Chief financial officer at Unilever: MBA Profile

Unilever’s chief financial officer, Jean-Marc Huët, a graduate of INSEAD’s MBA class of December 1998, considers both key influencers in his enviable success to date.

 

“I’m actually glad I chose to go to business school when I did, aged 29,” explains Huët. “I was probably one of the older ones. And I’m happy that I was there as one of the older ones. First, I had sufficient life experience as an adult. Second, I really took the MBA for what it was, which was taking a step back to think about what I’d done in my career, what I was going to do, and why I was going to do it.

 

“I’m not saying it was a spiritual period of time, but it was a crossroads and as a result the time was truly worthwhile. I wouldn’t have liked to have gone and done my MBA three years after graduating from university, because it would have really been a different type of experience.”

 

When referring to MBA students, both experience and diversity are multifaceted terms. Experience can refer to a class’s combined work experience, their personal life experience, or even the range of qualifications they hold. Diversity, meanwhile, could pertain to the range of industry backgrounds, the gender profile of the group, or the range of nationalities found in the classroom.

 

“One of the things that I did learn on my MBA was an appreciation of diversity. At INSEAD, you have people from Israel, the US, South America… it really is a huge melting pot. And because it’s such a pressure cooker, you really don’t form cliques or anything like that. So one of the wealths of the experience is just having so many different nationalities, as well as walks of life; there was a doctor, a fighter pilot, a consultant, all together.

 

“The plurality of views and the richness of having those plurality of views, the diversity of the student body there - these really were sources of inspiration.”

Huët offers a strikingly succinct overview of a career that has seen him rise from selling bicycle tires to occupying one of the most influential roles in one of the world’s largest consumer goods companies.

 

“I graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College, then came back to Europe, but couldn’t find a job. I then met someone who gave me work after four month’s searching; a small company selling bicycle tires in Italy.

 

“I then decided to enter a more institutionalized industry, investment banking. I joined Goldman Sachs as an analyst in the investment banking division in 1993, and remained there until 2002, by which time I had been promoted to executive director of investment banking services.”

 

It’s this experience that Huët valued as he took a year out of the working world to enroll on his MBA program at INSEAD’s Fontainebleau campus. In 2002 it was his contacts in the business world that helped him secure his next influential role at one of his previous clients, Numico, a specialist baby food and medical nutrition company.

 

“That business got sold to Danone, so I then became chief financial officer of Bristol-Myers Squibb, a global US-based pharmaceutical company, which also at the time had a baby food business called Mead Johnson. I stayed there for a couple of years and then joined Unilever, mainly because it was an Anglo-Dutch global company in the consumer sector which required a lot of changes.”

The majority of MBAs prefer to remain within the same industry after graduating, but many opt to use their MBA to gain the skills needed to enter a different profession.

 

“For me, my MBA gave me the self-confidence to do something outside investment banking. An MBA doesn’t necessarily give you the depth of business: how industry, or how corporates work. What it did do for me was give me enough of a base to feel that I could be permitted to venture into different careers.

 

“Secondly, it was a very good time to take a step back, to really calibrate my business life, ambitions, what I personally wanted to do. It gave a good forum to discuss, debate with other people in an environment that is obviously intellectually very stimulating.”

 

When considering the program curriculum itself, Huët highlights two modules that have been of particular use since graduating.

 

“There are certain topics from my MBA program that I have been able to use. One was organizational behavior and the other one was on family firms. And those are two themes that have been always very relevant. Because sometimes in the past I have bought family firms, so understanding the dynamics around these has been very insightful.

 

“Organizational behavior is relevant to any organization bigger than two people. You are bound to have some politics so to be appreciative and sensitive to the importance of the psychology of organizations has been very beneficial.”

 

However, while the successful MBA alumnus is clear on how he has managed to achieve what he has, he also points out that he didn’t start with a game-plan. Instead, adaptability and hard work are what he feels have been the key components.

 

“The three common threads in my career to date are first, nothing has been pre-meditated; second, it’s an inherent belief of mine that if you work hard enough, you’ll achieve what you set out to achieve; third, a calculated approach to risk and feeling you only live once so you might as well seize opportunities when they arise.”