FAST TRACK EXECUTIVE MBA CLASS OF 2008
STUDIES BUSINESSES IN PORTUGAL

An overview of the European Union by Mr. Hans Martens, Chief Executive of the European Policy Centre, prepared the VCU School of Business Fast Track Executive MBA Class of 2008 for their international business trip to western Portugal April 27 to May 6, 2007. In addition to the tours of plants and cities, a memorable highlight of the trip was a dinner cruise along the Tagus River, that flows west across Portugal and Spain.

Kicking off the trip was a visit to KPMG International, an international accounting firm, where discussions were based around a general overview of business in Portugal, and particularly the tax and human resources environment. A second tour was of the ALSTOM Power factory, a global leader in power generation and rail infrastructure located in Setubal, Portugal. The students viewed the lead internal manufacturing center where high-quality heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) parts are made.

A meeting with Cargill International (an international provider of food, agricultural and risk management products and services) in Lisbon, focused on appreciating the role of cultural, political, and economic forces of Portugal and Spain, and how they influence business decisions and strategies.

“The trip to Portugal was a great time for the Fast Track class of 2008. The class was exposed to international businesses and the opportunities and problems in dealing with global markets. We were also exposed to many different elements of Portuguese culture which proved to be both educational and fun, “ said Travers Edwards of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. :”The trip was also a great bonding experience for everyone in the class. Students that had been seeing and interacting with each other for the proceeding nine months finally got a chance to really know each other. The trip to Portugal was a fantastic educational experience for the class, as well as a great bonding experience”.

A third stop was touring Tabaqueira SA (a subsidiary of Philip Morris International) factory in Albarraque, near Lisbon. Tabaqueira is the fourth largest production center in Philip Morris’ International's European Union region. It produces a range of premium national and international cigarette brands for sale domestically and for export worldwide. Discussions included questions pertaining to the anti-smoking campaigns in Portugal, the differences between cigarettes produced in Portugal and those produced elsewhere, and dealings with taxes and laws governing cigarettes.

The trip’s last stop was to meet with MarketWare (a digital marketplace solution provider) in Lisbon. Discussions focused on MarketWare's international partners, tariffs and international trade laws, and application security.

In the early 1990s Tara Pettit, Chief of Administration with the National Park Service, and an EMBA student on this trip, backpacked through Europe. In her journal writings about this trip, she compared the then and now, 16 years later. She shares some of her observations below. .

“May 1st proved to be my most interesting day in Portugal,” she wrote. “It gave me an unexpected glimpse into the global world. Jon Garmon and I took a bike tour through Lisbon with two guides, Pedro and Anya. Neither guide was what I expected; both exemplified Portugal’s opportunities and challenges.” Read more from Tara’s journal.

A PAGE FROM TARA’S 2007
JOURNAL ABOUT PORTUGAL

Sixteen years ago I spent a semester at Keeble College in Oxford, England. By comparison to today, the world was very round. Everything, it seemed, was done by hand. All of my papers were hand written, my research was done using books at the Oxford Union and the Bodleian Libraries. The focus was on tradition. Computers in my classes were nonexistent. I only recall seeing two computers during my five months overseas. By comparison, my small public liberal arts college back home was light years ahead in terms of technology. We had a new computer lab and campus email. All of our papers were typed using a computer.

What I wasn’t aware of in 1991 was the effort to transform the European community into a standardized and single market economy. The Berlin wall fell in 1989 and catapulted the European community forward. Since then European Union (EU) has grown from 12 member countries to 27.

Concurrently huge efforts were made to facilitate the free movement of people, goods, hospitals and services. Europe has changed; it is no longer as I remember it from my backpacking adventures of the early 90s. Everything from electrical systems to the use of English as a common language has been standardized. No longer are the distribution channels limited to individual townships – where the only keg beer in town came from one brewery. There are differences between countries but they are not nearly as great as I remember.

May 1st proved to be my most interesting day in Portugal. It gave me an unexpected glimpse into the global world. Jon Garmon and I took a bike tour through Lisbon with two guides, Pedro and Anya. Neither guide was what I expected; both exemplified Portugal’s opportunities and challenges.

Anya is a Polish citizen who immigrated to Lisbon three years ago after meeting her Portuguese boyfriend in Poland. Neither Anya nor her boyfriend spoke the other’s native language so they communicated in English – the standard language for not just international corporations but also lovers. When I asked her if it was easy to move to Portugal, she said “yes, for those that can learn the language and adapt to the culture.”

I’ve come to find out in researching Hans Martens assignment that Anya fits the mold of a typical EU immigrant. She’s young, educated (she speaks Polish, Portuguese and English fluently), well traveled (she’s lived for extended periods in the US and traveled throughout Europe) and current on world affairs. Yet in Portugal she seems too lack job opportunities and material wealth that a US counterpart would take for granted.

Pedro, like Anya is young, worldly and well educated. He is the primary veterinarian for a large, by Portuguese standards, dairy operation. He and a part time vet, manage the health of 800 cattle. The farm is a family business that produces milk for a local cheese factory. The mother and children run the farm and the father works in the cheese factory. My initial thought was – this is a mom and pop low tech cottage industry but then Pedro described his job. Two things were particularly striking. First,was how integrated he was in the business and its profits. Second, was how high tech the operation sounded.

Class of 2008 Fast Track Executive MBA