Nyenrode’s Return on Education: one expat’s IMBA experience

Nyenrode Business Universiteit focuses on providing a high Return on Education (REd), or long-term investment in self and skills, for all of its MBA students.

In this REd series, alumni, students, coaches and lecturers talk about their experiences in Nyenrode’s different programs.

May Sau’s story

May Sau is a Chinese-Canadian who graduated in 2012 from the Nyenrode International MBA program. Prior to moving to the Netherlands, she worked as a Marketing Manager at Rogers, a top tier telecommunications company in Toronto.

After obtaining her MBA, May worked in the Netherlands for ITpreneurs, a leading provider of IT training content and services worldwide. In March 2015, she returned to Toronto to take up a position at Rogers that focuses on improving the digital self-service experience.

The IMBA experience according to May

Here May describes her experience of Nyenrode’s International MBA program, exploring the main things she learned from the program and what she considers to be the greatest Return on Education that she gained from Nyenrode.

Learning how to "choose your battles"

The biggest lesson I learned during my International MBA was the importance of making trade-offs. I think many people and businesses have a natural inclination to want to do everything at the same time and expect to be successful. Yet, there are overwhelming examples of companies who have tried to have multiple strategies that ended up not being successful at anything.

The ultimate challenge is to find the balance when "choosing your battles", while at the same time aiming for the best quality of work.

Developing as an individual and a team

The densely packed IMBA program at Nyenrode is great preparation for life after professional study. In combination with the multicultural and multidisciplinary class, the demanding workload forces you to excel in where your talents lie and, at the same time, to enable team members to deliver quality work in their fields of expertise.

If you manage to achieve this, the results are very stimulating, and stress turns into fun, and the success is shared among the team.

Becoming a storyteller

During the IMBA, I learned how to tell compelling stories. I was equipped with the tools to help me build strong business cases in order to secure buy-in from my colleagues. With the agreement of my colleagues, teamwork comes more naturally.

Nowadays, we are living in a society of professionals, who are more than capable of determining how to best do their work.

Additionally, business problems are no longer isolated issues, but more and more complex and interrelated between different fields and industries.

Through the stimulation of teamwork, each member focuses on his or her expertise, but without losing sight of the grander scheme. The Nyenrode IMBA showed me the techniques and approaches to best utilize storytelling, and as a result I am truly able to let my team perform better.

Stress, laughter and lifelong friends

Studying an IMBA at Nyenrode was a memorable endeavor, filled with stress, laughter, and lifelong friends. It is truly a remarkable experience, living closely with people from all over the world. You share both good and bad times, and the result is a connection to both Nyenrode and your classmates that will never subside.

My Return on Education: me

My return on education is me, continually trying to upgrade my knowledge and learning new skills while enhancing my current ones.

Nyenrode showed me that I am just at the start of my journey of learning, so my Return on Education is still growing. My time at Nyenrode gave me all the tools to get the most out of it.

Return on Education from an IMBA

Nyenrode's MBA programs represent optimal results through practical application of academic knowledge, which leads to a maximum Return on Education (REd).

Main features of Nyenrode's IMBA include:
› 1 year full-time international on-campus program
› Challenge and be challenged by CEOs by dealing with real-life business problems
› Become the best leader you can be through a career and personal development journey

Get in touch

For more information about Nyenrode:
› Nyenrode Business Universiteit webpage
› Tel: +31 (0) 346 291 291
› Email: [email protected]