For the last Guest in Classroom event of the semester, we had the opportunity to welcome our MBA alumna Nathaly Sandoval (Global Category Expert, Media SaaS, Digital Strategy, Bosch) to campus. Our MBA candidates had the pleasure to be audience to Nathaly, who spoke about her exciting role and experiences being in the position of an international procurement expert. With main areas of work ranging from strategic procurement which involves cost optimization, to business development driving new business opportunities, it is imperative for her, to be able to recognize and pinpoint vital future business trends. For 2023, this would entail, but is not limited to, tech, i.e., AI, IoT, VR/AR, blockchain, 5G, etc, as well as sustainability governed by ESG processes. Nathaly also shared a brief insight on supply chain trends of 2023 and how an organization can respond to these developments. The final part of her talk covered negotiation of contracts; not only did she incorporate crucial A to Z steps of a negotiation, Nathaly also prepared an exercise on a method that she uses to understand the environment - gauged by plotting the importance of a working relationship against the importance of outcome - when preparing for negotiations. This gave the students a hands-on glimpse of Nathaly’s potential day-to-day.

A sincere thank you to Nathaly for her interesting and valuable talk and for making the time to be our guest in classroom this semester!

Text and photos: Michelle Ahras, Class of 2023