Tag Archives: Business School

case studies

From Cambridge to Jordan – Bridging the Gap Between Technical Education and Industry Demands

SMF Nick Sullivan, co-founder and managing director of Heritage Independent Living, is one of many Sainsbury Management Fellows at the forefront of initiatives that help business and industry grow and thrive.

Nick was recently invited to give a presentation at the Amman Chamber of Commerce in Jordan on an innovative Roadmapping project that he is leading on behalf of Cambridge University Institute for Manufacturing (IfM). The project is funded by the Newton Khalidi Fund and administered by the Royal Academy of Engineering, which also administers the Sainsbury Management Fellows scholarship of which Nick was a beneficiary enabling him to study for an  MBA at INSEAD.

“The Newton Khalidi Fund is being used to establish a Roadmapping capability at the Al Hussein Technical University (HTU), which was established by Jordan’s Crown Prince Foundation.  HTU provides excellent, rigorous and industrially-relevant technical education that enables its graduates to obtain quality employment and to contribute to the development of Jordon’s industry, economy and society. The Roadmapping project bridges the gap between technical education and industry demands,” said Nick, who is now teaching and embedding the fast-track approach to Roadmapping at the university.

Following initial successful workshops, Nick and his colleagues are looking at helping HTU to work directly with industry and particularly with SMEs.

Nick explained: “SMEs all over the world have similar challenges, a pressing one is time constraint.  Typically, the senior members of the team wear multiple ‘hats’, managing many tasks and they have little time to take a step back from the detail of the business to focus on strategic matters.   Their knowledge of available markets and best practice also tend to be limited.  Our intention is to develop the Roadmapping capability at HTU to enable them to use a range of tools and techniques developed by Cambridge University IfM to tackle such challenges.  Many of these tools have already been used extensively within UK SMEs.”

The programme will focus on specific industry sectors.  As Jordan already has a well-developed Computer & Informatics Industry, the next HTU roadmapping workshop will look at other major industry sectors including Energy, Engineering, Technology, Architecture/Civil/Construction, and Manufacturing – the SME tools and techniques are especially pertinent to the manufacturing sector.

HTU’s programme not only develops the fast-track roadmapping capability, Nick and his team are delivering advice and support.  Initially, Nick and his team will train HTU practitioners at Cambridge University; they will then work with SMEs with HTU personnel shadowing them, and then HTU will work directly with SMEs with Nick providing support as and when needed.

“We are all very excited about the potential of HTU’s educational programme and we believe it will have significant trickle down effects on the growth of small businesses and the economy in the coming years.”

 

Press Releases

SMF Awards £50,000 MBA Scholarships to 11 Talented Engineers

SMF has announced the 2018 SMF Scholarship awardees, each of whom has received £50,000 towards their MBA study at a leading international business school:

Awardee Business School
Jonathon Simister LBS
Emmanuel Lawal INSEAD
Jad Abi Esber Harvard
Ian Taylor Stanford
Samir Szamocki INSEAD
Rachel Fitzsimmons INSEAD
Jacob Mills LBS
Meenal Pore INSEAD
Abhishek Morey INSEAD
Jegadeesh Sithamparathas MIT

The Sainsbury Management Fellows scholarship is open to professional engineers who are heading towards business leadership roles – in large organisations or as entrepreneurs – and wish to combine business education and engineering skills to take their careers to new heights.

This year’s 11 scholarship awardees share their thoughts on studying for an MBA, how it will help them fulfil their aspirations to help businesses flourish and make a positive impact on society. They also talk about the benefits of becoming part of the Sainsbury Management Fellowship and their commitment to mentoring young engineers.

SMF works with the Royal Academy of Engineering to select each year’s scholarship awardees and details can be found on the RAEng’s website.  The value of the award recently rose from £30,000 per awardee to £50,000, providing even greater support to successful applicants. Professional engineers who are interested in studying for an MBA at one of the 14 business schools that support the SMF scholarship scheme can register their interest with the SMF Office.

You can read interviews with current and past scholarship awardees.

Blog

What to Expect in the First Week of Your MBA Course

Starting a new MBA course can be a daunting prospect.  Most courses appreciate this and begin with an orientation week so that students can find their feet and prepare to get the most out of their course. Writing for the Financial Times, former MBA student Mehul Ruparelia recalls her first week:

“After the first weekend, we had orientation week, also popularly known as disorientation week. This was a week organised and run by alumni from the outgoing class, full of parties, team-building activities, organised sports, treasure hunts, presentations and more parties. The aim of orientation week was to let people get to know each other and to become more familiar with the campus and the surroundings. Orientation week culminated in a talent night where groups got to showcase their collective and individual talents in front of other students, faculty and alumni.”

Evaluation and preparation
Your first week of an MBA course is your chance to evaluate what your strengths and weaknesses are, and what you hope to achieve through study. The course itself, regardless of which institution you attend, is often described as a ‘sprint’, requiring an enormous amount of work. This first week is a chance to really reflect on what you need to improve in order to succeed.

You cannot achieve a goal without knowing what it is. That means your first week should also include time spent identifying what your life goals are, and what you require in order to reach them. Where should the focus of your study be? Who do you need to meet in order to learn what you need to know? These are the questions you need to be asking yourself because it will be difficult to take a step back and be objective once the course really gets up and running.

Meeting and networking
In the first week of your MBA, you are likely to meet many of the students you will be learning alongside, most of whom come from varied backgrounds and have different levels of experience. Many MBA students find that their fellow classmates are almost as interesting and useful as the course itself, so it is important to use the first week to try and get to know them. Think about what you are offering, too. What are you bringing to the table? Dig deep.

Don’t hold back
The first week on many MBA courses is about pushing boundaries. Students who learn to break the mould are much more likely to succeed in the world of business, which is why courses often include leadership courses and seminars alongside imaginative team-building exercises. There might be some trepidation at first, particularly with regard to the more physical challenges, but it is a great idea to ignore any jitters and fully take part in all the activities that interest you. It will also make it easier to learn other students’ names, something that will come in handy over the course.

Your first week on an MBA course will set the tone for the rest of your time studying. It’s vital to get things off on the right foot.

An SMF MBA Scholarship Awardee says…
In 2017, Kofoworola Agbaje (MEng, Imperial College London) was awarded a £30,000 SMF Scholarship to study for an MBA at Wharton business school.  Asked about her first impression of business school, she said: “I’m surrounded by amazing people and amazing opportunities. I have classmates that have climbed the highest peaks in the world, visited over 60 countries, speak five languages, worked in the FBI, started multiple businesses, sold their start-ups etc. The course is very extensive, a lot more work than I expected but the classes are very interactive and I get to learn from both my professors and other students. There is so much to do and a lot of activities to get involved in, I have joined seven student-run clubs and every day feels like a stretch experience.   I’m loving the experience and taking it one step at a time.”

Read more about the SMF scholarship winners’ first impressions of their business school:
Will an MBA really make a difference to my career? Part 1
Will an MBA really make a difference to my career? Part2
USA or Europe – where to study for your MBA?
Searching for the right post-MBA job
Reflections on the start of my MBA journey

Learn more about the SMF MBA Scholarship.

Photo:  Grace Madeline on Unsplash