Hello everybody,

I'm looking at MBA programs in South America - Brazil and Argentina, specifically - and was wondering if anybody had any thoughts on these schools:

FIA (Sao Paolo)
COPPEAD (Rio)
ESEADE (Buenos Aires)
Pitt/Katz (Sao Paolo)

My goal is to break into the oil industry. My Spanish is decent, but I'm not fluent - I know that most programs in Argentina are Spanish language, but apparently the ESEADE one is bilingual. Can anybody comment on that aspect of the program? Should I beef up my language skills before I start applying?

Are there other schools I should be looking at?

Any insight is much appreciated!

The bi-lingual programs will require the native language and English at the advanced level required for graduate study. If you are not fluent in the language to a high standard, and already working in the energy industry, you need to carefully assess why anyone would hire you.

The MBA isn't the traditional route into energy companies (in those countries). For the Brazilian market, the FGV is the top school for managers in the energy industry followed by the federal university in Rio. In Argentina, it's the UBA and the CEMA university.

Thanks for the insight, Duncan.

I was looking at FGV, it looks like a really interesting program. What do you think of the OneMBA, which is offered through FGV, UNC, and Rotterdam? Would that degree carry the same leverage in the energy industry as the standard MBA?

I hadn't heard of CEMA before, but it looks like it has a good MBA program. I'd have to brush up on my Spanish before applying though.

No, the point about the full-time programme is that its designed for people looking to find work. The part-time MBA is aimed at people already in work.

Hello bigblue,


Clearly FGV is the leading business school for management in South America. And FGV is part of the OneMBA program that is a cooperation between 5 universities on 4 continents (UNC, RSM, FGV, EGADE and CUHK), see www.onemba.org for details.

I remember that in my class there were students from various large energy companies. So I looked back at the cohorts over the past 5 years and found the following student numbers from the energy sector:

2013
UNC - Exxon 2
RSM - Shell 2

2012
UNC - Renewable Energy 1
RSM - Shell 1

2011
UNC - Exxon 3

2010
UNC - Exxon 2
RSM - Shell 2

2009
UNC - Chevron 1
RSM - Sustainable Energy 1

I haven't found any students with energy background in FGV OneMBA cohorts of the past 5 years. Maybe energy companies in Brazil haven't discovered yet, what their peers in the US and Europe know since a long time.

Send me a personal message with your email and I will get you in touch with OneMBA Alumni in the energy sector and in South-America.


Cheers,
-STephan

OneMBA Alumni Class of 2010

+++

Thanks, Stephan - this is really helpful.

Maybe energy companies in Brazil haven't discovered yet, what their peers in the US and Europe know since a long time.

Hello bigblue,

The OneMBA is an EMBA program. Most students have 10-20 years of professional experience - and - are pursuing the OneMBA program concurrently to their professional career. One of the key advantages is that students are able to immediately apply new knowledge and skills to their job - and/or - discuss real-world business topics, issues, challenges with their peers and thus can benefits from their peers experience for their business matters.

I think ...
If your primary goal is to get a job in the South-American Oil industry, maybe the easiest way is to talk to somebody who's already working there. Then submit your job application via that inside person.
I don't think you need an MBA as an entry ticket, instead you need to know the right people on the inside. Once you're in, the MBA may help you to progress your career.

Wish you well with the job hunt - and - MBA if you choose to go for it.

Cheers,
-Stephan

Most students have 10-20 years of professional experience - and - are pursuing the OneMBA program concurrently to their professional career.

Dear Bigblue,

I came across an MBA with an oil and gas industry focus: http://www4.rgu.ac.uk/abs/postgraduate/page.cfm?pge=43760

It may be worth having a look.

Good luck,
Tony

Hello bigblue,


Clearly FGV is the leading business school for management in South America. And FGV is part of the OneMBA program that is a cooperation between 5 universities on 4 continents (UNC, RSM, FGV, EGADE and CUHK), see www.onemba.org for details.

I remember that in my class there were students from various large energy companies. So I looked back at the cohorts over the past 5 years and found the following student numbers from the energy sector:

2013
UNC - Exxon 2
RSM - Shell 2

2012
UNC - Renewable Energy 1
RSM - Shell 1

2011
UNC - Exxon 3

2010
UNC - Exxon 2
RSM - Shell 2

2009
UNC - Chevron 1
RSM - Sustainable Energy 1

I haven't found any students with energy background in FGV OneMBA cohorts of the past 5 years. Maybe energy companies in Brazil haven't discovered yet, what their peers in the US and Europe know since a long time.

Send me a personal message with your email and I will get you in touch with OneMBA Alumni in the energy sector and in South-America.


Cheers,
-STephan

OneMBA Alumni Class of 2010

+++

Dear Tony,

Thank you for your message and interest.

1. MBA degree and certificates:
I have received the "MBA degree certificate" from my home university (CUHK) and I have also received the "OneMBA Certificate", issued by the five partner schools and signed by all five deans of the respective partner schools.

2. Class size:
For lack of an exact statistic, I have posted group pictures of all cohorts 2004-2013 here: http://www.find-mba.com/about/Stephan/photos
I have previously posted the specific numbers of my own class of 2010 at CUHK in the following post: http://www.find-mba.com/board/26030/post-26032
If you are looking for an official graduation statistic, may I suggest that you approach the nearest OneMBA program office. see http://onemba.org/index.php/contact-information/

For the following inoffical analysis I'm looking at the limited information about the cohorts that is available to me as an alumni. To the best of my knowledge that information is a snapshot taken at the time of the 1st residency (typically Washington DC in September), I'd expect that there were a few drop-outs along the 21 months journey to graduation.
I found that the average class size for the cohorts 2008-2013 was approx. 100 students. Usually RSM and UNC each contributed about 1/3 of the cohort, and the remaining 1/3 was about equally split between CUHK, FGV, EGADE.

The classes of 2011 and 2012 that begun their study in 2009 and 2010 respectively were a bit smaller than the average (with the exception of FGV). I would argue that this was due to the ongoing world-wide economic crisis since late 2008. I think that during these times students and companies were less likely to commit to the significant investment into an Executive MBA education (note that the target group is different from the full-time or part-time MBAs).

For the past 3 intakes there has been a trend of increasing student numbers at CUHK, EGADE and FGV, while RSM and UNC remained stable. I think this is a reflection of the shifting economical center of gravity from developed regions (e.g. North-America, Europe) to "emerged" markets (e.g. China, Brazil, Mexico amongst others). I believe that the number of students at CUHK, FGV and EGADE will continue to increase for the current intake (class of 2014), while the number of students at RSM, UNC will remain stable.

My understanding is that the OneMBA program ExCo plans to increase the total class size to approx. 125 students for the current and subsequent intakes - without compromising on the quality of students or the quality of the study experience. I don't think that they want to increase the class size beyond 125 in the foreseeable future.


If you are considering to enroll into the OneMBA program and wish to talk to OneMBA alumni about their experience, I will gladly get you in touch with alumni in your region.


With warm regards,
-Stephan

CUHK OneMBA Alumni 2010