Encourage those who dare to undertake

"Traditional academic institutions have to create spaces that promote entrepreneurship," said Alejandra Falco, director of the UCEMA MBA, who added that they had signed an agreement with Scalabl, the best there is when it comes to entrepreneurship. Students arrive with the idea of starting their own ventures, and the role of educational institutions is to create the conditions for them to do it, and to make sure they get all the expertise they need for when they finally decide to launch.
 
People who take an MBA usually want to start a business. What is the gap they run into? "There are those who come with the gene, who have some approach to the idea and do not know how to get it going. And that is where the MBA has to map out the path anyone who wants to build a business has to walk," Falco explained.
 
In 2018 Scalabl began building a global company and today it is present in more than 13 countries. Online, it reaches more than 50. The hybrid view between formal and digital education matters. "Our view is that the world changes violently, business education evolves a great deal, and the best way forward is to make education practical," said Francisco Santolo, founder and CEO of Scalabl.
 
"We take in a lot of market talent at some universities and there is much to develop. Today training is a must. There is no digital company that does not work and rework its skills. Everything changes so fast that if you do not train, you are left out," said Patricio Marzialetti, Head of Talent & Culture at Prisma Medios de Pago. Companies used to have org charts; for the past two years they have been using digital factories instead, with multidisciplinary teams that deliver fast projects (spreed) in 15 days. "The hardest part is transforming culture and leadership, and what matters is being consistent between what you say and what you do, as well as having a clear direction for the transformation."
 
Today people can work in the digital factories and present a demo where others join in. Openly, being able to really name their pain points. "On that basis the manager removes obstacles," the Head of Talent & Culture explained. Marzialetti also noted that talent today wants to move between projects, and that this has to be taken into account, as does the fact that development now tends to be horizontal, acquiring knowledge that builds a fuller profile. Ten years ago, if someone left the company they might not be able to come back; today they may return with that knowledge and contribute to the organization. "Delegating is setting the ego aside," Marzialetti said.
 
Learning in order to build a business
"To build a business is to find the way to achieve what you want," Santolo explained. The transition is teaching people to learn continuously. The future is formal and informal education at once, and it is not only theory. The idea is for companies to start teaching technology, to teach how that creates value for people, to teach them to own that permanent learning.
 
Sometimes transitions are more planned, sometimes abrupt; sometimes people have lost their job and set out to move forward with a venture. "We put every tool in their hands: from a Scalabl mindset to a whole repertoire which, beyond the digital, the data and artificial intelligence, we deliver through an enormous menu of electives," Falco shared. We are offering UCEMA MBAs a catalogue of 50 subjects; in that menu everyone has something to find. And continuing education on top of that. MBAs know they can take electives for life at no cost. Their profession is secured for life. We have graduates from every year, and that builds great richness.
 
"Re-skilling is eternal," Marzialetti noted. There is free, accessible training. Many of us did not go to big schools, but today training is within people's reach. "It is hard to imagine young people taking five or six year degrees," Marzialetti reflected. Falco, in turn, proposed "shorter degrees and successive training to stay up to date." "Training will increasingly be done for pleasure; young people carry the search for purpose as their banner," Santolo held.
 
Entrepreneurship: quite a challenge
On behalf of Scalabl, Santolo opened the following debate: "To build a business is to make possible what you want, which is why the word purpose is starting to carry weight among young people. It is not true that being a billionaire makes you happy. To achieve what you want, you have to make sure others receive value, so that you can then reach what you are after. We have to give people tools of power so they can act, and we have to see that as a good thing."