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Thriving Economy Sparks Need for Executive Leaders
The Russian economy is sizzling, and corporations continue to find Russia
an inviting place to do business. But executive leaders are at a premium.
With this in mind, the Robinson College and Moscow State University have
launched a new Executive Leaders program, a comprehensive approach
that combines executive education with academic credentials, including the
first on-site Executive MBA offered by an American school in Russia. In this
special section, State of Business details the new program and looks at the
challenges and opportunities resulting from Russia’s economic revival.
Terrence Burns (MBA ’89) knows Russia well.
He lived there in 1992, and now as president
of Helios Partners, an Atlanta-based sports
marketing and sponsorship firm, Burns still makes
the 5,380-mile trek to Moscow’s Sheremetyevo
International Airport on a regular basis.
A former Delta Air Lines employee, he held
several international sales positions, including
one in Moscow. Based on his success in
managing the airline’s sponsorship of the Atlanta
1996 Olympic Games, Burns was recruited
by the International Olympic Committee
(IOC) in 1996 to assist in the creation of
Meridian Management, SA – the IOC’s
marketing agency. That led to the founding
of Helios Partners, a sports marketing firm
that assists cities and corporate clients with
sponsorships and strategic marketing and
positioning. He has worked with a variety
of cities on their Olympic bids, including
Moscow; Beijing, host of this year’s Olympic
Games; Vancouver; and Sochi, Russia, which
will be the site of the 2014 Winter Games.
 It is Russia, however, that Burns finds particularly
fascinating. After suffering through the recession
of 1998 resulting from the decline in world
commodity prices, Russia has rebounded in
a big way. Driven by such factors as the rise
in oil prices, greater political stability, and
increased foreign investment, the country
has recorded an average GDP gain of 7
percent since 2003. “It’s like Washington,
D.C., and New York City combined on steroids,”
said Burns, who attended Robinson College’s
Flex MBA Program while working at Delta.
“Russia has condensed 150 years of commercial
development into 10. Muscovites today are
very brand conscious. There is considerable
wealth and a growing middle class (the
Economics Ministry of Russia says that by
2020, more than half of Russia’s population
will be considered middle class as opposed
to 21 percent today).”
But there are issues as well. Unlike the
United States, with great cities and talent
spread throughout, Russia’s centers of economic
activity are primarily two – Moscow
and St. Petersburg – and Moscow is first by
a large margin.
The lack of a dispersion of wealth is one of
the obstacles to long-term prosperity in Russia.
According to Burns, “Russia does not yet have
the roads and warehousing necessary for
commercial enterprises to flourish in rural areas.”
Continued on next page
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