“Embrace the general management perspective”

“The MBA enables people to take decisions about complex, strategic challenges confronting a business. This is based on a thorough knowledge of the different functional areas in the organization. MBA participants are able to integrate those knowledge areas and to embrace the total perspective,” says Eric Dooms, Academic Director of the Executive MBA and the Full-time MBA at TIAS in Tilburg. Dooms is also Academic Director of the Part-time MSc Business Administration program given in the Dutch language in Utrecht.

“An MBA is a broad program for experienced professionals who are ready to take a new step,” continues Dooms. “Participants gain knowledge and skills in a wide variety of business disciplines. For instance, there is a finance course, a marketing course, accounting and so on. Moreover, there is an important accent on cross-functional subjects, such as innovation management, entrepreneurship, change management and strategy. The MBA exists for ambitious professionals with leadership ambitions”.

What are the similarities and differences between the various MBA programs?

“In both MBA programs, we place a strong emphasis on personal development and personal leadership skills, because we strongly believe that if you want to grow in your career, you also have to grow as a person. We pay attention to skills, personal growth, leadership, learning to know yourself and your own role in the group, and on learning how to improve your presentation. Moreover, the content of the academic program is largely comparable.

Full-time MBA participants opt for a career switch: they decide to temporarily stop their career to do a full-time program. So with this program, we focus strongly on career support and development.”

How does an MBA participant develop?

“The participants become more complete professionals who are able to take more substantiated decisions. They have a greater knowledge of all facets of business management. As soon as someone has completed the MBA, you notice that he or she has grown and has become a better professional, manager or leader. They associate with a group in which they have to collaborate and sometimes come up against themselves, where they learn from others and get to know other businesses and sectors. They increase their network and employ self-reflection. Thus they obtain a complete picture of who they are, where they want to go with their career and how they can achieve that best.”

TIAS is de school for business and society. How is that reflected in the program?

“We focus with the MBA on multidisciplinary leadership. It is important that the participants are able to embrace the broader perspective and are able to involve others in the decision-making. This not only involves taking all sorts of business aspects into account, but also the context in which your business operates. Consider political, economic and social developments that have an impact on business management and which you as a company are involved in with all its complexity. We pay attention to this in various courses.

What is the most important development that is now taking place in the field of MBA programs?

“Sustainability is an important theme. We focus strongly on this at TIAS. On the other hand, one notices a trend that the emphasis is more on multidisciplinary skills and integrative competencies. We respond to this as well, e.g. with integrative courses. But also for example with the Business Project in the full-time MBA: participants work in teams on an assignment for an external customer for two months. Personal skills, collaboration in teams and leadership development are crucial factors herein.

Finally, MBA programs respond to developments in areas such as innovation, digitization and big data. These developments demand new business models and new mindsets.”

More information about the Full-Time MBA