Emerging economies represent important growth areas for multinational companies. Among other factors, growth, economic reforms and deeper integration of those countries into the world economy have provided development opportunities for established multinationals, as well as for a new generation of global players. Yet, emerging economies pose distinctive challenges that require considerable changes for companies worldwide.

In this context, Fundacao Dom Cabral (Brazil), Moscow School of Business - Skolkovo (Russia), India School of Business (India) and Fudan University (China) launch today, during the Five-Diamond Conference Cycle in New York, an innovative international executive program focused on emerging economies. The program objectives are to help companies identify the main opportunities and challenges in emerging economies, anticipate the shifts arising from the further integration of these countries into the world economy, and design and implement strategies leading to sustainable profitable growth.

The program presents several distinctive features, including the collaboration of business schools representing each BRIC country and which offer a unique insider's perspective for the analysis of the realities of some of the largest and fastest growing economies in the world. It is structured around two "global" modules, of three days each, at the beginning and at the end of the program. In between, four "country" modules (in Brazil, Russia, India and China), of five days each, are scheduled in such a way that participants may opt to participate in one or all of them. Executives will thus be able to confront and integrate insights from different countries and regions.

Starting in February 2009, the program will address key concerns of multinational companies as they expand in emerging economies, such as analyzing fast moving environments, integrating and leveraging expansion in emerging economies into their global strategies and organizations, developing organizational and managerial solutions that balance the need for adaptation and innovation as they implement strategies, and developing managerial profiles for driving change across countries and cultures.

The program is aimed at executives in charge of emerging markets at headquarters, as well as managers holding or preparing for responsibilities in emerging economies. The focus is on companies from developed economies in search of new markets or seeking efficiency across their value chains. It is equally well suited for companies from emerging economies preparing for or effectively pursuing expansion in other developing countries, inserting themselves into global value chains, or facing competition from other multinationals in their own country.