IPADE Hosts International Week for Students from More than Twenty Countries

During the week of March 11, IPADE hosted more than 100 international students from more than 20 countries from all over the world to its campus in Mexico City for the 2019 edition of the MEDE International Week.

Over the course of the week, which was structured around the theme “Mexico as an Emerging Market,” international students participated alongside IPADE Full-Time MBA (MEDE) participants in a series of academic activities, including deep-dive case studies focused on Xcaret, Cinépolis, and Nissan; seminars from top business leaders on doing business in Mexico, leading a Mexican company, entrepreneurship in Mexico, and more; and site visits to top Mexican companies Aeromexico, Kidzania, and the restaurant Casa de Toño. In addition to the academic schedule, visiting students were also invited to participate in cultural visits to the historic center of Mexico City and the pyramids at Teotihuacan.

These sessions and activities were focused on creating opportunities for networking among the students from the 18 participating business schools and offered an opportunity to learn more about emerging markets and doing business in Mexico and Latin America.

“The objective of this seminar is for you as international MBA students to learn much more about emerging markets,” said MEDE Director Ernesto Bolio during his welcome address to students. “As an emerging market, Mexico plays an important role in the global economy, and… It is up to you to see and understand the kind of role these economies can play in the world.”

To complement the academic activities, participants were tasked with working together in small teams to develop a business proposal that could be successful in Mexico, whether a Mexican product or service that could be exported to international markets or an international business model that could be successful in the Mexican market. At the end of the week, each team was asked to present their business proposal to members of the IPADE faculty and Directors from the Full-Time MBA program.

The following business schools participated alongside IPADE in the International Week activities: Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, Faculty of Business Administration – Université Laval, Goizueta Business School at Emory University, Haskayne School of Business, Kellogg School of Management – Northwestern University, Kenneth Levene Graduate School of Business, London Business School, Catholic University of Chile, Macquarie Graduate School of Management, Politecnico di Milano, The George Washington University, UNC Kenan-Flagler, UNIS Business School, University of St. Gallen, University of Stellenbosch Business School, University of Virginia – Darden, Warwick Business School, and the Zagreb School of Economics and Management.

During the two-day orientation program, the Class of 2020 was also given t