Two Great Visits on Tuesday

March 19, 2013

Contributed by Bill Myers

There is a good chance I drank the Bechtel kool-aid today during their presentation... It was a great morning to be walking down the modern streets of Santiago.  All the business folks were rushing to work - it reminded me of my days walking to my old job in New York City.  We entered a rather modern building, entered our floor number (47) and the elevator directed us to "T", another reminder of NYC; our offices didn't have any bottoms in the actual elevator either. Everything seemed vaguely familiar to the States. Even the computer set, the Windows set up and the PowerPoint application could have been at any of our offices.

But, unlike the States the first topic was... earthquake safety... we are obviously not in the States.  I guess it was good to know that this building was the safest building in Santiago!

Cue the automatic shades on the windows (very cool) and off we went into the world of the "mega project" where nothing is too big, too complex or too remote to be tackled. Working in television I was very impressed with their video presentation - it was obviously an internal PR program made to sell employees on the grandeur of Bechtel... but I was impressed anyway. Dare I say it, I began to think I needed to work for Bechtel...

Safety is key for Bechtel and their #1 priority.  Apparently a few accidents last year has made them rethink just how important this is.  Innovation is obviously a strong point for them and definitely at their core whether it is in their Transportation, Communications, Mining & Metals, Oil-Gas-Chemicals, or Power divisions. The nature of the Mining & Metal project currently being conducted in Chile is amazing.  There is almost a "seven wonders of the world" aspect to the projects going on through Bechtel down here... the overwhelming size of the projects and the "beat the odds" impossibility of it just goes against nature itself.

I was even more intrigued that Bechtel has even recognized their biggest challenge - and its not placing a mining operation at over 16,000 feet.  They humbly admitted that transferring the large amount of knowledge and experience to a new generation of Bechtel employees as their biggest challenge; even more than solving the huge power issues facing this modernizing country of Chile - the almost insurmountable odds on how to solve these problems... solar probably won't work... nuclear power won't work (to start Chile is not part of the non-proliferation treaty), their own (Chile's) power grid system even sets them up for difficulty... I think Chile is in good hands with Andy Phelps at the Bechtel controls.

There are too many things that were discussed in today's session - about Bechtel, Chile's power problems, why Chile is on the fast track to success, and even the very nature of Bechtel's corporate philosophy... the session was thoroughly enjoyable, extremely fascinating, and most of all challenging all of us to at least attempt to adhere to the goals Bechtel has place on itself of business done right for all the right reasons.

I will never build a mine... but I definitely thought about it today!

Contributed by Tina Snodderly

After the visit to Bechtel Chile the ProMBA team headed to lunch at Patio Bellavista.  Patio Bellavista is a lovely courtyard with many restaurants and upper-end souvenir shops. The weather was beautiful, which complimented the outside and rooftop venues.  Our particular group experienced a delay in getting our lunch - most likely due to "productivity" problems.  Overall the restaurants were excellent, and several ProMBA classmates had an opportunity to pick up some gifts. 

Contributed by Krystal Forbes

Hola! It’s Krystal!

Brooke Buechler and Krystal Forbes

Our visit to Walmart Chile HQ this afternoon was my most anticipated company visit, as I’ve always admired the company’s humble beginnings and current operations as a global powerhouse. We had the opportunity to hear from Jose Fernadez, COO of Walmart Chile, who presented a dynamic business and market review. Jose’s presentation further reiterated the growing business opportunities in Chile, specific to the retail industry, as well as Chile becoming a gateway into Latin America for foreign multinational companies seeking to expand operations. Jose also touched on enlightening operational comparatives between the U.S. and Chile with regards to vendor management and transportation costs. However, I found it extremely enlightening how Walmart takes care of their associates in Chile vs. the U.S. In addition to being a unionized workforce, Walmart’s retail associates in Chile are all full-time employees provided with transportation to and from the retail outlet, meals, showers, and uniforms on top of their base compensation! After the presentation, we are able to take a trip to a retail outlet, which resembled the outlets in the U.S., with slight variation. Overall, I’m appreciative of the opportunity as I found it insightful and enjoyable!

Contributed by Missy Crowe

Missy Crowe

When you go to find a Walmart you need to look for the starburst trademark and the brand name Lider. The store that we visited was set up like a Walmart in the U.S. Hours of operation are from 9 am to 10 pm, Monday through Saturday. You may see a couple of brand items that are familiar in the United States, but, for the most part, Lider buys from local distributors. Lider also has a customer loyalty program and offers credit cards. The customers have to come to the store to pay their credit card bills, which to me makes it seem like they would spend more money.

Lider has four types of stores in Chile: the Hyper store (which is like the SuperWalmart), Lider Express (a supermarket), warehouse ( a store for the lower income shopper, maybe like a dollar store), and a convenience store. There are currently 355 stores in Chile. The competition of Lider includes Cencosud (like Target) and SMU. 

The average employee makes $2,300 monthly. Lider provides transportation, food, paid vacations, and uniforms for their employees. All employees are off on Sunday because the stores are closed on Sunday. Employees belong to a union and the cashiers can sit down, because it is against the law to have them stand. 

If I were to come back to Chile, I would see more Liders throughout the country. Walmart's goal is to double the stores twice. They will be successful.