Charged with leading international expansion and growth for Church & Dwight Co., Barry Bruno knows the importance of understanding markets and recognizing opportunities. To better position himself and his organization for success, Bruno enrolled in the Global Strategic Management program at Harvard Business School. He offers his insights into the program's challenges, rewards, and long-term value.
My company makes commonly known brands such as Arm & Hammer, Nair, and Trojan, and in my role I lead our international expansion. I enrolled in the program to sharpen my skills for recognizing which brands and countries to focus on. It's a huge world out there, from developed markets to emerging markets, and it's a challenge to determine the best method of entry into those markets. All of the topics in the curriculum are exactly what I’m struggling with at work every day.
Yes, absolutely. The professors introduced several analytic frameworks, such as market entry. How do you figure out which market is best? It may not be the largest markets, because they may have competitive challenges, legal challenges, or political risks. I learned how to look at market attractiveness and branding fit to determine where we can win. When I returned to my organization, I was reenergized to think about and tackle challenges in a different way using the frameworks I learned in the program.
My favorites were the ones that addressed brand expansion and going global. One featured Real Madrid—how the club grew its brand globally and which countries it chose when expanding. Another case focused on the Australian wine group BRL Hardy, which dealt with the same fundamental questions. Is it better to choose a big market with intense competition or a smaller market where it's easier to succeed? Those cases are very relevant to my challenge of taking the products I work on to another market.
It exceeded my expectations, and I'm so pleased that I chose this program. The curriculum was outstanding, and it was invaluable to be able to speak directly with the professors who wrote the case studies. Also, the class was made up of participants from all over the globe, and I gained a lot by interacting with them and learning about their marketplaces and countries. For example, I'm looking at opening an office in Panama or Mexico City, and I was able to talk with classmates from both of those markets to find out about the existing talent and the ease of entry. The exposure to my peer group was extremely valuable and a huge benefit.
The program validated some of my thinking, and that gave me confidence that I was already on the right path. On the other hand, I discovered some better and more intelligent questions to ask about my business, and that was also rewarding.
It's certainly an investment of both money and time, but it's going to pay dividends for years to come. The things I learned can be applied to multiple business situations, and the global network I developed is enormously valuable—especially as I try to grow a small business into a large international business. In fact, I would love for others in my company to attend the program so that we can all use the same frameworks, models, and language.
