Jorg Milles

What influenced me to choose Stirling Management School to study a MBA programme?

During the last years Scotland became one of my favourite countries for traveling. So when the chance for a sabbatical year abroad came up, Scotland was my preferred choice. I did choose the University of Stirling because it is situated in the centre of Scotland and has a beautiful campus. At the same time Edinburgh and Glasgow are easy to reach. The MBA programme at Stirling Management School gave me the opportunity to gather state of the art business knowledge in various fields which I could apply in a really international environment.

What has the MBA programme done for me since graduating?

At first, the international environment in the MBA programme and in my student accommodation enabled me to realise that things are seen in different ways depending on the background and the country of origin of people. So there is not necessarily just one solution to a problem, quite the contrary there will be different points of view about a problem and more than just one suitable solution to it. So when I have to face a new problem or challenge today I try to think in which way the situation could be solved from people with another background than me and whether or not these other solutions could be favourable compared to my solution. In the end this enables me to come to better solutions.

At second, I am now better prepared to deal with the on-going change processes in the modern business world. The MBA helped me to look into the theories related to Change Management and how to implement them into practice. I became more aware of the reasons why people might be in favour of or might be against change processes and even more important what can be done so people do not become resistant to change processes in the first place. Overall, the gathered knowledge in this area helps me to handle other people and myself during change processes in a better way. As a result one can disarm potential critical situations in change processes before they even get to the surface.

Finally, the MBA programme raised my awareness of how sustainable the success of an industry or a company is. Some industries and companies are growing whereas others do not. And there will be reasons for that. The MBA helped me to analyse the business models of companies in order to find out whether or not these business models can be sustainable in the long run. This gathered knowledge helps with choosing your business partners and especially your next employer.