him or herself and not
about how to save the company.

APPENDIX


15

Interview summary
Category (1)
Massimiliano FERRANTE
May 19th 2010
Customer Finance Manager
At Unilever Italia
Not an alumni

Comment: Mr Ferrante did not follow the structure of the interview guidelines. This was based on his
idea that the effects of the events happening in the environment cannot be separated from the
competencies needed. Therefore both aspects needed to be analyzed together.

Part A external factors
The most important impact of the external factor is the economic crisis. In addition to this he talks
about the fact that the influence is not so dramatic as we should think because Unilever is an actor in
its environment but also an active player, which refers to the possibility to influence the environment
by itself (Unilever).
As a response to this, Unilever will reshape its strategy in order to be sustainable, cohesiveness of
organizational structure and strategy is needed. For reshaping this strategy, Unilever needs to be
aware of the impact it will have on their people and the contribution to its business goals.

Part B competencies
To deliver results a specific leadership style needs to be present. Leaders need to have a strong bias
to act quickly, be able to work in teams and needs the capability to manage growth.
Furthermore, besides all the general capabilities a manager must have in the future, they will need
the following competencies: an analytic approach, capability to evaluate trade-offs, being able to
make SWOT-analyses, capability to deliver, being robust in assessing, horizontal approach.
Importance of competences in decision-making. This process needs to be faster and the manager
needs to have an ´action oriented approach`2.
To accomplish ideas about strategy (see first category), a manager needs to be: external oriented,
equipped to be a high performer. He or she also needs to understand the language of the
stakeholders, be open-minded, have a strong look at its consumers.
CSR: it is important to perceive how different companies have different attitudes towards CSR.

2

(Being the opposite of a bias for action (as stated by Mr. Ferrante).
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Part C Recommendations for the MBA
The competencies that need to be created in an MBA are: an external orientation, social abilities.
Self-awareness about one’s career path and insights about your personal strengths and weaknesses
is important (for a manager) and can be enhanced by an MBA.
Some subjects that are important to put in an MBA: practical insights about strategy (while creating
the link to the market), Insights in corporate demand, insights about leadership, learning about the
dynamics of the market.
´Those subjects should be taught in a way that students can make a comparison of extremes`.

Part D Additional questions (that do not belong anywhere else)

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Interview summary
Category (1)
Luca OLIVARI
Prinicipal
At AT KEARNEY
Management consulting Industry
Alumni: MBA University of Michigan

1. Most important external factor
Fear for crisis, client stop buying.
Other idea: clients are now able to provide services internally, they have created their internal
consulting firms.

Part B competencies
Economics
2. Economic dominance, BRIC countries
Need of real quality and transparency. So competencies needed are the ability to communicate
quality, to prove transparency.
3. Low-cost competition
This low-cost trend -> value for money is becoming more transparent.
Instead of a problem of low cost, it is more the idea of “providing the right cost for customers”.
“Managers will need to understand in different parts of the world what is the trade-off between
quality and price Customer want”.
4. Blamed managers
Importance of credibility, track record, transparency.

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5. Governmental intervention
Need ability to adapt to the governmental way of thinking. Need to understand the way the
government is acting to make advantage of it. It is a matter of speaking the same language as the
government. Try to associate goals of government and goal of company. Other problem: lack of
information about available funds for companies.
Globalization
6. Fit to intercultural environment
«I thought I was international because I spent more than 5 years of my career outside Italy ». Being
international, global, has nothing to do with spending time abroad. It has nothing to do with
speaking languages. The main issue is to understand that in different countries things are handled
differently. The only way to bypass this issue is working together among different cultures. MBA
exchanges are only useful if you go far, Paris or Madrid too close cultures so not so useful.
7. Characteristics global leader
Matter of cultural understanding. The point of view should not be driven by the product/services you
are selling, but by the client’s need. “Listen to your counterpart and listen to the market”.
8. Flatter organizational structure
“Now you really have to prove your leadership to have someone that follows you”. You have to prove
that you have something to teach. Listening. Conflict management = making decisions quickly while
taking into consideration conflicting opinions. Control process. Efficiency of decision-making.
Leadership is not about understanding all the details, but about understanding sufficiently to make
the best decision.
9. Manage multicultural teams
The “managers will need to “feel” the messages through voice or computer, and it is not that easy”.
It is a challenge to understand properly. It also has an impact on the way you organize your work.
Most of the work can now be managed remotely, and the companies are spread out in different geo
areas. Change the way you intercept and use the messages, because messages are less clear than in
the past. The rules in the past are no longer valid.
10. Information and Communication Technologies
Treat different clusters of age in different ways. People of different age: adds different values to the
company. Understand what are the values of the old generation and the young generation and
where do they meet each other. How can they work together.
Organizational Demography
11. Solutions ageing population
12. Prevent critical knowledge from being lost
Shadow management to pass the competencies: 2 managers together, one transmitting the
knowledge, during a needed time.

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13. Different generations: impact diversity
Treat different clusters of age in different ways. People of different age: adds different values to the
company. Understand what are the values of the old generation and the young generation and
where do they meet each other, how they can work together.
14. Pressure from stakeholders
15. Understanding stakeholder requirements
It is important to have the right connections to get signals from stakeholders. Understand that when
you make a lot of profit you need to invest some of this profit in a nice way.
16. Reputation
Good communication is needed.
17. Green Economy
Understand and influence. Be proactive, you will have an advantage and be ahead in time compared
to competitors. Creating standards in the green economy. Thinking out of the box, making very good
business out of the green approach. In the future green will not be second priority.
18. Gender diversity
Completely nonsense. The market will push managers to consider competences and not the gender
of a candidate.
19. Other forms of diversity
Important to a manager to create representativeness of the target group.
21. Managerial competencies in five years
Team-work, ability to get to conclusions, creating inter-functional teams where there is no hierarchy.
Ability to communicate internally and externally in a more simple way. Need to face complexity.
22. Other important competencies

20. Competencies developed in MBA
Alumni
23. Most useful for professional career
None. Access to managers.
24. MBA today, what topics
Including psychology might be useful. Less macro economy.

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In the MBA, too limited interaction with companies. You should interact with different industries
through internships on a dedicated project. Short internships more frequently ( 3 times 1-2 months).
Involved in a suitable project, timeframe.

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21

Interview summary
Category (1)
Vito VARVARO
May 17th, 2010
Director of Operations and Development
at Gruppo Della Valle
Luxury Industry
Not an alumni

When asked what external factor had a major impact on the organization, within the last three years,
Vito VARVARO immediately mentions the globalisation of business. According to him, this creates a
need to rethink how the company is organized, in order to be able to send its products in many
countries. He mentioned that Italian companies are still operating with a lot of “power to the
centre”: operations all around the world are rather an “execution of what is decided at the centre”.
Therefore companies need people who know different cultures, who “know the world”. Then he
thinks of another external factor: the “value for money perception” of the consumers, which has
changed after the crisis.

Part B competencies
Economics
Answering to the question concerning the new economic dominance, M. VARVARO expresses that
companies have to put in place an organization that is able to understand differences among the
different countries in order to operate in different environments This will bring the need to have
managers that are able to cope with these differences and to report to the HQ what are the needs of
the different countries. He gives an example concerning China: “Tod’s need people that go there, get
to know china and its consumers”.
Concerning the future low-cost competition, M. VARVARO says that nowadays brands are extremely
important and “companies need to communicate to consumers that there is value behind the name”.
In his view, a low-cost competition will not bring long-term result. “Long-term winning is about value
around your branding”.

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4. Blamed managers
We now tackle the issue of managers blamed for bearing the responsibility of the financial crisis. In
M. VARVARO’s opinion, this is linked to the problematic idea of “making a lot of money on a shortterm” basis. He believes that in the future, there will be a strong importance given to industrial
values, and to the idea of building companies that last on the long-term.
He insists on the idea that long-term view is much more important than short-term one, and he
underlines that this perspective is already changing in the marketplace.
As a conclusion, he states: “we have to have managers looking at generating value for the longterm”.
About the increasing weight of the government, M. VARVARO thinks that managers should not think
that the government will help. “The economy should be able to find its own solutions. Managers
should be focused on their business.”
Globalization
Then we focus on the global company generating the need for managers to adapt to an intercultural
environment. As Vito VARVARO says, “the big word here is diversity, being able to understand
diversity”. It is particularly important for Italian culture. Managers have to understand that there are
different behaviours, different ways of looking at things. He quotes the example of the Japanese:
“even if they are not shouting around the table, they are giving their point of view, they do it in their
own very respectful style”. Italians would say, “they are sleeping, they are not strong enough”.
Indeed understanding diversity is the most difficult thing. He concludes: “in fact, the new generation
has to travel a lot.”
When we ask M. VARVARO how he imagines the global leader now and in 5 years, he explains that it
is someone who has been working in many places. Someone who has an experience of different
cultures. “The more you look at the future, the more intercultural experience is needed”. He says
that now there are global leaders but that not all of them have global experience. Then he gives an
example: “in Tod’s I am pushing for a program where many people are travelling in different regions.
In five years, they are going to be better managers.”
About the flat organization, Vito VARVARO expresses that teamwork is indeed becoming more and
more important. And again, it means working with different cultures. He underlines: “I believe that
globalization is creating more power at the centre”, so companies will need very strong leadership at
the centre. He believes that the company is evolving with two phenomenon’s: first, the need for
global managers with a lot of power at HQ, and second, good team work people spread all around
the world.

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When it comes to managing multicultural teams, M. VARVARO emphasizes the ability to listen, to
understand the communication and the way this communication is done. He repeats that listening is
a big competence that managers have to learn, as there is a risk: when they have successful careers,
some managers tend to believe they know everything.
As far as the increasing importance of ICT is concerned, M. VARVARO thinks that managers in the
future of course have to know new technologies and tools. However, as there is a lot more
communication, he warns, “managers have to cope with it, have to find the right balance”. Managers
in the future will have to change the way they work everyday. They have to use these tools in a way
they “don’t become trapped”, as it should not take too much of their time.
Concerning knowledge management, M. VARVARO says that organizations have to prepare the new
generations for taking over; he gives an example from his own experience: “the day I left Procter and
Gamble, I had prepared a lot of managers that knew all they needed to take over”. Organizations
have to make sure there is a good flow of information. They also have to “put the younger people
below the more senior people”; of course, a structure with a lot of delegation is needed, to make
sure that not only top managers know what to do.
When we tackle the issue of conflicting generations, Vito VARVARO expresses that it is important to
listen to the new generation. “It is important that senior people have an attitude of favouring change
and let the younger generation lead the change”. He underlines that “the company evolves in the
way the thinking of the new generation evolves”, and it is crucial to keep the company keep as young
as you can.
Considering the increasing pressure for CSR and its impact on managerial competencies required,
M. VARVARO expresses that “CSR is very important”, “you have to have the sensitivity” for it.
He explains that the competencies to build are more “a sensitivity, an attitude”; being aware of it is
important. In this perspective, he thinks that the new generations are essential for bringing this
thinking to the company. He believes it is a strong advantage to have people taking care of CSR in
their daily activities (what leather for shoes for instance). It is about building a new culture that
comes from the younger generations.
Focusing on competencies needed to understand stakeholders, M. VARVARO expresses that
“managers should not live only inside of the company, but also be part of outside the company”. “A
manager has to go out and meet people”. A manager has to “be attentive to the outside world”.

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16. Reputation
In M. VARVARO’s view, ensuring reputation is related to communication skills: “image and reputation
comes from what managers communicate”. “Managers need to go out and talk”.
17. Green Economy
When it comes to green economy, M. VARVARO underlines that again, this is about “understanding
the external world”; understand this external world is important “to be a social responsible
manager”. It is a matter of being aware of the need to think about sustainable development. So what
is needed is to build a “sensibility”3. Then he explains that while in the US green concern it is already
very developed, in Italy it is developing only right now.
According to M. VARVARO, this is a question of culture inside the company. “Managers have to
understand these needs.” Of course, “companies also have to define their priorities”. It comes again
to the idea of “listening to the outside world”; managers have to “understand what is important and
why”. He specifies, “Italy is still a male society”. Gender issue will become a serious concern only
when companies “understand that this will made them more successful”; managers have to believe
that first.
When asked about other challenges regarding diversity, M. VARVARO mentions that there are still a
lot of prejudices in companies.
-

to operate on a global basis
to cope with different cultures and structure organizations
to work in team with different cultures
to decide fast (“one of the characteristics that make u win is to be a fast decision-maker”)

Lastly, we ask M. VARVARO if he has ideas about other competencies. He summarizes previous ideas
and repeats that an MBA should “show different real experiences of managers from different
companies”. When the interviewee asks him about topics, he mentions organization, and business.
Students should “have the global picture”, have an overview of a “total business plan”. “The best
thing would be to tell a story that covers all the aspects”. Vito VARVARO also states that “sharing
best practice could be a good idea to prepare people”.

Speaking about competencies to be developed during an MBA program, Vito VARVARO suggests that
students should be exposed to managers describing what happens in real life. He believes that an
3

According to Julia, M. VARVARO refered to ‘sensitivity’ instead of « sensibility »

APPENDIX


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MBA has to be very pragmatic. In his view, MBA programs should propose “broad specialization by
sector”. He thinks that each sector needs a specific kind of training.
In his view an MBA should be the transmission of competencies from managers to students. Students
“have to meet managers from different companies”. They have to “hear people running companies
sharing their experience”. He gives an example: on a topic like “how to work on a global basis”,
students meet 3 managers from different backgrounds, industries, realities, who come to share their
knowledge and experience. And then the professor may link all theses experiences, having the
umbrella overall vision.
Alumni

When asked about what will make a difference during a recruitment interview at Procter and
Gamble, he underlines that this company looks for “people ready to travel around the world”, so as
to create global managers.

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Interview summary
Category (1)
Alessandro BELLI
May 18th 2010
Head of Acquisition Tourism
At Pirelli Real Estate SpA
Real Estate Industry
Alumni : LBS

Financial crisis, the impact on real estate market was dramatic, everything stopped.
Globalization: Real estate markets are now open
New markets (China, Russia…)

Part B competencies
Economics
Need to create international mind people. International experience (academic exchanges, internships
abroad). Need for an international approach.
International mindset? Something that comes from experience outside of Italy. To be ready to move,
ready to speak with people that have other mentalities, in another language. You have to be flexible
and to understand the other cultures (especially China for ex: “I have to learn to be Chinese,
otherwise I cannot sell anything”). To adapt yourself and to learn from other people.
Managers have to be ready in the “cost-selling approach”, that is to say to be efficient: “don’t loose
time, don’t loose money”. They have to be ready to work more, have more responsibilities. Be more
open. Job organization. Be more focused on your core business.
4. Blamed managers
Need a new approach: professional, transparent, clean way of doing business. Not too risky attitude.
Strength in analysing risk. Only go for secure opportunities. Transparent and independent approach.
You need to be trusted to win, to build trust so as to develop strong partnerships. Guarantee an
ethic way of doing business.

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Need to be patient. Understand bureaucracy, long and risky timing. You have to push them (but in a
proper way) and make them follow you, to communicate the benefit that you can bring to the public
counterpart. Need to have a “commercial approach”.
Globalization
Improve proportion of international students in the MBA program. The professors should come from
international Business Schools. Courses should be in English. Need to be in an international
environment from the beginning.
International mentality. Fast in understanding business situation and making decisions. Managers
have to read newspapers, to be aware of what is happening at a broad international level. The
language: Italy is lagging behind on that.
Be ready to work in teams with different people and approaches. Business planning. In the MBA,
include games and simulation. Mix nationalities and background in teams. Learn to deal with
different people.
Be patient. Understand this multiculturalism is a value. Understand who is in front of you (profile,
culture), to make the best from each team player. MBA students should not decide what team they
are in. And often change team.
The new manager has use tools in a proper way, be ready to discover new tools, be ready to learn.
But be careful because “technology can run over you”. It can be very time-consuming. During the
MBA the ICT courses were too theoretic, not practical enough. For example, using some tools in
group work would be interesting. Deal with systems you will deal with once you are in the company.
Managers have to understand that they cannot ask 65 years old employees to do the same tasks as
30 years old employees. Adapt approach. Be patient. Use their asset, which is their experience.
Understand the competencies of everyone.
Managers need to be open and ready to learn from experience of others, and by doing yourself. And
adapt to a different language. Need to be humble.
It is a question of mentality. Need to be open-minded. Humility. Be ready to learn.

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Need to be professional, open/”clean” and transparent. Give a good image of yourself and of your
company.
16. Reputation
Understand you have to defend the reputation of your company. Again, transparency and
professional approach.
17. Green Economy
Managers will deal with green economy more than in the past. It is a good chance to do something
social, and do it for business. It is connected to the reputation of the company, providing it a clean,
green image. It is mainly a matter of personal sensitivity. If you don’t have it, it is important to
understand the potential, the benefit on the image of the company. Be ready to study about
something that is quite new, and have a business approach about it. It will be very important in the
future as a business opportunity but also in term of reputation.
Real estate= male sector. No special competencies needed. Just to understand people, understand
who is in front of you.
Create opportunity to learn to deal with professional real situations. Working in teams. International
courses, international teachers. Simulation of business situations. Work under pressure. Quick
decision-making. Games. Projects in teams. Also competition, but in a good way. “During my MBA we
had this international team competition game with L’Oreal, on internet, about marketing
development of new product, playing against 1000 teams around the world. It was really fun. It was
exciting”. Simulate real business situations.
More practical approach. International approach.
Project management. Practical tools. Team management. Learn to help people to grow. A manager
should understand that if he wants to grow, he has to let and help his team members to grow.
Simulations of managing teams (one in the team is the manager).
Business development, business planning
Dealing with numbers.
In marketing, use games.
ITC: have practical training
HR: specific training on leadership, on how to manage different people.

APPENDIX


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International exchange.

Business development, business planning. Dealing with numbers. In marketing, use games. ITC: have
practical training. HR: specific training on leadership, on how to manage different people.
International exchange.
Alumni
More practice less theory and more international experience. More team working and groups and
games. Dealing with numbers.

Question by one of the interviewers about the composition of faculty: what % of scholars and
professors and professionals should there be in the faculty?
The best are professors who also do business as they have the two perspectives. “We had some of
them at Luiss, they were very good teachers”. Then teachers coming from companies are very
important, especially to stimulate business situations.
According to him 50% professionals and 50% professors and among professors 75% who also do
business.
Importance of case study, more exciting for students. When he teaches he always uses case studies.
Ask students to do presentations in front of the class. And then debate in the class. MBA students
have to be “in the move” (in movement).

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Interview summary
Category (2)
Alberto COLZI
June 21st 2010
General Manager
Abott Italy
Pharmaceutical Industry
MBA at Durham (UK)

Financial crisis. IT revolution (access to information).

Part B competencies
Economics
Managers must be “international managers”. They must have a “culture of flexibility”. Understand
immediately the key information to understand a situation. How to develop this? Students should be
exposed to many different experiences, to people coming from different part of the world.
3. Blamed managers
Ethics is very important. In an MBA, explain the basics of ethics, how companies build their ethical
approach, showing the long-term dimension of ethics. Work on soft skills. Present models to
students (managers testifying). Using an emotional approach. Be in contact with examples and
successes of ethics in the company.
Companies have to participate to governmental decisions, as they are crucial for the market.
Influence and lobby. But it is experts who do this job. Competencies that you need: understand the
world of government/politicians and politics. MBA students could have a lecture about it. Providing
an understanding of the rules regulating your market.
Be able to properly assess the value proposition of your offer. Communicate this value. Keep the
right price.

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Globalization
Cultural flexibility. Understand most important features of each market. During an MBA, introduce as
a soft topic “how to deal with different cultures?”. Case study, for example pretend you are an
Austrian manager who has to manage a Brazilian team. Learning how to involve people.
New style of leadership needed, not anymore about command and control, but ability to drive the
organization towards objectives; “idea-based leadership” (your position as a leader is not based
anymore on your hierarchical position but on your ideas and the way you communicate them).
Ability to involve everybody. Teamwork. In an MBA, explain to students the evolution that brought
this new horizontal approach. Organizational design. Study innovative ideas in companies.
This question was not asked.
Explain to the students how the information era has changed the company. Give tangible examples.
Explain the fact that you loose the control on information and how to deal with that. Learn about the
available tools today, using real life examples. Refer to this ICT topic in other fields, obliging students
to consider it when focusing on marketing plans. Including ICT to other subjects.
Willingness to transfer knowledge. Enhance the value each single person. Anticipation.
11. Different generations
Understanding the value of diversity (gender, opinion, generation). Learn that innovation and success
come from putting different people (opinions, backgrounds…) together.
12. Pressure from stakeholders, expected attitudes
Part of being a good citizens as a company. Give something back to the world, if you have success.
Reputation is influenced by CSR and is important. Sensibility to going beyond just achieving,
understand how you can contribute to the world. Responsibility is essential. In the MBA it should be
explained why CSR is important. Companies are not isolated, therefore there should be more
visibility. Give examples that show what CSR is. It is not like marketing with a direct result. Many
implications, can for instance attract talents.
13. Reputation
This question was skipped.
14. Green Economy
Managers need to be responsible! No possibility to recover. Sensitive topic. Key competitive point. In
the MBA it should be taught why CSR is important, both with bad and good examples (cases).
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32


17. Three main competencies ideally
Cultural flexibility, leadership based on ideas, diversity leverage.
18. Occasional teacher, what and how
Impact of IT revolution on the business. The history and the change of companies. Give examples
where IT has turned around the business. How industries are approaching this and come up with
good ideas.
19. Pedagogical methods
A mix. Old style (theory) and involve real people and business cases to practice what was learned.
HBR case studies are good.
Alumni
20. Best you gained
An overview of the economy and how it works in the world. The possibility to interact with people
and stay in contact. That is critical!
Understanding economy.
Innovation in terms of how to drive it and why it is important. Plus different models of innovation.
23. Crucial experience during an MBA
Real contact with company (internship). The business school should have good partnership with
companies. Ability to translate theory into practice.

Leadership based on ideas: Informal style of leadership. Build on real strength. Create an
environment where people are willing to participate. Rigorous financial approach. Understand where
to invest, anticipation.

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Interview summary
Category (2)
Alessandro LORICA
June 3rd 2010
Chief Operations Officier
At Glamoo
Internet Services Industry
Alumni: MBA LBS

Competition that always changes. Economic crisis. Credit crunch and spending reduction

Part B competencies
Economics
Grow up with different mindsets, go abroad, manage teams, interaction with people from different
countries.
MBA : international program outside of Europe
3. Blamed managers
Business ethics. Difficulty to stay ethical. Everybody needs to agree to change model to a more
ethical one. It is not a person alone who can change this.
The public sector should remain outside the market. Negotiation. Companies should be independent
and should not ask the government for help.
Ability to interpret and scan what happens in the environment, to create new business models.
Creativity is important.
Globalization
Again, think globally, and for that you need to grow up globally. Do internships abroad. Young people
can change the global mindset. Language skills.

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Process-based management. Crossing all functions in the company, interacting with all departments.
Importance of soft skills. Focus on team work during an MBA. Less hours of classic lectures, more
project work. Students should not decide about groups composition. Changing teams each time to
work with as many people as possible.
8. Manage multicultural team
Mindset. International. More travelling and more interaction with different people. Cannot be learnt
from books, experience is very important. There should be international students in an MBA class.
Update the program with advanced technologies.
Knowledge must be made persistent so put 2 people on one topic. Monitor critical resources through
results, motivation and satisfaction.
Conflict management training. Learning soft skills through relationships. You need the proper
mindset. To be accommodative, flexible, able to change approaches.
Related to business ethics. The whole system needs to change. Managers need to be energetic and
motivating. Students should learn about ISO 26000 standard. The role of an MBA is to make students
believe that CSR is the right direction and show them its impact on their own wallet. They have to
believe in what they say.
13. Reputation
Being ethical in whatever you do. Grow up ethically and act ethically. There is knowledge, and then
there is the need to apply. MBA have to learn that behaviours that go against CSR has a reputation
impact.
14. Green Economy
Be green: should be in all you do. It is a matter of mindset, of sensitivity. You learn it through
education. Eg: if 60 MBA students use e-books instead of normal books, you save a lot of paper!

Gender should not be a matter of interest. When you hire you do not look at gender but at
competencies
It is a matter of mindset.

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Manage complex relationships
Learn how to apply lateral thinking (solving problems in a creative way using a broad perspective)
Mindset and flexibility
Strategic marketing. Invent a business model to satisfy a need. Creative problem-solving. How?
Through simulations, case study. Learn to identify problems.
Learning and applying in situations. There should be a balance between theory and practice.
Alumni
20. Best you gained
360° view of the company
Strategy, marketing, finance
More emphasis on new technologies and innovation
Real team working. Intercultural relationships. Time management, stress management. Emotional
intelligence. Result management (being result oriented).


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36

Interview summary
Category (2)
Alessandro PANSA
June 1st, 2010
CFO
Finmeccanica Group
Alumni: New York University

Financial crisis. Spreading out of technology all around the world.

Part B competencies
Economics
Capability to understand different ways of doing business, different cultures, understand the
expectations of these developing countries. Adapt. Cultural business relationships. Curiosity. Read
books, newspapers, meet people, be open. Be able to be genuinely interested.
3. Blamed managers
Focus on long-term interest of shareholders and stakeholders. Understand that collective goods
(forest…) are crucial because they do not create conflict between rich and poor. Importance of
environment. Managers should not focus on the old concept of GDP growth. It is not an indicator of
well-being. More focus on quality than quantity. MBA should help students to focus on the fact that
wealth can be created in many ways.
Managers have to learn how to deal with government. Be able to influence initiatives, business
opportunities. Understand the way public officials work and think. In an MBA, increase relationships
between Business School and public officials. Provide lectures, testimonies. Increase number of
courses about the way public administration work.
Understand how to increase productivity of the company. Technology. Create a balance between
remuneration of shareholders and low costs. In an MBA, increase the focus on productivity and
delocalization.

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Globalization
Languages. Travelling. Spend time in other countries. Open to new cultures.
Have the power for responsibility. Transparency in decision-making. Be clear, simplicity.
Communication.
(already answered according to interviewee)
Exploit the best of the technologies, but also control its impact on our work. Not forget to use the
brain. And “read, read, read”. Think. Information processing/selecting. Quick understanding of
problems. Business School should teach that: in business cases for example. Find 4 crucial elements
in broad information. Explain on what elements decisions are made. Theoretical frameworks are
useful to help the thinking structure. Models are needed.
Capability to transmit knowledge and culture to other employees. Disseminate knowledge. Will to
prepare those who come after you. Transfer relationships. Respect for experience.
Managers have to understand that building knowledge and competencies are an ever-lasting
process. Managers have to “create a mix between innovation and the save of what is good in
tradition”. Invite people with more experience or more experience to discuss about what can be kept
and should not be kept. Understand that modern/new does not mean better.
Keep well segregated shareholders and stakeholders. Managers have to understand that CSR is
maximizing shareholders value in a way it is compatible with stakeholders interests. In an MBA, teach
students the concept of business ethics. Managing the conflict of interest for example in a corporate
governance lecture.
13. Reputation
Transparency. Correctness (correct behavior considering a situation where there are no rules).
Responsibility. An MBA should teach this to students, through business ethics.
14. Green Economy
Not focusing only on growth, focus on sustainability. Compatibility with environment. Understand
that the welfare of people is connected with respect of the environment. Mentality. “Managers
should not push the model of absolute success at any cost”.

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Tolerance. Not really an issue.
Understand different models and the idea that there is no superiority. Diversity is a must.

Problem-solving, understanding people capability, having a proper framework to interpret the world.
How do you learn understanding people capacity? Dealing with people, understanding them.
Economic history, the best way to understand the present. Help the students to understand the longterm drivers of events.
Provide many different sources and points of view. Develop critical thinking. And make students
discuss.
Alumni
20. Best you gained
Mixture of techniques (finance), cap to understand prob
Finance. Mixture between techniques (finance, accounting, business administration) and more
cultural topics (economics, political sciences, international relationships)
(no answer)
Discovering a new country. Do the MBA abroad and live fully within a new culture. Learn languages.

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39

Interview summary
Category (2)
Claudio BRACCI
June 23rd 2010
Business Manager
At Devoteam auSystem
Information Systems Industry
Alumni: executive MBA LBS

Competitors coming from the oriental market. The most important factor nowadays are these kind of
competitors since low-cost competition is hard for the company.

Part B competencies
Economics
The first related competency are English skills; being able to know languages. Second, a new openminded vision (on people) is necessary. Having a cultural approach; understanding and sharing a
culture. ¨Italy is very identified as a nation¨. A way to develop this open minded vision is training
devoted to a multicultural context (what are we doing). Being within this multicultural context, but
not in Europe because these cultures ar too similar (students should go to countries like India and
China).
3. Blamed managers
This has to do with the financial attitudes. Managers are evaluated on KPI´s, measured in a shortterm, long-term evaluation is needed. Managers need a wider point of view (not only focused on
short-term financial consequences). Managers need to share the interest in the company with the
owner. It is not something you can teach, it has to do with a common vision within the MBA.
This has to do with a cultural point of view. Politicians need to understand what private companies
are doing (especially in the crisis). There is need of a common vision between politician and manager.
Therefore managers need the capacity to explain to the politician, how to communicate what the
company is doing to someone less experienced.

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The interviewee does not agree with this statement. Life in Europe and its economics are different
from the low-cost countries, the standards of living are higher.
But within these kinds of pressures, managers need to know how to motivate people. They need to
be able to make the employees understand the big picture of what is happening within and outside
of the company.
Globalization
Managers need an open mindset; the capacity to motivate people on different cultural levels. Within
the class there should be attention for understanding people´s different mindsets (within the
different cultures). It is also about seeing that the own national way of doing things is no longer
appropriate. Managers need to know the cultural approaches to working. An example how to teach
this is a training made from different HR directors form different countries.
Increasingly important is the ability to delegate and to motivate people. This caused by the
increasingly flatter organizations. A manager should be able to empower and delegate control to the
right people and the right tasks.
This answer is related to the answer on question 6. Understand other cultures and how people are
educated.
The first limit is that managers don´t understand what ICT can do for them, the tools available and
the way in which ICT can validate some processes within the company. Managers should not be
deeply educated with these tools but just what they can do with the services.
This is about redundancy of information. The must be possibilities to share knowledge. Therefore
knowledge management is important. It is about the communicating ability between people. The
need of sharing knowledge is easy to understand as a student. Once they are working this interest is
lost, collaboration is not emphasized.
This is a hard situation in Italy: the old generation has a different attitude. They think they deserve
positions based on experience, this is not the case anymore. Young managers need to understand
this mindset, but this cannot be taught.

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41

In all technical topics taught in the MBA, show the impact on society and provide insight about “the
right way of doing things”. Has to be part of all subjects. Testimonies is also a good way to teach
about CSR.
13. Reputation
About behavior and awareness. It is also about brand awareness and can be underlined during a
marketing course.
14. Green Economy
“Green is fashion at the moment”. The green approach has to be implemented really/deeply, it
should not be just declarations. It is the respect of sustainability. It has to be taught. For example, it
can be the intervention of an environment engineer explaining the impact on environment.
There is no need to consider women like men. Women can be good in their own way, they do not
have to be like men, to behave like men to be good managers. Link with people’s management.
Testimony of women managers. Show the complementarity. Brings diversity.
No.

Intercultural approach. Global vision of the company. Motivation of people.
How hard it is to motivate people when in times of crisis. Telling my story.
Typical classroom teaching. Listening to managers’ experiences. Going inside companies, and making
projects there (internship).

Alumni
20. Best you gained
Global vision of the company. So as to understand what people do in other departments.
Marketing and strategy.
APPENDIX


42

Finance, people management, marketing, organization, accounting. Multicultural approach.
Testimonies.
Team building. Through team projects. Experience abroad. Internship.


APPENDIX


43

Interview summary
Category (2)
Daniele CONDURSO
June 17th, 2010
Marketing manager
Agile Servizi SRL
ICT Industry
LBS alumni

The crisis.

Part B competencies
Economics
To understand other cultures (Indian and Chinese). Stop being ethnocentric. To develop this, study
from another point of view.
3. Blamed managers
Understand the market.
(No relevant answer)
To be ready to change. Soft skills. Autonomy.
Globalization
The problem is that we have prejudices about other cultures. Understand that all cultures are at the
same level. During the MBA, travel to very different countries (1 week in Varanasi, India).

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44

Managers should be a model and give the example. Be careful in the use of words, not giving
instructions but rather opening possibilities and encouraging. (Empowerment4). Be able to motivate
(courses about how to motivate people). Theatre classes teach you how to interact better with
people. Communication skills.
Speak languages. Organize trips abroad.
Increase courses in ICT. Speak the language of ICT. And understand how it works.
(No relevant answer)
Adapt the language to the person. Communication is important. Be proactive. Be a model.
14. Green Economy
There is an economical opportunity for investing in CSR, but this has no influence on the
competencies needed from managers. ¨Managers don´t need to care for green economy¨. They just
need the ability to see its opportunities.

All the courses that give the opportunity to create businesses. A manager needs to understand the
drivers of the organization. Technical skills and regulatory (law) skills are needed. An MBA gives too
much importance to economics.
The interviewee has been an occasional teacher in 2003. The interviewee likes creating debates and
discussion about different ideas in order for students to understand different viewpoints.
Business cases are very important because a good understanding of business is needed. After being
in the university you understand something particular therefore a more broad overview is needed; in
this way managers are becoming more flexible. This is needed to analyze the business and manager
all different points of view.

4 Interpretation by Julia. The interviewee did not pronounce this word.

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45

Alumni
20. Best you gained
The studying of law ´civil codes`(because the interviewee did not have experience on this level
before)
Courses about communication and law: the regulatory boundaries within each country are often
forgotten. Understanding these boundaries can provide opportunities.
Topics about marketing in order to understand the market also besides the network. How the MBA
of Luiss looks like is quit influenced by the companies within the network, the requirements should
not be changes according to their wishes.
An internship is a crucial experience. To put the real business cases in practice. It is also an
opportunity to get a job. Within the MBA more of these opportunities should be created, also within
smaller and medium sized companies.

How could you define your qualities as a manager?
Having good relationships with team members and other people. This is not really developed or a
consequence of experience either.

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46

Interview summary
Category (2)
Daniele Zatta
June 16th 2010
Senior director
Simon- Kucher & partners
Strategy & marketing consulting Industry
Alumni: other MBA

The economic crisis which leaded to a decline in demand of the clients and this also had an impact on
service companies.

Part B competencies
Economics
For this topic it is important to be skilled on an international level. This means having international
experience and a sense of ¨international agility¨5. A suggestion for an MBA in regarding this topic is
to include an exchange experience and international internships.
3. Blamed managers
The manager of the future needs to be more humble, having a humble attitude. A suggestion to
develop this attitude is to include topics about ethics in the MBA. Though this does not have to be a
whole course, an introduction would be sufficient.
One main competency is a social one. It has to do with communication. Dealing with the government
is more a task for specific managers such as the one responsible for public relations. Therefore
devoting special attention to this topic is not very important or relevant within an MBA.
These topics are typically taught within the field of Marketing. But since, issues regarding pricing also
gives an reflection of the company, this also should be taught in a strategic way. Managers needs to
5

In vivo: term used by interviewee

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47

be intelligent about the value segments the company is targeting to. The pricing topic is often
neglected , therefore a clear understanding of the consequences of pricing is necessary.
Globalization
¨It is all about soft skills¨. Further, managers needs to be sensibilized for the intercultural
environment. This means knowing how to deal with people from other cultures, how not to offend
them, how to negotiate etc.
Therefore, offering organizational behavior as a course might be helpful, to give them insight into
these topics.
Knowing how to manage a team is important. But this is something that needs to be learned on the
job.
This is linked to the answer to question 6. Internships abroad would help.
Managers should know how to offer perspective to the employees. Perspective about the future
(security). Managers should be able to assign responsibility and clear tasks to employees in order to
motivate them. In short, it is about competencies to design a career path and to motivate
employees. To share knowledge collaboration is very important. Managers need to set the right
settings for making knowledge sharing happening.
Soft skills are needed. Managers need to be able to solve problems, conflicts and be sensible to the
generation topic. For this last point having case-studies could be usefull in order to analyse some
actual conflicts (it´s causes and solutions).
Sensibility to this the importance of CSR is crucial. The MBA experience should be opened for this.
13. Reputation
The company needs to transmit this as a whole. Therefore, an MBA would not help. Though there is
an indirect relationship with the behavior of managers. Good soft skills  better organizational
performance  reputation.
14. Green Economy
Managers need to be aware of the opportunities that are here. They should have a clear insight in
the different industries and its opportunities on the dimension of green economy. So they need
strategic competencies and the right analytical skills to judge its potential.

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48

Many companies are giving importance to this, because the ¨big mass¨ (customers) place a value on
this topic. Managers need to be sensibilized about diversity and what it means.
There is a strong need for managers to see diversity as an asset for the future.

In the MBA students should be forced to to use these technologies. Some ¨macro´s¨ would also be
useful in just one course.
Hard competencies are still very important (economics, calculation etc.)
Soft competencies that gain in importance are linked to the ability to be versatile in an international
environment. To learn this, practical experience or an internship is useful.
The interviewee would teach strategic subjects, marketing change and pricing. It should be done by
combining theory and practice. ¨Putting the essentials in practice¨. The balance should be 50%- 50%.
Theory; by using books and articles, include case-studies and teamwork: this could increase the soft
skills (teamwork is according to the interviewee lacking at Luiss). The teams should be predefined
based on diversity, homogeneity should be avoided in teams. This could increase the opportunity to
exchange world views.
Alumni
20. Best you gained
The network of people, and the multiple possibilities to meet new people to get information about
new jobs new opportunities.
This depends on the career path you choose. The entrepreneurial topics and marketing.
Strategy, marketing, sales and finance. Soft skills, how to deal with cultures and mindsets.
Time management this was inherent in the tasks and projects. These forces you to work in a team
and to work under pressure.

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49

Interview summary
Category (2)
Vito DI GIOIA and Joanna DINOLFO
June 14th 2010
Marketing and Business Development (V. DI GIOIA)
Project Manager EURO 2016 (J. DINOLFO)
At Federazione Italiana Giucco Calcio
Sports industry
Alumni: MBA LBS (J. DINOLFO)

Government and public sector in general, economic situation, and results of the national soccer
team.

Part B competencies
Economics
Managers need to be able to discuss and interact with these new evolving countries. Also called an
¨international attitude¨. Managers have to be more international, used to work together with
different people (improve international attitude).
3. Blamed managers
Managers need to have a 360 degrees vision of the business, deep understanding of the national and
international situation, negotiation skills, diplomatic attitudes, relationships to work with externals
typical for the public sector. Intangible aspects of competencies, personal skills to enter relationships
are much more important.
This is very difficult to improve in an MBA, the concept of an international MBA becomes very
important. Because in fact you are already studying in an diverse context which means that you are
forced to have these relationships.

APPENDIX


50

Globalization
Attitude to work with other people, capability to work with them. Teamwork. In an MBA, sports can
be included ( in terms of teambuilding).
These matters need to be studied more deeply in an MBA for a longer period. If it can be seen as
distribution of knowledge this has to be studied more deeply. MBA should be focussed and updated
about the new technologies. ICT issues and updates need to be linked to the subject of the courses
itself. And the course has to be rich of practical insights (case-studies).
Manager have to be able to train, teach and prepare another person to take over. To be positive to
share knowledge with others.
Younger generation should be able to understand the different generations and the roots of the
company. Some young people think that they can do everything. They have to be more humble
towards the organization, because experience is very difficult to learn from outside.
Internship is very important to prepare the student for the future in the company. They can get an
insight into the existing generations within the company (ms. D)
The impacts of the events are very important in the local environment. Managers need more
horizontal competencies. 360 degree understanding of the organizations and its impacts. They
recognize the organization by its events has a big impact on the¨ local moods¨. Therefore wide
competencies are needed.
Developed in an MBA: organization of a city, city management, all the impacts of an event on the city
in many different terms.
13. Reputation
Competencies have to be good communication which is very transparent and coherent, external
communication is becoming important for CSR.
How to teach these communication skills (Ms. D): direct experiences in work, multicultural
classrooms. Pro activity is very important; this means in her opinion collaboration and having a good
communication.

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51

14. Green Economy
Study the different business models with different perspectives under the perspective of green
economy. Case-studies of particular sectors and direct examples.
Understanding the diversity. Understand the different ways of working and his or her problems due
to gender. Managers need to be able to understand the people in terms of character, diversity, skills,
capability in order to get the best out of the people.

Information and communication competencies, communication, building (multicultural)
relationships.
Good level in IT and its new opportunities for business.
CSR mindset
Impact of activities on the people, social impacts (market activity). Linked to CSR. Legacy of the
events is interesting to tell (Ms. D). Efficient way to teach: Talk about own experience,
Start from the real case, experience of the actual manager, to understand the different points of
views of the managers have. Concrete cases are valuable.
Alumni
20. Best you gained
Experience in the classroom with colleges from different backgrounds, different previous work
experience.
All subjects were useful to get 360 degree overview. Marketing was important.
Communication, CSR, more ICT
Internship, the organization of the MBA courses (in terms of workload) cause it is similar to the actual
working life, the rhythm and group-work is important.

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52

Interview summary
Category (2)
Fabio MENIS
June 15th, 2010
Marketing consultant at IBM Business Consulting Services
Management Consulting
LBS MBA alumni

Recession. Decrease of the business. Focus on where to create value, innovating.

Part B competencies
Economics
Capable of interacting with someone that does not speak your language, understand different
approaches. Think globally. During an MBA, bring people abroad, give opportunity to live in a very
different place. Have an experience out of Italy. This way you learn how to manage diversity.
3. Blamed managers
Integrity and ethics. How to make money respecting people. To develop these qualities, CSR could be
an item of study in an MBA. Understand how company act ethically, having external positive
outcomes to the society. Studying real examples supported by theory. It is a sensibility, awareness.
Institutional relationships. Create a link with public sector. Get more visibility in what they do.
Dealing with complexity. To be able to build trust and win-win relationship. In an MBA, talk about
how the public sector is important for the society, how it needs to modernize he system and how a
private company can develop a trust relationship with the public sector.
It means lower internal costs. So efficiency. Use properly and accurately resources to deliver quality
to the client.

APPENDIX


53

Globalization
Listening, try to understand others. Understand why someone goes in a certain direction, has a
certain behavior in a certain situation. “Try to be open”. It is hard to teach, you can increase
sensitivity and awareness to this behavior.
Empowerment, entrepreneurial attitude, managing your work as if it was your own company.
Managing resources and taking risks. An MBA program naturally supports this mindset.
Capability of solving conflicts. Putting together different views in order to shift the multicultural
items from an issue to an opportunity. This is taught in an MBA.
Be prepared/ready/eager to learn everyday something new. Will. Be open in learning as much as
possible.
Be capable of understanding and identifying what is the critical knowledge. Then retention measures.
Formal and structured performance management system. Make jobs appealing, understand the
psychology and wishes of employees. Managerial development. Well taught during an MBA.
Young managers must recognize the value of experience. Complementarity of energy and
knowledge: managers need to learn how to be match these two.
Integrity. Respect of guiding principles: not only achieve business benefits but also social values.
Moral code/ ethical code to follow. MBA can give guideline, tools to manage a lot of situations, deal
with complex issues.
13. Reputation
Organizational behavior. Having a critical look on one’s company. Look for feedback, especially
directions for improvement. Communication skills. Be rational and lucid.
14. Green Economy
Being aware and knowledgeable about what is green economy. Could be taught in an MBA,
explaining how an economy becomes green with facts. Informing a lot.

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54

Be capable of managing the different issues that different categories have (ex: pregnant woman).
Each manager should be sensitive to this. So sensibility, understanding. Flexibility.
Black and white, sexual diversity. Ex: in Italy not full acceptance of homosexuality. Diversity could be
an interesting topic. Testimony from somebody living the diversity. Vision of diversity as an
opportunity.

Problem solving. Identifying the most important information to make decisions. Identifying priorities.
Good technical abilities are always useful. Knowing about technical details to understand what the
team is doing. In an MBA, bring a broad knowledge of many topics.
Workload analysis, organizational design. HR processes and change management. Managing people’s
expectations. Performance management. Communication. Theory and exercises. Testimonies of
change management and impact on management.
Real exercise after transfer of theory. Balance practice theory: 25-30% basic theory, and the rest
applying with exercises.
Alumni
20. Best you gained
Self-confidence in many kind of situations. Ability to understand many situations.
Topics related to managing people. Organization design, interact effectively in professional
environments. Analyzing finance. Managerial development.
Managing people. Project work.
Internship, “a bridge between the classroom and the company”.


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55

Interview summary
Category (2)
Fabiola CIARALLI
June 21st 2010
Head of BU Power Trading & Portfolio Management
at AceaElectrabel Trading S.p.A.
Oil and energy Industry

This is the movement in prices of the commodities of energy and all the fuels. And second, the
energy market in Italy.

Part B competencies
Economics
People should be able to understand the economics of these kind of countries. This is necessary in
order to foresee the future market and recognize points to develop and have insights in differences
between markets. A suggestion how to develop this is to read the news. Macro-economic
competencies are also very important, of these measured countries.
3. Blamed managers
Every company has a big financial impact. Managers should have an idea of the financial impact of
the company: ¨they should have an overview¨. Looking more at the attitudes they should have, in
Italy there is a big difference between managers dealing with finance or other managers. Operational
managers don´t know much about finance. In order for them to cooperate with CFO and to avoid big
conflicts, it is better if they have knowledge about finance.
Negotiation skills are very important. Especially in Italy all the rules are influenced by the
government. The government influences the market. Managers need the capability to explain the
problem and to cooperate with the government. Communication, negotiation and lobbying is
important for this. In an MBA this is developed by having relationships. It should not be a course of
study, but the possibility to network.

APPENDIX


56

Appendix consultancy report. what companies want

Appendix consultancy report. what companies want

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