What did you do before this Doctor of Business Administration?

After finishing my Master of Human Sciences in the Netherlands, I move abroad quite quickly. For more than a decade, I have been living and spending time in countries like UK, Sweden, US HKG and more recently Italy, spending the majority of my career so far in the consumer good and financial services Industry with companies like Philips, Prudential and Generali.

In the meantime, I sincerely believe in the concept of continuous learning and did a post doc on strategic HRM and some executive courses at Wharton, Thunderbird and Harvard all related to International Human Resources.

Why did you decide to do this DBA?

Moving abroad has brought so much quality and fun to my live, but also raised questions. One of those questions - which has been in my mind for quite some time - was related to why some people are naturally so good when interacting with people other than their own culture and vice versa why other – sometimes extremely talented people – fail miserably or just are not able to read the clues. In order to answer this question (actually more a long term curiosity), I decided to join the Bradford DBA program to provide depth and structure and create some discipline in my hunger for an answer.

Why did you choose Bradford University?

At the time (2010) there were already quite a few universities offering a part-time DBA, but Bradford stood out. It is recognized for its quality, being very international, the program is very well structured still providing a lot of freedom to the students and good at facilitating a multi-year learning journey

What did you experience during the program?

Personally the most exciting thing is having the opportunity to exchange ideas with a very diverse group of students / novice researchers and discussing a broad range of research topics and still have the ability to pick things from other to inform you own research. Really powerful!

Additionally, the faculty at the DBA in Bradford is top notch and really good at creating the right environment (good balance between student responsibility and facilitation) for me to shape my journey.

How did you benefit from the program?

It has been very enriching so far. I learned much more around my topic of interest (cultural diversity), but also how to structure and discipline yourself in order to progress. But also, I have learned a lot more to ask questions and dig deeper, which has help me tremendously in progressing my professional and personal life. But let’s be honest, it is hard work and you get out what you put into it!

Why would you recommend this program to others?

If you are really committed, able to find time and are really interested in dive deeper into a topic which REALLY has your interest, I believe the Bradford program has all the expertise to facilitate you on your DBA journey!