Author: Veronica Rafaniello

We have reached the target

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Twelve months have flown by in the blink of an eye. The 39th edition of the Full-Time MBA journey has come to an end during the emotive graduation ceremony at Teatro dal Verme on the 20th of September, celebrating the 40 years of MIP.

But this is only the beginning of a new journey for me and my colleagues. We are a team of diverse individuals that has become a family. Even though many will go back to their home countries, they will be taking with them fond memories of this life-changing experience that we will all carry in our hearts and minds. All of our dreams and expectations have been transformed into new objectives and desires, thanks to the information we have gained, the methodologies we have learned, as well as the cross-cultural experiences that have augmented our points of view. Now is the time to start building new paths, knowing we are part of a global team of Alumni that strive for excellence and continuous transformation. We can rely on this global network to pursue our future projects and continue learning and developing our careers.

This MBA journey was not easy by any means. We couldn’t have done it without the support of our loved ones, our mentors and fellow classmates. It was a team effort, that made us aware of our strengths and willingness to grow. One of the most important lessons we have learned from our Professors at MIP is the fact that we are currently living in a VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) world. In order to face uncertainty, we must be flexible and adaptable to possible changes in our professional lives but also in our personal lives. With our newly acquired skills we also have a responsibility to our planet, to take care of it and make it better for future generations.

Now that I have finished my MBA studies I finally have some time to write and develop a new film, while I manage projects in a design studio and work as a consultant for digital communications. I have managed to diversify my career path while becoming a more methodical team leader in the creative industries. My dream is also to teach and continue spreading knowledge and experience.

There are many risky investments in our lives, but I believe education is one of the few safe bets we have for mastering new skills and inspiring others to take the plunge and change as well. What the future will bring is uncertain, but we will not fear it if we are ready to conquer every new experience with open arms.

Thank you for reading about my MBA journey during this past year. I invite you to dream big and pursue your wildest journeys, wherever they might take you.

 

About the author
 Roberto Niño Betancourt

Roberto is a student of the International full time MBA. He is a Colombian filmmaker and new media artist based in Milan.
He has collaborated as a post producer for MTV Latin America, as well as many European production companies. He is very passionate about international cross-cultural collaborations, craftsmanship and the sustainable conservation of natural resources.

 

 

How I swapped engineering at IBM for an MBA and a new career in Business

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Anand Yogi wasn’t satisfied as an engineer. He headed straight for an MBA to change career and hasn’t looked back since

 

It’s 2015, and after graduating from a bachelor’s in engineering, Anand Yogi got a job working as a system engineer for IBM in India. He solved problems, managed a small team, and handled numerous client relationships.
But his days became tedious, and he longed for a change. After two and a half years, he called time on his career at IBM and decided to pursue an MBA.
But where to go?
He knew people who had pursued higher education at MIP Politecnico di Milano School of Management (MIP), and after hearing of their experiences at the school, their recommendations resonated with him.
Now, after graduating from the program, he’s changed career and is working as a senior business analyst for BTO Research in Austria.
We caught up with Anand to find out more.

Why did you leave IBM?

As a first job experience, it was really nice, but it was not related to software development, which is what I expected.
I was enjoying the new work life in the capital of India and working for a great company. However, after some time I realized that I wasn’t learning much and I was doing similar work every day. That’s when I decided to do something to fix this.
I was passionate about computer science engineering from the beginning. I chose computer science as an additional subject in my high school and started to learn coding at a very early age.

Why did you decide to pursue an MBA?

As I wasn’t coding or working in software development anymore [as I was an undergrad], I lost my command on those skills.
But a new area of business which attracted me was project management. After seeing the powers and work of my seniors in a manager-oriented company like IBM, I got attracted to becoming one of them and that gave me the option of doing an MBA.
With all these things going on in my mind, a very close friend and a colleague told me that he was applying for his master’s at MIP as he had some friends who studied there and were now working in Europe. That was the best thing for me to hear at that time because I wanted to study and work internationally.
I was inspired to do an MBA because I wanted to learn about all the new technologies in the world for business. I didn’t want to go to the US as a majority of Indians do. MIP provided the chance to live in a beautiful country like Italy, which was a dream for me because I really love Europe, especially Italian culture and history.

Why did you change your career?

From my high school days, I was inspired by IT and software, so I decided that I wanted to work in this sector in the future.
I am now developing software and living in beautiful cities around the world like Paris, Vienna, and Milan, so it’s like all of my wishes have come true.
Also, working in Europe is totally different than in India. I think I was made to work in Europe as Indian work culture never inspired me to grow as an individual.

How has the MBA enhanced your career?

I had a great experience during my MBA.
It was a great mix of people from all around the world and to study with them and learn from each other is what helped me the most.
Everyone’s past experiences and knowledge were the biggest learning aspects of this course. I am personally a changed person now with set goals and a correct attitude. I used to be a reserved person and not too confident but after the MBA, I am more comfortable with unfamiliar people and can easily have conversations with others.

Would you be where you are today without the MBA?

I don’t think I would be here, but I would say that I had some luck with me as well.
If I had chosen another course over an MBA, maybe I would be somewhere else, maybe I would have chosen a different educational institution in a different country like Germany, for example.
All of these decisions, one after another, put me where I am right now, and I am not complaining at all.

 

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Meet the top fashion model who used an MBA to start a consulting career

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Belarusian model, Yuliya Shvets, could once be found on the cover of fashion magazines. But consulting proved to be her true calling

 

Strutting down the catwalk during fall 2014’s Paris Fashion Week, Yuliya Shvets is clothed in a simple black dress created by French designer, Rochas.
She has spent all season meeting stylists and befriending the biggest names in fashion.

After Paris, she jets off to New York, frequently travelling around and outside of Europe, making stops in Asia and gracing the magazine covers of Vogue Portugal, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire and more, as well as modelling for Chanel, Roberto Cavalli, and DKNY.
Yuliya was living the dream for nine years after being scouted in her hometown of Mozyr, Belarus, during a beauty contest at the age of 18. Yet modelling wasn’t her dream.

She entered modelling after postponing a bachelor’s degree in economics and management. But the time came when she decided it was time to dedicate herself to higher education. An MBA was on the cards, and she enrolled at MIP Politecnico di Milano School of Management (MIP).

This Italian business school helped her transition from catwalks and fashion shoots to her current role as a business analyst for Business Integration Partners, based in Milan.
We caught up with Yuliya to find out how the MBA helped her switch careers.

Why did you leave the fashion industry?

Modelling was a beautiful chance to travel and work at the same time. I always knew I could finish my studies, but there wouldn’t always be a chance to be a model, so I decided to take the chance and postpone my studies a little bit.

At some point as I was working, I knew I had to go back to my studies. I was bored and wanted to learn more. I could have been a model for a while but in terms of age, modelling offers a much shorter career, and I wanted a long-term career.

I started to look into what I would like. I asked the people around me what they do and what their jobs were like. I had a lot of friends who were doing consulting and from how they were describing the job, it was very similar to what I was doing, with different projects and clients.

Why an MBA?

I wanted a 360-degree knowledge of business, which I thought was important for consulting because you can get projects in different industries and for different functions. You get better offers after an MBA compared to a master.

Many people thought it wouldn’t be possible because of the requirements and work experience you need to get an MBA, but I decided to look into how to get to where I wanted to be, and the MBA seemed to be the perfect match.

How did your MBA at MIP help you switch careers?

The university was very strong on preparing you for interviews, explaining the job market, and the right behaviour when working with companies. It was something that was very new for me as I’ve never been to an interview in my life.

Even now, I go back to my notes from my MBA to look at the methodologies and frameworks during my finance, strategy, and project management classes for my job. It has helped me to be proactive, because in an MBA most people do it not to just get a degree, but because they are really curious.

It’s an environment of people who are willing to learn a lot and where everybody is competitive. This mentality helps me in my current job, to remind myself to always be proactive, never stop learning, and just go for it.

During the teamwork assignments, we often had to deliver projects in very limited time with classmates from different backgrounds, with different points of view, different temperaments and coming from different cultures. It was a personal challenge, but it helped me to improve my soft skills by learning from other people and from my own mistakes.

What tips would you give to professionals who want to switch careers?

It is possible to have a career change and start working in business even if your experience is not related to business. Many people, including headhunters, were sceptical about whether I was going to make it, however here I am, and I have achieved my goal of working as a consultant.

I would suggest to all prospective applicants to work hard on their dream because it pays off, and of course, believe in yourself and never stop learning. Thanks to the MBA, I have transformed from a model from a small town in Belarus to a business analyst in an Italian consulting company, in just in one year.

 

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QS World University Rankings by Program 2020

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Global MBAs and Specialising Masters: Politecnico di Milano’s School of Management stays among the best business schools in the world

 

 

QS World University Rankings 2020 confirm high positionings for Masters in Management, Business Analytics, Finance and Marketing and Full-Time MBA.
Among the Business School’s strengths are the ease with which its students have access to the business world, its particular care for diversity and its “thought leadership”.

 

Greater opportunities to enter the business world, a high return on investment, excellent quality-price ratio and particular care for diversity: these are several of the “plus” points that once again place Politecnico di Milano’s School of Management among the best business schools in the world. This position is endorsed by the QS World University Rankings 2020, with this international classification of Master programs giving stand-out scores for the School’s Specialising Masters in Management, Business Analytics, Finance and Marketing and Full-Time MBAs. The just released 2020 rankings analysed nearly 700 courses offered by 400 Business Schools and Universities in 50 countries across the world.

The School of Management of Politecnico di Milano is always placed in the upper regions of the rankings. The International Master in Project Management (iMPM), once again performed best at global level, with above average scores for “Value for Money”, “Employability” and “Thought Leadership”.
The Full-Time MBA also performed well and, within the Global MBA Rankings, is in 33rd place among the European programmes examined, and is very competitive for “Employability” and “Diversity”, an indicator measuring the percentage of women and non-Italian nationals in both the student body and the faculty.

“Our reputation remains solid in Europe and around the world”, notes Andrea Sianesi, Dean of MIP Politecnico di Milano, “this underlines our sound and valid choices, first and foremost our process of internationalisation and the attention to diversity in all its forms”.

Politecnico di Milano’s School of Management is also listed in the rankings for its Master in Business Analytics (BABD), Finance (MIFRIM) and Marketing (IM4).

The School of Management of Politecnico di Milano brings together the Department of Management Engineering and MIP, the Business School of the Milan-based university.

Future Uzbek managers to be trained at MIP Politecnico di Milano

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Dedicated Master in Global Project Management starting in January

Agreement signed with the Republican Graduate School of Business Management of Tashkent, which will recruit the candidates for selection. In the words of Andrea Sianesi, Dean of MIP: “This Master is an invaluable plus point for professionals entering the work market in Uzbekistan: there is no equivalent program on offer in their country, while there is a great need for management skills for its development projects”. 

In addition, forty or so Uzbek executives are coming to Milan in November for a short course.

 

MIP Politecnico di Milano Graduate School of Business is to train the Uzbek managers of the future. MIP’s Master in Global Project Management will be held in Milan. Starting in January, this two-year program will provide young Uzbek students with the specialised education they need to manage projects in a systematic and multi-disciplinary perspective.

The program originated from a collaboration between MIP and RGSBM, the Republican Graduate School of Business Management of Tashkent in Uzbekistan, agreed in MIP’s Milan premises and signed by Andrea Sianesi, MIP Dean and the Master’s Co-Director, and Rustam Abduraupov, RGSBM Director. The course Director is Professor Antonio Calabrese.

“Uzbekistan is a country in rapid growth, and as such needs the competences to successfully manage projects relating to industry, infrastructure and development in general”, explained Sianesi. “This is why the RGSBM turned to the Business School of Politecnico di Milano, and we responded with enthusiasm to their request to train future Euro-Asian managers. On top of this, we are welcoming about forty Uzbek executives to Milan for a six-day course on ‘Project and Portfolio Management’. This course also includes presentations by top managers from the private and public sectors, together with company visits”.

Andrea Sianesi then continued by saying: “The natural career opportunities for students completing this Master are within companies, government bodies and project-based organisations in Uzbekistan. In combination with the fact that students can also take an exam certifying their project management qualifications according to the IPMA (International Project Management Association) model, this Master in Global Project Management is an invaluable plus point for young professionals entering the Uzbek employment market, because there is currently no equivalent program in their country”.

The course will be taught in English to students proposed by the Republican Graduate School of Business and Management of Tashkent, which will take care of the recruitment side, and these young candidates will then go through a selection process. The lessons will be split between Uzbekistan and Italy, and will consist of class-room lessons, study case discussions, simulations, company testimonials, completed by personal study periods.

 

 

What makes a good entrepreneurship program?

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Greta Maiocchi, head of marketing and recruitment at MIP Politecnico di Milano, answers our Applicant Question of the Week

 

Every week, we give you the opportunity to ask one of our chosen admissions experts anything you want to know about getting into business school. One question each week is chosen for our expert to answer.
This week, our question comes from an anonymous applicant, hoping to kick-start an entrepreneurial career through business school.
Their question is answered by Greta Maiocchi, head of marketing at the Milan-based MIP Politecnico di Milano.

 

Applicant Question of the Week

Dear BusinessBecause,

What are the best business school programs for someone hoping to become an entrepreneur, and how can I improve my chances of being accepted onto this kind of program?

 

The Answer

Within the collection of courses offered at MIP, the school provides several programs specifically focused on the topic of entrepreneurship, designed to meet the needs and aspirations of both future leaders who want to take their first step into the business world, and experienced professionals with the aim of updating their skill-set or searching for new opportunities.

First, we offer the International Master in Innovation & Entrepreneurship (IMIE), a 12-month program taught in English and designed for graduates with entrepreneurial mindsets.

Through the combination of class teaching, digital learning and on-site experiences, IMIE candidates will acquire the analytical skills and the creative thinking needed to become innovative leaders able to be in charge of developing and managing ground-breaking projects.

Participants on this program will access the Pre-incubation Lab, a nine month project co-designed and supported by Polihub – the internationally-renowned incubator at MIP – in which students are encouraged to work in groups and develop a full-fledged business idea.

Also on offer is the Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Startup module. This is a three-day course taught in Italian and delivered in partnership with the Politecnico di Milano’s in-house start-up incubator. The aim is to provide C-levels and professionals with a concrete vision of the development and evaluation methods of a startup in contemporary markets.

Participants can explore approaches and methods emerging from the world of startups, understand the issues surrounding corporate entrepreneurship, and acquire practical knowledge of design tools, assessment and development of new business models, useful for operating in a culture dominated by risk and innovation.

Although there are plenty of specially designed entrepreneurial courses to choose from, at MIP and elsewhere, undertaking a broader qualification such as an MBA or EMBA can also be beneficial for those with an entrepreneurial mindset.

These programs can often be tailored to support entrepreneurs, and provide a broad foundation for understanding how businesses operate.

For example, at MIP, MBA and EMBA participants can access Polihub, and carry out a supervised entrepreneurial project with faculty guidance as part of their qualification.

When it comes to being accepted onto a program, each one has a specific set of entry requirements. When applying for courses with an entrepreneurial focus, it’s important to understand that personality and passion are just as important as academic qualifications.

You must be able to demonstrate your ability to work in a team and possess a practical, agile mindset. Drawing attention to circumstances in which you have acted as leader is also helpful when applying to programs that focus on entrepreneurship.

Finally, having a clear vision of your ambitions for the future will also help selection committees understand exactly what you hope to get out of business school.

By using these selection criteria, business schools can create a network of high-value professionals able to enhance each other’s journeys, and impart a real impact on society.

 

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A New Awareness: an inclusive and proactive change agent for responsible fashion

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10 Corso Como, Fashion Revolution Italy, Politecnico di Milano School of Management and WRAD Living come together to create a unique platform to promote awareness about sustainability in fashion.

A New Awareness will challenge the status quo. Through a series of engagement events A New Awareness will illustrate how fashion can become more sustainable, not simply less unsustainable.

 

A New Awareness will engage non-profit leadership. Through a multi-actor collaboration involving academia, media, non-governmental organisation, industry and civil society,
A New Awareness will become a focal point to accelerate sustainable transformation in the fashion context.

Economic and socio-political events, including labour costs, supply network complexity, market instability, volatile commodity prices, geographical dispersion and economic crisis have resulted in fashion’s significant environmental and social footprint. The fashion industry is now characterised by critical issues and challenging trade-offs. 93 billion cubic meters of water is annually used for textile production ; 20% of the global freshwater pollution comes from textile treatment and dyeing stages ; 100 billion garments are manufactured annually while 35% of the total material input ends up becoming waste throughout fashion supply chains , resulting in 92 million tons of waste that makes 4% of the global solid waste .

Sustainability in fashion matters. Given already the fashion industry’s actions to accelerate its transition to sustainability, greater awareness is needed for truly transformative actions to ensure collaboration, innovation and coordination at the system level.

A New Awareness, through a novel multi-actor collaboration, creates a unique platform to reinforce how today’s linear business models can truly change. With a multi-disciplinary approach, A New Awareness will showcase how radical innovation can inspire design, and will encourage opinion leaders as well as decision makers to discuss how fashion’s sustainability transition can be enhanced.

The first edition of A New Awareness will be at 10 Corso Como – Tazzoli from 18- 20 September 2019. Exclusively featuring Fashion Revolution, Wrad Living, Bethany Williams, Helen Kirkum, Duran Lantink, Awareness Infinitum, Greenpeace Detox Campaign, Manteco, Marini Industrie and Com.i.stra that present cutting edge solutions for today’s sustainable lifestyle.

A New Awareness wishes to thank 10 Corso Como, 24 Bottles, CNMI Fashion Trust, ES Progetti, Favini, From Studio, POLIMI Sustainable Luxury Academy, Stella Stone, Studio Punto Zero and Wrad Living.

Forming a New Awareness A New Awareness is conceived by Sara Maino Sozzani and jointly developed by fashion thinkers Marina Spadafora, Matteo Ward and Hakan Karaosman.

Sara Maino Sozzani, Deputy Editor in Chief Vogue Italia, Head of Vogue Talents and International Brand Ambassador Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, comments: “Today we all need to think in a more responsible way for a better future. Big changes do not happen in one day but we need to convert our way of consuming to make this happen. A New Awareness wants to bring consciousness to consumers.”

Marina Spadafora, Country coordinator of Fashion Revolution Italia and the United Nations ambassador, states: “Humankind is finally awakening to the reality of climate emergency. This will be a central focus of the platform A New Awareness and it will, at the same time, address social justice and innovation towards a circular economy. A unique scenario will have designers, artists, activists, opinion leaders and policy makers meet to discuss how we can all join forces to create a viable transition towards a sustainable future.”

Matteo Ward, founder and CEO of Wrad Living, explains: “In a post-truth society like ours, developing a new awareness is the first step we can take together to challenge a status quo which failed our Planet and catalyse the shift from linear individualism to circular collectivism. This is the essence of this project, dedicated to people who let their sense of purpose and creative thinking come together to pioneer a new approach to fashion, design, food, art and more.”

Dr. Hakan Karaosman, Researcher at Politecnico di Milano School of Management and the United Nations expert, remarks: “Systemic transformations are required to change the way fashion business is coordinated. Practitioners, academics, consumers and policy makers need to act together. A New Awareness is a pivotal platform to inspire and acknowledge what must change. By facilitating collaboration and proactive communication, this is a great example to illustrate why multi-actor partnership is antecedent to fashion sustainability.”

A New Awareness starting with a launch in September 2019 will structure a series of events going forward at 10 Corso Como – Tazzoli to unlock the next phase for sustainable fashion. Through transparency in communication and frank discussions on the circularity and responsibility in production, A New Awareness will become a catalyst for the acceleration of sustainability in the fashion context by fostering industrial collaborations, supporting talented creative across a spectrum of applications and bringing together major opinion leaders and decision makers.

Milan Design week as experienced by MIP MBA students

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There is nothing better than combining high-quality training with pleasure and this is one of the things that an International Part time MBA at the MIP School of Business can definitely offer.

In addition to traditional lessons, the MBA training program includes numerous experiences in the field, company visits and company testimonials. At the same time, its location and flexible timetable give all of us the opportunity to enjoy the extraordinary events that the city of Milan hosts multiple times a year.

Courses are, in fact, carried out in English and take place one weekend per month (Friday & Saturday). This undoubtedly facilitates international students and makes the program very interesting for all those who do not live in Milan. It comes as no surprise, then, that as many as 20% of my classmates live abroad and many others in other important Italian cities like Rome and Turin.

On the one hand, the program allows us to work in different locations and travel to Milan only once a month to attend lessons. On the other hand, it also gives all the students the chance to experience and appreciate life in Italy’s financial and industrial hub at many different times of the year.
This year, on Friday the 12th of April, we had the opportunity to attend the lessons during the Design Week, which, like every year, invades and conquers the entire city.

The day started with classes on Finance, held at the Mediolanum Corporate University. It is the training center of the prestigious Banca Mediolanum, which is one of the Italian institutions constituting the MIP Consortium. After the lessons, we had the opportunity to spend the evening visiting the city and to take advantage of the scheduled Fuorisalone events.
​
The Fuorisalone takes place every year in the city of Milan and, together with the Salone del Mobile, constitutes the Milan Design Week, the most important event in the world for design addicts.

The Fuorisalone is a temporary festival that gives visibility to startups, emerging designers and small businesses, and invades the entire city of Milan from early morning until the parties organized by the brands take place during the night. Between an appetizer and a glass of wine consumed while wandering among the participating companies’ showrooms, which are scattered throughout the city, we spent a relaxing evening that separated us from another Saturday of classes. Among the various installations, we were able to admire the “Zip” by the British artist Alex Chinneck, in the picture above, which combines art, architecture and theatre, and invites viewers to imagine a new future and new possibilities.

With the hope that the next editions of the International part-time MBA will offer the opportunity to visit the city in conjunction with other renowned events such as the Design Week, I conclude by giving some personal advice to future students: consult the calendar of the lessons in advance, organize your stays and book the hotels well ahead of time. In this way, you can make the most of your stay in Milan and also avoid possible travel problems caused by the extraordinary flow of tourists typical of these occasions.

 

About the author
 Andrea De Donatis
I am Andrea De Donatis, a student of the international part-time MBA at MIP Politecnico di Milano. I Graduated in energy engineering and I am currently working in technical sales for a leading multinational electronics company based in Milan.
I am very passionate about technology, IT and digital marketing. I strongly believe that disruptive innovation is vital to create new value.

 

 

Prada’s “Shaping a Sustainable Future Society” conference to be held in New York on November 8th 2019

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Third edition of Prada’s annual conferences on sustainability organized in collaboration with Yale and Politecnico di Milano Schools of Management

 

Prada is hosting its third cultural event on sustainability, “Shaping a Sustainable Future Society”, in New York on November 8th 2019.

By bringing together some of the world’s leaders in academia, institutions, art and industry, the Group wants to promote a stimulating debate aimed at inspiring the event’s audience as well as the younger generations. The conference will look to examine and analyse the most significant changes taking place in contemporary society.

This year’s event will explore themes such as freedom, equality and justice within the working environment and as part of a better development of society. Moreover, the nature and impact of ethical assessments in people’s choices and social behavior will be the subject of discussion during the Conference.

The complexity of the current political and social environment requires an increasingly sophisticated conversation, defining tangible action around diversity and inclusion. The Prada Group feels the necessity to contribute to this cultural process of development, being aware of the risk posed to business and communities by failing to address discrimination and inclusivity.

The conference will be live-streamed on www.pradagroup.com; the event’s agenda and the speakers will be available in the next months.

Follow #ShapingASustainableSociety

 

About “Shaping a Future” conferences:

Since 2017, the Prada Group has hosted an annual conference with the aim of stimulating a debate on the most significant changes taking place in contemporary society. In both editions, Prada collaborated with the Schools of Management of both Yale and Politecnico di Milano.
The first conference in 2017, entitled “Shaping a Creative Future” addressed the links between creativity, sustainability and innovation. The second conference in 2018, “Shaping a Sustainable Digital Future” explored the relationship between sustainability and digital innovation.
The conference series format consists of keynote speeches, panel discussions, and students’ competitions.

Going from an MBA to a marketing job at British American Tobacco

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Katarzyna Majewska understands the concerns you might have about working in the tobacco industry. Marketing cigarettes is tough, but she says the industry is changing

 

 

Consulting, finance…tobacco? The tobacco industry might not be your industry of choice.
Tobacco firms face severe restrictions in some countries, with high taxes, packaging regulations, and tough laws on advertising.
There’s the obvious public concern over tobacco’s health implications. And there’s disruption from cigarette alternatives like vaping.
But for Katarzyna Majewska, the tobacco industry represented an exciting challenge.

Katarzyna worked for a small, local government-run cultural center in her native Poland before she decided to do an MBA. Keen to study in Italy, she chose MIP Politecnico di Milano School of Management over its city rival Bocconi, for its focus on innovation.

When she returned home after graduation, she got a job at British American Tobacco (BAT) in Warsaw, starting as a marketing intern before joining its global graduate program, rotating across different functions.

Right now, she’s working in the brand department, on flagship tobacco heating product (THP) glo. THPs are devices that heat, rather than burn, tobacco to produce a nicotine-containing aerosol with a tobacco taste which the user inhales.

Katarzyna says she understands the concerns people have about working in tobacco. But she says the industry is changing, offering lower-risk alternatives to traditional cigarettes.

BusinessBecause caught up with Katarzyna to find out more.

How did your MBA help you land a job at British American Tobacco?

Before the MBA, I did not have any experience in international corporations. Without it, it would have been extremely difficult to find a job at such a big corporation.

At British American Tobacco, Poland is part of the North Central Europe Area cluster, and there are many foreign nationals in the office. During the recruitment process, international experience was also vital.

Moreover, the MBA helped me realize what I wanted to focus on. Marketing classes with Professor Carsten Bartsch not only provided me with helpful knowledge but also motivated and encouraged me to develop my marketing path.

I also have an amazing boot camp with Professor Emre Soyer, a behavioural scientist who showed us research on the decision-making process, which is vital in marketing.

These two classes pointed me the way I want to follow in my professional and educational life.

What challenges do you face in your current role?

In every country, restrictions are different. There are some with a plain packaging policy, such as Australia or France, but this policy has not yet been implemented in Poland.

However, as part of the EU, we need to follow the TPD (Tobacco Products Directive), which places limits on the sale and merchandising of tobacco and tobacco-related products in the EU.

Tobacco products are not easy to market, but that is what makes my job interesting.

What would you say to people who have concerns about working in the tobacco industry?

At BAT, we’re providing a range of potentially reduced-risk products, including vapour, tobacco heating products (THPs), modern oral products, as well as traditional oral products.

For me, the most valuable thing is the freedom of choice we provide. You can quit using tobacco products altogether, which we support. You can switch your habit to a potentially reduced-risk product.

Finally, you can smoke cigarettes while being fully aware of the consequences.

We do not encourage people to smoke, we educate them about possibilities they have.

How are you applying your MBA learnings in your everyday work?

My MBA taught me the ability to work in groups of totally different people, representing diverse cultures and approaches. Dealing with such situations was challenging, but extremely satisfying. We needed to find one common solution, while everyone had a dissimilar point of view. This experience definitely helps me today.

Why did you decide to pursue an MBA at MIP?

First of all, the location. I wanted to improve my Italian skills, as I love Italy for the language, people, food, atmosphere and landscape.

I then needed to choose between MIP and Bocconi. This decision was not easy and required deep research about both MBA programs.

It transpired that MIP is focused more on innovation, new approaches, and solutions for business. On the other hand, Bocconi is more suited to students interested in law and finance, areas that appeal to me less.
So in the end choice was easy—MIP suited my interests better.

 

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