Talking Luxury
Maria Eugenia Giron, Prof. of Entrepreneurship in luxury & creative business talks about the luxury industry and the Japanese concept of beuty “Wabi Sabi”.
There’s a Japanese proverb that says that the person who makes poor quality goods is worse than a thief, because he makes things that neither last nor provide true satisfaction, while a thief at least redistributes wealth in society. Well, when it comes to quality Prof. María Eugenia Girón knows everything there is to know.
Here she speaks about luxury and perfection, while touching on the ancient and intriguing Japanese Wabi Sabi concept of beauty, which is about seeking beauty in the imperfections found in all objects. As you might know, the aesthetic values of Wabi Sabi have inspired a great many aspects of Japanese culture, including the tea ceremony, flower arranging, haiku, garden design, and noh theater.
Prof. Girón has many sides and talents. She holds a degree in industrial engineering and is a Harvard MBA graduate. She has also studied art, worked as CEO of Carrera & Carrera, is a member of a large number of boards, including that of Oceana, and also she is the Executive Director of the Premium & Prestige Business Observatory etc. etc. But most of all she is just a really nice person. What else can I say?
P.S. Prof. Girón is the author of the book “Inside Luxury”.
A Turkish Fan
Strategic management professor Daniel Blake speaks about non-market strategies while watching a football match: Atletico de Madrid against Betis.
Strategic management professor Daniel Blake is articulate, efficient, focused, Turkish, and, most importantly of all, a fan of Atletico de Madrid. He says he picked Atletico because it’s too easy to be a Real Madrid fan. He tends to support the underdog, and is ready to fight and suffer just like any real Atletico supporter. Don’t forget that Atletico’s fans are called sufferers, sufridores in Spanish, because they face an uphill struggle all the way, except this season that is…
We went together to watch Atletico play against Betis from Seville. So far this season Atletico hasn’t lost a home game, so, thinking it was high time it did, I bet Daniel 10 euros that Betis would win. But I forgot that professors always win, and that’s exactly what happened. Apart from that we had a nice Spanish tortilla sandwich and a really good time, which is what it is all about, of course.
I’m going to leave you with a quote by Turkish Nobel prizewinner Orhan Pahmuk: “Life can’t be all that bad. Whatever happens, I can always take a walk along the Bosphorus”. I spent my summer holidays in Istanbul and have included some of the shots I took of the city in this video, but unfortunately I could not share that particular experience with Prof. Blake.
The international Art Fair ArcoMadrid has this year as one of the major attractions of the Fair FOCUS TURKEY, a section which enjoys the collaboration of the Turkish Embassy to Spain and the participation of the curator Vasif Kortun, director of research and programmes at SALT Istanbul,who have selected the 10 Turkish galleries which will take part in the programme.
P.S. Prof. Blake teaches non-market strategies and has a lot to say about external factors that dramatically affect businesses.
Social Horses
Corporate Social Responsibility Professor Joaquin Garralda talks about Social Entrepreneurship taking his daughter´s equine therapy startup as an example.
For some years now Corporate Social Responsibility Professor Joaquin Garralda and myself have shared a mutual joke. Whenever it rains, we know it’s the signal to call each other to go for a nice after-work drink. You might think we’re always having drinks because it rains so often, but don’t forget that in Spain the rain stays mainly on the plain – and it seems it never rains enough!!!
It was on one of those rainy evenings that Prof. Garralda told me his daughter Lola had set up an equine therapy firm, Equisana. He explained that horses were an excellent means to promote emotional growth for troubled youth who are otherwise therapy resistant.
Equine therapy has been shown to have many positive benefits when done properly by certified therapists. Such benefits include self-acceptance, confidence, self-efficacy, and communication.
Well, horses, social responsibility, his daughter, and Prof. Garralda’s concern for people are the subject of this video that I have the pleasure of presenting to you on what could very possibly be a rainy day…
The 3 Ms
Sports Management Prof. Eduardo Fernandez-Cantelli talks about what running really means for him: Motivation, Meditation and Metamorphosis.
A lot of people run as a way to keep fit, but only few are able to extract daily life lessons from running. This is exactly the case of Management Sports Professor, Eduardo Fernandez-Cantelli. He says that when he talks about running he talks basically about the three Ms:
Motivation
Meditation
Metamorphosis
When he talks about these 3Ms he has in mind the book “What I talk about when I talk about running” by Haruki Murakami. If you remember well, there was a short story “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” by Raymond Carver, from which Murakami took the title from. Bear in mind he has translated Carver´s works into Japanese. Nobody though has stablished yet what´s the relation between love and running. You wanna try it?
Prof. Fernandez-Cantelli says that there are three reasons to explain failure: Not enough training, not enoug training and not enough training. I really admire his determination and endurance.
A Special Marriage
Strategic Management Prof. Caterina Moscheri talks in Cambridge about M&A.
Before Professor of Strategic Management Caterina Moscheri gives an address on corporate governance at a conference being held at Judge Business School in Cambridge, we have agreed to shoot this video about a “Special Marriage”.
8 a.m. We don’t have much time before she is due to speak, but on the plus side we are very pleasantly surprised to find that despite a horrendous weather forecast, the sky is blue and the sun is shining. So England 1, rest of the World 0. As Shakespeare said, “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”.
In this video Professor Moscheri talks about one of the subjects of her research, Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As), and takes us to a rugby pitch, King’s College…
By the time we finish, the sky is gray and threatening rain. So now it’s England 1, rest of the world 1.
Finita la Comedia!!!
Professor Moscheri is fluent in several European languages, and runs almost every day.
P.S. Did you know that Pink Floyd is a Cambridge Band? Also she recommended an excellent film, “Moneyball”. You should try it!!!
