Executive Education

OPM Inspires Founding of $55M Global Green Energy Firm

Since 1972, over 4,000 participants have attended Harvard Business School's Owner/President Management Program (OPM). All participants are both owners and chief executive officers or chief operating officers of companies with annual sales ranging from five million to several hundred million dollars—and with at least ten years of management experience and significant equity stake in their company.

Top executives choose OPM because it allows them to gain leading-edge business insight and master new techniques, with minimal time spent away from the office. It also offers them the rare chance to interact with the HBS faculty and entrepreneurs from around the world, who share their concerns, mindset, and passions.

Background – Established in 1995, ASJA Ambiente International SpA, based in Rivoli, Italy, is a global a leader in the production of green energy from renewable resources—particularly in the biogas sector. The company designs, constructs, and operates plants that convert biogas, which is generated from urban waste landfills, into clean energy. ASJA has built 22 biogas energy conversion plants in Italy. The $55 million company also has entered the international market, building plants in other European countries, South America, and Asia.

Focus on the Right Business – Founder and chairman of ASJA, Agostino Re Rebaudengo has had a wide-ranging and successful career—from being one of the youngest senior partners at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) to helping turn around a prestigious publishing company that had declared bankruptcy to starting up his own real estate business. However, Re Rebaudengo credits HBS Executive Education's OPM program with helping him to focus on the business he really needed to be in: producing green energy.

"OPM encouraged me to look at possible changes in the world," Re Rebaudengo says. "It was like being able to jump in a helicopter, go a little higher, and see what is going on in terms of the market, business, society, and opportunity. But OPM also takes you in closer, enabling you to see how to manage an organization day by day and to help it grow rapidly."

Between the first and second OPM sessions, Re Rebaudengo sold his real estate company and began setting his sights on a new venture. In 1995, he founded ASJA.

With the Kyoto Protocol compulsory for participating industrial nations as of February 2005, Re Rebaudengo's timing could not have been better. ASJA has grown, on average, 30 percent per year, and the company anticipates that its revenues will jump from $55 million in 2006 to $260 million by 2009.

Why OPM? – Before deciding on OPM, Re Rebaudengo considered a number of executive education programs in Europe—including the London School of Economics; INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France; and IMEDE in Lausanne, Switzerland. "I chose OPM because it seemed to be more complete," explains Re Rebaudengo. "OPM covered long-term strategy as well as management tools and skills. Also, I previously had attended several other HBS Executive Education programs, so I knew OPM would be a good choice."

Valuable Takeaways – What were Re Rebaudengo's most valuable takeaways from the program? "Strategy and fundamentals," he replies, "in order to be able to analyze information, uncover opportunities, and improve or generate new business. OPM also provides great support with respect to methodology, which allows you to become more confident in your management skills."

What's more, Re Rebaudengo recently sent one of his direct reports to the Key Executives Program (KEY), which is offered to managers who work for OPM participants and alumni. "Because the KEY and OPM courses are composed of many of the same elements," he notes, "it helps us keep our focus—in terms of management—on the same page, and it helps keep our company moving in the right direction."

Re Rebaudengo highly recommends OPM to other owners and presidents. "I would say that it is not easy to leave your work and your family for three weeks every year," he adds. "But with OPM, you will be repaid in terms of the activity, growth, and progress of your company. The high return on investment is well worth the commitment."

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