CENTRUM PUCP Business School: Meet the Dean

CENTRUM Catolica is home to the CENTRUM PUCP Business School, which was first opened in the year 2000 and offers a range of MBA, doctoral and management programs for its students. As the only business school in Peru to be granted Triple Crown accreditation, CENTRUM has plenty to offer students across Latin America.

Tuition for a doctoral program at the school costs between US$35,000 and US$40,000 for a four-year program - two years of lectures and two years of research. The MBA costs US$20-30,000, depending on the program.

To learn more about the business school, we spoke with its dean, Dr Percy Marquina.

Could you tell us about your background and your path to becoming Dean of CENTRUM PUCP Business School?

I started studying economics at Universidad Del Pacifico here in Lima. After five years of working, I started my MBA in the same university. That was followed by a career in the private sector - my last position was as CEO of a large multinational French company here in Peru.

About 20 years ago, I started to look for other opportunities and wanted to move to a different sector. I wanted to be in a sector where there is growth and that is not saturated with a lot of players. The founder of PUCP was looking for a marketing and commercial manager and I started working as a staff member.

Throughout these 20 years, I realised I would like to be an educator and I started my Doctorate. I have run all different positions in the business school before I became dean. Now it is my third year as dean, and I am working my best to ensure PUCP continues to be one of the best business schools in Latin America.

Tell us a little bit about your institution.

The Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP) decided to found Centrum 20 years ago with the same traditions as the main university: values, ethics and relevance to the society.

Since the very beginning we wanted to refresh the education industry in Peru. Before, the education sector in Peru was very traditional and had not changed for 30 years. When Centrum launched, we were disruptors to the industry and we were the first institution to have a double degree MBA program.

We also started delivering courses in English and made many other innovations. We remain the only school in Peru that owns a “triple crown” - only one percent of schools in the world have this award.

People recognise we are one of the most entrepreneurial schools in Latin America. It means we are quick to respond to the needs of the market and have a good mix between quality of education, tradition and corporate entrepreneurship. We are the “business school for entrepreneurs”.

What are students are looking for when they come to Centrum and Peru for their studies?

Students come to learn about our culture and heritage. Students who are coming to business school are trying to find out new ways of doing business, to understand what new customers are like.

Peru is not a part of the BRICS, but students understand that growth here will come soon and they try to discover how to satisfy the needs of the customers.

How would Centrum like to be known internationally? What is the strategy for the upcoming years?

We recently changed the vision and mission of the institution with an important focus on internationalization. We are trying to encourage our students to learn what is done abroad to incorporate best practices in our own context.

Now we focus on :

• Our impact on the community in order to help students to work together
• Learning the best practises from abroad
• Finding ways for us to work with companies and institution aboard
• To learn how we can work together to help Latin America to grow
• We are looking for partnerships with others who want to work to help our continent to be better

How many programs does CENTRUM offer in English?

We don’t have many programs in English at the moment, but we have a doctorate program which is 50:50 English and Spanish. Also, we have an international MBA which is 100 percent in English as well as a Master’s in Management, run in collaboration with a Canadian and an Austrian university.

We are planning to launch an online MBA fully in English and are a looking for a partner to grow together in that area. We are looking to create a few cohorts of young students that will be taught totally in English.

What are the school’s strategies to promote diversity?

We are increasing our number of international programs, in order to develop an international curriculum. We are looking to create a coalition between Peruvian and international students, which means we try to create opportunities for students to have a joint research project. This is the most important strategy for us.

Do you have any exchange programs?

We have a lot of bi-lateral exchanges with universities around the world. So, we have a lot of French students here, as their own institution recognizes credits from Peruvian institutions.

Most of our international students come from Europe (France in particular), some from Latin America and very few from the US.

How do you engage with HE companies to promote your institution globally?

We just made an agreement with Corporate Centre for Leadership, which is the most well-recognised private institution in America for executive education.

Another example is our work with IBM. They have huge expertise in consulting and technology. We found an opportunity and collaborated to develop a program that meets their latest requirements. During the fourth industrial revolution, our students need more agile programs.

How would you summarise the brand of your university?

“We are not only a school for business, but a school for 'good' businesses”.

We are not only looking to promote profitability; we are looking to promote the social responsibility needed to create responsible leaders of the future. We are focusing on sustainability, ethics and human rights.