This article was printed in Spanish. For the Spanish version, as it appeared in El Economista, please click on the link at the bottom of this page.
USC's MBA.PM Program is an MBA Program for fully employed professionals. The classes normally occur in the evening and the students receive their degree after three years of study. All MBA.PM students take PM.GLOBE, a semester-long macroeconomics course enhanced by a week-long overseas trip. PM.GLOBE develops deep knowledge of international economics and business first through class meetings in Los Angeles then through visits to international sites and businesses in those locations during a ten day trip which is the culmination of the course.
In preparation for the course faculty identify foreign business sectors and contemporary global issues which will be examined in more depth through visits with local executives and their companies. Often students will actually visit a company and observe business operations as well as hear lectures from managers.
In March 2002, 41 students, three faculty and two staff for USC's PM Globe visited Grupo Sadasi's Coacalco Los Heroes development. Speaking to the group were executives form the company who talked about the development process, the low income housing segment, production, marketing and financing strategies along with longer term strategies for the company. Students viewed a corporate video, examined models and site plans and toured all phases of the community including schools, parks, retail facilities and medical clinics.
The students from the US were impressed by a number of things that they saw at the Coacalco Los Heroes development. They noted that Grupo Sadasi is a vertically integrated company handling land acquisition and development, construction and marketing, as well facilitating financing of the homes. They were impressed by the efficiency of the operation, the size of the development (10,400 units) and the rapidity if the construction process. Also, the students noted that the developer provides at his cost considerable infrastructure including schools, retail and medical facilities as well as parks in addition to the basic infrastructure for the project. Finally, they noted Grupo Sadasi's concern to provide a community environment for the homebuyers.
The visit to the Coacalco Los Heroes development was one of the first activities in Mexico City for the USC group. It provided significant insight into the demographic and economic attributes of Mexico and the challenges facing the government and the housing sector to provide housing for the large number of new households created every year in Mexico.