Ayo Orunmuyi
Nationality: Nigerian
Programme: Executive MBA in Dubai, 2019
Position pre MBA: Business Planning Manager, Africa and Global Development Markets.
Post-MBA: Innovation Delivery Leader, Asia Pacific Middle East & Africa.
Current industry: FMCG
Transitions made: Function
Why did you decide to study an EMBA?
The business school stood out for me for two reasons; the idea of attending class every month for four consecutive days was very appealing because it wasn’t going to clash with my work schedule. This enabled me to balance work and the EMBA and upon graduating, I received a distinction and was also performing well at work. The second reason was the value factor. The business school afforded me the opportunity to have a globally recognised degree at an affordable cost. Other similar top schools cost a lot more and the absolute difference in ranking scores were not enough to justify the high fees.
What was your study experience like?
We were about 40 people in our cohort with more than nine different nationalities, and a very vast representation of industries from oil and gas to consulting, pharma, tech, investment banking, and FMCG. Majority of the modules required team work and were obviously time bound. This helped us to learn very fast how to bond and work through our differences in style; I was then able to replicate this at my workplace. I was also able to leverage the knowledge that I gained from the modules on strategy, analytics, and organization behaviour.
The international electives in Silicon Valley and Dubai were some of the best electives on offer as part of the Executive MBA in Dubai.
Could you outline how the EMBA has benefitted you in your career?
Juggling work and studies, and striving to be excellent in both created capacity in me. I had to focus on the important stuff and cut off social media. Now that I have completed the Executive MBA in Dubai, I am applying that capacity into valuable investments of time at work and with family.
What advice would you give to new students of the Executive MBA in Dubai programme?
Getting the best out of a EMBA requires you to be present. I learned the least when I was trying to be in class and at work at the same time. My advice is this: work while you must work, learn while you must learn. I found out very quickly that trying to do both at the same time meant I did poorly at both. I focused hard at work knowing that when the time came to be present in class, I would be able to focus at school without negatively impacting work. It meant that I had to put in a lot of extra effort in both areas of my life but I believe wholeheartedly that it paid off nicely.