Marcelo Villena
Welcome letter
Director of the MBA
Our program has been teaching best practices in business management for over 22 years. The importance of people and leadership in business performance, how to develop innovation and entrepreneurship models, how to implement successful strategic plans, are all familiar topics to our more than 2000 alumni!
Today, we find that the business landscape has changed a lot for companies in recent years.
First, social networks, the internet of things, the ubiquity provided by our cell phones and other devices, the use of data science, and artificial intelligence, among many other technological phenomena, have transformed the way we do business. In fact, large technology companies such as Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft dominate a large part of their markets, with almost no counterweight in most countries of the world. Not to mention the changes in the financial sector, as a result of Fintech, or in the automotive market, driven by Tesla.
Second, the need to reverse climate change, and its terrible consequences on the environment, economy and society, have made us look beyond regulation into sustainable business models. The advent of the Circular Economy, as a practice aimed at achieving the desired sustainability but anchored in companies as a solution, is already a reality in the world and is beginning to be so in our country. Regulation is in this case a support for change, in Chile the REP law, the law of single-use plastics and the Circular Economy roadmap, are making this change a reality. From the Circular Economy we learn that the planet becomes one more stakeholder of the company, and that maintaining the value of products, materials and resources for as long as possible, while minimizing waste generation, becomes a new business commandment.
Third, it is more necessary than ever to consider solid ethical principles in our business decisions, with a strong sense of responsibility towards the society which welcomes us. Understanding that business and entrepreneurship must be at the service of society and not only to the maximization of our own wealth, is undoubtedly part of what distinguishes the recognized and successful companies of our time. Pollution, anti-competitive practices, fine print or misleading marketing strategies are all practices that alienate customers instead of strengthening brand images.
In this context, the objective of our program is to train professionals who aspire to change the world going far beyond the fundamentals of business management, for that we will prepare our students precisely in these three present and future issues, which we consider the pillars of
our program: i) technological business, ii) sustainability and circularity, and iii) ethics and corporate responsibility.
Our tradition and excellence as a leading university in technology, engineering and innovation puts us at the forefront of technological business. In addition, the legacy of our founder, Don Federico Santa Maria, written in stone in our main building, guides us towards societal concern and its future.
Undoubtedly, efficient companies, prepared entrepreneurs are sine qua non conditions to achieve the development of our country. Our objective as a program is precisely to help in this task, but with emphasis, with conviction, and with our own seal.
We are waiting for you,
Marcelo Villena, PhD
Director MBA USM
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcelovillena/