Get documents about "Western-Europe
Document Sample
The IMD MBA
Western Europe: Participants and Alumni
"At IMD we have the world condensed into one auditorium. The 40+ different
nationalities and perspectives create a unique and unforgettable experience that has
changed my view of the world. More than an MBA, IMD is a life experience that is
preparing me to thrive in an increasingly global business environment and allowing me
to build a global network of lifetime friends."
João Brito Martins, Portuguese, MBA 2010
Head of Business Excellence Department, EDP, Brazil
Prior to IMD: 5 years strategic marketing, business development & consulting
A Selection of 2011 Participants
Paolo Alfieri, Italian/Spanish, 33 paolo.alfieri@mba2011.imd.ch
Prior to IMD: 8 years int’l experience in management consulting and banking
Fredy Baettig, Swiss, 30 Fredy.baettig@mba2011.imd.ch
Prior to IMD: 6+ years int’l experience in product engineering and management
David Basson, UK/French/South African, 33 David.basson@mba2011.imd.ch
Prior to IMD: 12+ years int’l leadership experience in operations and strategy, British Army Officer
Anne-Sybil Bragadir, French/American/Swiss, 30 Anne-sybil.bragadir@mba2011.imd.ch
Prior to IMD: 7.5 years int’l experience in private equity investments and M&A advisory
Michael Conry, Irish, 34 Michael.conry@mba2011.imd.ch
Prior to IMD: 8 years in R&D, asset management and education with team management and int’l consulting experience
Benoit Desoutter, French, 29 Benoit.desoutter@mba2011.imd.ch
Prior to IMD: 4.5 years int’l experience in strategic cost optimization and cooperation program management
Giovanni Fiorilli, Italian, 30 Giovanni.fiorilli@mba2011.imd.ch
Prior to IMD: 7 years business development experience in the shipping and logistics industry
Aidine Hoek, Dutch, 33 Aidine.hoek@MBA2011.imd.ch
Prior to IMD: 10 years int’l experience in strategy consulting and music performance
Jean-David Kirassian, French, 30 Jean-david.kirassian@mba2011.imd.ch
Prior to IMD: 7 years int’l experience in financial audit, treasury and controlling in FMCG and luxury watch industries
Sophie Lacombe, French, 28 Sophie.lacombe@mba2011.imd.ch
Prior to IMD: 5 years in project management and fundraising in the nonprofit sector
Saskia Marsh, German/British, 28 Saskia.marsh@mba2011.imd.ch
Prior to IMD: 6 years experience delivering social impact in challenging environments
Mario Pertusa, Spanish, 31 Mario.pertusa@mba2011.imd.ch
Prior to IMD: 7 years in private equity and investment banking
Björn Poëll, Swiss, 33 Bjorn.poell@mba2011.imd.ch
Prior to IMD: 7 years int’l management and sales experience
Francesco Saccani, Italian, 29 Francesco.saccani@mba2011.imd.ch
Prior to IMD: 5 years in engineering, sales and supply chain management in the manufacturing and aerospace industries
Elisa Vimercati, Italian, 30 Elisa.vimercati@mba2011.imd.ch
Prior to IMD: 5 years experience in private equity and M&A advisory in the utilities sector
Hannes Wakonig, Austrian, 34 Hannes.wakonig@mba2011.imd.ch
Prior to IMD: 6+ years int’l M&A and project management experience
Marko Wolter, German, 34 Marko.wolter@mba2011.imd.ch
Prior to IMD: 10+ years int’l industry experience in strategy, leadership and HR
Update Feb-09
A Selection of Recent Alumni
2010
Philipp Martini, German – Key Account Manager, Royal Dutch Shell PLC, The Netherlands
Prior to IMD: 5 years int’l experience in project management & engineering in the automotive industry
Omar Molato, French/Moroccan – Associate, McKinsey & Company Inc, Switzerland
Prior to IMD: 4 years managerial & organizational experience in healthcare & nutrition
David Sanchez, Spanish – Business Development Manager, American Express, UK
Prior to IMD: 4 years experience in management consulting and internal audit
Caspar Schwinner, Austrian – CFO, Mucos Pharma, Germany
Prior to IMD: 9 years int’l managerial experience in finance and controlling mostly in the medical devices industry
Kosmas Theofilopoulos, Greek – Director of Sales and Strategy, AGT International, Switzerland
Prior to IMD: 7 years project management & business development in the shipping industry
2009
Olivia Assereto, Italian – Brand Manager, Eli Lilly (Suisse) SA, Switzerland
Prior to IMD: 5 years international marketing experience in food & beverage industry
Simon Brunner, Swiss – Associate, McKinsey & Company Inc, Switzerland
Prior to IMD: 11 years cross-functional experience in the media & software development sector
Richard Dove, British – Strategy Development Manager, Firmenich SA, Switzerland
Prior to IMD: 7 years experience in project management, finance & procurement in the retail & IT sectors
Wouter Naessens, Belgian – Senior Financial Manager, NagraVision SA (Kudelski Group), Switzerland
Prior to IMD: 7 years experience in strategy consulting & production
2008
Francisco Abecasis, Portuguese – Channel Manager VAR Channel Group, SunPower Energy Systems Spain SL, Spain
Prior to IMD: 8+ years international experience in the automotive industry
Mathieu Pointeau, French – Executive Assistant to the President, Schindler Management AG, Switzerland
Prior to IMD: 12 years in strategic marketing and project management in the environment & automotive industries
Asier Sinde, Spanish – Senior Manager, Global Partner Marketing, IT Solutions Division, Samsung Electronics, S. Korea
Prior to IMD: 5+ years of experience in asset management & strategic consulting in the railway industry
2007
Gonçalo Ferreira, Portuguese – Operations Director, Danaher (Leica Microsystems) AG, Germany
Prior to IMD: 6 years of operations management in the European automotive industry
Anna Johnstone, British/New Zealander – National Account Director, Mars Chocolate UK Ltd, UK
Prior to IMD: 4 years in human resources in the energy industry
Jonathan Scott, British – Engagement Manager, McKinsey & Company Inc, USA
Prior to IMD: 6 years in healthcare as a medical doctor
2006
Pierre Lever, British/French – Managing Director, Planet Retail, UK
Prior to IMD: 7 years in sales & general management, 2 years as a trial attorney
Hoang Kim Nguyen, Swiss/Vietnamese – Investment Director, Bridgepoint, France
Prior to IMD: 5 years in industrial management & management consulting
Frank Desiere, German/Swiss – Global Business Development Manager, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Switzerland
Prior to IMD: 10 years in business development, technology transfer & R&D
" IMD more than fulfilled my aim to gain an international perspective. I had already worked
abroad a lot, but never with 40 different nationalities at once! The combination of my work
experience and the IMD MBA helped establish my credibility at a top level so that I could move
on to the next phase of my career.”
Marie Sallois, French, MBA 2001
Head of Corporate Development, IOC, Switzerland
The IMD MBA
Alumni: Where are they now?
Jérôme Baudy, French, MBA 2003
General Manager, Dior Couture, China
November 2, 2010
To be a successful career change, two things are of prime importance: to know what skills and
knowledge to transfer, and to convince others that you can transfer them. Jérôme Baudy went
to IMD in 2003 determined to do so.
After seven years in a successful sales, marketing and general management career in the
pharmaceuticals industry, Jérôme, then 30, craved a faster pace in more consumer-driven and
brand-sensitive field. His specific interest in the luxury industry presented a challenging jump from a B2B-focused
environment. A further complication was that luxury brand companies typically grow leaders from within. He decided to
reinforce his capacity to both adapt his skills and persuade potential employers by getting an MBA.
He saw an IMD MBA as a passport, but getting over the border took his own hard work. “I started my job search very
early, in July,” he says. “I spoke to people in related industries to understand the challenges from the inside. I sent very
focused and personalized letters to only a few, but the right people.”
His networking was invaluably boosted by IMD career services with their access to alumni. “One of the strongest attributes
of IMD is the quality of the alumni network. This is important during the job search and even afterwards. It is not the
biggest community, but people are very responsive, very helpful, and very well placed.”
IMD also pointed him to suitable opportunities among companies coming to campus, which he took seriously, alongside
his own targeted selections. In the end, he had five job offers and accepted a position as Managing Director of the South
Korea subsidiary of Bulgari. Jérôme had pinpointed Bulgari from the start for their history, quality products and expansion
potential.
Once inside the industry, his IMD learning helped ensure he had the strategic, creative thinking, the leadership, and the
passion for the brand that was required. He particularly notes having gained a broad perspective, an ability to handle
pressure, and deep self-knowledge that enables him to be a strong team player, a particularly important skill when leading
people from a variety of backgrounds.
After positions with Bulgari in Korea and Hong Kong, he moved to Dior Couture as General Manager for China at the
beginning of 2009. There again, he is utterly committed to creating strategies perfectly fitted to the brand and its legacy.
“You have to love the products and appreciate the heritage and codes of the founder. As one of the first maisons de haute
couture, there is a strong heritage in everything we do at Dior.”
Now a part of the strong IMD alumni network, Jérôme keeps his door open to IMD participants who seek his experience
and insights: “I don’t think there is one recipe, but networking helps you understand the target industry as well as the value
you need to bring.”
Mark Cornell, British, MBA 1999
President & CEO, Moet Hennessy USA, USA
“From selling and delivering newspapers to running Krug has been an exciting transition” claims
Mark Cornell, MBA 1999.
Mark’s career started in the British army patrolling the streets of Belfast. After 7 dynamic years in
counter-terrorist operations, having risen to the rank of Captain, he moved to WHSmith as General
Manager of London newspaper distribution. But as it turned out, this was not the industry for him, “I was determined to
enter a lower volume, higher value business.”
To succeed in such a drastic change of direction, Mark needed a catalyst. At the age of 31 he set his sights on an MBA, “I
wanted to do the best program in an environment where I could learn from the experience of my classmates. IMD was
internationally respected as one of the best.” He was not deterred by his lack of a university degree, one of the key
admissions requirements “I’ve always been an opportunist and a fighter, and I persuaded the Admissions Director to take
me on regardless.“
“The key aspect of the program was without question, the internationalism. Despite having lived abroad extensively, it
was particularly interesting to see so many different cultures operate together.”
By the end of the program, IMD had worked as the desired catalyst. “The large number of job offers I received gave me
the choices and the confidence to pursue my desire to work with quality products. Despite my unusual background, I
persuaded LVMH to give me my chance in the luxury goods business.” For the first 18 months Mark worked on strategy
and business development for Moet Hennessy; in 2001 he volunteered to take on Hine Cognac, a product that was in
difficulty, and succeeded in turning the company around and selling it the following year; in 2002 he became CEO of one
of the world’s finest champagnes, Krug.
“I wouldn’t have been given this opportunity by LVMH if it wasn’t for IMD. The program projected me into the world I
aspired to: from domestic to international; low margin to high margin; with increased autonomy and responsibility.“
Jürgen Fischer, Swiss, MBA 1988
President, Hilton International, France
Jürgen Fischer, MBA 1988, President of Commercial Operations Group, Hilton International, dropped
out of high school and entered professional life through a Kitchen/Chef apprenticeship.
After several years of practical work experience, Jürgen completed the Ecole Hotelier de Lausanne,
and progressed rapidly. “I was extremely lucky, as the owner of Swiss International Hotels, for whom I
worked in Saudi Arabia, gave me lots of opportunities and entrusted me with the position of General
Manager at a relatively young age, especially for a hotel which was associated to the "Leading Hotels of the World".”
Despite his success, Jürgen was concerned that his experience and education was mainly biased to the hospitality industry
and decided to fill the gap with an MBA. “When analyzing the various schools I concluded that IMD (at the time IMEDE) was
the ideal choice for me due to the participant profile, be it in terms of work experience or age, the International nature of the
program, or the boot camp image.”
While Jürgen and his family found the return to Switzerland challenging, “the stimulating classroom environment and the
learning experience in its diversity from finance to marketing and people issues outweighed the difficult and sometimes
stressful moments.”
The MBA and Jürgen’s work experience opened the door to a job managing the Flagship Hotel at Walt Disney World in
Florida, which was followed by the opportunity to take on additional responsibility with the construction of Euro Disneyland
Paris. “I consider this again as a great career step which probably would not have been possible without some of the newly
acquired knowledge from the MBA.”
Jürgen progressed from Hotel General Manager, to Development Director in Paris and then to Vice President Sales &
Marketing. “The real step forward, however, was when I got head hunted by Hilton International for an Area Vice President
position with the possible career progression to my present position as President of Hilton International Europe & Africa and
President of Scandic Hotels.
“Hard work, luck and the full support from my family allowed me to reach the position I have today and IMEDE certainly
played its part as well.”
Read more alumni stories at: http://www.imd.org/programs/mba/community/Alumni-Stories
Tel: +41 21 618 02 98 Email: mbainfo@imd.ch
Fax: +41 21 618 06 15 IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland www.imd.ch/mba
