On Thursday, January 22, Temple University Fox Global MBA students had the pleasure of meeting and hearing globally recognized leader and strategist, Dr. Filippo Passerini, speak at Temple’s Center City Campus from 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. MBA students and faculty had the opportunity to meet Filippo because of Fox’s own Dr. Mitrabarun Sarkar, who met Filippo during an immersion program to India and approached SGM Chair, Professor Arvind Parkhe to have Filippo come to Temple to speak about global business.
Dr. Passerini is the Group President, Global Business Services (GBS) and Chief Information Officer at the Procter & Gamble Company. With more than three decades of business-building experience, Passerini came to Temple to share his knowledge of the strategic transformation of global business and leveraging technology from the back office to the boardroom.
The room was filled with eager students, as they were in complete awe of Dr. Passerini’s message. Passerini’s visit injected a dose of reality check and fresh ideas into the group that interacted with him. He was able to challenge students to reframe and analyze their thinking throughout the discussion. Likewise, he was impressed by Fox, the energy, diversity and intellectual quality of his interactions. Temple students, staff and faculty learned a great deal from Passerini’s short visit and were honored to have him as a guest and speaker.
After his speaking engagement, Dr. Passerini met with the Dean of the Fox School, Dr. Moshe Porat, Chair of Management Information Systems Department, Munir Mandviwalla and the SGM Faculty. Invited guests also had the opportunity to meet Passerini including Assistant Professor & Managing Director of Entrepreneurship, Robert McNamee, Laura H. Carnell Professor & Chair, Arvind Parkhe, Executive Director of Innovation & Entrepreneurship Institute, Ellen Weber, Deputy Dean and Professor of Marketing and Supply Chain Management, Dr. Rajan Chandran, and H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest Professor of Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Dr. Mitrabarun Sarkar.
The day concluded at 5:30 p.m. with Passerini completing a videotaped interview with Dean Porat discussing why innovation is an important topic for students to learn, along with the digital challenge facing global businesses and business schools, the implications of the rise of emerging markets, the competencies industry is looking for in their new hires and what business schools can do to deliver on those requirements. They also discussed international business and why FOX IB students are especially ahead of the competition because of IB’S curriculum of immersion into different cultures. The interview including the remarkable conversation with these dynamic leaders will be posted to the IEI website in the near future.
Quotes from the invited guests:
“Recently, I had designed and led an immersion program to India for senior executives of Proctor and Gamble. During the trip, I got to know Filippo as a very thoughtful, cerebral, yet pragmatic executive with terrific strategic insights. That was not a surprise, of course, given his stature in the industry. What struck me, however, was his deep desire to engage in the learning process and his love for academics. This ability to weave in and out of the abstract, conceptual world and the real world of global business was fascinating to me. I hope this is the beginning of Filippo’s involvement with us, and the beginning of a regular series of visits by senior executives and leaders to Fox.” – Dr. Mitrabarun Sarkar
“I enjoyed meeting Dr. Passerini. Dr. Passerini was able to bridge both academe and the world of practice. He speaks with Deans from major universities like Columbia and University of Toronto. He provided strategic insights which I found to be quite thought provoking.” – Dr. Rajan Chandran
“Filippo Passerini’s visit was a delight and a high-value experience, for Fox students and faculty alike. Two key points that emerged clearly at lunch were [1] technology is simply a tool, and the important thing for businesses is the intersection of information management with strategy in a VUCA [volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous] world; and [2] the most important qualities for students to possess in the VUCA world are the ability to think strategically, innovatively and flexibly.” – Arvind Parkhe
“In the first portion of his talk, Passerini wonderfully and elegantly described the innovation imperative — highlighting the necessity for innovation and change in modern organizations as well as the importance for our next generation of business students to understand and embrace these topics. This was wonderful to hear since we have fully committed to this perspective and launched dozens of new courses focused on innovation strategy and management in the last few years.” – Robert McNamee
Fox is a leader in the innovation field and offers innovation focused courses such as, Business Model Innovation (summer semester), Creative Problem Solving (spring / summer semesters), and Emerging Market Innovation (spring semester). If interested, there is still time for students to sign up for the summer, or fall courses in Fox’s academic fields of study including, Innovation Strategy, Technology & Innovation Management, and Entrepreneurship topics. Learn more about these topics and how to enroll here.
