Our Monterrey experience truly was both
educational and exciting. Our trip coordinator, Laurent Tran
recorded his experiences for everyone to enjoy. Please read along
to find out in detail all the exciting and enlightening experiences he
and the rest of the IMC trip participants had.
Tuesday, June 11:
Bright blue skies greeted us on the
second morning, however, none of us managed to rise early enough for
breakfast. So it was on an empty stomach that we taxied our way through
mountainous terrain and arrived at EGADE just in time to learn about the
Monterrey’s industrial development from Anabella Dávila, professor of
Organizational Development.
So here is the secret for making it
to the top of Monterrey’s industrial 800lbs gorillas: marry well. While
an MBA may get you in passed the door and even up a few levels up the
organization, eventually a “family” ceiling will block your career
path. The third and fourth generations of founding families are
arriving to top management positions in Monterrey’s large industrial
companies.
Monterrey’s development started with
retail and wholesale trade. During the Civil War, the South used the
Monterrey trade route to get supplies blocked from the North. After the
war, mining and manufacturing sectors overtook the retail and whole
trade as the main source of income for the region. The initial
financing strategy was one drawing on the founding families’ own
financial resources. Eventually, a few strong families formed the first
national banks to finance further industrial development.
Up to the 1990s, organizations were
very hierarchical with decisions and directions handed down from the
top. Hardly any horizontal links across divisions from large companies
existed.
Jorge Guajardo, Vice-president of
Trading, discussed the challenges facing CEMEX, a giant cement company,
gave us his thoughts on the challenges facing CEMEX.
After two insight full lectures, we
jumped into another taxi to the best place in Monterrey for fajitas.
After gulping down fajita meat like margaritas, we agreed that he
accompanying tortillas were world class, thanks to authentic fat and
carbs!
Our next stop was NEMAK, an engine
manufacturing company, which currently supplies engine parts for most of
the American car manufacturers. However, their main growth opportunity
lurks with Asian car manufacturers.
After a brief introduction to NEMAK,
we put on safety goggles and walk half a mile to the actual factory,
where we toured the assembly line. .jpg)
Had we been in the U.S. it’s hard to
believe that we would have been allowed to be within 30 ft of a
fork-lift pouring two tons of liquid aluminum from a giant bucket into a
reservoir, which the aluminum was routed into an engine cast. It was
quite like watching a manufacturing documentary on the Discovery
Channel!
From the Discovery Channel, we ended
the day on the Travel Channel… After returning to our hotel, the
executive task of finding our next meal rested in the hands of Michael
Wang, since he was the first one waiting down in the hotel lobby,
flipping through a Monterrey brochure.
Several appetizing pictures caught
our attention, but none more than that of something indescribable
roasting over a wood fire…We had found dinner… This unique restaurant
was a trade mark of an old neighborhood known for its lively nightlife,
which we would come later to experience…In a 10x6ft front window, we saw
our dinner waiting for us. The restaurant specialized in serving
roasted goat. The goats were skewed from bottom to top like a skewed
chickens, and happily waited to be served. Pushing aside the guilt of
being the root cause for the short life of a goat, we ordered the
special. At least, the guilt was not as long lasting as when ordering
shark fin dumplings, since the goat population is not exactly
crumpling… When the object of our attention arrived on our tables,
gents and ladies alike recalled some primal instinct of their past
hunter-and-gatherers days, and all forgot about knives and forks to
sample a new taste of adventure.
The next morning, we were back to
proper MBA behavior…and yesterday had never happened…
On to
Day 3
International Management Club
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