Companies

The Brazilian government had enormous, almost suffocating, control over their economy.  They had massive tariffs making international trade incredibly difficult.  That was a theme we saw throughout the many different industries.  However, it was fascinating to see how a different culture operated in the business setting.  My personal favorites were GM and the law firm.  I liked GM because we got to see the factory, all the cars being put together piece by piece, and the final product at the end.  The law firm was fascinating because they are doing a lot of work developing contracts and coordinating the World Cup and the Olympic Games.  Overall, all companies were interesting, and it was really cool seeing business in a different part of the world.

Culture

When we ordered wine that night, the waiter stood over one of our classmates, Sameer, waiting for his approval before pouring the glass.  Sameer said the wine was good, and gave him the “A-OK” sign with his hands, not knowing this was the Brazilian equivalent of the middle finger.  The waiter laughed and educated us that in Brazil it means a very different thing than in the United States.  That was a funny start to some of the cultural differences from America to Brazil.

Futbol

While in Rio de Janeiro, one of us found a Brazilian Soccer (or Futbol) game nearby to go watch.  I had heard that Brazilians are all about their futbol, but WOW it was awesome.  From the moment we walked in, everyone was singing songs, banging on drums, and waving flags.  At the end I found out it was a preseason game.  I can only imagine the hype revolving around a regular season game.

Nightlife

The nightlife as a whole was very similar to America.  However, they have one drink that Brazilians love and was seen everywhere.  It’s called a Caipirinha, and it consists of Cuchasa, sugar, and lime.  Cuchasa is the Brazilian liquor, which is difficult to describe.  It’s made from sugar cane, and is almost like a cross between rum and a light tequila.  It makes a fruity drink that was very good!

I have to say that the most memorable part of the trip was the time spent with my classmates.  We got to experience a new part of the world, and gain an appreciation for a different culture.  We also got to bring some of America to Brazil with an epic game of football on the beach.  At the end I was happy to get back home, but I’ll always remember our trip to Brazil.

When you think of South Africa, what comes to mind? Is it Mandela? Apartheid? Zebras and lions? I’m sure I hit some of your thoughts with just those four words, but when you think of South Africa, do you think of other words like ‘emerging economy,’ ‘pinotage wine,’ ‘Gateway to Africa?’ I’m sure the Goizueta South Africa Mid-Semester module group had some of these pre-conceived notions, but after ten amazing days of visiting a country full of culture and history, we’ve become even more enlightened about the region, the challenges of businesses in the post-apartheid era, and the wonderful people we’ve met along the way.

Johannesburg was our first stop in South Africa. We visited companies such as Yonder Media, Tiger Brands, and GE Healthcare, and learned more about how South Africa is literally “The Gateway” to the rest of the African continent. If a product or service succeeds in South Africa, then the opportunities are endless for expansion to the rest of the continent. Succeeding in South Africa, as we learned from all our company visits, is not as easy as it looks. There are many challenges. For example, English may be the language of business in the urban areas, but in the rural areas of South Africa, you may encounter citizens that only speak one of the other 11 official languages, none which is English, or even Afrikaans, the language widely spoken throughout the western parts of South Africa (including Cape Town).

In the midst of all the company visits in Johannesburg, we also had time for a little fun and sight-seeing. We went to Freedom Square, viewed neighborhoods in Soweto, visited Nelson Mandela’s house, Soccer city, where the first and last matches of the 2010 World Cup took place, the Apartheid Museum, and my personal favorite, Nkholi Primary School, where we were welcomed by the entire student body with song, poetry, and dance. While at the school, we toured classrooms, played with students during recess, and donated supplies to the teachers.

Our next stop was the Ivory Tree Game Lodge in Pilanesburg for rest, relaxation, and fun! The Pilanesburg National Reserve is home to South African wildlife, including the big 5: the rhino, elephant, lion, buffalo, and leopard. The Goizueta group went on several game drives, either early in the morning, or at night. One of my personal highlights was seeing the Southern Cross in its full glory, as well as the Milky Way galaxy at night. We even had a dinner ‘in the field,’ where we were under the protection of armed guards looking for any wildlife that may want to spoil our evening.

Cape Town was our final stop on the South Africa Trip. From there we visited two firms: Frost and Sullivan and Coronation Global, where we learned about how health care is a very attractive industry in South Africa (as well as the continent), how renewable energies will drive economic growth, and how to invest and run funds in a small and concentrated South African market. In addition to company visits we traveled to Stellenbosch (aka Wine country), took in the sights, sounds, smells, and went on wine tastings and winery tours. All of us discovered Pinotage wine, and I even brought back a bottle. Also, to satisfy our curiosity for South African history, we visited Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was held prisoner for 18 years of his 27 year incarceration. Next, we went to the top of Table Mountain and took in the view of the entire Cape, as well as the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Our grand finale was at the Gold of Africa Museum & Restaurant, where we learned how to properly use the African drums, and were entertained by song and dance during our dinner.

Overall, the South Africa Mid Semester Module was an outstanding trip, with a fair mix of company visits, rest, relaxation, and fun! It really motivates one to take another look at his or her aspirations and ask the question: “Should I pursue a global career?” The opportunities to pursue your career goals are vast and endless should you use the entire world as your playground.

Our journey began with a landing in the Delhi airport in the middle of the night, although it was really mid-afternoon back home. We were greeted by our guide, Anup, whose gentle demeanor, soothing voice, and beard put me in mind of a kindly uncle. It soon became apparent that Anup was something of a modern day Indiana Jones, minus the whip. He spoke more languages than I could name and had seemingly been everywhere and done everything. He also had a penchant for occasionally tossing off statements that left you wondering if you had properly heard him, such as, “Democracy can’t work in the long run,” and “Did you know that Jesus spent most of his life in India?” With our fate in the hands of this dynamic character, we prepared to tackle the country.

The next morning, as our tour bus rolled out of the hotel, I was immediately struck by a feeling of slightly out of control energy. Our driver guided us down streets seemingly devoid of traffic lights, but certainly not devoid of traffic. All around us, the roads were choked by cars, trucks, and buses. None of them made the faintest attempt to stay in their lanes, and all of them seemed to be honking their horns continuously, which lent an air of chaos to the scene. What looked to be glorified golf carts, all painted green and yellow, zigged and zagged between the larger vehicles, while motorcycles and bikes bobbed and weaved between the golf carts. Finally, filling in whatever cracks remained, were a few intrepid souls on foot, and also – to the delight of our group – cows and dogs. For the first few minutes it seemed that all the traffic, combined with the lack of so much as a stop sign, would invariably lead to a NASCAR-style wreck. Since our bus was just about the largest vehicle out there, we didn’t worry much about ourselves, but we feared for the lives of those daredevils on bikes and the defenseless stray dogs. However, I soon realized that as I couldn’t recall ever seeing an article or news story about the astonishingly high rate of driving fatalities in India, the situation was probably well in hand.

Over the course of the next few days in Delhi, Agra, Varanasi, Mumbai, and Goa, we visited more sites than I could count, most of them religious in nature. Naturally, I knew that India hosted its fair share of Hindus, but we also wandered through structures built by Muslims, Buddhists, and even some religions I didn’t know existed. They were quite impressive, but after a while I started to wonder, “This is all well and good, but when will we have a look at one of mine?” by which I meant a Catholic church. Anup did not disappoint. Unfortunately, my roommate and I showed up at 3:30 for the 3:00 bus, so I missed my chance to see what I am told was an old and rather splendid cathedral in the Goa region.

Our visitations were not confined to the domain of the spiritual. The most impressive and noteworthy, of course, was the Taj Mahal. We also had a look at the president’s house (a rather sumptuously appointed spread, I can tell you), a fort, an abandoned city, and a 600 year old tower soaring 25 stories into the sky. I became quite excited at the prospect of visiting the Qutub Minar, imagining myself sprinting up the spiral staircase like Rocky and exuberantly celebrating my feat at the top. To my bitter disappointment, we were told that tourists were no longer permitted to climb the stairs, owing to the unfortunate habit of some guests to hurl themselves out of the upper story windows.

Perhaps the most unique facet of the trip was our visit to the Dharavi slum in Mumbai (the city formerly known as Bombay). These slums were nothing like what you might find in Detroit or Cleveland. Here something like a million people pack themselves into what appeared to be an endless line of sheds, one next to the other. Often I had to stoop low or hunch my shoulders to squeeze through a doorway or maneuver down an alley. In addition to homes (some as small as 100 square feet), many of these buildings were alive with small operations creating cardboard from cow manure, or churning out pottery. “Why don’t these people move to the suburbs?” someone in our group asked. “Because their families and friends are here, and they’ve spent their lives as part of this community,” our guide informed us. Quite a place.

As one might imagine, we had many other escapades during our two weeks in India, including a trip to the beach, a float down the Ganges River, and – my personal favorite – a visit to Bollywood. But some things must be left to the imagination. Suffice to say, if a person wanted to take a vacation to someplace a little adventurous, a little exotic, a place you wouldn’t mistake for suburban Connecticut if you temporarily forgot where you were (such as Canada, for example), then I would definitely recommend India.

The trip started in Tokyo and thanks to the fabulous Atlanta airport (and Delta), I conveniently had a non-stop flight from Atlanta to Tokyo. Unfortunately for me, the flight was almost 14 hours long! Despite the exhausting journey, the first day in Tokyo was spent touring and visiting many of the major landmarks in the city, including the Asakusa district and Tokyo Tower. Asakusa has a large temple and several great market places to explore. Asakusa was particularly memorable because I saw the last few minutes of a huge flash mob! The mob danced to a Japanese song led by a giant mouse mascot… I’m sure there was a reason for the mouse mascot that I just did not understand. Tokyo Tower is actually a digital broadcasting tower, and is a replica of the Eiffel Tower. While impressive in the day, the tower is even more majestic at night when it’s lit up!

In addition to the touristy activities we did around Tokyo, we also visited several companies, including Disney, Sony, Coca-Cola, NTT DoCoMo, Toyota, and Uniqlo. The company visits consisted of short presentation/demonstrations, followed by Q&A sessions. We toured Sony and NTT DoCoMo’s (one of Japan’s major cell phone providers) impressive showrooms, which highlighted the companies’ capabilities and their visions for the future. Apparently holographic communication is in our not so distant future! At Toyota, we toured a manufacturing plant outside of Nagoya and got an inside look at how the cars go from individual parts to a finished car that can be driven off the production line – impressive! Side note: did anyone else know that Toyota has a housing business? All joking aside, the company visits were excellent and provided a unique opportunity for us to learn about the businesses’ strategy and future outlook in Japan.

Last, but not least, I had plenty of opportunities to have fun while in Japan! I can finally cross karaoke off my list of “Things to do.” I also ate plenty of amazing sushi – including a sushi breakfast, after touring the Tsukiji Fish Market. I also went to a Sumo tournament in Osaka. For those of you who have never had the opportunity to watch Sumo, I would highly recommend it. While the actual fighting doesn’t last for more than 10-15 seconds, those brief moments are filled with so much passion and excitement! There’s really nothing else like it.

Overall, the Mid Semester Module to Japan was a once-in-a-lifetime experience! I got to galavant around Japan, while getting to know my MBA peers a little better. For those of you thinking about Goizueta for your MBA, I highly recommend participating in a MSM while you’re here – you can’t get this type of experience anywhere else!

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Owen's First Place Team

The Goizueta Healthcare Association hosted its annual Healthcare Case Competition right before Spring Break.  The competition consisted of five teams—Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management, Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business, UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, and two teams from our very own Goizueta Business School.  Teams arrived Thursday night to a catered buffet dinner and mixer before heading off to practice and put the final touches on their presentations.  The presentations began early Friday morning.  In the first round, teams were allotted 15 minutes to present, followed by 10 minutes of questions by judges.  The judges were a mixture of Goizueta alumni and faculty, community healthcare professionals, consultants, and Dean Brian Mitchell.  After the judges concluded who the top three teams were, those teams were given a “twist” on the case and had one hour to prepare another 10-minute presentation to deliver to the judges.  As one can imagine, this was a high-pressure situation that intensified the competition for the cash prizes.

All teams performed remarkably with logical, well-thought solutions and comprehensive decks to illustrate their strategies.  After the judges’ deliberation, the results were in:  1st place Owen, 2nd place Haas, and 3rd place Goizueta “Team Inman Park” (team members were David Durant, Hemangajit Dutta, Shajji Mohammed, Christine Pieton, and Tristan Sather); the cash prize was $7500, $2500, and $1000, respectively.  Congratulations to the winning teams and a warm round of applause to the remaining participating teams!

Participants at Case Competition

For those who are interested in the GHA Case Competition next year, please be on the lookout for announcements in early-December.  Also, we would like to give a special thanks to the judges and Organizing Committee for their time and making the competition both possible and successful.

We often tell future applicants that the Admissions Office is trying to put together a puzzle and that each piece of that puzzle is expected to contribute in a meaningful way to our small community.  We are proud to represent this incredible MBA program and are excited that others are finally realizing that Goizueta’s intimate learning environment, involved professors and location in Atlanta is a recipe for a successful career.  

Please take a moment to read about the recent US News Rankings and Poet & Quants article.  

As always, we are happy to answer any questions you have - please click here to reach us.  

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The Goizueta Energy Markets Club hosted the 2^nd annual Goizueta Energy Symposium on February 1, 2013.  Emory students, alumni, and friends heard from and interacted with various energy industry professionals and received insights regarding a broad range of topics affecting energy.

In the morning, Professor Ray Hill, the faculty sponsor of the Energy Markets Club, introduced Kim Greene, EVP and Chief Generation Officer, Tennessee Valley Authority, who gave an overview of the energy landscape, explained the TVA’s mission and challenges, and talked about the positive outlook for careers in energy.  Also, Brant Meleski, Managing Director – Energy and Power Investment Banking, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, spoke about macro trends affecting energy markets.  He gave the audience a snapshot of how debt, equity, and M&A markets have affected the energy industry.  In addition, a panel discussion consisting of Marilyn Brown, Professor of Public Policy, Georgia Tech; Roberta Brown, President, Sassafras River Associates; Sean Drinan, Managing Director, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey; Pete Fuller, Director – Market Affairs, NRG Energy; and Gerald Stalun, Managing Director, EIG Global Energy Partners addressed concerns in the electricity markets.  Panelists discussed challenges of the regulatory and policy landscape, the impact of energy efficiency improvements, and the investment outlook for electricity transmission and generation.

In the afternoon, Nick Jones, Energy Advisor, Exxon Mobil Corporation, gave Exxon Mobil’s energy outlook and discussed the effect of population and economic growth trends on energy supply and demand.  The event concluded with a panel discussion about US natural gas.  The panel, consisting of Ed Baker, Partner, ScottMadden; Andrew Evans, EVP and CFO, AGL Resources; David Gehring, VP – Energy Investment Banking, Jefferies & Company; Matt Harrison, SVP and CFO, Summit Midstream Partners; and Don Kendall, Managing Director, Kenmont Capital Partners discussed the impact of horizontal drilling and fracking on the energy industry and US economy.

The Symposium attracted a wide audience, with interests ranging from energy careers to public policy to environmental science.  The event provided a venue for those interests to connect and develop relationships.  We can expect these relationships to enhance the Goizueta community’s roles in the energy industry.

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On January 18th, the Energy Markets Club (EMC) traveled to Waynesboro, Georgia to tour the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, one of two nuclear power plants in the state of Georgia. Since 1987, Plant Vogtle has generated clean and cost effective power for the surrounding areas of east Georgia and Atlanta. The plant is jointly owned by private and public entities of which the largest owner is Georgia Power. The plant is operated by 900 employees of Southern Nuclear, the nuclear energy operating arm of Southern Company which is also the parent company of Georgia Power. 

EMC @ Vogtle

It was an amazing trip because of the special attention we received from the staff and management. They took the time to teach us about how nuclear power works and why it is such clean energy. We learned about the efficient operations that allow Plant Vogtle to have the 5th lowest cost per unit in the country. The staff was candid about the risks of nuclear power and more importantly how modern plants maintain safe operations.  Our discussion about nuclear power weaved between economics, project finance, the role of government in the nuclear industry, environmental issues, large scale project management, the three historic catastrophes at other nuclear power plants, and the ever improving safety systems in place to prevent an accident.

The main difference between a nuclear plant and a coal plant or a natural gas plant is the reaction that generates the heat needed to boil water into steam. Whichever way the steam is generated, it is used to turn turbines which generates electricity. Coal and gas plants generate heat by burning combustible fuel while nuclear plants generate heat by splitting atoms. The sheer size of the operations at Vogtle is overwhelming, especially when one considers that the nuclear reaction at the heart of the operations is so small. The pellets of uranium that fuel the reaction are each the size of a finger nail. Each pellet of uranium contains the same amount of energy as a ton of coal, three barrels of oil or 17,000 cubic feet of natural gas. 

After twenty-five years of profit, safety and environmental stewardship, Plant Vogtle is expanding with the construction of its third and fourth nuclear generators. These are the first new generators to be permitted in the US in thirty years. Southern Nuclear is already training operators for the new plants because it takes over two years to license a nuclear operator. We actually visited the simulation control room where the training takes place. It is an exact replica of the control room in the new plant. As one can expect it is extremely high tech with all-digital controls.  The new control room is in stark contrast with the current control room for the current generators, which looks almost exactly like the room where Homer Simpson works.  When the new generators are completed in 2016, they will provide cheap, clean, secure electricity for the state of Georgia for the 21st century. 

Click here for the gallery.

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GBS Olympics

Studying my MBA at Goizueta Business School has been one of the most outstanding experiences in my career. The new knowledge that I have achieved in the classroom, as well as the extracurricular activities I have participated in, have helped me to develop my management skills while enjoying the MBA experience in Atlanta.

In the classroom, the difference in learning methods used in the MBA program, compared to what I was used to as an undergrad in Colombia, was a particularly interesting experience from the beginning: During my major, I was mostly exposed to lectures, while in the MBA the case analysis and class discussion methodologies are the prevalent method. Although difficult at the beginning, I quickly adapted to this method, and actually found it extremely useful since it closely resembles the decision making process in any company.

Discussions are led by professors who are generally practitioners as well as PhDs in their specialties. I have found this combination quite unique and enriching: They have solved my most technically challenging concerns while advising me in how to apply them taking into account the practical difficulties of the real life.

KEGS

The knowledge and experience of the professors, combined with the high accessibility that students have to them is one of the most important highlights that I have from Goizueta. In several occasions I have walked in into finance professors’ offices to ask for recommendations about career, courses, or simply about their experiences, and have found such interaction quite valuable during my experience.

Interaction with staff is obviously quite important, but interaction with classmates can be equally relevant. About 33% of my class (including myself) are international students. Our previous experiences and stories are quite unique for local students, in the same way that theirs are for us. Additionally, since other international students come from all around the world, we have the opportunity to work with extremely smart people who have entirely different views about most situations.

Out of the classroom, there are infinite possibilities in Atlanta. Emory is located in North Druid Hills, a beautiful part of the city. Most of my classmates, as I do, live very close to the university, and this allows us to easily manage to go together to restaurants, bars or discos after class. Places like Buckhead and Virginia Highlands provide several infinite opportunities for leisure. Besides going out at night, there are also several ways to participate in whatever extracurricular activity you can think of, being this a huge advantage of the location in a city as diverse and important as Atlanta.