The document discusses several challenges facing the business sector, including increased competitiveness, managing a global and culturally diverse workforce, and market volatility. The author hopes to specialize in the international business context and play a role as a pragmatic manager who can help organizations adapt to changes, foster innovation, and leverage cultural diversity as strengths. Key challenges are saturated markets, meeting needs across countries, integrating different skills and cultures, disconnect between owners/executives and communities, and interpreting unpredictable financial markets. The author advocates focusing on R&D, valuing different perspectives, learning from startup models to incentivize employees, and turning instability into an opportunity to maximize flexibility, competitiveness and growth.

1. Edoardo Bassi
What do you believe are the greatest challenges facing the sector you would like to specialize in
at IE? What role do you hope to be able to play in this sector or industry in the medium term?

3.  Increased competitiveness
 Human Capital Management complexity
 Problems of centralized Governance
 Dealing with long-term instability

4.  Globalization of the markets
 Highly saturated markets
 In many sectors the number of competitors
will grow at a higher rate than the number of
consumers

5.  Operations happen across various countries and
geographic areas
 How can the needs of empoyees in Brazil be met
as effectively as the needs of employees in
China?

6.  Combination of different skills and different
cultures in one workplace
 Risk of running into troubles
 Miscommunication
 Confusion
 Discrepancy in setting the goals

7.  Financial institutions own over 70% of the public
stock exchange, probably even more in the future
 Absent owners that have no stake in the
communities in which the companies operate
 Lack of connection between employees and
executives/governance

8.  High insecurity of the markets
 Volatility of financial markets
Causes:
 Last aftermaths of the economic recession
 Global political instability
 Low oil prices in the medium term

9.  High insecurity of the markets
 Volatility of financial markets
Difficulty in interpreting the markets and higher risk
component in most decision-making processes

13.  Focus on R&D and innovation is the key
Innovation as the primary factor to maintain and increase
the competitive advantage in dynamic, saturated markets
 Innovation also benefits Sustainability and progress

14.  Valorize different skills and cultures
 Transform the workplace in a stimulating and
eclectic environment
 Boost creativity: a different culture stands for a
different point of view or a different way to solve a
problem

15.  Learn from the Start-up model
 Incentivise employees by distributing equity
or by giving performance-related rewards
 This aligns interests, creates a culture of
hard work and increases team spirit

16.  The insecurity of the markets is becoming a long
term component
 Companies and managers have to get used to a
generalized chaos
 Words like “disruptive technology” will
become the norm

17. Turn instability into flexibility
 Quickly adapt to changes and technology
 Recognize change as inevitable and use it to maximize
competitiveness and growth
 Identify new and better ways of getting things done and
fostering innovation

18. The role I would like to play in the
international business context is being a
pragmatic and skilled manager, with
flexibility, innovation and enhancing cultural
diversity being my leadership strongholds