Prospects Postgrad UK 2007/2008 - (Page 107) SPONSORED BY www.prospects.ac.uk/PostgradUK BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT/MBA 107 A BUSINESS DECISION Aamira Ansari studied a Bachelors of Commerce at Hailey College, Punjab University, Lahore. She is now enrolled on Lancaster University’s Master of Business Administration (MBA). When I completed my first degree, I’d planned to work for a brief period to experience the corporate culture in the country before taking up an MBA. I had always been clear that I wanted to undertake a Masters programme in the field of Business Administration and knew that exposure to the practical side of this field would prove invaluable when I went back to university. challenge and be challenged by minds that would make my own sharper. I wanted to have the opportunity to interact with people from different nationalities, races, cultures and religions. I felt that such an experience would allow me to get a global perspective and help me in achieving my leadership, business and personal goals. PUTTING THEORY INTO PRACTICE Since my school days I had a natural interest in making money and was always getting involved in different kinds of business ventures. I had also hoped to set up my own business and therefore decided to pursue a degree in commerce, as I felt that academic knowledge of the various elements of this field would be extremely useful for my future plans. A THIRST FOR KNOWLEDGE My plan to work only for a short time got side-tracked, however, as I progressed steadily from position to position in different organisations. But in 2003, in my continued efforts to improve myself and to complete my education, I enrolled in (and completed) an executive Masters course in Business Administration at the University of Punjab. As an Assistant Brand Manager for a multinational organisation I still felt I needed to gain more confidence in my abilities and a better understanding of my skills, and so decided to pursue an MBA at Lancaster University’s Management School for practical management skills, career DOING BUSINESS advancement and business contacts. At Lancaster, in addition to the theoretical learning, the INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS three consultancy projects offered during the 12-month In my school years I had been educated at missionary programme makes it unique. In addition to working in institutions based on the British system of education. This teams with ample room to demonstrate performance, the naturally made me predisposed towards studying in entrepreneurship and consultancy challenges gives students England. In addition to this, the high level of interest and the opportunity to experience the realism of making support by the British government in the Pakistani business decisions as well as learning about the dynamics of educational sector, the similarities between our systems and different industries. the high value attached to qualifications obtained from the Because of the comprehensiveness of the Lancaster United Kingdom are other reasons why studying in Britain MBA programme, I feel that I can not only pursue a career is appealing to Pakistanis. in consulting or working for a multinational organisation I was seeking a programme that offered theoretical but also, if I wanted to, I could set up my own business. knowledge as well as the opportunity of applying classroom The Lancaster MBA has enabled me to interact and learning to diverse and challenging real life business issues. integrate with brilliant people from different nationalities, I wanted a programme that would help me identify what I cultures and religions. I could never have imagined how could learn from practice and what I could improve as a many talented and passionate people I would meet or how much I would learn from my class mates. result of understanding the theory. I was looking to I believe that the Lancaster MBA offers all of the above and more. The core subjects provide a foundation in business essentials while electives and consultancy projects help students develop special areas of interest. The Lancaster MBA programme offers both depth and breadth, which professionals like myself, seek in order to enhance their skills. The MBA programme at the University of Punjab was purely theoretical and gave me a good foundation in business essentials, but it did not provide any opportunity of putting knowledge into practice. When I began the MBA at Lancaster I had over nine years of work experience and was familiar with business essentials. The course, with its strong practical approach would help me to utilise MBA concepts and tools to resolve real life business problems. http://www.prospects.ac.uk/PostgradUK
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.