Over the past 14 years, the Effective Problem Solving (REP) program has proven that undergraduate students from Insper can contribute in a real and strategic way with companies from different sectors. In the first semester edition of 2025, it was no different: 148 Business Administration students developed 28 projects in partnership with 17 organizations, delivering consistent solutions after months of teamwork, specialized mentoring, and application of structured analysis methods.

 

The program is part of the specific cycle of the undergraduate Business Administration program, a stage where students deepen competencies geared towards professional practice and prepare for internships and elective courses in the final cycle. By connecting classroom experiences with real market challenges, REP consolidates the development initiated in the foundational cycle and reinforces the school's commitment to the comprehensive education of students.

 

“Our undergraduate programs are divided into three major blocks: foundational cycle, specific cycle, and elective cycle at the end of the courses, regardless of whether the program is four or five years long. In the specific cycle, we begin to integrate more structured projects into the students' curriculum, with a significant workload in what we call extension activity. REP has this role in our Business Administration program," explained Priscila Claro, Dean of Undergraduate Education at Insper, during the closing ceremony of the most recent edition of the program, on June 5.

 

REP projects are developed throughout the semester within partner companies, with continuous follow-up from organization representatives and under the guidance of experienced market mentors, connected to Insper through the Paulo Cunha Innovation and Entrepreneurship Hub. Besides practical execution, students undergo a structured evaluation process that considers different dimensions of academic and professional performance. “We have five evaluation sets: an intermediate committee, the final committee, the project report, a written test, and an oral test. Each of these stages is connected to the learning competencies of the course, such as communication, problem-solving, and critical thinking,” explained Professor Fábio Tescari, responsible for the academic conduct of the program.

 

By connecting students with real challenges from companies and promoting the development of practical skills, REP also directly contributes to the professional insertion of participants. “We also aim to improve our students' qualifications so that they are well-positioned to compete for the best job opportunities in the labor market. We collect data and realize that in terms of professional insertion, our students are not only well-employed but also well-evaluated by their managers,” Priscila Claro concluded.

 

Since the program's inception in 2011, 206 mentors, 214 companies, and 3479 students have participated in REP, developing 713 innovation projects for partner institutions. Data from Insper's Career Center shows that 97% of managers affirm that Insper interns met or exceeded their expectations, and 97% of graduates are employed.

 

Most highly rated project

 

The winning work of this edition of REP was developed in partnership with Grupo Boticário and focused on increasing net revenue generated by the team of direct sales supervisors. Through a detailed analysis of the commercial process, the group identified flaws in result predictability and operational difficulties.

 

Three main courses of action were proposed: the redesign of the variable compensation policy, the reformulation of the app interface used by the supervisors with artificial intelligence support, and the implementation of a personalized recommendation system for resellers, inspired by platforms like Amazon and Netflix.

 

Based on impact estimates, the solutions presented indicated a potential increase of 18.6% in net revenue, validating the consistency of the diagnosis and the feasibility of the suggested interventions.

 

“We conducted different analyses to find 3 possible action plans to reach the company's goal related to net revenue. We managed to present a proposal for improvement in people management and in the platform used by sellers integrating artificial intelligence, as well as a suggestion in the team training processes,” said Rafaela Tomazela, one of the members of the winning group.

 

“It was a very good experience because it is quite different from what we have day-to-day at Insper. We were able to apply much of the knowledge acquired in the classroom to the company, maintaining direct contact with our professors and mentors, but also having the opportunity to be in a large market company already seeing the real challenges and analyzing data to detect problems,” said Maria Gabriela Lima, who also participated in the project.

 

For Ana Hübner, from Grupo Boticário, there is a very positive exchange with Insper students, who help to see some daily difficulties from a different perspective. “It's been several semesters since we have had this partnership with Insper in this course and it is great to receive these fresher ideas from the students. Presenting our problems so that they can bring new insights is always very valuable. And this semester once again the project yielded great results, giving us many cool things to implement after the proposal they presented to us.”

 

 

Green and Yellow Belt Plan certification

 

During the event, the five projects most highly rated by the committee of professors and mentors of REP were honored. In addition, certificates were awarded in the modalities Green Belt Plan and Yellow Belt Plan, which recognize the participants' capability to analyze and solve problems with methodological rigor and planning. The certifications are issued by Falconi Consultores de Resultado and Insper.

 

“For us at Falconi, having Insper as a partner is a source of pride. Being at this event with students and partners celebrating this moment is certifying that the purpose of Insper and Falconi to transform society, students, and companies through education and work of excellence, generates great results,” said Paulo Henrique Andrade, consultant at Falconi.

 

 

See the event photo gallery

 

 

REP – Top-Rated Projects

1st Place

Company: Grupo Boticário
Students: Julia Deborah Winik, Leonardo Kenzo Sakura, Luana Wernersbach Salume, Maria Gabriela Rodrigues Lima, and Rafaela Murta Tomazela
 Mentor: Daniel Wada

 

2nd Place

Company: Natura
Students: Beatriz Fernandes da Silva, Gabriel Walid Makdesi, Paulo Henrique Amorim Paulo, Pedro Henrique Fialho Machado, Simon De Pinho Passos, and Victor Llenderrozas Natale
 Mentor: Fabiane Almeida

 

3rd Place

Company: Ultracargo
Students: Arthur Henrique Magalhães Pires, Eduardo Alves De Souza, Eduardo Jacobussi Brant De Carvalho, Luisa Blanco Ventura, and Marcelo Sampaio Goes Grimaldi
 Mentor: Marcelo Machado

 

4th Place

Company: Symrise
Students: Beatriz Johann Santos, Caio Rodrigues Gomes, Camila De Lima Acetoze, Lucca Fonseca Dallan, and Rafaella Mizutori Gigueira
 Mentor: Ulisses Viveiros

 

5th Place

Company: EMS
Students: Giulia Carvalho Scripilliti, Isabella Stahl Pereira de Souza, João Pedro Calmon, João Pedro de Aguiar Lima, and Maria Eduarda Mesquita Netto de Faria
 Mentor: Gregori Boschi

 

Green Belt Plan Students

Eduardo Alves de Souza
Maria Gabriela Rodrigues Lima
 Rafaela Murta Tomazela

 

Yellow Belt Plan Students

Adriano Camara Marques Filho
 Alexandra Chimello Audi
 Amanda Carvalho da Silva
 Ana Paula Mendes Albuquerque Melo
 Antonio Carlos Menezes de Godoy Matos
 Arthur Henrique Magalhães Pires
 Beatriz Johann Santos
 Breno de Siqueira Cavalcanti
 Caio Rodrigues Gomes
 Camila de Lima Acetoze
 Clara Calixto Bacciotti Pinheiro
 Daniel Casagrande Belino
 Enrico Simões Pietro
 Felipe Dória Assumpção
 Felipe Maceira
 Fernando Kalaidjian
 Gabriel Enes Barroso Rufino
 Gabriel Walid Makdesi
 Gabriela Brant Soares de Melo
 Giovanna Belardinelli Benjamin
 Isabella Tacach Dias Chohfi
 Isadora Pithon Batista Dantas Alves
 João Pedro Calzavara Navarro
 João Pedro Gelas Scarabotolo
 João Pedro Rossetto Branco
 Lais Laudisio Bonilha
 Laura Arana Barbosa
 Letizia Nunes Morábito
 Luana Wernersbach Salume
 Lucas Ribeiro Buzato
 Lucca Fonseca Dallan
 Luisa Blanco Ventura
 Luiz Enrique Massis Peroba Barbosa
 Marcela Cimerman Lafer
 Marcos Rocha Neves
 Maria Eduarda Bortolini Missiatto
 Maria Eduarda Pupo Krieger
 Maria Fernanda Carvalho Fonseca
 Matheus Barbosa Silva
 Paulo Henrique Amorim Paulo
 Pedro Henrique Fialho Machado
 Pedro Ribeiro Berlowitz
 Rafaela Krutman Ghelman
 Rodolfo Freire Figueiredo
 Rodrigo Williams Manini Kairalla
 Sofia Helena Resende da Ponte
 Thiago Pinheiro da Rocha Campos
 Victor Llenderrozas Natale

 

Participating companies

Alupar
Best Clima
Edenred
Eztec
EMS
Grupo Boticário
Institute for Technological Research (IPT)
Ipiranga
Mercedes-Benz
Natura
Rockwell Automation
Saint-Gobain
SBA
Symrise
Syngenta
Tegra Incorporadora
Ultracargo