On Day 3, our group again had a very healthy breakfast and jumped in the van to tour INCAE.  INCAE was the first Business School to offer MBAs in Latin America in 1964, thanks to JFK urging Harvard to collaborate with the Central American Presidents to establish the school.  Since its inception and still today, INCAE remains as a First Class Business School and is recognized among top MBA schools in the world, as 95% of the professors received their doctorates from the most elite universities in the world, such as; Harvard, Yale, Cornell, etc.

At INCAE, all students are required to live and study on campus.  Most people view this as a negative.  However, this is one of the largest benefits for the students and gives INCAE a superior dynamic that separates them from all other MBA schools.  Typically, 4-6 students, from different countries share a living quarter for the duration of the program.  As a result of this living situation, each group becomes a family and every student becomes multinational as they learn the language and values of the others in their living quarters.  This learning atmosphere is designed to embrace other cultures/languages in a practical manner and not just theory.

The Director of Admissions gave a mind-blowing passionate presentation that physically gave most of us butterflies in our stomachs because of the opportunities that INCAE provides.  The Director, Ryan, went on to explain a few of his philosophies which really opened my view on how business should be conducted.  One such example is to simply ask yourself, “How can I change the world?” This question is the main source that Ryan looks at when approving students for admission, but it also goes way beyond an application for INCAE.  Anybody can ask themselves this question for any aspect of his/her life.  It is this mentality that is the catalyst for radical change and innovation on a business and personal level.  Another thought-provoking concept that Ryan offered is a M.V.P. (Minimum Viable Product).  Basically, a M.V.P. is a product that isn’t perfect yet delivers sales. Sometimes a company will spend too much time and money in Research and Development, meanwhile a different company will release their lesser quality product and then tweak it after the company receives revenue from sales. Ryan elaborated from personal experience that a MVP can be the difference between a successful company and a company that never gets off its feet. He used the difference of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Bill Gates will hold a press conference to talk about future perfect products and Steve Jobs will hold a press conference and release the MVP that same day.  Although many of Bill Gates ideas are incredible, the problem is by the time they are for sale they are outdated and irrelevant. So, which company has more sales, Apple or Microsoft?