Cass welcome renowned business leader for MBA masterclass

Cass Business School was delighted to recently welcome the renowned businessman Mr Federico Minoli to give an exclusive masterclass in strategy to MBA students.  The masterclass was based on the iconic case of the Ducati turnaround, which Mr Minoli led between 1996 and 2007.

Mr Minoli, who previously served as chief executive officer of the legendary high-performance motorcycle manufacturer Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A., spoke about the lessons that he has learned during his long career which has included leading more than 20 strategic company turnarounds.

Dr Paolo Aversa, Lecturer in Strategy at Cass, said Mr Minoli’s masterclass was an excellent opportunity for his students to learn directly from a distinguished leader on the international business stage.

“Mr Minoli is a striking example of successful strategic vision and he brings immense expertise to the classroom.  In his talk, he underlined that Ducati was a pioneer in using the internet to connect with fans, but emphasised that being online was not an end in itself,

“His point was that companies must continuously differentiate themselves from competitors by exploring innovative ways to excite their internal and external customers, and to reward their most engaged and engaging users,” he said.

Dr Aversa said this lesson is particularly important today when merely developing an online business model is not a differentiating factor in the marketplace.

“This is why I pay particular attention to addressing business model innovation as a central topic in my strategy lectures,” he said.

Based in Boston, Mr Federico Minoli has operated as a turnaround manager in the US and Europe for the past 30 years on behalf of several large international private equity funds including Texas Pacific Group, Deutsche Morgan Grenfell, Bain Capital USA, and Investcorp. He is currently chairman of Dainese S.p.A., executive officer of POC Sweden, and co-owner of Deus Ex-Machina Italy.