Videos

Dr. Jonathan Muir, Director of Studies in conversation with MBA graduate Phyllis Chan

Background / Time Management and the part-time MBA

Background / Bradford's Reputation

Who are its Alumni?

Yaning Ma has worked in a bank as a cashier, in trading companies as a sales department manager, and then as a professional PR & event manager and business consultant & developer to manage business promotions, marketing and investment projects. She established her own small business in consulting and event management in 2005 and sold the business to a Hong Kong event management company in 2008. Her successful projects include musical promotions, car racing events, concert sponsorships and international exhibition planning. More recently she is working as a freelancer in PR and media. She gained her MBA education from University of Bradford, School of Management in the year of 2002-2003.

Joby Matthew has over 14 years of experience in Secure Identification, Software solutions and IT Training industries. He has a keen interest in International Business, Strategy and Business Economics. He is the Regional Sales Manager for HID Global. He is responsible for growing HID eGovernment business across Middle East, Africa and India; with a strong focus on Citizen Identification and security projects such as ePassport and eNID consultancy as well as implementation. He has in depth understanding of Smart card, RFID technologies and their applications. Joby has a BSc in Physics and an MBA from University of Bradford.

Chuks Ofor is the Country Manager for Gateway Communications Kenya part of Gateway Communications Group of companies, a leading supplier of telecommunications services in Africa with head office in London. He is an expert in start-up operations and organizational culture change management with a vast technical background in network integration. A native-born Nigerian, with an Engineering degree from the University of Nigeria, Chuks received his MBA from the Bradford University School of Management in 2007. With over 13 years cognate experience in the ICT space, Chuks believes in keeping life simple, likes travelling and spending quality time with the family.

Andrew Dalziel Marketing Director for the fashion industry vertical at the US headquartered Lawson Software. Based in the UK, Andrew is responsible for the global marketing strategy, addressable market definition, brand awareness and campaign content for the apparel, footwear, home textiles and fashion accessories sectors. Prior to this Andrew was Senior Product Manager for Lawson's M3 Supply Chain Planning and M3 Manufacturing applications. He was responsible for developing business cases, capturing new business requirements from industry and taking Lawson M3 Supply Chain Planning and Manufacturing applications to market. Before Lawson and Intentia joined forces in 2006, Andrew held various roles at Intentia. Andrew joined Intentia in 1998 and held several senior positions in Intentia North Western Europe, Intentia Global Operations and Intentia R&D Denmark. These include Solution Manager, global Virtual Team Leader for Supply Chain Management and Marketing Manager. Prior to this, Andrew worked as International Marketing Manager for PMSIM Systems A/S, an independent leading Danish Software Company that specialized in production planning solutions, which was consequently acquired by Intentia Research & Development in May 1998. A veteran in the industry with over 15 years of experience in technology companies and 9 years expertise in supply chain planning, Andrew presents regularly at events and has had a number of articles published in European and US trade magazines. He has extensive experience working with companies in the fashion and food & beverage and general manufacturing sectors. He started his career at Nissan (Motor) Manufacturing UK Ltd. Andrew holds an MBA (Distinction) from Bradford School of Management and a Masters degree in Computer Aided Engineering Design from the Strathclyde University in Glasgow, Scotland. He also hold a Bachelors of Science (Hons) specializing in Engineering Technology from the Robert Gordon's Institute of Technology in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Karsten Naylor has been a Quality Assurance Manager for 15 years, working within retail and mail order Buying departments. He has extensive knowledge of international production, product requirements and trading legislation. He currently works with Poundworld Retail Ltd, a leading fixed price discount retailer, with responsibility for Compliance, Quality, HR, Insurance and Health & Safety. He lives in Leeds with his wife and 2 young boys. Karsten studied full-time and gained his MBA from the School of Management in 2008.

Helen Jackson graduated at the School of Management in 2001 having completed a BSc Hons in Business and Management which secured her a position on BUPA's graduate programme, specialising in Human Resources (HR). This has remained her area of expertise and Helen has since undertaken a variety of roles ranging from HR Manager at Tesco through to Head of HR at CT, a national Charity. Helen has since returned to Bradford to complete the Exec PT MBA, graduating in 2007. She now works as HR Business Partner for Everest Limited providing support in organisational development, change management, employee engagement, employee development, employee relations and employee reward.

Chun-Huei (Elaine) Chang has worked for adidas Taiwan as a professional PR executive. After her MBA qualification, she has worked for MAMAS & PAPAS UK. During the period of MAMAS & PAPAS UK, she was responsible for interiors and wood categories as a role of product marketing. Since she came back to Taiwan in 2008, she was an assistant Advertising & Promotion manager at OSIM Taiwan. At the moment, she is working in petrochemical industry as marketing planning for Taiwan market. She gained her MBA education from University of Bradford, School of Management in the year of 2006-2007

Dheeraj Vij is a finance manager for one of the biggest telecom companies headquartered in London. Based out of India, he is responsible for managing bid financials for the sales and business development team by providing a professional business cases. Prior to this he has worked as an auditor with one of the Big 4 consulting and audit firms and was finance manager with a major IT out-sourcing firm based out of India. He has an enormous experience in business & corporate planning, business risk assessment, financial analysis, internal & external audits and commercial finance. His industry experience ranges from audit, consulting to IT and telecom sectors. He has experience of setting up and starting operations in finance, IT and sourcing along with successful transitioning different corporate functions. He has travelled within Europe and Asia Pacific region for work and has gained experience of working across global teams. He loves challenges at work, likes travelling, watching cricket and spending time with family. He is married and blessed with a son. Dheeraj graduated in Commerce, is a qualified Chartered Accountant and was awarded his MBA from Bradford University School of Management in 2004.

My name is Tom van Breda, 31 years old and Dutch National. Since my graduation as Civil Engineer (BSc) in the Netherlands in 1999 I have been working overseas for BAM International, a Dutch based construction company, in various positions on major civil construction projects in Brazil, Singapore, Ghana, Indonesia and UAE. I am currently working from our subsidiary office in Jakarta, Indonesia as the Area Engineering Manager for Asia Pacific. I live together with my wife who is a Singaporean national, our children; a daughter of 7 and a son of 6, who have accompanied me on most of our overseas journeys. To increase my management competencies and to broaden my perspectives I have completed my MBA degree (on distance learning) with the University of Bradford in July 2008.

The flexibility to migrate from a specialist, technical background to a general commercial management role is one of the advantages experienced by James Sykes, aged 42, as a result of taking the Bradford MBA. A former geologist, James - who studied on the full-time MBA programme - is now Marketing Director of a portfolio of spirits brands in the Asia Pacific Region. He devises market strategies and activation programmes for more than 20 brands across 15 markets, and employs marketing agencies, research agencies, product development partners and distribution and sales companies as third parties to execute the company's strategies. "I have gained an all round understanding of the way any business works. You come out of the MBA able to talk a good game with anyone, and, if you're smart enough, able to act on what you've learned," said James. "I chose Bradford because of the Northern 'spade is a spade' and sleeves rolled up mentality. There is a lot of criticism that an MBA is too far removed from the coal face. Whether or not this is the case, a location in the heart of the world's first industrial revolution is difficult to criticise on this front. It also suits my style, being a Northerner by birth and nature." James has experienced a number of career highlights since completing his Bradford MBA including making a TV commercial for Ford in the UK which featured Steve McQueen in footage of the Bullet movie; receiving an award for vision and insight as a result of re-engineering the route to market for the Australian business in 2007; and gaining the Best Marketed Spirit in Australia award for Jim Beam Bourbon in 2006 and 2007. "I would say to anyone thinking of doing an MBA that, while it's a classroom learning experience, the most rewarding aspect for me was the college of friends and contacts and shared experiences. Think of it like working amongst the brightest and most diverse colleagues you will ever get to work with, and value that experience accordingly," James added.

An understanding of research methodology and good critical thinking are just a couple of the many benefits that Chief Executive of Emerald Group Publishing, John Peters, gained from his full-time MBA at Bradford which he studied from 1982 to 1983. Emerald Group Publishing is a £25m turnover, 200-person business, based near Bradford, which is the world's leading specialist publisher of business and management research. MBA students in most of the world's business schools are some of the business's most important consumers. "I had graduated with a BA Hons in English language and literature, which I loved, but without much idea as to what I was looking to do longer-term. I spent a short while as a trainee journalist for an agency, but discovered it wasn't really as glamorous as I had hoped! I got a fill-in job in a small pharmaceutical firm, initially on the manufacturing floor, but I was soon asked to work in the office on some sales analysis and administration support work, and found that I was enjoying what I was learning about business. I figured that I was bright enough to be a success in the business world but that I knew little about what made it tick. Learning on the job only takes you so far - there comes a time when you need to broaden and generalise," John, aged 51, explained of his decision to take an MBA. "I grew up in Leeds and I had resettled back there after a few years in London and East Anglia, so Bradford was a familiar place for me. The most important thing for me in choosing the School of Management to take my MBA was that I knew one of the staff there, so I could take a personal recommendation. Also, I did some homework about Bradford's reputation and standing, as one of the first wave of British business schools. "I gained lots of benefits from studying the programme. I met some great people, and I learned a lot. Management is an interesting discipline, because much of it is based on common sense, but if you can understand some of the underpinning theories about why things work, then you can plan to adapt to situations arising, not just react to things as they do. As someone said - there's nothing as practical as a good theory. "As a practitioner, I increasingly find that good practice is very close to 'textbook' theory. The basics I learned about marketing, strategy, finance, quality management and so on during my MBA, have stayed with me as a foundation and have been a really good place to build from. I think the most important things you can get from a good MBA like Bradford's are an understanding of research methodology, and good critical thinking. That's been really helpful. "To potential MBA students I would say if you are reasonably bright, you will cope with the intellectual demands. But the MBA packs a lot into a small space, so there's a great deal of reading, writing and thinking to get through. If you're coming in with experience, it's important to keep an open mind and be prepared to learn how to learn. Learning is a skill that people often lose as they gain experience at the top of organisations. You are never too old - or too important - to learn!" John asserted.

A valuable network of contacts was one of benefits of the Bradford MBA for self-employed turnaround director Liz Walker who works with a number of charities to help them address their problems. "The network has given me international experience - all my work has always come about from connections," said Liz, aged 45, who is also a visiting lecturer in Moscow. "I decided to follow a full-time MBA as I had already embarked upon a distance-learning programme when I was made redundant. I wanted to increase my business skills and understanding. I was already a chartered accountant but studying for the MBA gave me confidence and a broader business understanding. "Bradford was the best out of the ones I applied to - the others being Warwick and Cranfield - and I liked the operational focus at the School of Management. "Since gaining my MBA qualification, I was chairman of the Association of MBAs (AMBA) for four years, became Freeman of the City of London, and another highlight has been the international perspectives I have gained through going to Moscow. "I provide networking sessions for MBA students at Bradford and regularly correspond with them by email."

Regional Chief Executive of Vodafone, Paul Donovan, feels his Bradford MBA has given him a great appreciation of every aspect of running a company. Paul, aged 49, is a member of Vodafone's Group Executive Committee, which is responsible for all of the company's operations and investments outside Western Europe. He manages the company's subsidiaries in India, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, Egypt, Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic, as well as overseeing investments in China Mobile, Verizon Wireless in the USA, and Vodacom in South Africa. "I decided to take a full-time MBA because my undergraduate degree was in Scandinavian Studies and I wanted a qualification which could help accelerate my business career," Paul explained. "I chose Bradford because the course could be tailored to my own needs, and I wanted to specialise in finance and business policy to build on my functional experience which had been primarily in marketing and sales. "The programme gave me a much broader appreciation of all aspects of running a business, plus the opportunity to gain many different types of experience, including international. "The sponsorship I achieved for my dissertation - which I completed as part of an internship with Coca Cola and Schweppes Beverages - actually led to my first job post-MBA, as Trade Marketing Controller at the company. "After that, I became Marketing Director, UK and Ireland, for Apple Computer, before being appointed Head of Business Marketing then Director of On-Line Services at BT. I went on to become Commercial Director for One2One, then Chief Commercial Officer for Optus Communications, Australia. I then joined Vodafone and was a UK Commercial Director, then CEO for Vodafone Ireland, after which I was Director of Global Business Transformation before taking up my current role. "My MBA has provided an excellent foundation for general management, and many of the tools and conceptual frameworks employed during case studies have proved useful and relevant over the years. I have fulfilled a number of international assignments which have drawn directly on experiences from my time at Bradford. "My current role is very exciting, covering many of the world's most rapidly developing economies and in a sector which is undergoing fundamental change. "For anyone considering studying for an MBA I would say that doing an MBA is a massive investment, both financially and in terms of time, so be really sure of exactly why you are doing it. If you have been successful in your career and your experience to date has been of high quality, then you will most likely make a success of the MBA. If not, then you won't get the payback which others may achieve - it may sound harsh, but it's true."

Completing an MBA at Bradford School of Management enabled Paul Miller to change his career path from sales to marketing. Paul, aged 37, who took a part-time evening MBA programme, is now Marketing Manager for BP lubricants UK and Ireland. This includes managing the whole marketing mix for the brands such as the market leader Castrol, as well as Duckams and BP in the automotive lubricants category. He has a team of 13 marketing professionals covering a wide range of disciplines and a solid agency roster. "I had reached a ceiling in my sales career and wanted to explore other disciplines. I knew trying to switch without an appropriate qualification would probably mean going backwards in career and salary terms," Paul explained of his decision to take an MBA. "I chose Bradford because of its reputation and accreditation, its international recognition as well as the position in various surveys such as The Times and AMBA. It was also close to home and I wanted to meet other students face-to-face, not only in an online community. "The programme has given me an insight into a lot of different areas, which helped me understand the complex interactions in a business and how to align them to create a better and more synergistic output - such as how sales and marketing can interact better with manufacturing and logistics. "The MBA has allowed me to manage a career change to move into marketing at BP lubricants and accelerated my progression through the company in seven years to a senior marketing position. As a result, this has had significant financial benefits for me. I have also recently become a Fellow of the CIM. "I would advise students taking an MBA to get to know your colleagues in your cohort. I am still in contact with some of the people I met on my two-year course and consider them to be good friends as well as occasional advisors or sounding boards. Also, I learnt as much from my colleagues as I did from my tutors. I would also advise students to study topics that they are not so strong on. I had a strong sales career before doing my MBA, but did not take any of the sales-based modules instead concentrating on finance, economics, operations and marketing which have proven far more valuable even if it made the exams a little tougher. Finally, challenge the theory and the professors... some of my strongest memories and learning points were from challenging and debating what was said during lectures or tutorials or joining in on others debates. Get involved. Just because it is in the text book does not make it fact," Paul concluded.

Systems and Projects Manager at the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council (BMDC), Atif Mahmood, believes that the Bradford MBA delivers life-long benefits. Atif, aged 37, has seen his career advance impressively since he completed his Executive Part-Time programme and his role now involves planning, identifying, developing, maintaining and supporting IT systems at BMDC. "Within three months of gaining my MBA in July 2003, I was offered various management roles," Atif commented. "The ability to develop my career the way I wanted in today's climate made the programme very attractive to me. If you want an experience that will truly benefit you throughout the rest of your life, the Bradford MBA has to be the natural choice. It is not only an educational platform, you also get to meet a superb diversity of people from all walks of life. Networking, communication and building relationships are a gift from the MBA that can not be quantified. Bradford graduates are able to tackle anything that life may throw at them with confidence. "I have continued to keep in contact with the School of Management since my MBA and regularly attend lectures. I have also talked to new students at induction times into the Executive MBA programme and supported the alumni events by introducing guest speakers and attending. I continue to use the support services that are offered by the careers and alumni services and hope to continue to do so."

Gaining a Bradford MBA allowed Manoj Kumar, aged 36, to join a reputable European engineering consulting company. Manoj is responsible for expanding the firm's operations in the Middle East, where he is presently based, and for winning new engineering contracts. "I believe my role became possible because of my MBA from a UK university which is well regarded among EU companies," Manoj commented. "I decided to do an MBA because I felt the need to have a professional marketing degree to give me the confidence to handle marketing challenges further on in my career. "I analysed various universities in the UK for doing my marketing degree and, though I was fortunate enough to gain admission to a few other UK universities, I decided to join Bradford due to the well-structured curriculum - especially suited for marketing - as well as the well qualified and experienced faculty, the reasonable fees, plus the city itself which is cross-cultural and comparatively cheap. "I gained an exposure to an international level of thinking when it comes to applying marketing tools in the corporate world, made a lot of good friends from across the globe and learned about new cultures and social dynamics. "Subsequently, the MBA made me think outside the box when it comes to teamwork and it helped me improve my presentation and communication skills. "I can say that Bradford is a good place to gain quality knowledge at a reasonable price. Potential students would definitely enjoy the local culture and cuisine, especially if they are from South Asia."

Completing an MBA at Bradford School of Management has enabled Patty Aretuo, aged 34, to secure a senior role in a global company and experience a 100 per cent increase in salary over a period of two years. "I chose to do an MBA because these days it is not enough to have a degree. The job market has become more global in recent years and it is compulsory to continue studying if you want to be competitive and reach high professional positions. This is not only true of Europe and North America, but South America as well," said Patty who completed a full-time MBA. "Secondly, I wanted to gain a deeper knowledge of some areas that I had not studied before - such as marketing and HR. The MBA makes you think in business terms and to integrate issues such as finance, marketing, strategy, and HR among others. Finally, I wanted to get a new life experience - and I sure did! Apart from living in the UK, a country that I like very much, I gained friends from all over the world who I am still in touch with and meet during the holidays. "I liked the programme at Bradford and the idea that I could tailor it to my own interests. It is well positioned in the FT rankings, and the city is quite cheap to live in compared with others, such as London, in the UK. "Prior to taking the MBA I worked in taxes in Deloitte Uruguay where, after I graduated, I spent a year working in consulting. However, with consulting you analyse an issue or part of a company, and I realised I wanted a different type of job. I am now the Financial and Personnel Administration Manager of Andritz Uruguay SA, a worldwide company that provides technology and services mainly to the pulp and paper industry. "In this role, I can contribute ideas to the whole of the company. The MBA not only helped me gain this job but also to increase my skills. Andritz Uruguay is a new company in Uruguay so my knowledge from the MBA contributed to think strategically, develop procedures, systems of information, budgeting, cash analysis, forecasts and looking at the company overall. "I would highly recommend that potential MBA students gain the most they can from both lecturers and other students. We can always learn from each other. Enjoy it and try to think how you can apply what you are learning to your job. In particular, I would recommend the career workshop delivered by Lorraine Lucas. "An MBA is not only for learning about subjects, it is also important to develop self-knowledge and explore what you want to do, as well as identifying strengths and weaknesses - you can work on the last to convert them into the first. I would advise you to identify your skills and learn how to sell yourself in the market. Also, network - you never know what opportunities you can find."

The Bradford full-time MBA enabled Dr Jonathan Betts, who came from a scientific background, to gain an excellent grounding and accelerated learning in all areas of business. Jonathan, aged 43, comes originally from London but was resident in the United States at the time of applying for the MBA. He chose Bradford due to its international standing and its value for money. "I initially trained and worked as a scientist and became increasingly interested in the business side of biotechnology. The MBA training provided me with the grounding to move from research into business," explained Jonathan, who graduated in 1997. He is now Sales and Marketing Director for Leeds-based Science Warehouse, which is a leading provider of Web-based procurement and catalogue solutions, enabling buyers and sellers to connect Online and trade. The business works with some of the world's leading organisations to deliver savings, control and visibility in the supply chain. "I think the MBA provides a solid under-pinning to my current approach to analysis and decision-making. For example, currently, we are developing our growth strategy within the business. This draws on some of the tools learned at MBA level for product development and market development. I have also used the learning as the basis for developing my own market segmentation models that we use in the business based around customer groups," said Jonathan. "I have worked on many business and marketing plans over the years and without the framework provided by my MBA training would have struggled with a lot of this. "The MBA is an excellent way of not only building knowledge and skills but of benchmarking your ability and providing you with the confidence and independence to go out there and try anything. "Another benefit is the strong network of bright, like-minded individuals I have around the world. After a lapse of 12 years, I recently reconnected with a number of them via Linkedin, which was fabulous. There was an instant bond which people want to maintain. "I feel the Bradford MBA affords a level of respect in business but it is important to recognise it as a springboard rather than giving you any rights - you still have to work hard to build the respect of your team and never stop learning. Certainly in 96/97 the MBA course was very much structured around delivering graduates into a blue-chip or consulting environment. However, it has stood me in good stead in the entrepreneurial start-up environment," Jonathan added.