Experience Report FGV Sao Paulo

Frdric Kuonen

Frdric Kuonen, frederic.kuonen@student.unisg.ch / f.kuonen@hotmail.com, MBF & CEMS

Exchange Report FS2013:

FGV-EASP Sao Paulo
This report describes my personal experiences in Brazil and contains suggestions for future
students spending an exchange term in Sao Paulo.

Before getting started

Brazil is an amazing country in terms of nature and diversity. However as a student at FGV
you will have only one experience living in Brazil, the one that 0.1% of the richest people in
Brazil live. If you have time before you get into the FGV bubble, I would strongly suggest to
accomplish some type of voluntary work in a community (preferably in Northern Brazil) to see
a different picture of the country.
Another important factor is the language. Except for FGV, Brazilians do not like nor speak
English. So if you plan to integrate yourself into the Brazilian life, you need to have at least a
conversational level of Portuguese. This is especially important if you would like to complete
an internship in Brazil.
Concerning my Visa, I did not have any trouble, just make sure you have all the required
documents and plan enough time to do it. There is always an unforeseen delay involved with
Brazilian bureaucracy, including the embassy in Switzerland.

Life in Sao Paulo

After the first excitement of the arrival had passed, I quickly became tired and annoyed of the
city. Coming from Switzerland, it is indeed a huge difference. Sao Paulo is the largest city by
population in Brazil, the largest city proper in the southern hemisphere and the Americas.
Comprehending the amount of people living in the city, I started to realize that one cannot
expect the same quality of life as in Switzerland. This involves public transport, friendliness of
people and product quality. At the same time, the striking inequality between people causes
a high degree of violence. However, I also began to discover the positive sides of the city,
which include the wide variety of restaurants, night clubs and cultural events. After a certain
time and knowing nice places, I started to enjoy Sao Paulo much more.

Experience Report FGV Sao Paulo

Frdric Kuonen

Housing
Housing prices are comparable to Swiss standards. This is true especially if you plan to live
around FGV, which I strongly recommend. The region around the university is very safe,
especially Bela Vista and Jardims. Since public transport is not well developed, daily
commuting is not convenient. In any case, do bring warm clothes for the Brazilian winter, the
apartments do not have heaters and windows usually do not close completely.
Security
Personally I never got into trouble so far. My basic advice to avoid difficult situations is
always to be aware of 1. the place you are and 2. the time. In the morning everything is calm
and you can basically go everywhere. But be attentive at night, as it is the time that most
problems arise. For example: a group of exchange students went for lunch by taxi to a place
near the centre of Sao Paulo. Everything was fine and no weird people were around. The
students kept talking a lot and stayed longer than planned. Now, when they wanted to leave
at night (around 9pm), there were no taxis around anymore because the area was
considered as very dangerous at night. So the students had to walk through this very
unsafe area to catch a taxi near the metro station. Everything went well, but try to avoid such
situations by being aware of the place you are going to and the respective time. Also, do not
display any resistance if you get robbed, a human life does not have the same value as it has
in Europe. Moreover avoid to wear expensive looking jewellery and to take calls in public
spaces at night. Living by these guidelines, you should not encounter any serious situations.

The University
FGV is considered the best business university in South America. True or not, it is indeed a
very good institution for Latin America that cares for its students. People studying at FGV are
directly recruited into the big companies in finance and consulting. The university campus is
relatively small and consists of just one building and a sports hall. However FGV has other
campuses around the city including the faculty for economics (FGV-EESP) and law.
As mentioned in the introduction, people at FGV are living the 0.1% life within a 200mn
people country. This means that some students are sons and daughters of the richest people
in Brazil and some come to school even by helicopter (!). Again, by understanding this
context it does not surprise that FGV is not how I would have pictured Brazil. People are
rather closed, especially to foreigners. Students have their small groups of highly trusted
friends. Outside this circle of trust, people are nice but not committed. This means that you
can easily get invited by a Brazilian to visit his home or have a drink, but usually you will
never hear from him again. They are just being nice and it does not mean anything.
However, there are always people interested in foreigners, but not the majority.
2

Experience Report FGV Sao Paulo

Frdric Kuonen

Courses
As a CEMS student doing my Business Project at FGV, I could only take three courses.
Title:

Cross-cultural Management

Professor:

Miguel Caldas

Course description:

The course takes into account different theories developed in the

west (negotiation, behavior, etc.) and applies them within a crosscultural context.

Grading:

Fair

Personal appraisal:

The course was compulsory for CEMS students. It was an interesting

course, especially to understand more about how culture develops in
a certain setting; perfect on an exchange term in Brazil. During the
lectures the professor told anecdotes that he experienced in his
professional business life. I found these very useful, however you
need to do most work on your own in order to deeply understand
these stories in the relevant context.

Workload:

High Presentation, final report and final exam

Crediting HSG:

6 ECTS Handlungskompetenz

Title:

Financial Analysis and Management

Professor:

Claudia Yoshinaga

Course description:

Business analysis with financial ratios and valuation of businesses.

Grading:

Fair

Personal appraisal:

For finance students a good repetition and extension on basic

finance concepts, financial ratios and valuation. However the course
requires a solid understanding of corporate finance concepts, as the
lectures are not structured at all. Again, you need to do most work on
your own using a textbook. The financial analysis part was very good
and in-depth. On the contrary, the valuation part was rather
superficial with minor applications to practice.

Workload:

Medium presentation, mid term and final exam

Crediting HSG:

6 ECTS Core elective

Experience Report FGV Sao Paulo

Frdric Kuonen

Title:

Marketing in Latin America

Professor:

Maria Cecilia Arruda

Course description:

Applying marketing concepts in the context of Latin America.

Grading:

Fair

Personal appraisal:

Unfortunately, the lecturer got permanently sick mid-way through the

course. Finally we had to do a case study on a company living a
marketing challenge in Latam. Interesting, but no real learning.
Without the lecturer being ill, I believe the course would have been a
great overview on different Latin American markets.

Workload:

High presentation, mid term, final report and final exam

Crediting HSG:

6 ECTS Independent elective

HSG Hub Sao Paulo

The University of St. Gallen has a Hub Office in Sao Paulo since 2010. The people there are
very helpful in case you have questions about Brazil or are looking for internships and
voluntary placements. Furthermore they offer interesting part-time jobs during the semester
at the Hub; a great opportunity to know more about the Sao Paulo business world and
people. Moreover the Hub organizes different events to introduce St. Gallen students to
Brazil. If you are interested in staying longer in Brazil, they also offer traineeships and master
thesis supervisions on different topics related to Latin America. I suggest you contact them
already in advance, if you are interested in these opportunities (www.unisg.com.br).

Experience Report FGV Sao Paulo

Frdric Kuonen

Final words
For me Brazil has been an amazing experience. However as mentioned, it was difficult and
some times frustrating to integrate myself here in Sao Paulo. I expected people here to be
different because I was coming to Sao Paulo with a Brazilian stereotype in mind, which is
similar to expect people from Zurich to be similar to people from Wallis. That is why I
recommend to travel as much as possible and see the different types of Brazilians. My final
travel through the poorer north-east of Brazil really opened my eyes to the country with the
typical Brazilians and amazing beaches (see pictures below).

Sunset in Olinda: next to Recife, one of

the must-see places in Brazil. Traditional
houses of the colonial times and amazing
food and capoeira dancing.

Sunset in Lenois Maranhenses: near

Sao Luiz, wonderful remote place with
dunes and natural lagunes.

Sunset

in

Fortaleza,

Jericoacara:
favourite

near

place

in

Brazil. During day time buggy

tours,

during

night

amazing

parties at the beach with most

delicious caipirinhas.