AMAZON PATHWAYS PROGRAM
Express Delivery to Upper Management “Amazon is a company in which l the biggest challenge is always ahead of you. The biggest breakthrough for me so far took place a year ago, when, after two years in the company, I was told I would be leading our Spanish outbound department.” Iñaki Ugarte (MBA ’14), is now senior operations manager at Amazon’s first fulfillment center in Spain. He was asked to lead a team of thousands of people, responsible for deliveries throughout the country during the Christmas holidays. “Thankfully we achieved tremendous year-on-year growth.” Amazon has hired more than 100 IESE MBA alumni, and Ugarte was chosen for the Amazon Pathways Program, an internal program for developing Operations leaders. It offers a straight path to leadership positions, and Ugarte says that “few comparable programs exist where you are making decisions that could shape a whole market.” Participants benefit from the guidance of an experienced manager and the support of a specialized team. About IESE, Ugarte says, “What has helped me more is my leadership classes,” because of the importance of being able to align a team toward achieving our goals. “In any job – but particularly in operations – any gaps in a plan can be compensated for by a motivated team,” he adds.
Iñaki Ugarte (MBA ’14), senior operations manager at Amazon.
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The fourth graduating class of IESE’s Executive MBA Sao Paulo.
GRADUATION OF THE EXECUTIVE MBA SAO PAULO
Brazil’s New Leadership Style ceremony, which took place June 24 at IESE’s Sao Paulo campus. IESE’s dean Franz Heukamp took up this theme in his speech to the graduates. above-average sense of commitment. “With the example you set as execuI don’t believe in being Superman or tives, you have the opportunity and Superexecutive. What I believe is responsibility to serve others, to be that the big difference of successful truly useful in thinking of other peoexecutives is their ability to attract ple, to lead in an altruistic way,” Prof. and lead talent.” This was the mesHeukamp said. “In the end, this is the sage of Cosan CEO Mario Augusto most humane and da Silva to the 30 most efficient way graduates of the to lead.” In the same Executive MBA Sao “We are role vein, Bruno GuarPaulo on graduation models and we nieri, president of day. Without forgetthe 2017 class of the ting the challenges must accept this and consequences Executive MBA Sao responsibility.” of the digital revoluPaulo, explained, tion, da Silva spoke “We are living in of the need for “all of difficult times. In us, business leaders and executives, Brazil, we are dealing with a political to have a constant ability to adapt and and economic crisis resulting from respond quickly and efficiently in a what we really must attack: an ethical and moral crisis. I think that we business climate that is, and will conare role models and we must accept tinue to be, permanently changing.” this responsibility. We need to inspire The responsibility of executives others to seek the best.” was a key theme of the graduation
“Successful companies are l made up of people with talent, in love with what they do and with an
OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2017 / No. 147
Alumni Magazine IESE
