The Greatest

RiskBy Rosa Mello

IE Business School Application

Question C. Describe a time when you took a great risk. What was the outcome?

• The greatest risk that I took was when I received 2 career offers within Nestle and I had to choose between one of them.

• In early 2005, I had to decide between managing the Local IT Support Team or manage the systems implementation in Latin America.

What choices to make?• Managing the Local IT Support team was the safest

approach and I would continue developing my career in Brazil.

• The Latin America Implementation was much more rewarding but the challenges and the risks were greater. It was going to be my first time managing a big team and a complex project.

But I decided to take the risk….• And follow my dream of an international career.

• The LATAM Implementationwas one of the most complex ISIT Projects of Nestle in terms of project scope, cultural environment and organizational complexity.

The scope was to implement the new system and deliver business solutions in 17 Countries represented in 5 Regions.

Argentina

Panama

Colombia

Dominican Republic

ChileBrazil

And here everything started..

• I was based in Sao Pauloand strategically started planning the project.• At that time I couldn’t imagine all the challenges I was going to face.

All the sleepless nights… But the passion for the

project and to pursue my career dream were my fuel!

And then the project started to get a shape…

• I travelled all over Latin America to negotiated resources with Markets’ Execs.

• Strategically allocate resources and costs.• Strong Leadership and Change Management skills

were required to deal with cultural differences and the complexity of each of the organizations.

• Assessed risks and proposed mitigation actions.• Planned and managed the project to achieve

defined objectives!

And then a face…a face….

The whole team worked together towards one common goal!

I led a team of 10 direct reports and over 20 team members.

And the project was completed.• The system was implemented in 17 countries 1,5 year.• Over 300 users started working in the new system.• Process were harmonized and standardized . One

common language share in LATAM.• A broad set of best practices used in a variety of

business situations.• Reduction in Operational Costs.

• But the most important for me was the experience I got, the lessons I learned, the friends I made and to know that I was right in accepting the challenge.

“The success is outside your comfort zone.”

The final award!!I was transferred to USA and accepted the position of Finance Leader in Nestle Waters North America.

Today I live in Manhattanand I hope to expand my international career even more by taking the EXMBA+ at the IE Business School.