SDA Bocconi and Forté Foundation

The allies of women's growth

SDA Bocconi is proud to be a Forté Foundation sponsor. Forté is a consortium of leading corporations, cutting-edge business schools and active non-profit organizations that aim at the empowerment of females with the ambition to pursue leadership roles through quality education. The foundation also enables business schools and corporations to appeal to talented women.

SDA Bocconi teams up with Forté Foundation to solidify the framework for women to successfully make headways with their career. Our commitment to diversity along gender, racial and social lines directly relates to Forté's mission. SDA Bocconi has always striven on the identification and encouragement of aspiring women intent on being a driving social force. It is noteworthy that women increasingly join our MBA programs for the stimulating and accommodating milieu the School provides. 

SDA Bocconi is an exclusive member of Forté Foundation. Part of being a Forté sponsor, every school is supposed to award a minimum of two Forté Fellowships to each class based on certain criteria. SDA Bocconi tangibly meets up with such a fundamental criteria.

SDA Bocconi joined Forté Foundation as part of its greater mission to open up horizons for women through a membership that grants ample education, networking and career opportunities.

The Business of Luxury Behind the Scenes

Name: Flavia Spena
Title: Chief Financial and Organization Officer, Executive Vice President
Firm: Bulgari SPA
MBA: SDA Bocconi School of Management

 

"I wanted to add to my knowledge and my competencies, to achieve a higher level of management,” she explains. “It was a great experience. It’s not about what you learn in terms of technical knowledge, but what you learn about yourself that matters. The MBA allows you to grow, to understand your ability to manage a business".

Flavia studied economics and organizational structure at university. In her first job after graduation, she worked for a company that builds and manages highways, in the human resources division, where she contributed to business process development. That interest led her to an MBA program at SDA Bocconi School of Management. “I wanted to add to my knowledge and my competencies, to achieve a higher level of management,” she explains. “It was a great experience. It’s not about what you learn in terms of technical knowledge, but what you learn about yourself that matters. The MBA allows you to grow, to understand your ability to manage a business.”

She is now Chief Financial and Organization Officer and Executive Vice President for BulgariSpA, the Italian luxury goods company recently acquired by LVMH. In her present role, Flavia prides herself on providing clear frameworks and strategic direction for all aspects of Bulgari. “I try to be very clear about objectives,” she says. “I create interaction amongst different business units so that they can work together for the organization in a coordinated way. I spend a substantial part of every day on people and problem-solving.”

 

 

This year, Bulgari introduced a unique partnership with Flavia’s alma mater, SDA Bocconi School of Management, offering a specialized track for MBA students interested in the luxury business. Twenty among the SDA Bocconi MBA students will gain the managerial competencies required today in the business of luxury goods and services through three months of lessons at the Bulgari headquarters in Rome and a two-month in-company project in an international branch of the Bulgari Group or in a branch of other companies of the luxury sector. “The program provides tools for people interested in management positions in the luxury business,” she explains.

Not surprising for a company known as the favorite jeweler to stars like Elizabeth Taylor, Bulgari recognizes that the demands of luxury brand marketing and management differ from conventional business wisdom. “Quality, service and a personalized relationship with clients are hallmarks of the luxury business. What you sell is very limited in terms of the number of products, and service must be of an unusually high quality. Traditional metrics aren’t applicable.”

For those interested in following in Flavia’s footsteps, she advises really understanding one’s personal traits. “People should evaluate their personal skills. An MBA program helps you to identify what you are good at, and it places you amongst colleagues who are highly competent, who can push you to excel.” The pursuit of personal excellence continues to compel Flavia; “I never refuse change,” she says. “I always take the challenge“.

By Amy Heibel Amy Heibel is a media producer and president of Here Now Communications

 

Read the full story: www.fortefoundation.org