Chiara Spina Among the Best MBA Instructors Under 40 in the World

Since October 2020 she has been in Singapore, where she teaches on one of the campuses of the French business school  INSEAD scattered around the world. But she also taught at Bocconi, where she obtained her Ph.D. in Business administration and management. Chiara Spina, 35, Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise, has been named by the website dedicated to business education Poets & Quants among the best 40 teachers Under 40 in the world who teach in an MBA. An important recognition, which evaluates both the teaching qualities and a more general academic reputation, linked above all to the quality of research. But also the opinions of the students, who greatly appreciate her lessons.  

"One of the characteristics of the subjects I teach," explains Chiara Spina, "is that they are not supported by a large amount of research, there is little academic rigor. I must therefore find the right 'tools' to build bases, points of reference. That is a part of the field of research on which I still work with some Bocconi professors, in particular Alfonso Gambardella and Arnaldo Camuffo, that is, to find new tools in moments of great uncertainty."  She asks the students of her courses to immerse themselves in the mentality of an entrepreneur, possibly looking for unconventional cases: "This year, for example, we dealt with the case of Broadway, what it could do to innovate in the difficult situation determined by the pandemic. Always, of course, maintaining a scientific approach, which means that entrepreneurs form a clear theory about why a new business should exist and define clear hypotheses that are tested with rigorous experiments."  

Chiara Spina also taught students younger than those who are now in the classroom of the MBA, with a clearly different experience. Would she go back? "They are two very different 'jobs', both stimulating. I have not yet asked myself that question. Next year, for example, I will teach in a Master program. I'm interested in finding as many audiences as possible." Returning to the award, in addition to satisfaction, are there immediate benefits? "If you mean career advancement, I immediately say no. Those happen according to other criteria, such as the value of your search. But it is a quality mark, I immediately received proposals to teach in various courses, it is undoubtedly something that is appreciated. In the future who knows, maybe it could turn out to be one more good card to play."