Finance Without Borders: St. Petersburg — São Paulo. How 10 international teams built future-ready projects in two months

With warm thanks to our Brazilian partners at São Paulo State University (UNESP): Prof. Dr. Cleginaldo Pereira de Carvalho, his coordination team, and the UNESP students for their openness, discipline, and high standards throughout the project.

Two months moved in a steady rhythm: short weekly sprints, evening calls across three–four time zones, shared folders for working documents, and clear roadmaps with check-points. Teams aligned data into a common format, agreed on terminology, and recorded decisions — step by step building a single picture everyone could work from.

On 31 October 2025, this marathon reached its finale: ten mixed international teams defended their projects before a joint committee of faculty from HSE University – St. Petersburg and UNESP. The defenses featured everything from carefully argued analytical models to practical, actionable recommendations for real companies.

A challenge worth taking: when a “parallel course” becomes a joint project

The course Strategic Management and Business Environment launched simultaneously in St. Petersburg and São Paulo — and immediately became more than synchronized lectures. Its core was hands-on project work in international teams. Russia, Brazil, Europe, Latin America, Asia, Africa — the geography wasn’t a backdrop but a resource that directly strengthened the quality of decisions.

“This project showed that our program prepares not just specialists but global players who can read markets across cultural, regulatory, and technological contexts,” says Varvara V. Nazarova, Academic Director of the Master’s program in Finance at HSE University – St. Petersburg.

Over eight weeks, students moved from framing problems to full reports and presentations. Ten mixed teams worked through time-zone differences, study loads, and business-style deadlines. Regular coordination meetings, quick decisions in working chats, and clear role allocation helped hone not only technical expertise but also team, time, and quality management.

How it worked: methods, cases, tools

The course combined management frameworks (PESTEL, Porter, Balanced Scorecard), a case-study approach, and analytical techniques to test ideas and model scenarios. Teams blended qualitative work (interviews, benchmarking, strategy reviews) with quantitative assessments (scenario analysis, stress tests).

The project topics reflected today’s business agenda:

●    international best practices in management and finance;

●     ESG and measurable sustainability;

●     lean operations and finance;

●    modern fintech — from payments to risk analytics.

Over two months, teams examined real implementation cases: how companies actually combine new managerial practices (agile, distributed work, knowledge management) with Triple Bottom Line strategies, circular economy principles, and ESG indicators — right down to assessing financial viability and social impact. The project stream, cross-university coordination, and day-to-day organization were led by Boris Lodyagin and Olga Alexeeva, lecturers at HSE’s Department of Finance.

“A strong point was how clearly students showed what changes inside a company — from processes and KPIs to roles and timelines. The cases made it visible how managerial and sustainability practices turn into concrete steps,” notes Boris Lodiagin.
 “What matters is that arguments were tied to context — regulation, markets, resource constraints. The best projects explained why specific measures work here and now — and how success will be measured,” adds Olga Alekseeva, Department of Finance.

The finale: a showcase of academic rigor and practical focus

The 31 October defenses publicly demonstrated how academic rigor and practice-oriented learning reinforce one another. Each team presented a structured package: problem statement, method, data, results, risks, and an implementation roadmap.

With a joint HSE × UNESP committee, criteria were demanding and explanations had to be convincing across different academic cultures. The verdict was unanimous: the joint experience was highly successful.

“Working on an ESG case with colleagues from Brazil and Asia changed the way I see materiality — and how sustainability factors translate into financial metrics. It’s the best argument for international projects,” shares a student of the Finance program.

What’s next: scaling up and new tracks

We extend our sincere gratitude to Prof. Dr. Cleginaldo Pereira de Carvalho (São Paulo State University — UNESP/FEG, Assistant Professor, Production Department), his coordination team, and the UNESP students for exemplary collaboration. We also thank Viktor V. Krakovich for initiating the idea that brought strong teams together across the ocean.

“This was both productive and genuinely pleasant to run: clear agreements, respect for deadlines, focused discussions. You can see how joint work raises the quality of decisions when different professional schools meet in one team,” says Boris Lodiagin, Department of Finance.

Looking ahead, we plan to deepen collaboration with UNESP and broaden the format — from new case-based projects to research tracks with industry partners.

“We are eager to continue and open to different configurations — from joint courses to project schools and research seminars. This experience works — for students and for the academic community,” emphasizes Varvara V. Nazarova, Academic Director of the Master’s program in Finance.