High Praise
We hear how studying an MBA advanced the careers of two previous AMBS students.
Alumni Omobola Omofaiye and Taner Caglar sing the praises of their respective MBA studies at AMBS.
Omobola Omofaiye
Omobola Omofaiye was working in her home country of Nigeria when she decided she wanted to study an MBA.Originally trained as an electrical engineer, she worked in several sales roles at Schneider Electric and other companies before becoming the country head for West and Central Africa at Somfy, a leading specialist in connected home equipment.
While in this role Omobola continued the pursuit of an MBA to gain more international exposure. Though she had created an extremely successful career so far, her only experience was working within the West and Central African context and she wanted a more internationally focused job role.
As she explains: "I was keen on gaining international exposure and global visibility to enable me to assume leadership roles with multinationals and work seamlessly with diverse, multicultural and cross functional teams across the world. Career advancement was another key driver. I wanted to be well-equipped with the right skills and knowledge for management and leadership roles, and also move up the corporate ladder."
Global MBA
Omobola was particularly attracted to the potential for personal development on the Global Part-time MBA at AMBS, as well as the diversity of the programme.
"AMBS attracts diverse students from various countries across the world and the global exposure provides students with the opportunity to collaborate with people from different cultural backgrounds. The programme also offers a robust and rigorous curriculum that extensively covers crucial aspects of business and management."
The Global Part-time MBA is spread across a two-year period, taught both in-person and online, a format that suited Omobola’s career goals. “I chose this study option because of the flexibility it offers in terms of being able to continue to work and study to earn a degree, with the opportunity to apply acquired skills and new learnings to enhance my career advancement.”
For many part-time MBA students like Omobola, the ability to work whilst also studying is highly beneficial as it allows candidates to directly implement what they learn into their roles.
Next career move
After completing the programme in 2019 Omobola moved to a global position at Arnergy, a Nigerian-based international solar power company, where she is now the Chief Commercial Officer.
As part of her role Omobola has led the way in setting up a business presence in different cities, as well as entering new geographical markets and navigating business in other countries. The international focus of the Global MBA specifically helped her hone the skills she needed for such a role. Indeed, she believes the programme is a key reason why she is now able to manage cross-functional teams across different geographies.
She adds that the programme also helped her develop a number of other key skills, such as original thinking and problem-solving, leadership skills and knowing how to strategically grow a high performing team. It also taught me how to confidently network as a business leader, and gain a strong understanding of managing crucial aspects of a business, growing top and bottom line sustainably.
The MBA taught me how to confidently network as a business leader, and gain a strong understanding of managing crucial aspects of a business, growing top and bottom line sustainably.
Advice
Omobola says it is important to truly recognise the challenge that a part-time MBA can be before taking it on.
“Be prepared to navigate challenges and remain focused. Pursuing a part-time MBA programme while managing other commitments and juggling balls can be demanding. Prioritise, overcome time obstacles and be ready to adapt to a demanding schedule," she says.
MBA
Change career, relocate or secure a more challenging role with the Manchester MBA.
Taner Caglar
Taner Caglar began his career in his home country of Turkey in the Industrial Services and Solutions division at Siemens, where he worked in sales and marketing, and also as an engineer and manager.
He did initially look at studying for an MBA at home but found that the courses on offer didn't fit around his busy work schedule, and parked the idea.
However, after moving to the UK with Siemens he revisited the idea of continuing his studies. "After a few years away from the academic arena I wanted to push myself to learn again and started to look into UK options for an MBA. The good reputation of British universities really encouraged me because I wanted an MBA with a global outlook from an internationally recognised school."
Taner says the Manchester Global Executive MBA at AMBS offered "a perfect balance of remote and in person meetings" and he also liked the fact that the university had global centres which allowed him to engage with different cultures. "I wanted to be sure that my learning was imbued with diversity and was a multicultural experience, especially given how multicultural my work was." He would go on to complete workshops both at AMBS and at The University of Manchester Southeast Asia Centre in Singapore.
Challenges
He says one of the challenges of the MBA was overcoming different time zones when working on group projects, but found that the benefits of learning from people with different cultural experiences more than made up for a few early mornings or late-night meetings.
"Despite two years of hard work with late nights, weekends, a busy job, and a pandemic, the MBA was an excellent chance to get to know and network with an outstanding group of Global MBA fellows, professors, and senior lecturers worldwide."
Academic work and assignments on top of an already busy work schedule was also a serious challenge, but the Executive MBA pushed Taner, rather than reducing his ability to do his job.
"When you learn something new, it can give you a sense of accomplishment and boost your confidence. It can also make you feel more knowledgeable and capable, which in turn can lead to better decision-making and problem-solving skills. I really enjoyed learning something new in each session of the MBA. I was also immediately able to utilise what I had learnt in the MBA in my work."
Mentoring
Taner says he found the mentoring aspects of his MBA particularly rewarding, and that he has gone on to mentor others, for instance presenting on the Global Executive MBA course with his innovation team at Siemens.
Taner cannot speak more highly of his MBA. "I've genuinely loved the journey and gained valuable insights into strategic management, finance and senior leadership, while the feeling of learning something new with academics was truly unmatched and can leave you with a sense of fulfilment and satisfaction that is hard to replicate through other means."
The MBA has also helped him in many aspects of his current role as Global Head of Product Portfolio Management and Customer Services at Siemens.
"As someone who has always been fascinated by innovation, I've come to realise that true creativity requires a foundation of academic insights.
Without a solid understanding of the foundational concepts and theories in a given field, it's difficult to push the boundaries and come up with truly innovative ideas."
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