Sharon Matthews
Executive MBA, 2010
Country of origin: UK
Employer: Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service
I joined Lancaster University Management School as a part-time Executive MBA student in 2008. My work experience has primarily been focused on the procurement function, and I recognised that to further develop my strategic contribution to my organisation I needed to expand my knowledge and skills in other business areas.
The learning I undertook as part of my MBA allowed me to do this. As a part-time student, I had an advantage over my full-time MBA colleagues – I could quickly introduce my new learning to the workplace, testing out academic theories, and utilising the tools that I thought would be most valuable.
Of particular use to me was the learning around reflective skills, as I knew that this was an area I could improve and use to develop my performance. Although this took me out of my comfort zone I chose this as the focus of my dissertation to ensure maximum benefit from the learning.
As well as the contribution to the programme from the really passionate, experienced lecturers, it is also possible to get a great deal of value comes from working with the rest of the cohort, as everyone has different experiences, perspectives and learning styles.
During my time at Lancaster, I was also promoted to a director's role within the organisation, where I now work as Director of Procurement. I am sure that this is partly due to the strategic perspective that the Lancaster Executive MBA helped me to develop.
