Solvay EMBA’s Study Tour: Deeper Dive into Mexico's Economy and Culture - Lessons from IPADE Business School

The general objective of this international week was to analyse the business opportunities that Mexico offers as an emerging economy, and to increase awareness of the global Mexican economic, political and social context and the features that shape and permeate the country's culture.  The four main pillars of the seminar were defined as follows:

• Understanding Mexico’s culture and context, internal and external factors, and challenges.
• In addition, through multiple activities, to gain a better understanding of Mexican psychology.
• How to create social value in Mexico and what the most critical topics for Mexican society are.
• How to compete in Mexico and what the main advantages of the Mexican markets are.
• What it means to be an entrepreneur in Mexico, challenges, and opportunities to consolidate a business model in the context of an emerging economy.

To achieve the goals and objectives, throughout the week, we immersed ourselves in Mexico’s rich history and culture through a series of conferences with COE representatives from various sectors, by visiting successful Mexican companies, and, of course, through insightful discussions with local and international students on teamwork, lunch, and after-seminar activities. Each day, each objective included different activities, such as group and class case discussions, academic sessions and plenary sessions with guest speakers, and visits to various companies and cultural guided tours.

During the week, we participated in 6 business academic sessions delivered by IPADE professors to gain a general understanding of Mexico's economic, political, and social context. All those sessions were enriched by captivating case studies inspired by local companies’ stories and surprise visits of the actors during the classes - 6 business leaders joined us during the week to share their experiences and challenges, and inspiring stories.

I will forever remember the CEO of Volaris - Enrique J. Beltarena M., who put a strong emphasis on the constantly changing world we live in during his talk on “Advancing in a turbulent world: Volaris pandemic story”. Interesting question, his address on how to manage a company in crisis, what the most important priorities are and what it means to “be clever before smart” - as well as how to restart after a crisis by preserving the most essential resources that will help you to rebound and succeed.

One other case surprised me a lot: guest speaker Juana Ramirez, CEO of Sohin, who guided us through a very inspiring story about how an entrepreneur's vision generates value for society. She reaffirmed to us that real business cases could and should deliver value to society while also finding multiple other ways to be profitable. This is possible not only through foundations and donations but also through a real business model.

Another opportunity to deep-dive into the Mexican business was visiting three local companies: Reintegra, Toks, and KidZania. Kidzania is a great place for kids to explore real-life challenges in a safe context. Kidzania is a small, real city with streets, shops, an airport, and a bus and vehicle station. The children in KidZania should work to earn money, which they can spend after doing fun activities. The most interesting fact is that KidZania was imagined, created, and developed by the Mexican entrepreneur Xavier Lopez Ancona in Mexico. Today, Kidzania is a well-known brand with franchised centres in more than 30 locations worldwide, receiving more than 9 million visitors a year and has big expansion plans. They are still not present in Europe, so we were thinking: why not take this opportunity after finishing our EMBA studies? They are proud to call “KidZania is the safest city in the world for kids”.

To increase our awareness of Mexican culture and history, we were proposed to join two guided tours: to the archaeological site of Teotihuacan and the historical centre of Mexico City, with a degustation of local products and food, and local music and dance. 

During this amazing week full of educational activities, we’ve learned a lot, had a lot of fun and made new friends all over the world!

Even if I don’t have any plans, at the moment, to do business in Mexico, it was very insightful to see another perspective and the challenges Mexico and its population face from economic, political, and cultural perspectives. All we’ve learned this week is highly relevant to any other industry in day-to-day matters. We continue to navigate a highly complex economic and political context, changing times and landscapes, and we constantly face challenges and problems to solve as efficiently as possible.

Saying all this, I firmly believe this week will help me in my future to position my business initiatives better towards success. 

So, if you are a Solvay EMBA candidate and have doubts about joining the study trip, I could only recommend doing so and enjoying this inspiring international experience!

I want to thank all professors, organisers, and guest speakers for making this week such a successful experience for everybody and, of course, Solvay Lifelong Learning and the EMBA programme for giving me the opportunity to be a part of it!