News | Luiss Business School - School of Management

24 February 2017

An ERS Lab to discuss several issues related to social entrepreneurship

On Saturday, February 25, LUISS MBA students will have the chance to participate in the ERS Lab with Dr. Funda Sezgi, Managing Director of Impact Hub Stockholm and Oriol Costa Lechuga, Managing Director of EcoRegió. This ERS Lab focuses on international replication of the Regionalwert AG (RWAG), a German social enterprise, in the Girona region of Catalonia (Spain) under the brand name EcoRegió. RWAG is a highly successful network organization that brings together diverse sets of actors along a value-added chain (‘from the field to the plate’) of regional sustainable agriculture and food production initiatives. After implementing several replication initiatives in Germany, both Ashoka and the Catalan government identified the RWAG as one of the most promising models to be replicated in Catalonia. In the summer of 2015, Oriol Costa Lechuga and his social venture Dynamis initiated RWAG replication efforts in Catalonia. Catalonia, like the rest of Spain, had just resumed economic growth after experiencing nearly seven years of economic contraction that resulted in unemployment and poverty rates in excess of 20% and in increasing political instability reflected in rising nationalist and pro-independence sentiment. In spite of significant efforts made to promote EcoRegió, funds did not flow in as fast as Costa had hoped. The Lab will serve as an opportunity to discuss several issues related to social entrepreneurship (e.g., the scaling up of the social business, the internationalization of sustainable local enterprise networks, the impact of macro-economic and sociocultural contexts on internationalization processes, and social franchising as a specific mode of entry). In addition to introducing their organizations (Dynamis/EcoRegió and Impact Hub), both guests will actively participate in student group work. The Lab will use Proactive Café - a methodology for creative and inspirational conversation where participants are invited to share their questions (around projects, seed ideas etc.) and get input (deeper questions, knowledge, experience) from others, to help move from questions to actions. These conversations link and build on each other as people move between groups, cross‐pollinate ideas, and discover new insights into the questions or issues that are most important in their life, work or community. Topics are brought forward by participants themselves. There is no set agenda, only overall guiding questions, with the intention of deepening the learning process of all participants. The methodology can evoke and make visible the collective intelligence of any group, thus increasing people’s capacity for effective action in pursuit of common aims. Funda Sezgi, PhD Impact Hub Stockholm Funda is an Incubation Program Manager at Impact Hub Stockholm (IHS). IHS is a part of a global network of more than 80 organizations that unites people from every profession, background and culture with imagination and drive to pursue enterprising ideas for the world, the people who see and do things differently and have entrepreneurial passion to create sustainable impact. Funda holds a PhD in Strategic Management from the IESE Business School in Barcelona where under the supervision of prof. Johanna Mair she studied hybrid organizations, specifically issues of scaling and replication of these organizations. Funda’s professional and educational background, together with her expertise in replication and scaling of social businesses in Europe and wider make her an ideal participant in this ERS Lab. During the lab, Funda will introduce student to the work of Impact Hub around the globe and in Sweden, will talk about what it means to run an Impact Hub as a de facto entrepreneur, will introduce Proactive Café methodology of group work and several tools useful in analysis of replication and scaling problems of social businesses. Oriol Costa Lechuga, LL.B. Dynamis / EcoRegió Oriol has more than 15 years of experience in promoting strategies for sustainable development working as an expert in environmental, social and local economic development, recently focusing on linking sustainability and new technologies. As a part of his work, he developed an associative biography to promote self-awareness for social development, and boost the associative economy to increase economic, social and ecological awareness. Oriol is a co-founder and managing director of Dynamis, one of the most prominent social enterprises in the region of Girona in Catalonia, a hot spot of rapidly expanding social entrepreneurship sectors in Spain. The mission of Dynamis is to transform ideals into sustainable realities using modern technologies in promoting local and ecological commerce and through the elimination of unnecessary intermediaries. Their main activities focus on: (i) promoting direct local and ecological product commercialization through an easy-to-use, modern, and efficient online platform; (ii) improving the utilization of existing resources and the facilitation of synergies through the creation of networks of interdependent consumers and producers; and (iii) creating applications that favor dynamics of commerce, promotion, encounter, planning and reflection that generate new ways of acting and, in consequence, a more sustainable society. Oriol latest initiative is EcoRegió, an initiative whose mission is to capitalize on the economic value of a region and to produce for multidimensional social, environmental and economic benefits. Gathering capital from investors to invest in companies producing and distributing organic food, EcoRegió works toward the optimization of value added throughout the value chain – from the field to the plate. EcoRegió is a replication of The Regionalwert AG in Freiburg, Germany where the initiative has gathered more than € 3m among 600 citizen investors investing in 20 companies with excellent results recognized by Ashoka International, Ship2B, and the Generalitat de Catalunya. 24/02/2017

24 February 2017

#MasterYourCareer - Continuous new stimulus and challenging international activities changed the way of conceiving my career: Carlo after the Master in Corporate Finance

«Ambition, curiosity and need to challenge myself once again are the main reasons why I chose to enroll in the Master in Corporate Finance at the LUISS Business School»: the career of Carlo Venticinque after the MACOFIN I graduated in Management Engineering and joined afterwards the Management Consulting company EY, where I worked for more than 2 years on different projects dealing with different areas from Operations Optimization to Business Development. Even though I was acquiring a good level of experience during these two years, I just felt I was missing something. Moreover, I have always been fascinated by the Corporate Finance world and its marvelous applications into the real life and in each business area: Finance is concrete and you need to know at least some if you aspire to become a good Manager. The Master in Corporate Finance at the LUISS Business School offered me the most complete and diversified path. It concerns different areas in which a manager should excel, not only the usual hard skills. We explored different aspects of finance from different points of view, while interacting with successful managers who shared with us their experience focusing on the skills the job market requires today. Not less, it gave me the opportunity to find smart colleagues who challenged me several times and pushed me to do better. The work environment is made of human connections and what really matters is the way we interact each other, how we communicate with people and especially how we inspire them. The most effective Communication and Public speaking lessons I have ever attended are actually the ones provided by the MACOFIN. The Global Business Opportunity Programme, an intensive educational path to develop an idea into s business project, and the Going Global Programme, a four month exchange at EM Lyon Business School, changed completely my way of conceiving my career and probably my life in general. These experiences enriched me with the smartness of the people that I met and helped me to realize that working abroad was what I was looking for. While I was looking for jobs in exchange, I discovered Flixbus, a company that is not widely famous yet but with an extremely interesting business model that is surprisingly expanding. I applied for a vacancy and then I joined the Business Development team for the Italian market. This working position is completely different from what I have done so far. The activities I deal with are not directly connected to the scope of the MACOFIN but I strongly believe that the knowledge acquired will be useful in my future path. I would suggest to the incoming students to leverage every single opportunity of interaction with the managers to get some good insights on how they climbed the career ladder and what is really important to succeed in the workplace. I would suggest them to look continuously for new stimulus, following their own interests, and gather the maximum by all the international activities provided by the master to have great life experiences and build their network. 24/02/2017

23 February 2017

LUISS Business School Alumni Opening Event with Headhunters

LUISS Business School Alumni is glad to give a warm welcome to all its community members and new graduates, hosting the alumni association’s official opening event on February 24, at 6:00 pm, at LUISS Business School’s new campus Villa Blanc. The guests of the great event, managers of Key2People represent the Italian market leader in headhunting. Fabrizio Iaconetti, former LUISS student, and Partner at Key2People, will talk about the “engagement rules” with headhunters: how to catch their attention, and how to make your personal brand appealing. Cristina Calabrese, CEO at Key2People, will give an overview of macro trends in the job market, changes in HR processes, and different corporate policies. She will reveal the most relevant tips to be successful on the job market. The event will be opened by Giovanni Lo Storto, General Manager at LUISS University, and Nicoletta Luppi, CEO at MSD and President at LUISS Business School Alumni, who will talk about the recent launch of the new alumni association, and shed light on the new features of the business school’s international positioning. The closing remarks will be given by Paolo Boccardelli, Dean at LUISS Business School. The meeting on February 24 is a great opportunity to network with many other alumni and headhunters, and to celebrate the first official event of LUISS Business School Alumni at such an amazing and unique venue as Villa Blanc. In order to attend the association subscription is required, and the registration at alumniluissbs@luiss.it. Future plans of LUISS Business School Alumni LUISS Business School Alumni is launching some relevant projects and activities in three different areas: Networking, Career Consulting, and CSR. One of the most ambitious goals set in partnership with the Special Olympics and CSR Al Ahli Group is to launch a School of Social Entrepreneurship oriented to help the development of young inmates and young individuals in rehab from San Patrignano Community. The mission of the alumni association is to act as a social-changing agent and to use education as a means to change. 23/02/2017

23 February 2017

A new partnership between the LUISS Master of Art and MyTemplArt®

Students of the Master of Art will have the opportunity of attending a series of meetings to discover MyTemplArt®’s projects and do an internship at the company. More in detail, students will support the MyTemplArt® team to create a multimedia catalogue software of prestigious private and public art collections. After a training period, students will have to computerize artworks, using the MyTemplArt® platform and respecting the official cataloging canons. They will also be involved in other activities, such as the normalization of data, the verification of the information about the artworks and the artists, the implementation of the biography of the artists and the documents linked to the artworks, the uploading of images and photo editing. Moreover, students will be able to use the MyTemplArt® solution during the setting up of the exhibition, using it to manage the relations with the operators and the galleries that will loan the artworks. 23/02/2017

Partnership

22 February 2017

“Doing an MBA was the most go ahead decision by now of my life, the step forward to elevate my career path”: the success of Roberta, MBA Alumna and Brand Finance Manager in Coty

MBA 2013 The opportunity to attend an MBA program represented the step forward to elevate and further develop my career path. After a Master graduation in Economics in Naples, I decided to bet on myself at the age of 23, attending the MBA program at LUISS Business school in Rome. Before projecting myself into the world of work, I needed to reinforce my personality and in particular my interpersonal relationships being part of an international network and then to steady my theoretical university knowledge with practical case studies, group projects and real business studies. I did it in autonomously and this gave me the right motivation to afford the amount of study load with time constraints and no previous group project, case study skills. This experience helped me first of all in managing time, deadlines, in setting priorities and solving problems; then in building my ability to create interpersonal skills, increasing my curiosity of learning different cultural and social perspectives and to start to collaborate and work within an international team. The MBA Adventure was the first opportunity to express what I learnt during MBA program. I chose a social network start up, with the aim of providing an accurate and feasible Business Plan focused on short term and medium term monetization strategies to create financial value. Thanks to this, I understood that a finance job could suit me. To begin with, I had one year of internship for one of ICT world leader provider, Ericsson Telecommunication as Price Manager where I had the possibility to demonstrate my capability to organize and manage a global price alignment program across 26 countries. Then I had the chance to elevate my initial career in one of the best global companies Procter and Gamble; they offered me a financial analyst job position conciliating my final specialization class in MBA, Financial Management, within Luxury market. In choosing Luxury and Fashion industry specialization, I understood that working in such challenging and dynamic environment, has always been the greatest dream of my life. Thus, it has given me the right ability to exceed into one the most competitive industry, especially in Italy, the primary world player. Currently, I am Brand Finance manager in Coty in Milan, a global world leader in beauty. I am working in the Luxury Fragrances division, controlling a portfolio composed by 23 brands including Gucci, Hugo Boss, Calvin Klein, Chloè, Miu Miu, Lancaster, Bottega Veneta and others. Reporting directly to CFO, I am the local owner of brand profit and loss, driving and coordinating local marketing budget with the aim of ensuring high returns on investment. Furthermore, I lead and manage monthly financial forecast, budget and actuals review for the full P&L reporting directly to Leadership Team, GM and CFO regional. Doing an MBA represented the most go ahead decision by now of my life. Thanks to this program I learnt how to work in a multifunctional team, the most effective aspect of my daily routine, where every day I am responsible of doing choices, taking responsibilities and feeling as the focal point of the business chain. To reach a goal you need to work hard and never stop believing in your abilities. Every day you must express yourself, be curious and raise your bar; for my perspective, this has been the best insight from my MBA experience. 22/02/2017

22 February 2017

A Q&A session with the top manager Martin Sorrell

The founder and CEO of WPP will discuss the latest in digital communication and the international scenario On Thursday, March 16, 2017, at 10:30 a.m. in Room 200, students have the chance to meet top manager Sir Martin Sorrell, founder and CEO of WPP: the world’s largest communications company with 200,000 employees in 3,000 offices in 113 countries. LUISS President Emma Marcegaglia will open the event with Martin Sorrell who will discuss recent trends in the communication field and digital innovation as well as evolution in the international politics scenario. Following the talk, the guest of honor will respond to students during a Q&A session in English, moderated by Gianni Riotta, editorialist at La Stampa, and instructor at Princeton University and the LUISS School of Government. LUISS Business School students will have the chance to delve deeply into Sorrell’s management experience and the story behind one of the world’s communications giants. The event is held in English.

20 February 2017

“Io Faccio Film” with the students of the LUISS Creative Business Center

The LUISS Creative Business Center is pleased to promote the event “Io Faccio Film” that will take place on March 2, at the Casa del Cinema. The Event will serve as a showcase for the new commercials related to the “Io Faccio Film” promotional campaign moreover, the students of the Masters Writing School for Cinema & Television and Gestione della Produzione Cinematografica e Televisiva will take active part by presenting a new project connected with the theme of the event. This initiative is promoted by ANICA, FAPAV, MPA and Univideo and has recently obtained the patronage of the Council of Minister – Department for information and publishing, of the Ministry for Cultural Activities and Tourism and of AGCOM. To confirm your presence at the event, please write to info@iofacciofilm.it. 20/02/2017

17 February 2017

Leader For Talent (#L4T): Meeting with Marco Patuano CEO of Edizione S.r.l.

Leader for Talent (#L4T) is a series of meetings with speakers and testimonies from the corporate world. The meetings are strongly oriented to management best practices occurring in the companies in order to offer a very operational methodology. L4T is designed to enhance the meeting with business leaders of the main organizations, offering our students the experience of a debate that can enrich them in terms of professional and soft skills. Marco Patuano is CEO of Edizione S.r.l., one of the largest Italian holding companies with equity investments mainly in the following sectors: textiles and clothing, food & beverage, infrastructure and mobility services, real estate and agriculture. Edizione is the company with which the Benetton family diversified its investments following the entrepreneurial success of the Benetton Group. He was Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of Telecom Italia. After some experience in the United States, he started his career in Telecom Italia in 1990, at the central Headquarters of the company, then called SIP. The event is reserved to Students of LUISS Business School MBA Programme. 17/02/2017

16 February 2017

Business Ethics workshop with UNICEF

The Specialized Master courses host an experiential path on ERS Ethics, Responsibility and Sustainability, divided in two steps. The first is a case-based discussion of Business Ethics on February 13 and the second a problem-based Lab that will take place on February 17. In the Lab the students will be engaged to solve a challenge launched by our partner UNICEF: developing a project which engages the private sector in supporting UNICEF to manage the migration flows of unaccompanied foreign minors. The initiative pushes the students to undergo the trade-offs of economic action evaluating both social and environmental impact and ethical consequences of economic choices, encouraging them to find innovative solutions. The Lab implements specific educational tools such as brainstorming, simulation, creativity stimulation and lateral thinking. At the end of the Lab a UNICEF board will compare student’s ideas, selecting the best one. Gallery 16/02/2017

15 February 2017

Innovating soccer management with sustainability

“Triple A for Italian Soccer. The rating system of Lega Pro” this was the event held on February 13th in Rome at Spazio Mastai -Palazzo dell’Informazione which involved LUISS Business School with the participation of its Dean Paolo Boccardelli among the stakeholders concerned in promoting a change in soccer management. Lega Pro has the aim to introduce a rating system to classify soccer clubs’ performances, so as to promote the virtuous development of Italian soccer. LUISS Business School supports this project, as part of its mission, to generate future managers able to contribute to sustainable development. Build the credibility of a sector - before sponsors and the financial world - through ways which involve growth and have impact on territory, where the social aspects of management represent a relevant part of governance, a challenge which the School has chosen to seize both from an educational and external point of view. Participating in this dialogue and establishing quality standards for soccer clubs is the first step towards the implementation of best practices that can be carried out in various sectors characterized by management culture orientated to sustainable business. 14/02/2017

10 February 2017

Call for Female Prospective MBA Candidates to Participate in the GROW FAST Initiative

GROW MBA

10 February 2017

Leadership's key words: Leader for Talent with Claudio Descalzi, CEO ENI

On January 24 2017 Claudio Descalzi, CEO ENI was guest at L4T – Leader for Talent – a series of meetings aimed for Specialized Masters Students. This insight was written by Teresa Marotta, student of the Master in Tax Law. Mr.Claudio Descalzi, in meeting our students explained his position, the aims to pursue, but most of all the goals to achieve. To be a leader means being able to decide basing your judgement on values, take risks and be a true testimony of the relationship between people and the company. Leadership which Mr. Descalzi described is the overall container where we treasure our life choices that build the future of a big company, questioning many of the features commonly associated with successful personalities. Change is the principle which guides Claudio Descalzi’s life even before the development of his career. In Africa, as a resevoir engineer at the beginning of his working experience in ENI: a continent that has been a challenge to the spirit of adaption given the life conditions but especially for the corporate policies that ENI had to define and implement. This meant choosing where to build the infrastructure required to produce energy from gasses. For Claudio Descalzi to be a leader means never loose track of the reality in which the company has an effect and impact on and therefore is helping to build. To be aware of all this is choice which led ENI to renounce to an increase in profits to favour local communities’ access to energy which had none, in countries where more than half of the population suffered death as consequence of biofuel. Social responsibility is the reason which led Claudio Descalzi to continue to work in Africa: a leader chooses his challenges “personal success is short lived and can led to mistakes”: leadership which brings true results is such because it is what drives you out from the maze of success at all costs. “The secret is to have no memory. I learned to forget what I had already achieved and start always from zero”. Team work makes a company big. Respect and the use of diverse abilities as a common denominator allow a leader to enhance every single talent. Dialogue underlines diversity as the engine of team work and of inclusive leadership which can transform a diverse group in a united team: “different worlds grow and work becomes optimal if you give to others your true self, generosity is joy in giving”. Since his studies in Physics, Descalzi has brought to ENI his curiosity for insights and a crucial attitude towards innovation. This is the reason which has led ENI to promote and support a long-term project on renewable energies to not be “deaf and blind” in front of climate change. Africa is the privileged setting for the development of this project thanks to the opportunity to develop and build photovoltaic plants which substitute gas with solar energy. A project which does not exclude Italy through the requalification of old refineries – the known “clean landfills” –for the implant of photovoltaic panels and the reduction of CO2 in the air. Leader for Talent once again is an important appointment to meet leaders of today, discover new motivations and examples so that students may develop an overall perspective and can face new challenges. (Article by Teresa Marotta, student of the Master in Tax Law) Gallery 10/02/2017

02 February 2017

Call for Adjunct Professor

LUISS Business School invites outstanding candidates to fill the positions of Adjunct Professor in the following disciplines: Big Data and Cloud Computing Finance and Banking Corporate Finance Digital Innovation International Business International Economics Communication Creative Industries and Made in Italy The duration of the contract is 1 plus 2 years delivered in a part-time formula. About the School Located in the heart of Rome, LUISS Business School offers undergraduate and post-graduate programs – including MBA and Executive Education Programs. The School seeks to create a passion for quality in teaching, learning, and research, and to train individuals with strategic and analytical thinking skills. The vision of the School is reflected in the design of teaching modules and Learning Labs, such as AdVenture Lab and Soft Skill Lab. LUISS Business School values its collaboration with the business community: the institutional link with Confindustria – the largest Italian industry association – makes the interaction of the School’s community with the corporate world a common trait of daily life. The School aims to be renowned as an institution of higher education that links rigorous teaching standards with relevant academic and applied research. It has recently started a recruiting campaign to develop its reputation for excellence in research and high quality teaching. Application procedure Interested applicants should send the following information to selectionluissbs@luiss.it by March 15th, 2017: Areas of specialization of the candidate (which areas of teaching the candidate intends to cover at LUISS Business School); A resume using sample; A copy of the applicant’s best publications, if applicable. Mandatory criteria: Managerial positions or equivalent professional/consulting experience or previous positions as adjunct professors in a business school; Minimum 10 years of working experience; Qualified teaching experience in graduate, post-graduate and executive education; Assuring LUISS Business School the brand exclusivity. The selected candidates will be required to: teach one course per year in the programs of LUISS Business School and/or the Department of Business and Management of LUISS Guido Carli University. The balance of the teaching activities among different programs will depend on the teaching needs of the School; be available to design and manage executive or custom programs and coordinate master programs, and/or design and manage innovative support activities integrating the program portfolio. Salary and benefits: competitive salary based on the course or master budget; official recognition of the status of adjunct faculty member of LUISS Business School (website, business card, mail etc.).

30 January 2017

Invest your talent in Italy: scholarships for international students

LUISS University along with 21 other Italian universities, is a partner of the Invest your talent in Italy program, which offers a unique opportunity to students from Azerbaijan, Colombia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Turkey and Vietnam to study in Italy, developing their skills through a range of Master’s degrees and post-graduate courses, entirely taught in English, in prestigious Italian universities. Applications are now open for 2017-2018 academic year. Deadline to apply: April 30, 2017 DEATAILS 30/01/2017

25 January 2017

Welcome Day Master in Food & Wine Business

The Master in Food & Wine Business will start on January 30, 2017. During the welcome day the students will have the unique opportunity of meeting some of the leading personalities of the Italian Food & Wine Industry. The Programme is organised in partnership with Gambero Rosso and aims to train students interested in becoming managers in the Food & Wine industry. Students attending LUISS Business School’s Master in Food & Wine Business will apprehend how to design and realise a restaurant project, specialise as export and hospitality managers and develop successful sale activities and communication strategies. AGENDA 10:00 a.m. Welcome 11.00 a.m. Introduction speeches Paolo Boccardelli, LUISS Business School Paolo Cuccia, Gambero Rosso S.p.a. 11.45 a.m. Lectio magistralis “Italian Food Industry between globalization, protectionism and false trend” Luigi Scordamaglia, Federalimentare Paolo Cuccia – Manager, Banker, President of Gambero Rosso Holding and Artribune. Teaching professor in Project Finance at LUISS Guido Carli - Rome. Former President of EUR spa (2004-2009) and Former Country Manager of Abn Amro (2003-2008) Luigi Scordamaglia - President of Federalimentare. Chief Executive of Inalca Spa, Gruppo Cremonini, European society leader in beef. Former Director and General Secretary of Assocarni, Scordamaglia became, later, Vice President. President of “Quinto Valore” and Vice President of IMS – International Meat Secretariat. Board of directors member of Agency for promotion and internationalisation of Italian Industries. Participation in this event is by invitation only. 25/01/2017

25 January 2017

Leadership Through Diversity and Inclusion

LUISS Business School has positioned its female students at the centre of a new project named GROW – Generating Real Opportunities for Women. The project promotes diversity and inclusion in management culture, and has an aim to enhance the vision of leadership that could create growth in contexts characterised by high variability. In this view, diversity is considered as a resource that enriches companies with values and skills. GROW was initiated and will work as a collection of ideas and tools that helps its participants develop both their personality and professional skills. For the students of LUISS Business School participating in the GROW project means broadening their skills to become future leaders through mentoring and networking, Talent Programme and Data Girl Programme – the integrated initiatives to support the career development of women. However, it also means working with the corporate world to bring about innovation thanks to a different management culture, and to create a strong connection between the companies and the academy with an aim to build balanced teams of professionals on all organisation levels. The focus on diversity in educating the future leaders involves the whole community of LUISS Business School students: GROW is open to all students enrolled in graduate and master's programmes, including the MBA and Executive Master’s programmes. Having a direct contact with female leaders who have led a successful career and are therefore very useful role models, all the students have an opportunity to understand which aspects of their personality and professional skills should they concentrate on in order to grow. To gain self-awareness, set priorities, combine passion and hard work, go beyond one’s limits and be open-minded – these are the characteristics considered as essential for true leaders by Simonetta Iarlori, the COO of Gruppo Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. Simonetta Iarlori, who met the students during the GROW presentation on November 29, 2016, emphasised the necessity for those traits in order to be able to take complex decisions in very heterogeneous environments, and encouraged the students to work on these aspects. (Article by Marica Bartoli, student of Master in Trade Management) 03/01/2017

GROW