EMBA Professor Luis Lages: When your work is your passion, success is a natural consequence
Professor Luis Lages teaches Marketing Management at the AUBG EMBA Program. He is a full professor at Nova School of Business and Economics in Portugal, Visiting Scholar at LBS and MIT Engineering School and a Visiting Faculty at MIT Sloan School of Management. He conducted Doctoral Research at Warwick University (UK) and Post-Doctoral Research at MIT (USA) and Stanford University (USA). With over 20 years of professional experience in teaching, research and consultancy, Professor Lages is the creator of the famous Value Creation Wheel (VCW). Read our interview with him to learn more about his teaching interests and career.
What was the first job you have had?
My first job was a summer job, when I was 16 years old. I worked for 3 months in a hotel in London and really learned a lot.
How has your professional and academic career developed since?
Since then, I did my Undergraduate degree, Masters, PhD, and Post-Doc. Since then, I’ve had over 20 years of experience in teaching, research, and consultancy across the world.
What led you to teach at the AUBG EMBA Program?
The invitation came from an AUBG professor who was very acquainted with my international career.
What are your teaching and research interests?
My main research and teaching interests are in the field of marketing and international business. I also love to teach the VCW-Value Creation Wheel, a decision-making framework which has been applied by a wide range of organizations (e.g., Fortune 500, start-ups, NGOs, governments) and projects (e.g., EU H2020, consultancy) across the world.
What do you enjoy the most about teaching at the AUBG EMBA Program?
One of the major strengths of this program is the students’ involvement in the class discussions. I also like the fact that there is gender diversity, something that is not very common in MBA programs.
If teaching was not your profession, what would have been?
Probably I would be an astronaut. When I was eight-years-old, I wrote a letter to Ronald Reagan mentioning that I would like to become an astronaut. Contrary to all expectations, they replied to me. They sent me two books about USA history and a poster about the Columbia Space Shuttle, which I had in my room for several years... That really had an impact on my life. This might explain why I did two Post-Docs in the USA (MIT and Stanford University) and today I am deeply involved in two large H2020 projects in the fields of Space and Earth Observation (NextLand and NextOcean) as coordinator of the innovation, marketing, commercialization, and sustainability strategies.
If you had to give one piece of advice about succeeding in the business world, what would it be?
Follow your own dreams and what you are passionate about. This way, your work will be your passion. Success will become a natural consequence of your passion.
What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
Spending quality time with my family, kids, and friends and, of course -- as a typical Portuguese -- eating very well.