INSEAD: 50 Alumni Who Changed the World
Monday, 17 May 2010 | University News
INSEAD elected 50 individuals who have not only had an exceptional career and a major impact on the world but have also touched lives and who embody the values of INSEAD.
Rolf Abdon
Roger Abravanel
Mikael Ahlström
Helen Alexander CBE
Baron Berghmans
Christian Blanckaert
Bernard gr. Broermann
Michael Butt
Yves Carcelle
Patrick Cescau
Alan Heng Loon Chan
Yoav Chelouche
Niels Christiansen
Joseph Comerford
Vivienne Cox
Paul Desmarais Jr
Henry Engelhardt
Frère Dominique Faure
Reinhold Geiger
Adam Goldstein
Sir Philip Hampton
François Hériard Dubreuil
André Hoffmann
António Horta Osório
Philippe Houzé
Franz B Humer
John W Jackson
Marius Kloppers
Barbara Kux
Ulysses Kyriacopoulos
Sam Laidlaw
Igor Landau
Sir Andrew Large
Rudolf Maag
Charles Mackay
Wolfgang Marguerre
Paul R C Marshall
Julie Meyer
Georges Muller
Alfredo Novoa-Peña
Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones
Jussi Pajunen
Armand Phares
Michael Pragnell
Claude Rameau
Kevin P Ryan
Lord Simon of Highbury
David Stevens
Tidjane Thiam
Cees van Lede
Dick Verbeek
Antonio Viana-Baptista
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Rolf Abdon, MBA'70 CEO, Abdon Mills
“INSEAD was a wonderful combination of learning business knowledge, experiencing different cultures and creating life long friendships.” Rolf was born in Sweden. Following his military service he studied Law at the University of Lund. At the same time Rolf also went through the School of Economics and received an MSc in Economics and in the evenings he studied for and gained a BSc in computer science. “Sweden in the 1960’s was a very regulated country, as were most of the Nordic countries. I was looking for more opportunities and accepted a job in Toronto as a Computer Systems Engineer.” Rolf had decided some years before that he wanted to finish his formal education with an MBA. “At that time in Sweden, everyone went to the US schools if they wanted an MBA.” Rolf was accepted by Harvard and paid his registration fee. He was due to start in August 1969 when his employer proposed another project. “In the spring of 1969 I informed my employer in Toronto about my plans to go to Harvard and he announced that he was sending me to Brussels. I can still remember my boss telling me, ‘You are European. Please go to Brussels and take this opportunity before you go back to school.’” Rolf was very proud of having an added advantage within the company for being European, so he agreed to go to Belgium. “But that is where my problems began. I did not speak French and I realized that I did not know Europe at all. I was a stranger. I had grown up isolated in Sweden with all the strong cultural influences from America that we had in the 50’s and 60’s. Contrary to what my boss had said, I was not really very European after all.” It was at this time that Rolf first heard about INSEAD and he went immediately to Fontainebleau. “I just loved what I saw and some how managed to persuade them to allow me to join. I started in 1969 (when I was due to start at Harvard) with just one requirement - I had to learn French before I started.” Rolf’s most memorable experiences during his time at INSEAD, revolve around his study group, “We were a most diverse group and we all had very different abilities and knowledge. In the beginning we had a lot of heated discussions that seemed to consume most of our energy and led to nothing. But we all gradually came to the conclusion that we all would do much better to share our knowledge and help each other. It was a truly great experience.” Whilst Rolf was at INSEAD an Alumni from 1962 came to give a talk on European tax laws. He and Rolf got on so well that when Rolf graduated he contacted Rolf to ask if he wanted to join a new corporate finance company he was about to set up in Geneva. “I worked in Geneva for five years, I learnt a lot and enjoyed my time there.” Rolf’s boss then left to work in private banking and Rolf turned his attentions to helping his brother, Leif, who was running a mill business in Sweden and who needed some help on the business side. 3 In 1973, brothers Leif and Rolf Abdon built one of the world's first fully automatic mills on the Scanian plains outside their hometown of Helsingborg. Rolf played a major role in the company’s expansion into the US in 1986 and rose to become the CEO of Abdon Mills. “When I look back at my time at INSEAD, it gave me what I expected: business knowledge, cultural experiences and a wide network of friends. But it also gave me something I had not expected from a business school: INSEAD taught me a set of values. I think INSEAD is very unique in the world of business schools in that values are part of its genes and have always been so since its creation 50 years ago. These values are not formally taught as a subject, but they are instilled more as the result of their being no dominant culture, language or nationality - it’s all part and parcel of the INSEAD experience.” “I believe that if you want to create a successful and sustainable business then you need to instill values in everything you do.” In recent years Rolf has been very active in senior roles for INSEAD, serving both on the Board and as Chairman of the INSEAD Alumni fund. His goal is to help further INSEAD’s developments and other organisations that serve and enhance values in society. “As a father of four children, who have all begun their lives with proper values and educations, it is natural that I think about them with pride and with thankfulness for what my wife has done. Professionally, I am grateful I ran into all of the great individuals that now make up the management teams of our companies.”
Roger Abravanel, MBA’72 Director Emeritus, McKinsey & Co
“INSEAD taught me an abiding set of values that have been with me throughout my life. They are about trusting and being trusted, truly caring for people and being obsessed with meritocracy.” Roger was born in Libya into a family who subsequently lost all their wealth when Colonel Gaddafi expelled all Italians and foreigners in 1970. “My father was determined that I get the best education and I gained a scholarship to, the then prestigious, Milan Polytechnic to study Chemical Engineering. I became the youngest engineer in Italy when I gained a master’s degree at just 21.” Roger did his military service in the air force and then returned to academic life and worked on a University research project on heat and mass transfer. “I then joined a US/Italian auto company to build their automotive air conditioning business, and I contributed and developed a project working on a new kind of valve at the age of 23. 30 years later I advised a merger and acquisition transaction of the company, valued at the time at £100m.” “I wanted a broader business career so I started to look at business schools. My family had no money to finance me so when I got a scholarship to INSEAD it was the obvious choice. It also helped that it was just a one year MBA course.” Just before joining INSEAD Roger had been for an interview with Mckinsey who offered him a job on the spot. They tried to talk him out of going to INSEAD, but he was determined to further his education. “INSEAD was the best year of my life - fantastic people and new experiences but it was also a big shock. I had been educated the Italian way where you work alone, think alone and write alone. Suddenly I had to work in a team, to share and interact. For the first four months I did not say a thing in class. Then one day, I stayed up all night learning a particular case and was ready to speak the next day, but I was so tired I fell asleep in class. I woke up and put up my hand but fell asleep again. Finally the professor called on me to speak and I did not shut up for the next six months.” When he left INSEAD, Roger joined McKinsey in Paris even though he received offers from three big investment banks who proposed much more money than Mckinsey. “I am a great believer in personal values and having to work to earn your wealth over time. I have always been suspicious of ‘short term’ wealth.” But having spent so much time in such a diverse environment as INSEAD, Roger had the taste for an international career. When a chance to go to Japan appeared, he was interviewed on the Friday and on a plane to Tokyo on the Monday. “I arrived in Tokyo at the height of the energy crisis in the mid 70’s, to find the airport in total darkness as the Japanese were terrified by the price of energy.” 5 Roger stayed in Japan for two years and then advised US companies wanting to enter the Japanese market. He then had spells working in Italy, Mexico (working for three different Mexican Presidents) and France before settling in Milan. Roger spent most of his time at Mckinsey working in industrial and consumer sectors such as the automotive sector.” Roger never worked in banking as he felt he would learn more from global competitive sectors. Whilst at McKinsey, Roger participated and co-led many Corporate Governance and private equity practices and opened the successful Israel office for five years, before retiring from McKinsey in 2007. On his ‘retirement’ Roger joined the boards of the two most admired companies in Italy and Israel respectively, Luxottica, the premium fashion, luxury and sports Eyewear Company and Teva, the global pharmaceutical company. Roger started a new career as a writer with the publication of his book Meritocracy, which sold 45,000 copies and resulted in Roger becoming a TV personality and sought after speaker. The four proposals in Roger’s book have now become the subject of a national public debate in Italy. One of Rogers’s proposals is to establish a national test in Italy, equivalent to the UK’s ‘A’ levels, for University entrance. He is also a regular contributor to the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera. Roger is also currently writing his second book. In December 2008 Roger was asked by Dean Frank Brown to speak at the MBA graduation in Singapore. “Before accepting this honour I had to ask my son if he consented, as he was in the graduating class.” “I spoke to the graduating MBA class about ‘values’, not about how to build a successful career in consulting or private equity. And I commented that their future success does not really depend on their MBA but more on who they are.” “INSEAD and McKinsey taught me important principles. They are about being committed to true impact with the companies you have to deal with and investing in continuous personal renewal. To me values are not religious nor are they metaphysical - they are very practical beliefs. They are an internal compass that have helped me make choices I have made and define who I am. In the end they guide you every day.” “I think that renewal is a very important part of life. I have renewed part of my life by becoming a writer but would like to also use my assets: my experience and my values to enable social reform, especially education reform. I believe that business has a lot to learn from society and vice-versa.” 6 Mikael Ahlström, MBA’86J Founding Partner, Procuritas Partners KB “INSEAD gave me the credibility, the knowledge and the global network for me to be successful.” When Mikael graduated with a degree in Economics from the University of Lund in the late 1970s, Sweden’s socialist government didn’t allow entrepreneurs much freedom. So Mikael promptly accepted a one-year assignment at the Swedish American Chamber of Commerce in New York. Mikael loved New York and moved on to work for a US energy company, ESI Coal, where he rose to become Managing Director. “It was at this time, in the early 1980s, that I became aware of something called ‘leveraged buyouts.’ They were very new and fascinating. I remember thinking that this financial technique could be exported.” But to be successful in the leveraged buyout market, Mikael realised he needed three things, “I needed to learn more; I needed more credibility and I needed a wider network. I needed to go to business school.” Mikael chose INSEAD for many different reasons. He had heard of its excellent reputation, he wanted to return to Europe and liked France, he had friends who had enjoyed their time at INSEAD and perhaps most importantly he wanted a one year MBA programme. “One word can sum up my experience at INSEAD – ‘enlightening’. Everything about my year was ‘enlightening’ –the business approach, the organisational behaviour, the teaching methods, the cultures, the teamwork.” “But when I look back at my time at INSEAD, one of my fondest memories is the garden flat that my wife and I rented, right in the centre of Fontainebleau. I remember spending many hours in that lovely garden.” Mikael was so focused on leveraged buyouts that he, along with three other MBA participants, worked with INSEAD to create a special elective on Leveraged Buyouts and INSEAD even invited specialists from London to help teach the course. At the end of his MBA Mikael was confronted with a dilemma: on the one hand he had already made up his mind to set up his own company; on the other hand, he had received jobs offers from both Barings and Mckinsey. He contrived to have the best of both worlds. He asked Barings if instead of the job offer they would invest in his new venture and McKinsey promised they would defer his job offer for eight months in case his company failed. Mikael got the investment he needed and never needed to take McKinsey up on their offer. 23 years later, Mikael is still Chairman of Procuritas Partners, the first private equity firm in the Nordic region. Mikael has been a very active supporter of INSEAD over the years. He is a member of INSEAD's Swedish Council, has held seminars for more than ten years in Sweden to help build the INSEAD brand and has sent Directors, executives and union representatives of Procuritas and its portfolio companies to INSEAD on Executive Education courses. 7 Over the years, Mikael has been very active as non-executive Director or Chairman in many Procuritas related companies in Scandinavia. “My ambitions for the future are to ensure that Procuritas Partners continues to prosper, with or without me, to support my children and to ensure that they get equally as rewarding opportunities as I did, and to further establish Charity Rating, a not for profit valuation rating organisation I helped to set up in 2005.” This organisation, which is the first in the Nordic region, tries to analyse how charities create value for their donors and clients. In 1985, he received Dr. Marcus Wallenberg's Award for International Industrial Enterprises Studies.
Helen Alexander CBE, MBA’84D, President of UK Confederation of British Industry (CBI)
“The voice of British business has never been more important than it is today and I am looking forward to playing a very active part." Helen is credited with expanding and internationalising The Economist publication from its flagship magazine to a broader empire. She is also credited with having played the pivotal role in almost doubling the circulation of The Economist news magazine to nearly 1.3 million (including 1.1m overseas) along with setting up offices across America and Asia. Helen Alexander began her education at St Paul’s Girls’ School in London. She obtained an MA from Hertford College, Oxford in 1978 and became an Honorary Fellow of the College in 2002. She embarked on her MBA at INSEAD in 1984 after working in publishing at Gerald Duckworth and Faber and Faber for six years and having completed a temporary job with the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). INSEAD had a major influence on Helen’s life at the time. “It was exciting for the first time to be with so many people whose hopes and ambitions were like mine.” Helen fondly remembers taking her mother to the Corporate Finance class where she “was captivated by Professor Gabriel Hawawini, our Professor of Finance.” On finishing her MBA, Helen rejoined The Economist Group in 1985 as a marketing manager. She ran the international circulation and EIU and became Chief Executive in 1997; she stepped down as CEO last year. Helen says, “I am very proud to have led The Economist Group for 11 years as CEO, it was fantastic, we went through tough times and good ones, and came out stronger. I'm proud of the team I created there and of the fact that my successor came from within that team.” Helen’s next big challenge is as President of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), a role she took up in June this year – the first female president in the trade group’s 44 year history. Helen also plays an active role at INSEAD, having served on the board from 2005 to 2008. She always tries to promote the INSEAD experience wherever possible. Helen remains close to her family and friends and says, “My ambition is to continue to enjoy what I do.”
Baron Berghmans, MBA’74 Chairman of the Executive Board, Lhoist SA
“INSEAD was such a fantastic learning curve for me and the greatest year of my life so far.” Born in Belgium in 1949 of Dutch and Belgian parents, Jean-Pierre studied Econometrics at the prestigious Catholic University of Louvain. On graduation Jean-Pierre went to work for Commerce Bank in Dusseldorf but only stayed for 8 months before leaving to work for Hill Samuel in London. “I was still young, only 24, when I decided to do an MBA as I wanted a business education. I chose INSEAD because first and foremost it was a one-year programme in a global school with European roots and it had an excellent reputation.” “INSEAD was a unique year that really opened my mind and developed my interest about cultural diversity. At INSEAD I became more interested in working with people of different backgrounds and nationalities. I really enjoyed the case study approach which was so very different from the theoretical learning of the Belgian education system.” “INSEAD was one of the greatest years of my life so far. When I joined INSEAD, my eldest daughter was just two weeks old. Both my wife and I had a wonderful time in Fontainebleau: we both learned a lot and also made many friends.” When Jean-Pierre graduated he decided to join the family firm, Lhoist, founded by his great grandfather in 1889. “INSEAD helped me understand the need to develop Lhoist into a global company and gave me the confidence to achieve it. When I joined Lhoist it was a regional Franco-Belgian company which I transformed into the largest and most global lime producer in the world, whilst still retaining 100% family ownership. This is something that I am proud of. Many of my friends urged me to take Lhoist public 15 years ago but I didn’t and those same friends now say how lucky I am to run a family owned company during this current crisis.” Jean-Pierre has always been a very active member of the INSEAD community. He is a member of the INSEAD Board and has been Chairman of the Belgian Council since 1994. Jean-Pierre also funded the creation of the “The Berghmans-Lhoist Chair in Entrepreneurship” at INSEAD in 2002. “Lhoist was started by my great grandfather more than a century ago and I am committed to establishing the foundations for the durability and the continued prosperity of the future of Lhoist.” “Beyond that, my ambition is to contribute to the most needed rethinking of Europe into today and tomorrow’s world, focusing on education, culture and business.” “I would like to be remembered as a passionate man with interests spreading over a wide range of subjects and having had the formidable luck to share it with family, friends and colleagues. I would also like to be remembered as a man who shared some of his wealth and time to promote education, culture and medical research.” 10 Baron Berghmans was made Baron by the King in 2004 and he was awarded the Légion d’Honneur, the highest decoration bestowed by France, in 2005. Father of three wonderful daughters, Jean-Pierre is delighted that his youngest daughter graduated from the INSEAD MBA programme in December 2009.
Christian Blanckaert, MBA’71 President, Petit Bateau
“INSEAD didn’t just influence my career, it changed it completely.” Christian graduated from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris, and from the Faculty of Law of Paris. Whilst studying political science, Christian went on a short exchange to Berkeley University in California on an economic programme in 1964. “It was a wild time to be in the US, particularly in California. It was a time of freedom of speech marches.” When Christian graduated, he briefly worked for Nouvelles Galéries before taking a job as an economic advisor for the French Government in the French Territory of Martinique. In 1970 at 25, Christian decided that he wanted a broader business education. “I wanted to stay in Europe but my Berkeley experience had taught me that I didn’t want a purely French education. I wanted an American flavour to my education, something that I saw as the new frontier. INSEAD fitted the bill perfectly - with one exception - I did not speak German so I spent two months in Munich learning the language.” A newly wed, Christian and his wife (who worked as a teacher) moved into a nice apartment in Fontainebleau. “INSEAD was a total revolution in my mind. It was not just the work but also the social life - it opened my mind to new ways of thinking and new cultures. I met people from all over the world - Arabs, Israelis, people from Northern Europe.” When he graduated, Christian went to work for Harbridge House in Boston as a consultant, “I was the only Frenchman in the company but INSEAD had given me the appetite for international working that still remains with me today.” Christian worked in both Boston and London for Harbridge before leaving to join one of his customers Bricorama, the French DIY chain. “When I joined Bricorama, my then boss brought me down to earth by telling me I was a consultant and knew nothing and promptly sent me to manage the Dieppe Bricorama to ‘learn about life.’ It looked like a complete nightmare at first, but it was not. It was very useful.” Christian eventually became Managing Director of Bricorama before being spotted in a test movie by a headhunter to become Chairman and CEO of Thomson-Distribution. “Our big break came when we chose VHS over Betamax.” In 1981 Thomson was nationalised and Christian was head hunted again to become MD of SCAC, a corporation that bizarrely owned Bricorama. “My career has been full of accidents. I can honestly say I have planned nothing.” In 1988 the owners sold SCAC and Christian entered the luxury goods market for the first time when he became President of Comité Colbert, a group of 70 French luxury companies. “I really enjoyed my eight years at Comité Colbert, especially travelling around the world.” In 1996 he was hired by Jean-Louis Dumas to be Chairman and CEO of Hermès Sellier, the main subsidiary of the Hermès Group. “I was very honoured to become CEO of Hermès Sellier as this was the division that Jean-Louis himself had run for many years.” Christian spent the last 23 years in the luxury goods market before leaving to become President of Petit-Bateau, as well as a Professor and consultant. Christian has written four books: Les chemins du luxe, Portraits en clair-obscur, L'Affaire Salengro (a biography of Roger Salengro, the tragic French Interior Minister in 1936) and Luxe. 12 “I am very proud of the fact that I have been able to make a difference outside of business. I have been the Mayor of my village, Varengeville-sur-Mer, for 31 years and during that time, among other things, I have managed to integrate the poor into society and to arrange scholarships for young people of the village.” Christian is also very active in the non-profit arena. For the past 17 years Christian has been Vice President of ‘Action against Hunger’, an international network committed to saving the lives of malnourished children and families. Christian is also Chairman of the board of the French National school of Decorative Arts (ENSAD). “Transmission has become a key word in my life. I am sixty four and I want to transmit everything I know and have learnt to others. To achieve this in part, I am now teaching as a Visiting Professor of Management at ESSEC. I also want to continue to write to inform the political debate. If I can give a lot to others, I will be a very happy man.”
Bernard gr. Broermann, MBA’70 Chairman, Asklepios Kliniken GmbH
“By exposing me to different cultures, INSEAD helped me to release any prejudices that I had.” Bernard first studied medicine and chemistry in Berlin but after completing the first examinations, he decided to change to law and business studies. He earned a diploma in business administration, passed the first legal state exam and received his doctorate in law. “I was unhappy with the way that I was being taught business in Berlin. It was all theory and I wanted more practical experience, so I stopped attending classes and set up my own company selling SEC controlled investment funds.” At 25, Bernard was ready to further his business education and chose INSEAD because “you needed to speak three languages to get in, it had an excellent reputation and because of the case study element.” “INSEAD exposed me to students from all over the world and was really very valuable in helping me to understand different cultures and to become more tolerant and open minded.” “During my time at INSEAD I also learned a lot about human behaviour that would stay with me throughout my career.” Whilst Bernard was at INSEAD he was also trying to sell the company he had set up as a student back in Berlin. This meant that he had to regularly travel back and forth to Berlin. “Some members of the faculty didn’t like this and felt that I was uncommitted to the course but I finally managed to persuade them that I was dedicated and should stay.” Following his MBA at INSEAD, Bernard went to Boston, where he also obtained an MBA from Harvard Business School. From 1970 to 1976 he worked at the audit company, Ernst & Winney both in Boston and in Frankfurt. From 1976 he was an independent solicitor and auditor associated with Ernst & Whinney. During this time, Bernard built a chain of hospitals in the US for one of his clients, creating a total of eleven hospitals with around 3,000 employees. In 1984 Bernard founded the Asklepios group of clinics, a group that is now the largest private healthcare provider in Germany. The group includes over 100 facilities, has 36,000 employees and a combined turnover of €2.3 billion. As the founder and sole shareholder, Bernard believes in a stable management team, and has therefore shared the responsibility among many people. “I am very proud to have built Asklepios up from scratch to what it is today and I am determined that this business remains innovative and socially responsible. Our Asklepios Future Hospital programme is at the forefront of new standards in healthcare and we have recently embarked on the world’s largest hospital IT development programme with Microsoft and Intel.” Bernard is also the owner of two hotels in Germany; the Kempinski Hotel Falkenstein in Königstein, which has received many awards since opening in 1999, and the exclusive hotel and restaurant, Villa Rothschild, also in Königstein.
Michael Butt, MBA’67 Chairman, Axis Capital Holdings Ltd
“For me today, staying involved with INSEAD is the best form of continued education.” A committed internationalist from an early age, Michael was brought up abroad. After studying history at Oxford, he chose a career in merchant banking. “It was in this job that I realised I knew absolutely nothing.” Michael decided that he wanted to learn more about business and do an MBA but he didn’t want to follow everyone to Harvard – he wanted to go somewhere different. “I found out about INSEAD and applied. It was one of the best decisions I have ever made.” “I was helped substantially both on a personal and financial level, by my mentor who agreed that INSEAD would be an excellent experience for me and agreed to sponsor my MBA. My mentor was so impressed by INSEAD that he became a major sponsor for INSEAD and started one of the original INSEAD scholarship schemes.” Michael remembers the INSEAD early days when students were taught in the old buildings in the convent in Avon and he also recalls that it was very hard work. “For the first time in my life, I really worked hard. At Oxford, I enjoyed myself and learnt a lot but I didn’t work like I did at INSEAD.” “I enjoyed my time at INSEAD enormously. I achieved my objectives by learning to focus and prioritise and we had good fun too and made life long friends. I found the benefits of INSEAD in the long term were extensive.” “What are my fondest memories? I just enjoyed being part of an intellectually stimulated world of contrasts - a world like INSEAD.” “INSEAD gave me a clear vision of what I wanted to do. I learnt quickly that the business of business creates wealth which can be distributed and that is a good thing for everyone. Business is not about the individual. It’s about growing business, creating opportunities and making the world a better place in which people can grow. INSEAD helped me develop a great interest in investing in people and seeing the rewards.” Following his MBA, Michael went back to the same company and worked there for another twenty years. “They invested in me and given me a life time opportunity.” Michael has always been very involved in INSEAD. He became a part of the UK Alumni Association after his MBA and took over as President and became Chairman of the International Alumni Association until 1989. “I remember lots of fun discussions about how everyone saw the future of INSEAD during a time of European and global debate. I met lots of different people from different backgrounds – it was a fascinating time and it created a comparative learning process for us all. Even today, staying involved with INSEAD and working with different generations keeps me younger.” “Relatively early on I realised that INSEAD had played a major part in my life and I wanted to give back to INSEAD. I joined the INSEAD Board and this was a captivating experience for me to participate on that level.” Michael is extremely proud of INSEAD – of what it has achieved and what it will continue to achieve for so many people. He believes that INSEAD’s role in educating people who then spread their knowledge within their communities is tremendously powerful and constructive. “Since I left INSEAD, I have spent around six months of every year travelling. I am looking forward to cutting back a little bit now and to living each day as it comes and continuing to do my best in everything every day.” “I’m not someone who worries about how I’ll be remembered. I’m more concerned about the present and what we can do today and tomorrow to make the world a better place.”
Yves Carcelle, MBA'73 Chairman and CEO, Louis Vuitton
“Being at INSEAD in 1972/73 - when the UK joined the European Union - I felt I was at the centre of everything that was going on in Europe.” Yves studied mathematics and physics and graduated at the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris. “But I was more interested in marketing (a new field in the late 60’s). Therefore I took a job in sales for Spontex, the sponge company.” “I realised that if I wanted to progress in business, I needed to learn a lot more about it. I looked at both US schools and INSEAD and as I had always been pro-European, I wanted a course with a European dimension. I immediately thought that INSEAD were very clever to create a one-year course and as I had a group of friends who had been to INSEAD, it was the obvious choice for me.” “My year group was the most diverse and multicultural group I have ever worked with, both in terms of nationalities and backgrounds. I remember there was a refugee from communist Czechoslovakia, a Belgian engineer, a Norwegian who spoke six languages and an Austrian lawyer. Everyone had a different approach of doing things and it really opened my mind. This experience has been a fantastic asset throughout my career.” “We graduated a few months before the petrol crisis took hold and we decided to organise our graduation ceremony in Japan which was unheard of at INSEAD. I swore that I would go back there to work someday and twenty years later I went back as Chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton and have visited Japan at least four times every year for the last thirty years.” Yves came back to Spontex after INSEAD but left after six months and joined Blendax (a German Cosmetic manufacturer) in a marketing and sales role. Following this experience, Yves ran Absorba (children’s wear) for five years and turned around Descamps (home textiles) for another five years, before catching the attention of Bernard Arnault, who hired him in 1990 to run Louis Vuitton. For several years after his MBA at INSEAD, Yves returned to interview candidates for the MBA course. He has also been invited to give speeches at both opening and graduation ceremonies at INSEAD. “The multicultural experience I had at INSEAD remains with me today. You only have to look at the multicultural make up of my board to see how.” “I am very proud of having successfully run Louis Vuitton for nearly twenty years and of making Louis Vuitton the number one luxury brand, multiplying sales eight fold and profits ten fold. My ambition is to continue to grow Louis Vuitton by growing market share and to open up new markets. We recently opened the first luxury store in Mongolia.” “If I was to be remembered at all, I would like it to be as a man of passion. A man who loved to share his passion with others and who gathered a whole brunch of passionate people together to work with.”
Patrick Cescau, MBA’76 Former Group CEO of Unilever
“There is no dichotomy between doing business well and doing good; and, in fact, the two go hand in hand.” Patrick Cescau was Unilever’s first Group CEO and considered, by many, as the man who restored the company to its former glory and put sustainability and corporate responsibility firmly on Unilever’s agenda. Born in Paris in 1948, Patrick studied business at ESSEC before embarking on an 18-month voluntary assignment with Volontaire du Service National (VSNA) in Algeria, teaching finance and accounting. Following this adventure, in 1973, he joined Unilever as a consultant. It was here, in pursuing his desire for an international career, Patrick learnt about INSEAD’s unique learning experience with its intense one-year MBA programme, its commitment to diversity and the multi-cultural environment. He was immediately keen to apply. His INSEAD MBA year provided him “with an enhanced understanding of world issues, of what leadership was all about and the ability to be more adaptive and flexible, how to deal with real business problems and how to solve them as it was not simply about tools and techniques.” Patrick’s experience at INSEAD also led to his commitment to life-long learning and influenced his vision that global business has a role to play in addressing some of today's biggest social and economic challenges. To mark Patrick’s retirement from Unilever, this commitment led to INSEAD and Unilever announcing the establishment of ‘The Patrick Cescau/Unilever Endowed Fund for Research in Leadership and Diversity’ in June 2009. This gift is in the form of a named restricted endowment that will exist in perpetuity. “INSEAD gave me the confidence that I had learnt the relevant skills that would make me successful as an international leader. 35 years, 7 countries (some more than once) and 13 jobs later, I know it was the right choice.” On a personal level, his time at INSEAD also brings back fond memories of studying whilst his wife was expecting their first child. Patrick’s future ambitions are to spend more time with his family, especially his grandson, to continue to make an active contribution in his roles as a Non-Executive Director of both Pearson and Tesco and a trustee of Leverhulme Trust, whilst continuing to be involved in charity work. He also intends to play an important role on the INSEAD Board. And in addition, he looks forward to celebrating his 35th wedding anniversary this year. In 2007, Patrick received the prestigious Botwinick Prize in Ethics, from the Columbia Business School and he was awarded the “Légion d’Honneur”, the highest decoration bestowed by France in 2005.
Alan Heng Loon Chan, MBA'83D Group President & CEO of Singapore Press Holdings Chairman of the Corporate Governance Council of Singapore
“INSEAD was a great insight into excellent teamwork and camaraderie and prepared me for many real life negotiations I would encounter in my career.” Since 2003, Alan is CEO of Singapore Press Holdings (a group that includes print, broadcasting, internet, outdoor advertising, telephony and properties). When he joined the company, it had invested about $400M in a TV station and a free newspaper and they were losing more than $40M each year. Their main competitor was losing as much. “I quickly realised, given the small size of the market in Singapore, that the situation was not sustainable. After two years of negotiations with the competitor and the authorities, I worked out a merger and brought the joint venture to profitability.” Today, 26 years after receiving his MBA from INSEAD, Alan is facing another major challenge. “The newspaper sector is facing serious challenges from the internet, both in terms of readership and advertising revenue. My ambition is to successfully transit the company to the cyberage and serve our readers with Print and Online products.” After graduating from France’s Ecole Nationale de l’Aviation Civile in 1978, Alan served his three years of national service as a Staff Officer in the Air Operations Department. When he had completed his service Alan joined the Civil Aviation Department as an Airport Manager and was part of the team that helped develop the Singapore Changi Airport. During his time with the Civil Service, he was offered a postgraduate management scholarship and had the choice of studying in the US, France, Japan or Belgium. But it was France and INSEAD that won the day for three reasons. “As a French graduate I did not need to learn the language, INSEAD had a solid reputation and many of my superiors had attended the AMP there.” It was the diversity of the participants that struck Alan when he arrived at INSEAD. “Their different backgrounds and cultures and the way they looked at problems from a diverse angles, gave me a good perspective of the problem. It also provided me with a global network of contacts. When I went to Peru and Norway for business meetings, I found myself negotiating with my INSEAD classmates!” Alan recalls the Management Games for Market Strategy and International Finance as a particularly exciting part of his time at INSEAD. “We used to take different roles and work all weekend simulating our plans and submitting our inputs on Sunday evenings”. Alan went back to the Civil Service when he completed his MBA and remained there for 24 years, holding senior appointments such as Deputy Secretary of the Foreign Ministry and Permanent Secretary of the Transport Ministry. “The INSEAD experience gave me the confidence to examine issues from an economic and business perspective which helped me considerably when I was appointed to the boards of 20 several Government linked companies such as DBS Bank (Development Bank of Singapore) and PSA (Port of Singapore Authority).” Alan’s experiences with these organisations, helped his transition into the business world in July 2002, when he was appointed the Group President of Singapore Press Holdings (SPH). Alan serves on the boards of a number of companies and is the Chairman of the Urban Redevelopment Authority. He served on the INSEAD Board of Directors from 2006 to 2008 and on the INSEAD Singapore Council from 2000 to 2008. He has advised the Deans on issues of bureaucracy, student recruitment and fundraising, especially in regards to the Singapore campus. Alan has also successfully encouraged many civil servants and executives to attend INSEAD. Alan is very proud to have been in the team that built Changi Airport; to have reduced the draft period for National Servicemen and to have helped Singapore win election as a Council member of the International Civil Aviation Organisation. “I have always been a task-oriented person and I would like to be remembered as someone who has accomplished important tasks in life.” Alan was a Presidents Scholar in 1972. A President's Scholar is a recipient of the most prestigious class of university undergraduate scholarships awarded to Singapore citizens by the government of Singapore. He was also awarded both the Gold and Silver Public Service Medals.
Yoav Chelouche, MBA'79 Managing Partner, Aviv Ventures
“INSEAD was everything and more than I expected.” Yoav graduated in Economics and Statistics from Tel Aviv University after spending five years in the Israeli army Intelligence corps. “When I left the army my mother wanted me to be a career diplomat but I had international aspirations of my own.” “I decided that I wanted to go into business and business leadership and that meant I needed an MBA. I chose INSEAD because it was in Europe and was the most international and most diverse school in the world.” “My year at INSEAD was the best year of my life. Wonderful people, fascinating work and I really enjoyed the group work. Work at INSEAD is based on learning by doing, which you get through working with both the professors and your peers. This was something new to me and something I found very exciting. When I went to INSEAD, in 1979, there was quite a gap between the economy of Israel and that of Europe, so we were definitely the poor cousins. My wife used to make bonnets and scarves that we sold at the weekends to make money to live.” Whilst Yoav was at INSEAD, Ford introduced a prize for the person who came top of the class. “I decided, with my wife, that I was going to try and win that prize not for the kudos but for the money associated with it.” “On the last night of our MBA, there was a big party where I found out that I had won the Henry Ford prize. I don’t think I will ever forget that night.” Immediately upon graduation, Yoav joined Scitex Europe as CFO. “I was in a senior Finance and Admin job in Europe - something I could never have achieved if I had not been to INSEAD.” Yoav was helped in his role by the then Scitex Europe General Manager and eventual Scitex President, Arie Rosenfeld, who was himself an INSEAD graduate. “One of the best ways to enter an unknown field is to create a personal relationship with an INSEAD alumni, and learn how things are done in that field.” Yoav succeeded Arie to become the President and CEO of Scitex Corporation. During his time with Scitex, Yoav led the turnaround of the company’s pre-press activities, grew the digital printing business from zero to revenue of $250 million and managed the sale of the company’s Digital Video division to HP. Scitex was the pioneer of digital imaging and printing systems and is well known worldwide as a leading developer, manufacturer, marketer, and servicer of interactive computerised prepress systems, primarily for the graphic design, printing, and publishing markets. The company was a pioneer of Israeli high-technology and a prototype for other Israeli electronics firms. Scitex is an excellent example of the alumni network in action. Over the years, they have employed 14 INSEAD graduates. Two of them became President of the company. “As an INSEAD alumnus, I have a moral obligation to meet other alumni to see if I can help them. When the company was growing and most of its staff were engineers, we hired MBA graduates to add marketing capability to Scitex’s technical capabilities.” Twice a year Yoav presents a case at INSEAD. He is also the co-founder of the INSEAD Israel Research Centre. He will be giving the keynote speech to the new January 2010 MBA promotion in Singapore. “I am very proud of what I achieved at Scitex. It was a very exciting 20 year ride that took the company from $7m to $700m. I enjoy creating ‘new stuff’ and Scitex was a pioneer of so many pieces of technology that we all take for granted today. Printing is the world’s oldest and biggest small business and I am very proud that it was Scitex that enabled printing to enter a new era.” In 2001 Yoav joined Aviv Venture Capital as Managing Partner. Aviv invests in Israel related, revenue stage companies that bring breakthrough technologies to large established industries. “I like investing and building new things and my ambitions for the future are all based around this. As a venture capitalist, I have the opportunity to participate in the exciting process of bringing new technologies to market which help move our world forward “I have always had the good fortune to see things ahead of time and to identify what the next big thing will be. I am currently writing a book that talks about how business models need to transform as technology makes them obsolete.” Yoav is also the Chairman of Ta'asiyeda, a not-for-profit organisation affiliated with the Manufacturers Association of Israel. This organisation helps school children to build their leadership and team skills while providing them with a feel for industry and technology businesses.
Niels Christiansen, MBA’93J Executive President & CEO, Danfoss
“If you are going to spend a year of your life doing an MBA - why settle for anything but the best?” After graduating in engineering, Niels worked as a research engineer at Copenhagen University Hospital. It was here that he invented a device for non-invasive measurement of the human nose. It received a patent and is still in production today. After completing his MSc in Engineering from the Technical University of Denmark, Niels joined McKinsey & Co. before joining INSEAD in 1993. “I chose INSEAD because I wanted to gain the best business knowledge possible in the shortest time and in the most efficient manner. It was also important to me that I could do just this in a global environment with a global mindset. INSEAD could offer just that, having as it does students from a broader spectrum of nationalities than any other business school.” “I had a magnificent year at INSEAD. It was different from any other year during my career and student life. It was an amazing experience to be challenged personally, professionally and culturally, all at once while being in the company of so many exciting people. However, my fondest memory of INSEAD has to be the Scandinavian party. There were 200 of us, all dressed as Vikings and I am afraid we behaved as Vikings too. The injuries, fortunately, only amounted to one Norwegian breaking an arm!” When he graduated, Niels went to work for the Hilti Corp. in Switzerland for a number of years and then GN Store Nord in Denmark, before joining Danfoss as COO in 2004. “Since leaving INSEAD I have pursued a global career path and I have always had a great interest in working with the challenges that global companies encounter. INSEAD sharpened my awareness of my own integrity and what I stand for, especially when it comes to having the courage to make the right choices. This means sometimes taking on challenges that appear daunting at first, as well as sometimes having the courage to say no to offers that, however tempting, would not have been right for me in the long run.” Niels is the current Chairman of the Danish INSEAD council and has continually recommended and promoted INSEAD to others throughout his career. Niels has also made a conscious choice for a life outside of his work. “I am proud of my family. Being close to my children, spending time with them and sharing their successes and concerns as they grow up, is very important to me. Making time for this is a personal achievement when one has a job like mine.” “From a professional perspective, I am quite proud of the way we have been able to navigate Danfoss through the current global crisis. A lot of difficult choices have been necessary along the way, but we took action early and consequently have managed to adapt our set-up to the situation in the world around us.” 24 In the future Niels would like to contribute to improving companies through board memberships, as well as make a difference to society, particularly in relation to climate issues, including promoting and contributing to solutions that can help the climate. “I would like to be remembered as someone who made a major positive difference both to Danfoss, to society in general and in relation to climate issues.”
Joseph Comerford, MBA'93 In Memoriam
“Joe was someone who used his MBA to dedicate his life, which he ultimately sacrificed, to humanitarian service. He exemplified the best ideals of vision, leadership and courage inherent in an INSEAD education.” Members of the MBA’93 class. Joe came to INSEAD with a background in engineering, development economics, disaster management, irrigated agriculture and development. He had studied Engineering as a first degree at Cambridge before completing an MSc and a PhD. While at INSEAD he used his unique experiences to educate and inspire his classmates to think and dream of broader and more worthy goals beyond private business ambitions. He was on the founding committee of INDEVOR (INSEAD’s student club which serves as a forum for those interested in social, environmental, and ethical issues, often bridging the gap between business and the social sector), and his early leadership of the club led to one of INSEAD's first course offerings in ethical development: ‘Business & Development in the Third World.’ Joe’s innovative vision is one of the reasons for INDEVOR’s continuing vitality, fifteen years later, in inspiring INSEAD MBAs to public service. After graduation from INSEAD, Joe worked with a number of NGO’s and UN organisations, mostly in hazardous duty stations such as Sudan, Liberia, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC), Rwanda, and East-Timor. Most of the assignments he carried out were in the area of development, humanitarian assistance, disaster management and disaster risk reduction. During this time he raised three children with his wife, Deborah. Craig Sanders, who worked with Joe at UNHCR (The UN Refugee Agency) recalls his former colleague: “Joe and I hit it off from the beginning. We had our comical moments but I truly loved and respected him for all his wonderful qualities”. Craig first met Joe in December 1993, when they were sent as technical consultants to support the UN's High Commissioner for Refugees in the Great Lakes region of Africa. UNHCR had dispatched emergency teams to Rwanda and Zaire to respond to an influx of several hundred thousand refugees from neighbouring Burundi. Within several months the entire region would be embroiled in the horrific Rwandan genocide which began on 6 April 1994 and which eventually led to the death of hundreds of thousands of Rwandans and the departure of at least two million to neighbouring Zaire and Tanzania. “Joe was a PhD civil engineer and a specialist in water supply and sanitation in humanitarian emergencies. He played a critical role in shaping the international humanitarian response to the Great Lakes crisis at one of its most turbulent moments. In mid-1994, huge refugee camps sprang up overnight around Goma, in eastern Zaire and Joe was very much at the centre of the huge effort to provide clean water and sanitation to over a million people”. “Joe had the right stuff for this work: he was knowledgeable, results-oriented, articulate and innovative. With uncanny skill and great calm, he could see through the chaos to find creative technical solutions that made a huge difference in the lives of those affected by disaster.” commented Craig. 26 “Whether finding innovative solutions to complex engineering design problems or negotiating for resources, Joe was highly effective when it mattered most. He not only knew how to build and manage his own team, but he also had the entrepreneurial skill to marshal the efforts (and resources) of all humanitarian actors into a more coordinated, coherent response”. “Joe was always supportive of his team and many of the junior local staff went on to take up international assignments. They can be found in some of world's worst troubled-spots carrying on the work of one of their first mentors”. Deborah, who Joe first met in 1994 in then Zaire when both arrived on the same plane to take up their respective assignments with UNHCR, remembers the unbelievable scene when they both disembarked from the plane finding themselves “in the middle of an apocalyptic scene with corpses lying scattered around and refugees sitting in trees trying to saw off branches for fire wood”. Like Craig, Deborah was especially impressed with Joe’s great skill and dedication in building the capacity of the local staff he worked with. As well as being deeply impressed with his professionalism she fondly recalls Joe as a great father and husband. “While he had a capacity to tackle daunting challenges, Joe also had a humorous and playful side which all the more drew us to him. Whether regaling us with a story or playing a song on his guitar, Joe embraced life fully. And after the turbulent years of the Great Lakes crisis, I marvelled at his capacity to switch gears and the way in which he easily turned to embrace his family life. You only had to pay a visit to their home to understand the depth of the happiness and love he found with his wife and three children,” said Craig Sanders. In August of 2000, while working for UNDP’s Emergency Response Division, Joe was sent on mission to the DRC ahead of 5,000 UN peacekeeping troops to assess structural damage caused in the east by occupying soldiers from Uganda and Rwanda. Tragically, during that mission, Joe died in Kisangani in suspicious circumstances. Those responsible have yet to be brought to justice. “Joe's death was a sad blow to so many of us. We all lost a good friend, but one who remains present, and fondly, in our memories. We think that it is a fitting tribute that Joe’s dedication, achievements, courage and sacrifice are honoured here by INSEAD, whose reputation he has honoured through his work.” Members of the MBA’93 class.
Vivienne Cox, MBA’89D Board member, Rio Tinto plc
“When I was at BP I was lucky enough to be chosen to do an MBA. I was given a number of business schools to choose from but INSEAD stood out as the best choice for me.” Vivienne joined BP straight after graduating in chemistry at Oxford University and it was BP that sponsored her MBA. She returned to resume her career there when she graduated from INSEAD. “I had a fantastic time at INSEAD and as I tell everyone I meet, it was the best year of my life. I started my year at INSEAD by working way too hard before I realised, that almost as valuable as the learning, was the interaction I was having with my fellow students from many different backgrounds, culture and nationalities. From then on I paid much more attention to the people around me from whom I learned so much.” “I graduated in December and attended the Winter Ball that took place at one of the smaller chateaux in the region. This was a magical end to a wonderful year for me.” When Vivienne returned to BP she was given the job of setting up a new derivative trading business. “This was a real change of direction for me and it certainly helped that I had just done the INSEAD course.” Vivienne spent a large proportion of her early BP career in the trading organisation, with a brief stint in the refinery business. During her distinguished career with BP, Vivienne, BP's highest-ranking female executive, went on to run the Gas, Power and Renewables segment and then spearhead the company's £4bn investment into renewable energies. Vivienne retired from BP after 26 years service in 2009. Vivienne sits on the board of INSEAD and is an active member of the Energy Club Advisory Panel. “I work with the energy club at INSEAD in the sustainability area. I see my role as one of helping to connect and influence business leaders with regard to sustainable energy.” “There are a number of things I am proud of, and they have all been achieved with great teams of people. It has been a priviledge to help and mentor some of those I have met along the way. But my achievements are not just about work - I am extremely proud of my two young daughters! ” Vivienne’s ambitions for the future still lie in the sustainability arena. “The demands that we as human beings are making on the planet and its natural resources, the short tern nature of the financial system and the divide between rich and poor are all completely unsustainable. I would love to be able make a difference in this area.” Former winner of the Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman of the Year award and mentioned as one of the Fifty Most Powerful Businesswomen in 2004 in Management Today, Vivienne would like to be remembered as a leader who cared about people and led them in a way that empowered them. She would also like to make a difference in the sustainability debate.
Paul Desmarais Jr, MBA’79 Chairman & Co-CEO Power Corporation of Canada
“INSEAD has definitely expanded my horizons to the world.” Paul Desmarais Jr. is one of Canada’s most prominent business people. Presently the Chairman and Co-CEO of Power Corporation of Canada, alongside his brother, André Desmarais, the Desmarais brothers took over the company from their father. Under the leadership of Paul’s family, Power Corporation of Canada is not only committed to excellence in business, but has also been an important contributor to the social and economic development of Canada. A member of the INSEAD Board, Paul also founded the Canadian INSEAD Foundation. As a result of the Foundation, INSEAD has received great publicity in Canada and many Canadians have chosen to do their MBA at INSEAD because they receive financial aid from the organisation. A father of four successful sons, Paul is extremely proud of his family and delighted that one of his sons is currently attending INSEAD. Of Canadian nationality, Paul studied business at McGill University in Quebec before joining the family business for a year. Following a summer internship at Paribas International in Paris, Paul applied to do an MBA at INSEAD. It was a colleague at Paribas who suggested INSEAD to Paul so that he could take a position in the international team. “He suggested that I complement my European work with an MBA from INSEAD which would be a constructive change, since I had only been educated in America.” Paul says that his days at INSEAD were ‘memorable’, as he learned many things about business but more importantly about himself. He also made many friends. “These friendships with people of varied backgrounds helped open up a whole new world to me.” It was also a special year for Paul who proposed to his wife at INSEAD during his MBA year. “It all worked out wonderfully, and we are celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary this year.” He also remembers “the endless arguments which often went on until the wee hours of the morning”, saying “One would incessantly argue a point, which seemed of huge importance at the time, only to have our professor contradict our beliefs when we got back our corrected paper.” Mr. Desmarais spent many years working in Europe after completing his MBA but has now adopted a life which straddles two continents. “I feel this has added a lot of richness, not only in my business career, but also in my family and personal life as well.” Professionally, Paul is very proud of having been a part of a team of executives who have continued to build a successful conglomerate in Canada which also has activities in the US, Europe and China. 29 “My ambition in the future is to work with my sons developing different business avenues for both our company and our family and to continue to work with our teams to further develop our group internationally.” In 2005, Mr. Desmarais won the Executive of the Year Award from the Academy of International Business (AIB). The AIB is the world’s leading association of scholars and specialists in the field of international business with over 3,000 members in 65 countries. Paul is a key member of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE), a lobby group that co-governs the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) of North America.
