Arthur Bronzim

Ivey Business School at Western University

“A believer of the divide to multiply idea, especially when it comes to knowledge.”

Hometown: Sao Bernardo do Campo – Sao Paulo, Brazil

Fun Fact About Yourself: I’m terrified of heights, and I’ve climbed/hiked some of the highest mountains in Brazil. This sounds counter-intuitive, but the logic is very straightforward: I used the fact that I love to be in nature to help me fight a great fear. The result was a new hobby, great stories, nice pictures, and a ton of self-knowledge.

Undergraduate School and Major: University of St. Andre Foundation, Bachelor of Economics; Master of Science in Economics at UNESP – Sao Paulo State University.

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: National Association of the Tire Industry (ANIP) as Business Intelligence Leader.

How has the case method enriched your learning? The case method is good on paper and outstanding in reality! To be honest, taking the case method so seriously and deeply was one of the main reasons I chose Ivey. This method is known for bringing real-life situations, trade-offs, and crossroads to class discussions, introducing lots of new knowledge during this process. This practical approach was everything I needed in my career, especially considering the more theoretical and academic knowledge I had already conquered in my MsC.

To my (great) surprise, the case method is much more than just being practical and up-to-date. This method puts you in the driver’s seat and allows you to test your ideas in a place without consequences for taking the “wrong” turn. This gives you confidence, enhances your communication skills, and pushes your problem-solving abilities to a new level. It’s like a medical student using autopsy to understand and discuss what happens to the human body in a given situation; or, in a lighter illustration, it’s like living a different career in each class with the “restart the mission” option available.

Aside from classmates and cases, what part of the school’s MBA programming led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? In my case, being a one-year program was extremely important. I understand the pros of the two-year option and the more intense approach of the one-year. However, having the option of “stopping” my career for one year ended up being better for me financially – since I could cut by half my cost-of-living expenditures, particularly since I had already spent two years in the MsC.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: One of the most challenging and rewarding experiences in my career so far was leading the business intelligence team that represented a billion-dollar industry in a campaign to overturn a harmful trade policy imposed on us. It was a policy that, by the way, was powered by a mighty political group.

The first challenge to overcome was putting competitors to work together on that one common industry goal, especially in a highly competitive market such as the one where I worked. After that, we needed to balance technicality and storytelling perfectly. This was especially true considering that the battlefield was political and mediatic, not just economic. And, of course, there was the unstable environment around us since all that occurred during the recovery phase after covid.

Long story short, this battle took us almost two years to win. It included countless PowerPoint decks, storytelling tools, econometric models, travels to Congress, public hearings, and strategy meetings. However, leading the technical team in a massive project like this allowed me to discuss strategy with unimaginably big stakeholders, including C-suite executives of this giant industry and policymakers.

To the industry, the result was hundreds of millions of dollars back to the market. To me, a whole new set of tools and a new EQ level was achieved.

Describe your biggest accomplishment as an MBA student so far: Recently, I have been increasingly involved in assisting individuals in understanding the idea and benefits of an MBA degree, both in general and specifically at Ivey Business School. This goes from addressing practical inquiries regarding the job market to providing broader philosophical advice on thoroughly welcoming and enjoying the MBA experience. Some of these individuals have approached me through the Ivey Ambassador program, of which I am a proud member. Others have reached out to me directly via LinkedIn. Regardless of their means of contact, it is gratifying to reflect on the fact that I was in their exact position just over a year ago, grappling with similar doubts and uncertainties. Now, I am in a place where I can offer bits of advice and support to others as they strive to achieve their career aspirations.

For those who have had the opportunity to teach in the past, this experience is akin to witnessing a student’s development and growth first-hand and being able to cheer them on as they continue to progress actively. For those who did not have such experience, it’s like feeling that you did give back to the world what you received once, making this helping wheel continuously in movement.

Where is your favorite hang-out in London (Ontario)? Why do you (or your classmates) gravitate there? I’d say that Barney’s is the favorite pick around here. It’s a bar with a great patio option for non-winter months and with affordable prices. Personally, I see London as a very attractive city for its parks. You can easily spot a park everywhere you look, with some trails and full of green areas for picnics and outdoor activities. In this regard, Gibbons Park is my #1 pick, hands down.

What do you hope to do after graduation (at this point)? My main goal is to work with strategy, which I love and have experience. I enjoy understanding the characteristics and forces acting on the market, competitors, and industry’s reactions to a hypothetical action, along with finding new solutions for old problems where the customer behavior is and will be, the market’s and public perception’s trends.

In a nutshell, my goal is to use known strategy tools to solve those problems that people tend to believe are virtually impossible. Personally speaking, I’d love to work on the global warming situation and helping with the green transition of essential industries such as transportation. At the same time, I want to keep it affordable to everyone and prioritizing those who need the most.

I see myself returning to the advocacy/think tank industry and helping many companies simultaneously or working on the strategy of just one company with an internal/market strategy. However, since I love to solve the most complex problems, I keep my eyes and ears always open to other possible challenges that may arise.

What did you do during the application process that enabled you to get accepted into Ivey? I’d say that was being as genuine as I could. Everyone has flaws and points to improve, and trying to hide them is the most common approach to work around that. To stand out, I used my weaknesses in my favor as room for improvement and as a point to say that Ivey and I had a good match. So, for instance, my resume was much stronger on the educational side than on the work experience. I could try to inflate my work experience in the hope that this would catch more attention to the unbalance between education and work experience. However, this would put me in the same batch as everyone else. My approach, therefore, was to present it not as a flaw but as the main reason why a practical approach, such as the case method, is precisely what I needed. Since Ivey is very well known for its business cases and the case method, this would be music to the ears. In short, not pretending you are perfect is always a good idea because we all know we all have weaknesses and improving points. The goal is not to hide a problem, but what are you doing about that.

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