Having graduated in Business Administration, with main expertise in Marketing and Tourism Management, at the University of Lueneburg, I worked in the tourism industry for several years where I gained extensive business experience.
I then searched for a post graduate management program which could offer me the opportunity to further myself both on a private and professional level.
During my university studies, I had set myself the goal to first gain practical experience and did several international internships which were certainly beneficial. However, I soon noticed that it was hardly possible to directly implement the knowledge and skills acquired at university into daily business situations to the extent I was aiming.
Most of the MBA-programs that I had looked at were more or less alike, except for their rankings in the newspapers. Eventually I heard of the Zurich Elite Business School and its International Management Program which is supposed to be the most practice-oriented management program worldwide. It offers an innovative and interesting concept on one hand, although some critical comments were made in the press. I decided to go ahead and had two telephone interviews which went well so I accepted an invitation for a personal interview in order to make my own opinion about the program. It did not take long for me to identify the unique and extraordinary aspects of the ZEBS International Management Program which I can also now confirm as a current student of the ZEBS program.
It is the challenging combination of executive management courses held in Zurich and the solution-driven projects implemented at work which help a student progress at a fast rate.
The MBA courses are of very high standard and very experienced lecturers from all over the world are being invited to teach practice-driven case studies. The Harvard Business School introduced the case studies concept in order to increase the practical approach of its MBA program and I was very pleased to see that also ZEBS had adopted this concept.
But what really distinguishes ZEBS program to all other programs worldwide is the innovative and unique Leadership-Training-Approach. At the Leadership Development Meetings which take place in the company as well as in Zurich, the mentors identify the strengths and weaknesses of each student, work closely with them to improve their personal skills, discuss possible ways to find efficient solutions in daily business and thus guide them to achieve a better performance in the company. A major plus is that we have the opportunity to contact our personal ZEBS Senior Mentors at any time whenever problems occur in daily business. This is precisely what differentiates ZEBS and makes the IMP-International Management Program the most practice-oriented program worldwide.
In my case, as a Sales Manager and Member of the Strategic Planning Team working for one of the most successful IT-Providers in Germany that has its main expertise in the external business project support with IT- and engineering specialists, the acquired knowledge in the MBA courses gets immediately applied into my daily work. I am continuously involved in HR-processes, and therefore the development of my leadership skills are becoming a must. Furthermore I work closely with the Executive Board on a Balanced Scorecard project where I get the opportunity to develop my strategic skills. During this challenging task I obtain significant support from my ZEBS Senior Mentor and the Executive Board. This project will also be a major part of my diploma thesis.
The high quality and standards of ZEBS have already made an impact in the industry.
Average salaries for IMP-Graduates are 75.000 Euro, which are currently considered among the highest in the world. From my point of view, ZEBS and its IMP-International Management Program exceeded all my expectations and I am convinced that I have made the right choice to join the program.
Christina, IMP – Fellow at Zurich Elite Business School