“LEARNING HOW COMPANIES CAN IMPACT SOCIETY IN A GOOD WAY, WAS THE RIGHT APPROACH”
TIAS EXPERIENCE

‘I was able to realize my ultimate goal, which was to find a new role and a new industry, and took a leap forward in my career.’ Caio Garrido concluded his TIAS MBA in 2018. After working as a Technical Engineer in Oil and Gas, he now has a high impact on strategic decision-making within the sustainability domain. ‘The TIAS MBA is an instrument to enhance your capabilities and views on business on different levels, as well as a vehicle to find a path that fits you. That is exactly what happened to me.’
AMBITION TO FIND A NEW PROFESSIONAL FIELD
After obtaining his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Caio worked at an Oil and Gas company in various operational positions for five years. He gradually realized that this was not what he wanted as a long-term career. ‘Besides, I was never comfortable with oil exploration as an industry, mainly due to its environmentally harmful nature. I needed to find out how I could move to a different sector. At the time, I knew what I did not want, but not what I did want. My eagerness to learn more about business, combined with my ambition to find a new professional field inspired me to explore alternatives. This led me to consider an MBA as an instrument to enable that change.’
BUILDING A HOLISTIC BUSINESS UNDERSTANDING
Caio’s ultimate goal in pursuing an MBA was to advance his career by building a more holistic understanding of business and exploring other market segments. ‘I thought an MBA would help me enhance my professional capabilities, network with other professionals, and gain insights to help determine a new career path. I wanted to learn the various relevant skills and expertise required to run a business; from accounting and finance to management control systems and strategy. My ambition was to shift from an operationally oriented role towards a more business management related position. Furthermore, I wanted to live in a different country and have an international experience. Contact with other cultures leads you to acquire different views, insights and knowledge, driving your growth both as an individual and as a professional.’
‘TIAS gives you the tools to increase your business capabilities, and the means to choose a path that suits you. I am now involved in strategic decision-making within the sustainability domain.’

WHY TIAS?
When Caio was looking for the right MBA, he checked the ranking of various business schools. ‘TIAS came across as one of the best. When I investigated the school and the actual MBA program, I found that TIAS would not only teach me the fundamentals of business, like how to make a profit and deliver results, but also how to generate shared value for society at a stakeholder level, not just for shareholders. For me, learning about corporate social responsibility and how companies can impact society in a good way was the right approach. In addition, I wanted to explore a field that was considered to have a huge impact. I felt that the TIAS MBA was a good choice.’
Name Caio Garrido
Current position Sustainability consultant at one of the biggest banks in the Netherlands. Caio is responsible for its environmental program and biodiversity developments. According to Caio, banks have a pivotal role in steering change in society by investing in sustainable industries and shifting investments towards more sustainable business practices.
Education Fulltime MBA
Career in sustainability
Immediately after concluding his MBA, Caio took a job in the logistics field, working in a more business-oriented role as an Industrial Engineer at a large American corporation. He later shifted to a sustainability-related position within the same company, setting up a department responsible for steering and leading the company towards carbon neutrality based on the European Sustainability Agenda. More recently, he switched to his current position. ‘Businesses cannot thrive without contributing to society’s needs. This can only be achieved by creating shared benefits for all stakeholders, not just shareholders.’
IMPACT OF LECTURERS, PARTICIPANTS AND CONTENT
Outstanding lecturers and diverse content Coming from a very technical background, Caio was eager to gain high level business knowledge and insights during his MBA. ‘The diverse range of lectures, from traditional business subjects to the management of sustainable business models, offered me aggregated business knowledge and new insights from a societal perspective I had never encountered before. I think it complemented my background perfectly. In a sense, engineering and business came together. The lecturers were outstanding and the lectures were fun, very interactive and diverse.’
Participants from all over the world ‘Normally when people are searching for the right MBA program for them, they look at the content structure,’ Caio continues. ‘At TIAS, the participants are an even more important component of the MBA. Our batch was very diverse, with people from all over the world. Why is that important? Because next to the hard skills you develop through lectures, you also step up your soft skills. Learning together with participants from other cultures and backgrounds, with different views on how to solve a problem, creates a fertile environment for this kind of development. Over the course of the MBA, you realize that you are learning from different people and adopting new ways of doing, seeing and approaching things. I’d say this is one of the program’s greatest assets. In fact, the experience was so positive that we still have a circle of MBA friends who meet up regularly for birthdays and other celebrations.’
‘Learning together with participants from other cultures and backgrounds, with different views on how to solve a problem, creates a fertile environment’

GOING FORWARD BY KNOWING YOURSELF
Enhanced personal impact Besides the lectures and diversity in participants, the MBA offers a career development program to help students enhance their personal impact. Caio says, ‘I think that’s a very good initiative on TIAS’ part. In my case for example, all my professional experience was in a specific area. I had only worked in the technical domain. I never got a chance to think about growth and how to step up my career. Until then, I didn't have any clear ideas on how to identify my core values and key abilities and then harness those to improve my skills in a corporate environment and achieve my career goals.’
In depth personal assessment ‘The career development program helps you understand who you are as a person and as a professional. What are your competencies, talents and skills? It was great for me, because I had never done anything like this before. During the program, you go through an in-depth personal assessment with coaching and group activities to create an awareness of your own personal qualities in a work environment.
Solid foundation on which to build ‘I think it all starts with learning who you are, what you are good at, and knowing how peers perceive you,’ Caio emphasizes. ‘This awareness increases your ability to reflect on ways to improve your skills and competencies in order to thrive at work and in society. That was pivotal to my career growth, as these insights provided a solid foundation on which to build. I definitely achieved a better understanding of who I was then and what my career ambitions were, ultimately paving the way to the achievement of my career goals.’
Self discovery Although Caio is very positive about the entire career development program, the most inspiring and eye-opening experience for him was his participation in Aim2flourish. This offers students the opportunity to discover how businesses can be transformational in creating societal value in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). ‘Basically, during this assignment, students search for global initiatives that are adopting a sustainable approach in their business model with real societal impact. The objective is to publish success stories on how businesses can create shared value and affect the world positively. It was inspiring to me, because I saw the positive effects of actual initiatives in Brazil, my home country. Moreover, that experience led to self discovery. I finally found out which kind of activities bring me fulfillment. Ultimately, it led me to the sustainability domain as a career.’
‘We analyzed current business models and their purposes on ways to change them in order to generate shared value.’

FOCUS ON BUSINESS AND SOCIETY
In addition to learning from investigating sustainable initiatives that generate shared value, the TIAS MBA program focuses on Business and Society by integrating four core competency areas. These are Responsible Leadership, Collaboration, Business Modeling and Sustainable Innovation. Caio says, ‘You experience these competencies through lectures on subjects such as Business, Government and Society, Managing Sustainable Business Models and Leading Businesses Through Global Change. These induced us as students to analyze current business models and their purposes on ways to change them and generate shared value. You ask yourself, “How can I, as a leader, assess my organization at a strategic level so as to change our ambitions to a more sustainable outcome that prioritizes our society?”
Defining a strategy in line with the SDGs
‘My current experiences have shown that after COVID, organizations are approaching results differently. Strategy is defined more and more in line with SDGs such as Climate Action. TIAS understands leaders’ responsibilities, and knows that leaders need to support and promote these changes. The tools, concepts and case studies that they provide teach you that in order to thrive as a leader, you must connect business with society and the environment. I naturally make that connection now. And I’ve been fortunate enough to be involved in various endeavors in this area recently.’
Climate Action
‘For instance, SDG 13, Climate Action, is the most, let’s say, practical SDG in terms of tangible impact with a clearly defined ambition and metric. With regard to carbon neutrality goals, organizations are likely to adhere to the Paris agreement targets to reduce rising temperatures. The question that really needs to be addressed, though, is what is necessary to minimize the impact of CO2 emissions and combat climate change from a corporate perspective. That eventually leads to the development of a sustainability strategy, along with solid communication, engagement, and awareness efforts through all levels of an organization to create a sense of belonging among all stakeholders and get everyone on board. In the end, firm commitments and small concrete steps will help organizations meet their long-term SDG targets.’
Standard ways to target, measure, demonstrate and engage
Today, Caio is happy to be able to use the SDGs at a corporate level in his daily work. ‘The SDGs are fundamental components in defining a sustainability strategy that allows your company’s business operations to have an impact. Aligning your ambitions with the SDGs helps you identify what you need to aim for as a corporation and to measure your impact and progress towards your goals. It provides a baseline; a standard framework to demonstrate progress and keep all important parties engaged.’
ALL OF THE REQUIRED CAPABILITIES
In conclusion, Caio believes that the TIAS MBA has given him all of the capabilities required to achieve his goal, and everything he needed to know to run a business successfully. ‘As a concrete example, I was able to achieve my career goal by shifting professionally into the sustainability domain and moreover to launch my own company in Amsterdam, a start-up that supplies health Amazon foods imported from Brazil to businesses.’
TIP FROM CAIO
‘TIAS does not simply guide you through a business management program, but offers an in-depth look at our responsibility for addressing society’s needs as business leaders. That is the type of leadership the world needs - today. Not some time in the future. So, take your seat and buckle up. TIAS can change your life and career. Be open to learning and transforming yourself positively.’
Open up doors to career opportunities
Pursuing the TIAS Full-time MBA is a life-changing experience that will provide you with excellent tools for both personal and professional growth. Prepare yourself for positions in industry with greater leadership responsibility and create a positive impact on your or your organization’s future success. Download the brochure to find out how this MBA can boost your career.
THE BUSINESS SCHOOL FOR TOMORROW’S LEADERS
TIAS School for Business and Society is a place for leaders, professionals and managers just like you who are looking for change. Who want to bring out the best in themselves and make an impact for their organization and its environment. TIAS has a wide selection of part-time Master programs, advanced programs, MBAs, master classes, TIAS 8-hour programs and personalized solutions.
Business and society are the common threads running through our programs. You develop yourself in four areas of competence: responsible leadership, cooperation, business modeling and sustainable innovation. It’s the combination of these four qualities that will help you transform your business and create impact as a leader of tomorrow.

Curious whether TIAS is the right business school for you? Click here to learn more about the TIAS School for Business and Society.
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TIAS is the business school of Tilburg University and Eindhoven University of Technology.


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