Think Globally

2 Responses to “Think Globally”

1. Bill Chapman on June 5th, 2007 10:02 pm

   On Saturday, June 2, 2007, the BYU Management Society held its first-ever Regional Conference at the Claridge Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Representatives from chapters in Brazil, Chile and Argentina, as well as a member of the International Steering Committee participated in the conference.
   The purpose of the Conference was to improve communications, networking and career development between members and businesses in the three countries. Leaders and members of these chapters felt that an increasingly global economy and technological advancements have created a fertile environment for increased collaboration among the Chapters.
   Juan Pablo, of the Chile Chapter, framed the question which seemed to be the focus of the Conference, “what is the product we have to offer that will make potential members want to come back?” Ariel Chaparro, who earned his MBA at the University of Argentina and has been employed by the Presiding Bishop’s Office almost his entire career, is currently in charge of one of the 5 centers of distribution for the Church worldwide, serves as Director of Networking and Placement for the Argentina Chapter, as well as Stake President in the Church, that prospective Society members in South America – like all over the world – are busy, have demands of full-time employment, family, Church responsibilities, etc. and we must effectively compete for their time by providing something of value that they cannot find elsewhere.
   Paulo Loureiro, Director of Business Development at Travelport Galileu and Vice President of the Brazil Chapter, observed that a chapter member in one of these countries would not hesitate to move to one of the other countries in the region if a good job opportunity presented itself. Pablo Montes, recipient of his Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Buenos Aires, an MBA from PWU (spell out), currently entrepreneur and COO of his own company, Tele Convegence S.A. (Voip data/images) and President of the Argentina Chapter, commented that over the years, he has made many business trips to Brazil, where some of his biggest customers have been located. Ricardo?, President of the Chile Chapter said that there are many multinational companies present in the three countries represented at the Conference and if the chapters share their resources with potential employers, many doors would be opened to those seeking career development.
   Brother Loureiro, who has a great deal of experience with headhunting firms, stated that he is confident that all of the major headhunting firms would be delighted to have access to a database of members of the BYU Management Society, which would, in turn, increase opportunities for members of the Society to enhance their career development options. Because of BYU’s international reputation for producing high-quality, hard-working and ethical candidates, Paulo believes that BYU could offer the portion of the Society’s database of members looking for employment to these headhunters and establish a good working relationship, which would be mutually beneficial and enhance the credibility of the BYU Management Society worldwide. The leading international headhunting firms mentioned were as follows: Korn/Ferry International, Spencer Stuart, and Micro Page, Boyden and Blue Step (a firm that feeds resumes to all of the other headhunting firms).
   David Paradiso, former consultant with Ernst & Young, now Project accountant for the Presiding Bishop’s Office in Argentina, and Director of Recruiting for the Argentina Chapter, shared a personal experience helping other Society members obtain employment. David used his contacts at Ernst & Young to help several other chapter members get interviews with Ernst & Young, resulting in significant career development for these individuals.
   All of these South American chapters have worked in recruiting potential MBA candidates for BYU. One concern they have discovered is that many candidates fear that after leaving a good job to obtain their MBA degree at BYU, they may return to their home country and find the economy soured and no job. This fear is based, in part, on the 2001 collapse of the economy in Argentina which resulted in a nationwide depression.
   Brother Chapparal recommends that after members have seen the benefits of the Society, that they be invited to make a commitment to give 2-3 hours/month mentoring younger members in the area of networking, placement, etc.
   Great interest was expressed in the online placement matching service initiated by Scott Greenaugh at BYU. To enter the database, a candidate must fill out minimum information; however, to get full exposure to search firms, an online profile must be completed, which takes about one hour to complete. Firms looking for employees can search the database based on custom parameters and pursue any matches. The searching firm/employer pays a fee for the search that is about ½ (Scott?) of the typical fee charged for such searches. The key to the success of this program will be populating the database and marketing its availability to those searching for jobs. Conference attendees felt that this service can be a great benefit to Society members, as well as employers looking for a cost effective alternative to expensive search programs. This service is available on the official BYU Management Society website at ?
   Pablo Montes suggested the Chapters encourage members to subscribe to the free online business networking service “Linkedin.com” to further promote networking opportunities in the Society. Similar to the job search database referred to above, those interested will need to fill out an online profile. However, beyond this, the individual must then invite others to join his or her “network” by sending an email through the service. Those who receive these invitations must “accept” by a simple mouse click, or decline by ignoring the request. Those who accept are “linked in” to the member’s 1st level network, which network can be viewed by all those in the network.
   These networks are used to find trusted professionals who are viewed with some level of credibility based on the association with trusted colleagues. Think of this as business’s adaptation of “My Space” or “Face Page,” the online social networks hugely popular in the youth sector worldwide. Participants were queried as to how many were already “linked in,” almost all of whom were. For example, Mario Silva, South American Regional Manager of the Genealogical Department for the Church and Recruitment Director for the Brazil Chapter of the Management Society, has 262 “contacts” in his personal “linkedin” network.
   On Saturday evening, June 2, 2007, the Argentina Chapter of the BYU Management Society hosted a business event, featuring a multi-media presentation by Tommy Heinrich, the first Argentine to summit Mt. Everest. Lee Greenlaugh?, Director of the Global Management Center at the Marriott School, gave a special report on new developments at the Marriott School as well as an overview of the BYU Management Society and its global reach. The evenings presentations were capped by remarks by LDS Area President, Elder Lynn Robbins, with a spiritual comparison of the trials and tribulations faced by Tommy Heinrich and those of life in general. Approximately 138 people were in attendance, almost 1/3 of which were not members of the LDS Church.
   Hidal Rodrigues, of the Brazil Chapter, shared an experience where he set up a meeting with the CEO of his then-employer, Telefonica (describe size, market presence, etc.) and BYU’s Lee Radebaugh to discuss potential internships for BYU business students. After some discussion, when the CEO, an LDS Church member, was told that the purpose of the meeting was to explore the possibility of BYU internships with Telefonica, the CEO said, “It’s done.” Subsequently, 2 BYU undergraduate students were given internships and 5 BYU graduates were hired as full-time employees. Conference attendees are confident that many more such experiences are possible with better coordination and communication, which became the focus on the Conference.
   Patricio Giuffra of the Chile Chapter, shared a need of one of its members who is a current Marriott School MBA student. This student scored high on the GMAT exam, served a US mission and speaks fluent English, but as of this date, has not been able to set up an internship for the rapidly approaching summer break. One of the problems is that Chile has virtually no internships available and this student was encouraged to leave a well-paying job to attend the Marriott School and get his MBA degree. Any leads regarding a possible internship for this deserving young man would be appreciated.
   In discussing the lack of internships available in Chile, recommendations were made that there are two key “internship fairs” held in the fall of each year which may be of interest to Latin American MBA students. First, the NASHIMBA is a National job fair for Hispanic MBA students; second, the Orlando job fair offers internships with global corporations and interviews with HR representatives from the major multi-national corporations. Another option for internships in Latin America is with Farm Management, a for-profit agricultural corporation, wholly owned by the LDS Church and which has even “made” internships available when none were available elsewhere. One of the barriers to internships for Latin American students is that many large corporations offering internships are reluctant to invest in a student’s future because of the concern that such students will return home and not pursue a career with the offering company. A suggestion to address this dilemma was to seek out multi-national corporations where the student could continue employment in Latin America after graduation.
   Patricio ?, Brazil Chapter President, expressed gratitude for the assistance of Dick Smith, with the Marriott School Career Services Office, who has made visits to Latin America and assisted greatly in job hunting for Marriott School alumni in that region. ?(Patricio) also expressed a desire for better communications and networking with the Brazil chapter because most multi-national corporations have their Latin America headquarters there. Paulo Loureiro, echoed this sentiment, urging that the larger the database offered to the recruiters, the greater the interest and value our organization will be.
   Ariel Chapparo reiterated that if we let the multi-nationals know at a high level (hopefully, through BYU) that there are many qualified Marriott School alumni and Society members who subscribe to the same work ethic and values, who would be excellent candidates for employment, the recruiters will be very receptive. Perhaps the only change in what is already done by BYU Career Placement in this regard is to expand the pool of prospective candidates from just Marriott School alumni to all BYU Management Society members. He suggested that we offer our database to not only headhunters, who consider such a database of great value in their efforts to locate qualified candidates for employers and but also directly to corporate HR departments, possibly asking a corporation hiring an employee through our database donate 1 month’s salary of any candidate hired to the Management Society. Corporations typically pay headhunters 2-3 months salary for such referrals.
   The 3 Chapters represented at the Conference have over 200 active Management Society members. Carlos Vieira, Treasurer for the Brazil Chapter, pointed out that there are about 44,000 Marriott School alumni worldwide, which is only part of the pool of potential Management Society members. The goal is to connect these 44,000 alumni and others who share the goals and mission of the Marriott School to create a truly global network of business professionals.
   Two job search programs currently available online are Monster.com and Latpro.com, both of which are fee based matching programs (for the candidate or just the employer?). The matching service now provided on the BYU Management Society website is no charge to employees and employers pay a fraction of the competitive job search fees. Carlos discovered a couple of limitations on the BYU Management Society matching program: First, there is only one category for all prospective employees outside of the United States. As the service grows in use, further breakdowns should be created for more narrow searches (at least “Latin America” as a category). Second, he found that although membership is required to use the system, membership is not controlled in any way. Therefore, it would not be hard for someone to “become” a member and expose the private information of many individuals. (Check with Scott on this.) One possibility is to require “sponsorship” by an existing member, which would be a way to screen potential abuses.
   Better Customer Relationship Management (“CRM”) was also recommended by Carlos. This has to do with classification of the type of contact, such as is done by other services such as Yahoo Groups, Linkedin, etc.
   Another problem experienced by the Latin American Chapters is one of finance. Dues are generally not collected, limiting the resources and events that can be offered. This is due to two separate barriers: First, the economies in these countries make it difficult for members to pay such fees, and second, the countries in this region do not have US type tax exemption status and will potentially tax whoever controls the bank account locally on any revenues or, at a minimum, will require reporting and tax returns to be prepared.
   One possible solution to the former was suggested, that is, for Chapters looking for funding to create a “business plan,” or detailed write-up on the uses and expected benefits of the funds. Such business plans could be presented to “adopted” or “sister chapters” in North America to include these South American chapters as beneficiaries of a portion of funds raised at golf tournaments and other fund raisers.
   As to the bank account problem, a suggestion was made that a “corporate” credit card might be issued to a Treasurer of the Chapters from BYU, which could be used to pay expenses. Dues or other donations would be made to an account in the US at BYU and available for payment by the South American chapter through such a corporate credit card. Because of the technical requirements of finance issues, more study will have to be done in regard to this issue.
   Dante ?, ? of the Argentina Chapter, gave a presentation on Mentoring. Dante showed how a Regional website is available through the Church’s official website, which has a great deal of information directed at Young Adults in the Region and is frequently used by those Young Adults. The Management Society markets its events through this website to Young Adults, who are a “feeder” pool for future members of the Management Society and build the BYU Management Society brand.
   The Brazil Chapter is aware that many high level executives do not have time to participate actively in Chapter events. However, such individuals are willing and relish the idea of mentoring a student or young professional in making career decisions and planning for the future. The Mentoring program requests that mentors commit to 1-2 contacts/month be made with the person being mentored. These contacts can be by email, phone, in person such as a lunch or any other type of contact. The purpose is to motivate and provide career guidance and possibly help young business people to develop their own network of trusted professionals. After 3 months, both the mentor and person being mentored are required to provide an evaluation of their experience and the Director makes a decision whether to continue the mentoring assignment if both parties wish, or to make a new assignment or none at all. There is no age limit for those seeking a mentor, therefore, even established individuals seeking to upgrade their career or get timely career advise, are given the opportunity to get such advise from someone whose advise can be trusted and appreciated. Mentors in the Brazil Chapter have been found through the Advisory Board, which includes 2 Area Authorities, the Director of CES, Regional Director of Public Affairs and other well-respected leaders in business.
   David ?, of the Argentina Chapter, gave a presentation on Recruiting for the BYU Marriott School. The Argentina Chapter has coordinated efforts with the Marriott School and provided a GMAC prep class which has several success stories. Three prospective MBA students scored poorly on the GMAC before receiving help, after which they retook the GMAC and scored very well and were accepted into the Marriott School’s MBA program. It has been found that one of the major impediments to individuals doing well on the GMAC is English reading and comprehension. Work is underway to help prospective students improve their English and continue the prep classes.
   Ricardo Paredes, Chapter President in Chile gave a report on his Chapter. In Chile, there have been many ups and downs. Successes include assisting members get interviews w/large corporations. The chapter has 40 active members. However, the work ethic in Chile is to work long hours, leaving little time for involvement with the Management Society. Lack of English language capability is a concern. However, many success have been achieved in spite of these serious obstacles. For example, in 2004, Dean Ned Hill visited and the Chile chapter was able to organize and invite a number of high-level business executives to attend the meeting and introduce these corporations to the benefits of hiring Marriott School graduates. In 2005, job interviews were arranged for several candidates with Intel Corporation. In 2006, Richard Hang and Alberto Puertas again helped arrange interviews with large multi-national corporations. Also, in 2006, interviews were arranged for BYU undergraduates.
   In assessing the value of the Conference, participants felt that it was helpful to try to create a better network between the South American chapters. One request that was repeatedly voiced was that South American chapters be given more advance notice of visits by high level business executives affiliated with either the LDS Church or Marriott School and be given an opportunity to plan an event with such a visitor as a keynote speaker. For example, David Neeleman, a former missionary to Brazil and whose JetBlue company had business there, flew into Brazil and spoke to a group of 2,000 people at a major auditorium. That success was followed by a visit by Stephen R. Covey, who also spoke to a group of about the same size. It is not difficult for the South American chapters to provide a successful event with a very large turnout, they just need some advance notice.
   In addition to big name speakers, if Management Society members from North America are traveling in South America on business, there is a great desire to have them also notify these “sister” chapters, again so that events can be planned around the visit and further collaboration of networking and other opportunities can be achieved. Because of the globalization of business in recent years, many barriers which existed before are falling down. It is the belief of the South American chapters that they can play a significant role in helping anyone who does business in South America, or who works for a company that does.
   Another outcome of this first meeting was to recommend a Regional Chair for the BYU Management Society South America Region. The recommendation was made and will be passed on to the Marriott School for approval before being formally announced. The idea is that as the Management Society becomes more of a truly global organization, Regions could be created outside of the US, instead of just a single “International Region.” A person could be appointed or elected to be the Regional Chair to represent that Region on the International Steering Committee, giving voice to concerns and contributions from that Region, including participating on the monthly conference call of the Steering Committee.
   All in all, it was the unanimous feeling of the participants that this first-ever Regional Conference at Claridge Hotel in Buenos Aires, has opened the door to tremendous possibilities for the South American Region and possibly for other regions worldwide. The suggestion was made that there may be more Regional Conferences both in South American and in other parts of the world. This Conference can now be used as a model for those other Regions. However, as with all good ideas, what remains is a lot of hard work and inspiration to see if these ideas will make a difference. For those who attended, optimism runs very high with a commitment to making the ideals happen.
   In conclusion, all the participants would like to thank Rixa Oman and the BYU Marriott School, as well as the BYU Management Society for putting this Conference together and expressing confidence in this Region to be able to make good use of the resources expended. There was much gratitude for the travel, lodging and meals that were provided to those, many of whom could not have participated without such support. A special thanks goes to Heather Eastley, who provided much of the planning and logistics for the conference, but was unable to join the Conference due to a sudden stomach illness. Heather, we all hope that you have already achieved a speedy recovery. Lee Radenbaugh was especially helpful in providing direction and support on site, as well as looking after Heather’s care and attention. He also gave a wonderful presentation that elevated the image of the BYU Management Society in the Saturday evening event. Finally, thanks to all the Chapter Presidents, Board and Committee members who are living and advancing the vision of the BYU Management Society of “growing moral and ethical leadership around the world.”

2. Helena Hannonen on June 11th, 2007 10:22 pm

   Bill,

   Thank you very much for the information. It was nice to hear what happened in the Argentina conference. I especially appreciated that you included names of the people and what they said. This type of communication makes the world smaller and us more connected. One never knows whose name is familiar and networking in enhanced.

   I have been thinking of the Hawaii chapters we are trying to form: one for students at BYUH and another for business professionals in Honolulu. Bloging makes connections easier from people who are distant in locations. Also, regional conferences bring people together.

   I have students who are going back to Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina for summer. I encourage them to attend Management Society meetings and become involved. They may find formal or informal mentors who will help them as they repatriate back to their home regions.

   Thank you for taking time to write about your experiences.

   Gratefully,

   Helena

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