In Emerging Markets MBAs Find Risks and Rewards

This article is sponsored by the ESSEC Business School. Learn more about ESSEC Business School and its MBA programs. 

MBA programs are often equated with lessons in how to make money, but growing interest in careers focused on sustainability or working for nonprofit, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) gives lie to this stereotype.

Over the last decade, MBA students have also increasingly pursued opportunities in emerging markets. Working in an emerging market is not for the faint of heart. First-year MBAs spend a week working in an emerging market at Harvard Business School. HBS Professor Alan MacCormack notes they travel to places “where the business environment is distinctively different than in the US” and where they may have to tolerate a lack of “so many basics that you take for granted – like electricity”.

Claudia Pumarejo, who recently returned from Rwanda, and Ingrid Cazalis, who recently returned from Chile, discussed their experiences as part of ESSEC Business School’s International Immersion Project with TopMBA.com.

ESSEC Business School’s International Immersion Project: A key part of the Global MBA

Founded over 100 years ago as the Institute of Economic and Commercial Studies, ESSEC Business School maintains campuses in both Paris and Singapore. The school’s International Immersion Project is a key element of the Global MBA curriculum, “focusing on real-world experiences in emerging markets taking students out of the classroom, out of the country and out of their comfort zones”.

With a three to four week mentor-led immersions, the project sends teams into countries where they work with sponsoring companies on management issues. According to ESSEC Business School, “[MBA participants in the project gain] a deep understanding of the region’s business, cultural, and political climate along with the opportunity to explore the value of different economic models and the ability to work within diverse teams and gain experience in making responsible, ethical decisions.”

As part of Claudia Pumarejo’s Global MBA studies, she traveled to Rwanda. She’d recommend the program to others because, “It was a great experience to live, work and travel in that part of the world. It might sound cliché, but it’s like nowhere else. The colors, food, hospitality and culture of Rwanda are a breath of fresh air.”

Pumarejo’s experiences are ones shared by many who travel to unfamiliar regions. As Amit Sinha, head of database and technology marketing at SAP, explained to Fast Company, “Graduates who have worked on projects in emerging markets develop a unique blend of experience in innovating solutions, along with collaboration and teamwork, can-do attitude, and humility.”

Cazalis understands this. For her, humility was vital as she earned her MBA. After all, “The students all have high-potential profiles, so your experiences –which might appear amazing on their own – appear less significant when compared with the cohort as a whole.” She brought this sense of humility to a study trip in South Africa where she visited a risk-taking entrepreneur who opened a coffee shop in a marginal neighborhood. His daily struggles were an exercise in humility for Cazalis.

Because many MBA students aspire to prestigious positions, Pumarejo believes they must strive to be sympathetic and humble. “I think it’s important for MBA students and for everybody else to be aware of other ways of life and the challenges faced by people in a social, economic or political disadvantage. Every once in a while it’s necessary to step out of the bubble... and realize that some of our problems might be insignificant compared to other people’s. Luckily, this will ignite a sense of giving back, social responsibility and an urge to help.”  

The humility engendered in Cazalis and Pumarejo is one of the key goals of ESSEC Business School’s International Immersion Project. The project combines the ‘change the world’ spirit of Peace Corp volunteers and NGO workers with the business acumen of an MBA student from a top-ranked school.

It’s more than a powerful combination. It’s also an ideal symbiosis. The benefits to those who endure some of the most challenging lives on the globe are apparent. Living in neighborhoods where running water and electricity are considered luxury items, the residents are taught new skills and how to market their talents. In July of 2012, Global MBA student Uday Broca wrote on an ESSEC blog about joining the Life Project 4 Youth in the Philippines. The program assists young mothers, teaching them skills to either run their own business or enter the job market.

“After meeting the mothers, we went on a visit to where they live as that would give us some real perspective on the realties on the ground,” Broca recalls. “Coming from India, I have seen my fair share of very poor slum areas with the harshest of living conditions. In spite of this, I was not prepared for what we saw. I cannot describe in words how bad the conditions really were. Filth, garbage, dirt, muddy disease-ridden water surrounds the area. Families live in the tiniest of houses with no electricity or any level of sanitation. Their primary mode of income is going through trash and selling things at the junk shop. A few hours spent there really opened our eyes as to how fortunate we truly are and that all our supposedly ‘big’ problems are nothing compared to what these people go through every day.”

Yet, while the benefits to recipients may seem apparent, participants benefit as well. For one thing, MBA grads who spend some time working in emerging markets may find their career opportunities greatly improved. "Without question, I'm far more likely to hire MBA graduates who have had management consulting experience in emerging markets over graduates who have not,” Sinha points out. With so many opportunities available for MBAs interested in working in emerging markets, the hardest step is determining where to go. 

Beyond the BRICS countries

It’s been a long time since the strident economies of Brazil, Russian, India and China have been an unknown quantity. The term BRICs countries is usually attributed to a 2003 Goldman Sachs report claiming that by mid-century their economies would surpass most of the world’s current economic powers, China and India would become the world’s dominant suppliers of manufactured goods and services, while Brazil and Russia would be the largest suppliers of raw materials. In 2011, South Africa was added, making the BRICs the BRICS. Although not aligned, if the BRICS countries did form a political bloc it would be enormously powerful with huge implications.

Although many MBA grads focus on the BRICS countries, some of the best opportunities lie elsewhere. Indeed, compared to some emerging markets the BRIC economies can be considered mature. Many have looked beyond them to smaller, often more challenging areas like those in the Philippines, Rwanda and Chile. As Professor Eric Werker noted in his 2014 Harvard Business school course description for Globalization and Emerging markets, “The majority of economic growth is now occurring in non-high income democracies where some of the basic assumptions of markets (enforcement of contracts, anti-trust laws, government as referee not player) do not hold.”

In BRICS countries and other emerging markets, turbulence is just one of many challenges. It’s a challenge many Global MBA students have embraced.

Opportunities in Emerging Markets.

Looking back at her experiences working in South Africa and Chile, Cazalis can recognize the reason emerging markets are gaining attention for businesses and executives. For one thing, there is the obvious cost advantage – both labor and many raw materials are less expensive in emerging markets. She points to other reasons as well. “Emerging countries have key competencies (Bulgaria and India for software and hardware),” she notes, “and their different cultural way of negotiating and conducting business offers a rich learning opportunity if, at a minimum, executives don’t try to impose only their way. They also offer clear access to a region (a strategic warehouse in Singapore).”

There are concerns – crime rates may be higher and medical care substandard.

Despite this, Cazalis says during her time in Chile, “I lived with my backpack and went into the deepest areas each time [without fear for my safety].”

When Pumarejo got ready to go to Rwanda this summer, she remembers, “My family had concerns about the Ebola outbreak in Africa. The news that they were getting in Mexico were very disturbing. Fortunately, the disease is constrained to a reduced number of countries. Since I come from a developing country myself, I was not too surprised about the kind of challenges faced by those countries.”

For many Global MBA students the rewards surpass the risks. As Pumarejo noted, “When you work in an emerging market and you realize that people are moving ahead having all sorts of challenges, not only related to business, their patience and perseverance is really humbling. Bearing with no hot water in the shower and frequent electricity/internet shortcuts, one realizes that many things that we take for granted are actually missing for so many people.” These lessons, learned not in classrooms but on the ground, are a real value-add for programs like the Global MBA.

This article is sponsored by the ESSEC Business School.