Testimonial: "The MBA I got from KEDGE opened new doors in my career".

Michaël Lanero Fidalgo graduated from KEDGE's Global Executive MBA programme in 2015. He looks back on his career path, the training he received at KEDGE, and what it’s allowed him to achieve in his career. An inspiring career path resulting from getting a new perspective through training.

Hello Michaël. Thank you for agreeing to speak to me. You are now Chief Operating Officer at Treefrog Therapeutics. Before taking the Global Executive MBA program in 2015, you were Head of Microbial Process Development at Healthcare Business of Merck. Tell us a little about what this position entails.

Well, when I started my Executive MBA at Kedge, I was leading a team that grew from 7 to 33 in just four years. Our main objective was to develop processes for the production of therapeutic active ingredients based on microorganisms. This was a new activity for Merck. In 2011, after a large number of projects had reached the advanced clinical development stage, it decided to invest in a dedicated laboratory to internalise this activity. Those projects had previously been managed through subcontracted contracts, but that proved to be problematic and suffered from considerable resistance in a highly competitive market, such as that of biosimilars (the generic equivalent of biological molecules) in which we were involved at that time.

The Head of Process Development was considered to be a key position for the success of those projects, particularly because of its specific aspect within the existing development company which had limited knowledge in the field, and because it covered all stages of creation: from the construction of the laboratory, the structuring of its organisation, and the development of the various skills needed to move forward on different therapeutic projects. It was a position whose main roles were to manage the team locally, be the industrial link in an international chain, call on Merck's global organisation, bring into line four to five different locations and nationalities (Germans, Italians, English, Indians, and Swiss) all of whom were specialised in one of the projects’ fields of activity. This approach to organisation, both from an organisational and cultural point of view, was very rewarding.

In 2015, you decide to go back to school and take KEDGE Business School’s Global Executive MBA programme. What motivated your decision?

Because of its size, visibility, and influence, my position at Merck increasingly involved working on strategy, and it quickly became apparent that there was a need to integrate a broader and more global vision of what a company is, with its business and economic ins and outs, as well as its underlying political dimension. Even though my first role - and the main reason for hiring me - was to bring scientific and management expertise to develop this new activity of Merck, I very quickly felt the need to broaden my knowledge of the other fields that would make up the company.

The very particular situation of the Bordeaux branch (Merck Biodeveloppement - a small local company which had been acquired by a large group with strong growth), quickly revealed the need to position strategy, finance, and marketing and to provide negotiation skills and leadership, as well as to manage its multicultural aspects, etc. In short, a thousand and one dimensions that I had only touched upon in the past and with which I familiarised myself through flexible thinking an approach that I liked to call "GCS" (Good Common Sense). 

"My superiors at the time were very supportive of my personal development and I began this course with their support and understanding of the extra workload that it would bring while already handling a very demanding job.”

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What direct benefits do you feel you have gained from this training?

I often say that the executive MBA took off my blinders. As a biotechnology expert whose daily role is science and how to master to serve therapeutic needs of society, the prism through which business is perceived is relatively small and is focused primarily on technology and a small number of specialities. Working (often in isolation) alongside other specialists makes us forget the global nature of what we are doing and what the objectives are. So the programme at KEDGE not only provided me with a global vision but also the tools to understand it, challenge it and even build and grow with it.

During my training, I was "spotted" by global human resource agencies and so was able to enter into schemes that let young executives access senior management positions. 

"After I got my EMBA, I was fortunate enough to be offered the management of an entire development centre at Merck where I was responsible for developing processes for third parties.”

That position was or two levels higher than the one I had when I started at KEDGE. In my new role, I was responsible for the entire value chain of pharmaceutical production - from development (my former responsibilities) to all cross-functional services of pharmaceutical production, such as supply chain, technical services, quality control, and operational quality. I was managing a group of some 250 people, with an annual growth of 30 to 40 people per year and a turnover that was increasing correspondingly when I decided to leave for a new entrepreneurial adventure at Treefrog Therapeutics.

After having worked in different areas of the pharmaceutical industry (vaccines, biopharmaceuticals) and different sized departments, I met three entrepreneurs (Maxime Feyeux, Kevin Alessandri,  and Jean-Luc Treillou) who had a revolutionary idea in the field of cell therapies. They also had an industrial ambition, which is uncommon for a biotech startup. Although I found my position at Merck fulfilling, in January 2019 I felt the desire to create again, to join a small company, and to help it succeed despite all the advantages and disadvantages that one can imagine going from having a much higher position and managing 250 people back to square one and working with 15 people.

Whatever the challenge envisaged, I must admit that without the MBA and the principles I learned in the programme, I certainly wouldn’t have been able to take on this level of responsibility with a well-founded level of control and certainty, and probably would have been even less able to master the multiple aspects needed to make this type of business grow in the ever-shorter timeframe the increasingly competitive world imposes.

How was your Executive MBA?

I always say that I didn't do an "intensive" MBA for the pleasure of getting a degree, I did an "extensive" one because of the number of electives I took part, and the two majors I studied. (I’m still wondering if I would consider doing a third one.). As I’m curious by nature, the MBA was a breath of fresh air from my daily work, even though the time commitment needed to study, attend courses, and submit assignments was huge and difficult to do with a very demanding job and a family with young children. I liked to come to work with new ideas or another way of seeing solutions, to make connections that I hadn’t seen before.

My most enriching experiences are certainly the ones with a human aspect, as well as the people I meet along the way. The MBA has the particularity of putting wolves face to face, identified for their ability to assert themselves in a pack, most often through their charisma, so the MBA teaches us to actively listen. International seminars are also beneficial. I took one on Design Thinking in Portland in the US, which was one of my favourites because of its international dimension, its requirement for creativity, its pedagogical support, and the human aspect which went along with our evening activities and our housemates. I find it hard to limit the examples of my best memories because I found that sharing ideas and experiences with the teachers, which gave us an easy way to access their skills, are also part of my good memories. This combination of being a student again (with all its obligations), the relationships created with our peers, and the connections forged with the teachers (who are in an advisory role, but sometimes learn as much from us as we learn from them), makes for an atmosphere of strong cooperation which is conducive to the development of everyone.

“I’d clearly do it again if I had the opportunity. I’d love to reconnect with my associates from that time because, just like the MBA, they are an integral part of my memories and the inextricable bonds that were created.”

We also have this opportunity in part because of the way this Executive MBA is set up, which lets us attend a course of our choice once a year free of charge, which is a special feature of the programme.

The business environment is increasingly changing and requires a constant effort to acquire and update one’s knowledge and skills. Do you feel that your employees have specific needs? Which type of profile would you recommend getting an Executive MBA? How can an Executive MBA play a part in personal and career development? 

I know from having worked in different sizes of companies managing a team with more or less experience, and depending on the needs of the business, specified training is increasingly becoming necessary to, not only keep up with the times but also to enable everyone to orient themselves according to their medium- and long-term career objectives.

Having travelled this path myself, I can now recognise fairly quickly when experts need support to evolve and get a broader vision of a company's needs,  or if the growth strategy will require additional staff with a certain type of profile for important positions.

The people in my team who are constantly seeking information, who go outside their comfort zone to address the field of business and multidisciplinary team management, are those who represent the next in line to advance – who ready to take on a new role in a growing company. This is how we find our own successors - we become their coaches and eventually suggest they take in-depth courses such as the Executive MBA when they are at the right stage and when their personal motivation indicates that’s the right time. People often ask me about the path I took, and when I tell them why I did it, they easily understand how getting professional training at this level makes gives one the ability to see a field or sector differently, and to what extent it has served me in my own professional decisions and career development.

I usually say that an MBA changes you and that you’ll never be the same person you were before it - so much so that when you return to your job, you’ll find it to be "too small" to satisfy you again. The change is inevitable and the advantage is that you have been prepared for it.

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