Category: Educations Series

A typical day as an i-Flex student – practical and theoretical advice for future students

Posted on | by Angela Leone | Leave a Comment on A typical day as an i-Flex student – practical and theoretical advice for future students

One of the first questions that came to me when I had to choose whether to apply to the eMBA program was to see if I could manage to fit in my daily work and family tasks with the obviously demanding learning commitments.

The option of the executive program, which spreads the courses over 20 months instead of concentrating it into one single year, was a noteworthy point but, in any case, I would need to find time in an already tough working life.

The learning agenda is rich and, of course, activities to do vary from day to day. A weekly scheduling of tasks is necessary in order not to get into trouble and to get the maximum out of the class. Usually I try to dedicate two to three hours per day to academic responsibilities. Let me give you an idea, as far as is possible, of one of my typical i-Flex days.

  • Early wake-up to have breakfast with my family, talk with them for a few minutes and take my kids to school. I try to get ahead with my work and use the time commuting to my workplace for a status meeting. Morning meetings can often be held as early as 7.00 a.m. or 7.30 a.m.
  • The usual working day at the office starts from around 8.15 and the first few hours are very busy, so I cannot think about anything else, but I try to find some spare time around lunchtime so that I can watch some i-Flex video-clips. Work-related tasks rapidly start knocking on the door, however, and keep me busy until evening. A good tip, whenever possible and when there is nothing urgent on, is maybe to set up a meeting with yourself so as to be able to dedicate time to your own training.
  • Before leaving for home, in a quieter environment, it’s time for a last effort or to attend a live session. It is truly important to participate in classes, ask questions to clarify topics or listen to questions and comments from colleagues, to see the topic from other points of view and others’ experiences.
  • At home, finally, I can relax spending time with the kids: it’s true, at least at this age, kids recharge your batteries!!
  • Once the kids are sleeping (and this is usually very late), I can concentrate on other academic materials and make my contributions in the social forum. Take a rest to get ready for a new day.

Of course, special days are weekends, when is possible to catch up on any backlog which has built up during the week or have more time to spend with the family. Sometimes we have interesting meetings with i-Flex friends so that we can update each other on our daily lives, or review topics and assignments together.

 

I would like to mention a few pieces of advice to anyone who has the same doubts as I did when approaching the choice of an eMBA:

  • First at all, don’t underestimate the effort that an MBA requires, if the aim is to learn new concepts. Each subject has plenty of ideas to learn and cases to study. Is up to us to read and learn as much as we can or otherwise just to limit ourselves to summarising the main points;
  • Online is your friend, try to exploit as much as possible the possibility to learn in work breaks, during your commuting time or whenever you have a spare moment. The precious aspect of the online is that you decide when is the right time;
  • And this brings me to the other bit of advice: try to do as much as you can in advance, in order to make online classes and discussions with colleagues profitable. Motivation is necessary, as is organizing/scheduling your time and activities. The objective is not to sacrifice the other side of life so as not to lose enthusiasm.

 

I have to admit, follow all inputs that are being received is quite challenging, especially combining everything is wanted to do with the rest of the life, but let me add also that it’s worth thanks to all the experiences I’m doing, conversations shared with classmates and knowledge is getting me inspiring.

 

 

About the author
 Vito Conversano

Chief Information Officer @ San Marzano Vini SpA with extensive international experience in IT & strategic consultancy for fortune 500 companies. Creative, Curious, Travel lover. Passionate about discovering new concepts, learning continuously and developing new ideas.

 

The MBA experience, considerations one year after: the journey never ends

Posted on | by Angela Leone | Leave a Comment on The MBA experience, considerations one year after: the journey never ends

A couple of days ago, I participated in the yearly edition of an event I had been to in person in September 2019. Back then, it was the first time I had taken part in an international fair as such, and I went with a group of my MBA mates. The master program was in its early stages, classes hadn’t begun yet and we didn’t know each other very well. Nonetheless, we were already managing to actively get involved in what the city would offer. This year the event shifted online, due to the Covid-19 situation, and I didn’t arrange anything with my classmates. However, it acted on me powerfully as the madeleine that drove me back to the memories of this very intense year. Here is my summing-up.

For sure, one of the questions my classmates and I have asked ourselves a lot during the exceptional times we have been experiencing in recent months, is if the choice to pursue an MBA in 2020 was the right one at all. Back then, we didn’t know what would be coming and if I think about the times we spent at MIP during the fall and winter, I recall hectic hours, a whole lot of classes and assignments, but most of all Halloween and Christmas parties, calcetto&pizza nights and smiling mind talks where each of us would share their experience, background and goals. This blog gave me the chance to express how the human connection and the network of international people I met during the program was the very best part of the experience at MIP, and this last article I am writing can only confirm the thought!

On a personal level, thinking about the educational side of the MBA, my expectations were highly met. I am glad the first part of the year was held in person, and of course I regret that the bootcamps had to move online, but overall, considering that MIP adapted to the lockdown at an unexpected and successful pace overnight, preventing us from losing a single day of classes, I can really sense a change in my mindset and attitude, a change that I wished to achieve when I enrolled. As I have said many times, my diverse background and my distance from the business world made me feel different from the “average candidate” at an early stage, but through the year, along with being aware of the value of this diversity, I can also recognize that I complemented it fully. I am now a person who thinks strategically and with a business mindset, not only in my working life, but whatever I do, from planning for the future to setting a short-term everyday life goal.

This new mindset is indeed particularly relevant at a professional level if I think about my post-MBA work experience. What I was wishing to achieve one year ago was to move from academia into the business world, building upon my research competences and leveraging on the new ones acquired during the master’s. From what I wrote in a previous post where I talked about my project work and thesis, I can claim that the balance between these two areas of knowledge has been achieved. Working on a change management project, I came to fully apply a blend of topics coming from both my profile as a PhD and the subjects explored during the MBA classes, such as Organization Design, Design Thinking and People and Organizations. Without the courses at the Politecnico, I wouldn’t have had a whole lot of knowledge that I am currently using.

When I think about the one-year-ago-me who crossed the sliding doors of MIP for the first time as an MBA candidate, I can see someone who had very different goals from nowadays, who was maybe a little confused and uncertain, but who at the same time was open to discovering new things. That curiosity made me find things I am passionate about and that I didn’t know before, it made me meet people who were the opposite to me, but who still make my life richer; it made me go through a huge personal transformation, where concepts such as leadership and value have a precious meaning; most of all, it made me grow. So what I can say with this last post is that yes, the MBA experience has come to a formal conclusion, but the journey along the path of growth never ends.

 

About the author
 Marianna Trimarchi
I am an alumna of the International Full Time MBA at MIP. I have a background in academia as a PhD in Communication and Strategic Analysis and a career as content producer in the Media Industry.I have worked for the Italian Television as author and assistant producer for cultural programs as well as for other media outlets as journalist. I am passionate about understanding complex phenomena particularly related to internationalization and global development from a multidisciplinary perspective.

 

 

My MBA journey: challenges and emotions

Posted on | by Angela Leone | Leave a Comment on My MBA journey: challenges and emotions

It has been an intense and challenging two-year journey to get my Part Time MBA diploma at the MIP, Politecnico di Milano School of Management. Emotions were certainly not lacking and neither were moments of joy and those of suffering. I have finally reached my most important training milestone and concluded an incredible experience that I will try to convey in a few lines in my last article, which officially closes my journey.

We have all carried out the part-time master in parallel with our professional career and personal and family commitments. During these two long years each of us students has run into changes, unexpected events and more stressful moments that have drained our energies and made us falter: a change of role in the company, a problem in the family, a birth, or a love that has ended. But the structure of the course with the two international weeks, the company visits and the exams, which almost all included an individual and a group part, have allowed us to develop relationships and friendships that have been consolidated exam after exam. We have therefore sustained each other by supporting colleagues while they were going through a more difficult time or when they simply encountered greater difficulties in a specific exam, far removed from their work area or from their university training environment.

Together we faced the health emergency of Covid-19, a complex and unprecedented situation. We remained isolated in our homes but still connected thanks to the cutting-edge technology made available by MIP. Together with the school, we adapted to the unexpected situation and finished our studies in the best possible way.

But the most intense challenges were contrasted by equally joyful moments. The international weeks in particular have given us the most beautiful emotions. They forced us to live in close contact with each other and to share intimate moments such as lunches, dinners or a hotel room. This MBA has given me inseparable new friends. I have seen some of them become fathers or mothers and others get married and, all together, we have reached the most demanding educational goal.

I must conclude with a sincere thanks to those friends who have been closest to me: Luca Randazzo, Alessandro Artuso, Alessandro Brunitti and Antonio Rossi. With them I had the pleasure of carrying out the project work and also spending much free time outside the master. They are incredibly intelligent friends but also capable of making themselves equally stupid when necessary to cheer you up in difficult times!

 

 

About the author
 Andrea De Donatis

I am Andrea De Donatis, alumnus 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.

 

 

Changing business to change the world: MIP announces new partnership to elevate purpose across the global corporate landscape

Posted on | by Angela Leone | Leave a Comment on Changing business to change the world: MIP announces new partnership to elevate purpose across the global corporate landscape

The Politecnico di Milano Graduate School of Business (MIP) has launched a pioneering partnership with independently owned consultancy The Mind at Work, that will challenge the prevailing orthodoxy of why a business exists. 

The collaboration showcases a combination of excellence across two distinct specialisms, bringing a new way for people to create business value by re-routing business strategy through the lens of human experience.

The initial focus of the partnership centres upon the re-alignment of the purpose, values and culture of MIP itself, which will in-turn enable a fundamental shift of the strategic direction and educational approach of the business school in the future.

Here we explore how The Mind at Work’s ability to infuse purpose into the formulation and deployment of strategy, along with the MIPs long-standing history of innovation and rigorous methodological approach can create a new, high-performing type of organisation, built upon an elevated sense of purpose, meaning and stakeholder value.

 

The link between a better future and business schools – MIP’s challenge:

“The business of business is business”. This paradigm has dominated management theory and practice for the past 50 years but is currently being challenged in increasingly compelling ways. The impact of this traditional model is being felt in economic inequality, environmental degradation and social exclusion; with a new wave of leaders emerging, committed to re-purposing business beyond the narrow aim of “profit above all else.”

Organisations face a profound choice to either be driven solely by profit or to revisit the role that they play within society at large. They are called to realise that profit is a means to a higher end. In a word, to achieve a purpose that has a positive impact on the whole system – not just on the financial bottom-line.

As part of this transformation, the aims of business schools are themselves required to shift from a limited purpose of simply helping individuals succeed in their careers, to embracing a wider, collective and elevated purpose that will reconcile the false paradox of purpose vs profit.

MIP has chosen to play a proactive, innovative and committed role in meeting this challenge through the establishment of its strategic partnership with The Mind at Work, who have developed deep expertise in the knowledge and application of purpose in relation to leadership, culture and strategy-making.

As MIP dean, Federico Frattini explains: “We want to inspire and stimulate our students and the organisations we work with to actively contribute to building a better future for all, engaging in a thorough overhaul of the role a leader must play as part of this change.

“In an effort to have these skills — i.e. the ability to connect the most external managerial dimension with the values and passions that motivate us — we have chosen to partner with The Mind At Work, a team of passionate professionals who have worked for decades on helping companies achieve remarkable results through the power of acting with purpose.”

 

The human being at the centre

Business schools are the breeding ground of the corporate leaders of tomorrow and are uniquely placed to serve as the catalyst of this fundamental change. Yet, the work required to answer the important question “yes but how?” is only just beginning.

Co-founder and director at The Mind at Work, Darren Rudkin, expressed his delight at having this opportunity to partner a progressive, international business school such as MIP.

Darren said: “I have wanted to work with a business school for many years and I understood right from the start that the change being sought by Federico was not shallow, he genuinely wants MIP to put the human being at the centre, starting with MIP business school itself.

“We have a shared purpose to inspire a profound transformation to the overriding paradigm that has been followed by the vast majority of organisations over the past 50-years.”

Darren went on to stress the importance of avoiding some of the ‘purpose traps’ that have already begun to emerge as purpose becomes somewhat of a buzzword.

He added: “There is now a real danger that purpose becomes a new word for an old idea or a simple repackaging of a mission statement. Purpose is not a repackaged mission statement, it is a fundamental human force, speaking to our inherent ability to create meaning and energy for all our engagements.

“It is not another word for sustainability, or vision, it is likewise untrue that purpose stands in opposition to profit – they are not two ends of a spectrum. Whilst terms such as sustainability or CSR are predominantly focussed upon the ‘what’ and the ‘how’, purpose stresses the ‘why’ or inner meaning and provides the energy that transforms ‘business as usual’ into something with the meaning to inspire and connect others.

“Purpose represents a present moment, alive and useful guiding force for the dilemmas leaders face each day in their decision-making, responsibility and conscious action. As such, a purposeful leader is one who is truly awake, vibrant and focussed upon something far bigger than the task.

“I am excited to invite MIP and its vibrant community of students into the deep knowledge and application of purpose. “

 

If there is a purpose, the results will follow

Liaisons between MIP and The Mind at Work were made possible by former Moleskine CEO, Arrigo Berni who is now an adjunct professor at the business school and partner at The Mind at Work Italy.

Arrigo added: “My experience is that, at first, finding a balance between the pressure for financial results and being true to a higher purpose appears a mission impossible.

“Ultimately, though, I realised that this dichotomy is in fact false: if you succeed in building a company where people pursue a common purpose, financial results will follow as a direct consequence. There is no contradiction between these two elements.

“This does not mean having to give up traditional analysis tools, but rather using them to develop and implement the purpose – and The Mind at Work knows how to do this.”

Purpose is therefore core to everything. But it has to be genuine.

Darren explained: “Purpose is an opportunity to stop doing the same things over and over again. Organisations are like human beings, after a while, they tend to lose the awareness they may have had in the beginning.

“Conversely working according to a purpose requires continuous awareness. But it is very easy to fall back into old habits. What’s more, since it is a paradigm shift that also affects corporate structure and practices, not all players on the field might be ready to embrace these changes.

“However, the biggest difficulty lies in the ability to fully understand that purpose is not just a word. Simply uttering it will not implement the change, you need to grasp its meaning fully.”

 

Purpose-oriented teaching

MIP, which has already won the B Corp certification — an award extended to companies and organisations that “endeavour to disseminate a more evolved business paradigm” — wants to continue along this path.

“Our aspiration”, concludes Federico, “is to train and inspire more conscious leaders and decision makers who are genuinely involved in building a more responsible society.

“We will first of all work on our corporate culture to ensure that change is genuine. And then we will overhaul what lies at the heart of business schools, our MBAs and EMBAs, to adopt purpose-oriented educational approaches”.

For more information on MIP contact info@mip.polimi.it. For more information about or to contact The Mind at Work visit www.themindatwork.co.uk/contact-us/ or email arrigo.berni@themindatwork.it

 

 

Employers Warm to Online MBAs in Coronavirus Pandemic

Posted on | by Angela Leone | Leave a Comment on Employers Warm to Online MBAs in Coronavirus Pandemic

Once seen as second-rate, online education is gaining favor as the corporate world shifts to remote working

The perception among hiring managers that an Online MBA is a second-rate qualification is improving. Historically, companies were skeptical about the early iterations of online learning. Concerns centered on the fact that these degrees often lacked interactivity between participants and teaching faculty.

However, the perception of online programs has certainly evolved in the past few years, according to Julie Neill, assistant director of the Office of Career Services at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. “The fact is that graduates receive the same MBA degree and diploma from the institution regardless of the format,” she says. “What does matter greatly, though, is the reputation of the institution which grants the degree and of course, its accreditation.”

Phil Heavilin, executive director of the Career Development Office at Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business, agrees. “Indeed, perceptions of quality are closely tied to the program’s institution,” he says. “As more business schools with strong brand reputations, selective admissions and rigorous curriculums launch degrees, the reputation of Online MBA programs will continue to rise.” […]

“The digital transformation imperative for most companies requires the bringing together of technology and management skills,” says Tommaso Agasisti, associate dean for internationalization, quality and services at MIP Politecnico di Milano. “An Online MBA encompasses all of these skills. Therefore, employers perceive the programs as having a great value.”

Coronavirus has forced MIP, like many schools, to invest in career resources to support students who face the difficult task of finding a job during a global economic slump and a pandemic. At most institutions, Online MBA students have access to all the same resources as their counterparts who are studying on campus. This includes individual career coaching, webinars, job postings, networking events and company information sessions.

MIP has added to this roster of support. The Italian school recently hosted a two-day virtual careers fair to connect companies with students. It also created an online portal where companies, students and alumni could access advice, articles and live webinars to help them overcome their current corporate challenges.

Agasisti says: “The support students receive online had, and will continue to be, just as extensive as it would be in person – and, paradoxically, even more.”

He points out that Online MBA students also have distinct advantages, including the chance to have more flexibility in their personal and professional life and the freedom to be unconfined to geographical locations.

“In our hectic world, technology has enhanced our human capability to learn and to engage with each other, and being able to learn online is a privilege that can reap excellent benefits if incorporated into your life effectively,” he says.

At the same time, attending an Online MBA does not mean that you can’t immerse yourself in the community of the school, he concludes. “Online learning is a rich, international experience, and it permits people to break down cultural barriers and to connect from all corners of the world.”

Click here to see the full version of the article 

How to Pay for an Executive Course

Posted on | by Angela Leone | Leave a Comment on How to Pay for an Executive Course

Executive education can be expensive, but the benefits should far outweigh the cost

Traditionally, corporate sponsorship has underwritten a large chunk of executive education, as companies throw their financial backing behind rising stars destined for a place on the board. That source of income for business schools is now under threat as participants report that employer funding is harder to come by.

Demand for executive education tends to track economic cycles. When the economy is doing well, companies are more willing to splash out on training for their senior managers. But in a downturn, revenues will dry up and employers will cut back on expenses.

“Some of the professionals who are interested in taking executive education courses tell us that they are finding it more difficult to obtain employer funding. They also report that in some cases it’s hard for them to make the time available, because they are so busy [managing a crisis],” says Nicole Kleyn, dean of executive education at Rotterdam School of Management.

That said, she believes forward-looking organizations realize that during these difficult times, employees will need new knowledge and skills. “We’re not seeing a change compared to before COVID-19; around 90 percent of our participants are funded by their employers,” says Kleyn.

The Dutch school also works with grant providers who seek to create impact by funding education. “We offer discounts for our alumni and self-employed professionals and, under certain circumstances, allow for payments in instalments,” says Kleyn. RSM also collaborates with UAF (a Dutch refugee organization) to offer executive education scholarships to refugees, to help them find suitable employment on the Dutch labor market. […]

MIP Politecnico di Milano also has several loan agreements with financial institutions. But if you need to apply for a loan, you need to be sure the business school you choose will lead to the job opportunities and networking that will help you to quickly offset the financial investment that you are making.

Greta Maiocchi, chief customer management officer at MIP in Italy, says the benefit of executive education far outweighs the cost. “Employers have come to rely on executive education to fill skills gaps, solve challenges and meet business goals. It is also a great way for an employee to get exposure to the latest trends and business thinking.”

As a result, employees are often more engaged at work and, if they received corporate sponsorship, are more loyal too. Maiocchi says: “These are just a few of the many reasons — for both employer and employee — to invest in executive education.”

Click here to see the full version of the article

New connections in the post-Covid era: now online the new issue of SOMeMagazine

Posted on | by Mirja Calgaro | Leave a Comment on New connections in the post-Covid era: now online the new issue of SOMeMagazine

SOMe Issue #3 has been released.
The title of this issue is “New connections in the post-Covid era”, in which we discuss the change of approach to collaborations, partnerships, international networks and events, in a world that is trying to cope with the economic global shock and the impossibility to travel.

First we present an interview with Giuliano Noci, Vice Rector of the Chinese Campus of Politecnico di Milano, who tells us how our University developed the first physical campus outside our Country, in Xi’An, China, and how this specific historical situation imposes new forms of interconnection around the world.

We then deal with the effects on large industrial networks, expos and supply chains: the present and future of the World Manufacturing Forum  – with Marco Taisch, Scientific Chairman of the World Manufacturing Foundation; the possible impacts of Expo Dubai 2020 – with Lucio Lamberti and Lucia Tajoli; the challenge of traceability on global supply chains  – with Veronica Leon Bravo.

Finally, we tell stories of education and research projects which are successfully crossing borders, dealing with capacity building and innovation management.

To read SOMe’s #3 click here.
To receive it directly in your inbox, please sign up here.

Previous issues of SOMe:

•       # 1 “Sustainability – Beyond good deeds, a good deal?”

•       Special Issue Covid-19 – “Global transformation, ubiquitous responses

•       #2 “Being entrepreneurial in a high-tech world”

 

A hands-on experience in change management: my project work with Boehringer Ingelheim Italia S.p.A

Posted on | by Angela Leone | Leave a Comment on A hands-on experience in change management: my project work with Boehringer Ingelheim Italia S.p.A

After the completion of courses and bootcamps, putting the MBA experience into practice through the project work is the longest-awaited moment for every candidate. For three months, students have the opportunity to develop a project with a company working on some of the most relevant topics learned during the year. In my case, I worked on a change management project at the Italian branch of Boehringer Ingelheim, an independent and family-owned, world-leading and research-driven pharmaceutical company.

Change management is a discipline and approach aimed at preparing, supporting and helping organizations to transform themselves in line with the evolutions in the technological, economic and social ecosystem and in the market. It is a form of organizational restructuring which requires an overall consideration of external and internal forces impacting the business, and therefore proposes strategic solutions.

The project at Boehringer Ingelheim Italia has the objective of designing and building the to-be model for the growth of the company. The work stream I contributed to with the project, from June to August 2020, gave me the opportunity to acquire a close-up understanding of the overall process and workflow, getting a real hands-on experience where I assisted and advised on the internal analysis and on the methodological framework.

What I enjoyed the most about a structural and strategic project in a multinational firm such as this, was that I was able to have a holistic overview of the whole business in its multi-faceted realities. Having to structure a plan that could work both at an organizational level and at the level of the various business areas, my main challenge was to strike a balance between finding common ground and sustaining a tailored approach towards the single functions. In order to express both points of view, I particularly worked on the company values and corporate guidelines and on the strategic priorities and pillars of the various business and functional areas involved to keep their specificities and understand their unmet needs.

The opportunity indeed proved particularly relevant for applying and sharpening the technical skills acquired during the academic year, and for combining disciplines such as Organization Design with others like Design Thinking and Strategy. The extension of the transformation project to all levels and business areas of the company also required a certain set of soft skills, that I found to be of great importance for mastering the challenge proposed. I had to understand complexity by collecting and connecting the mass of information in a dense organizational context; negotiate and communicate with empathy, exerting leadership and active listening when interacting with the many voices, actors and stakeholders revolving around the project; deliver with clarity, managing all the activities, from the onboarding to the execution, in a working-from-home digital environment, due to the limitations of Covid-19; balance with flexibility my background in academia with the business experience gained through the MBA and adapt research methodologies and practices to the company’s needs.

Now that the collaboration is over, I have had to write about my work in a report that I will present to an academic commission to complete my MBA journey. I can’t believe this year is already coming to an end, but stay tuned, as I will soon wrap up this journey in one last post!

 

About the author
 Marianna Trimarchi
I am a candidate of the International Full Time MBA at MIP. I have a background in academia as a PhD in Communication and Strategic Analysis and a career as content producer in the Media Industry. I have worked for the Italian Television as author and assistant producer for cultural programs as well as for other media outlets as journalist. I am passionate about understanding complex phenomena particularly related to internationalization and global development from a multidisciplinary perspective.

 

 

 

Taking care of online visibility: enforcing the network through personal branding

Posted on | by Angela Leone | Leave a Comment on Taking care of online visibility: enforcing the network through personal branding

The key to success for every business is the ability to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. In a nutshell, a company’s customers should perceive a higher value delivered than if they were to look for the same ̶ be it a product or service ̶ in a competitors’ offering.

Now, picture applying the same concept to us professionals, therefore seeing ourselves as businesses. In this case, the products and services we have to offer are our hard and soft skills, experiences, values and opinions. The target market – our preferred customers – are personal or professional contacts, as well as the networks and organizations with which we want to be involved.

But how do we reach out to them in the most effective way? How do we communicate and show what we have got? How do we stand out against our competitors? 

Well, given today’s trends ̶ which have been strengthened by the challenges brought on by the recent pandemic ̶ most professional, educational and networking activities and exchanges are taking place on the internet via online platforms and services providers. These have become the go-to medium for anything we need: from a conference call at work to a last-minute delivery of our dinner.

This is why having a strong and tailored online visibility is paramount to being found, but also to finding.

As a student at MIP I receive constant support from the Career Development Office staff, who help me in bettering my online presence by delivering interesting seminars, training and one-to-one meetings with recruiters and HR professionals on the topic. Among MIP’s wide-ranging offering, I recall finding extremely helpful the webinar held on personal branding strategies. The latter helped me reconsider my online presence and start taking good care of it.

The development of a personal brand is crucial for standing out in a crowd of experienced professionals. Moreover, while our colleagues and friends can experience our potential “live”, the vast majority of the customers we want to engage with lies outside our first-hand network.

In order to communicate effectively the value we can deliver to our potential “customers”, we must have a strategy in place. Thanks to all the training on the matter I have changed my perspective: it is not about what you want to say, instead focus on what you’d like to hear if you were your customer.

At the beginning, set who are the contacts of the network you would like to build. Then, figure out what those people would like to find in their network. Next, understand how to manage your value to achieve your target. Eventually, go online and start to put your plan into action.

First step: our online visibility’s journey begins on a search engine. If someone wants to know more about us, they will look us up on the internet. If our name+surname returns “no results”, our potential contact is immediately lost. So make sure you have an online presence linked to your main interests.

Please note: the internet keeps track of everything, including what we wouldn’t like our potential boss to know. Therefore, a periodic check of our activities online helps greatly in avoiding uncomfortable situations as well as conforming the first glance of the final picture we want to convey.

Second step: a wise and strategic use of social media is paramount. Our profile page on social media is the front door for accessing our online persona: are we taking care of it? Choosing a proper profile picture and the right keywords to describe ourselves and our competencies draws the line between being ignored and emerging.
Please note: via social media you foster meaningful interactions: be careful with comments on posts, remember to stay coherent with the set strategy and what the targeted audience expects. This allows us to show strengths and experience. Stay professional.

Third step: publishing content moves us on the frontline. By posting on our personal blogs/websites or social media pages, we aim to attract prospects and leads, build credibility and enforce trust. If we don’t aspire to be perceived as experts, sharing content with a personal comment is often enough.

Please note: posting content is the icing on the cake. Make sure this is done carefully and is linked to communicating the particular and unique value that we can deliver. We must be aware of the purpose we want to convey. We must provide a consistent picture with everything we say, do and write.

Last tip: be patient. We should nurture an effective online visibility as farmers nurture their crops. We plow with credibility, we seed connections, we nurture and grow relationships, we aim to harvest opportunities of cooperation, be it professional collaborations, job offers or entrepreneurial initiatives.

 

 

About the author
 Fabrizio Liponi

My name is Fabrizio and I work as a tunnel engineer in the construction of Underground Line 4 of Milan. Born, raised, studied, living and working in Milan: I love my city and I’m proud to take part in building its future. Travel addicted, I love to meet people and different cultures.

Top 10 Online MBA Programs for Interactivity

Posted on | by Angela Leone | Leave a Comment on Top 10 Online MBA Programs for Interactivity

The extent to which Online MBA students interact with each other, their professors and alumni is a key consideration for a prospective candidate. Virtual education has long been criticized for lacking interactivity, but more recently this perception has faded as online courses have improved.

In terms of interactivity, Online MBA technology has been one key driver of this effectiveness leap, with business schools investing heavily in virtual learning environments designed to replicate the quality of classroom discussion on campus. This includes technology such as virtual and augmented reality, with remote students being beamed as holograms to campus in some instances.

Investment in such immersive tools has been increased in the coronavirus pandemic, that forced even campus-based MBAs to innovate and pivot to online instruction. […]

Italy’s Politecnico di Milano School of Management is highly rated for its online interactivity. That is because of its innovative digital platform called “Flexa” that uses artificial intelligence to tailor the learning experience to each student’s educational needs and professional goals. Fittingly, MIP’s Online MBA program focuses on digital transformation and was designed in collaboration with leading technology companies including Amazon and Microsoft.

Click here to see the full version of the article