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Early Career

The Real Value of the MBA

Deciding on the postgraduate programme can be a stressful process. During our professional careers we have an idea of what we want to accomplish – at least in the short term – but taking this important decision involves a several number of variables.

Let me share with you why I decided to do an MBA.

I have been working for the last nine years advising companies from different industries in Latin America on how to incorporate the sustainability perspective into their strategies and operations. With a major in economics, understanding social and environmental issues was not a problem.

But being a consultant not only involves to excel in your field of expertise, but also to put yourself in your clients’ shoes. If I was trying to help private organisations to perform in an ethical way, identifying the social, environmental and economic impacts generated by their operations and reducing risks related to those topics, I must speak their same language. What does this mean?

I strongly believe that the private sector is a key factor in the social and economic development but, as any other organisation or people, they have their own expectations: running sustainable companies involves creating value, for the company and its stakeholders. This is what led me to pursue an MBA.

I am in the first year of the programme and the knowledge that I acquire day by day is giving me experience and tools that I have never thought to gain. I am learning more about finance, strategy, leadership and, of course, I am discovering new things every day.

But one of the most valuable learnings is to work and achieve excellence with people from 30 countries around the world with different backgrounds – physicians, engineers, economists, communicators. All of them are very smart, practical, and competitive people who are pushing me constantly to challenge myself.

I am strengthening my knowledge on how to be profitable by generating positive impact across the value chain, and how different areas of a business function and coordinate their efforts to be more efficient to accomplish bigger and more ambitious goals.

However, studying an MBA is more than that.

It is about how to do business in real life, how to solve problems in a global market and how to engage with people.

Diana Méndez is a sustainability and business strategy specialist with experience in the Latin American market. Diana is a Forté Fellow and MBA candidate at Alliance Manchester Business School, Class 2018.

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