Manuel J. Perez de la Mesa

Pool-side perspective: CEO credits teamwork, people skills and lifelong learning for success.

What does it take to run the world’s largest wholesale distributor of swimming pool and related products? Manuel J. Perez de la Mesa, Pool Corp. president and CEO, acknowledges the importance of finance, selling and operations skills. Still, said the FIU College of Business alumnus, communications and building a strong team are the true keys […]

Tiananmen Square

Chinese Lessons: HCMBA trip brings an international perspective to the study of healthcare.

China’s health care system, while invested in its own traditions and dealing with a far larger population, has similarities with our own. Both, explained Miriam Weismann, academic director of FIU’s Healthcare MBA program, are fragmented, with a mix of public and private funding. Multiple reimbursement systems must be navigated. And both offer lavish attention to […]

Whether in a reconnaissance plane or FIU classroom, MSF grad Ty Taylor brings his “A” game.

Like many fellow students working toward a master’s degree in finance at FIU, Ty Taylor began the program already running his own business. Yet Taylor, who graduated earlier this year with a 4.0 GPA, came to the College of Business’s Master of Science in Finance program with special skills he was happy to share. During […]

Passage to India: FIU students learn how another culture approaches health care management.

With more than 1.2 billion people, India faces an intensified version of the problems faced by all nations: how to meet a population’s growing healthcare needs. That challenge was viewed first-hand by 15 FIU Chapman Graduate School of Business students working toward their MBA in Healthcare Management. The group visited India for 10 days last […]

A Flock of Data: There is more to gathering information than counting birds.

Birds and business analytics: Rarely mentioned together. Yet for FIU College of Business Assistant Professor Roman Lukyanenko, helping scientists tap into observations of bird watchers, nature enthusiasts and tourists led to a new paradigm for gathering and sorting information, one that offers a dynamic method for understanding the experiences of customers, clients, patients and even […]

FIU Business professor receives grant for evaluating “business in a box,” a poverty-fighting promise.

Microfinancing has been a lifeline to many trying to climb out of poverty, especially in the developing world. However, access to basic financial resources is just the beginning. Even with good ideas, people often are at sea when it comes to business skills, from marketing to record keeping. Failure often follows. And that is where […]