For small and large corporations alike, current and future challenges can only be mastered with a strong educational background and the willingness to never stop learning. Cal Lutheran’s combination of weekend and online courses is the perfect combination which allowed me to pursue a management degree while having comprehensive business obligations. Professors use relevant cases, and the exchange with students from many different industries have helped me to broaden my horizon and find new solutions in managing my company. As someone who heads a medium-sized company, I chose this program particularly to help me explore new ideas, strategies and philosophies and acquire new skills to become a better leader. Cal Lutheran’s MBA program has helped me to do exactly that.

Who are the most sought after leaders and managers today? I strongly believe that they are the highly motivated, international educated self-starters. It appears to me that studying in, and graduating from MBA degree from a US university in just 15 months as a busy working professional is a good testimony of all these qualities. Cal Lutheran’s MBA program, delivered in partnership with IBSA was the perfect program, and I am convinced that this highly interesting and intensive program provides the best base for future career steps. Even while studying in the program, multiple opportunities for career changes opened up for me, and – ultimately – I seized one of them.

For me the MBA program at CLU in Austria provided much more than just an additional educational record in my CV. The program enabled me to further develop my professional and especially my personal skills. I really enjoyed the fact that people from different educational and professional background work together and learn from each other. Especially the professors are remarkable personalities from whom I learned much more than only the covered topics in the syllabus.

As of the very first course I realized how valuable this international MBA program was going to be for me. The excellent mix of both online and weekend classes allowed me not only to stay right on schedule with the program despite a full-time job and intensive travel plans but also fostered a perfect balance of strategy and practical application. State-of-the-art technology, face-to-face time with instructors and the opportunity to build significant international relationships, among many other features, make this program unique and remarkable.

In life we need to make the right choices to achieve success, but it all starts with good education. CLU’s MBA program at IBSA in Austria appeared to be the best choice for my career for several reasons: The mix of online- and weekend sessions perfectly enabled me to combine the MBA program with my intensive job. Highly experienced professors helped me to grow not only professionally but also personally – including a significant improvement in my Business-English conversation skills.

After studying CLU’s MBA program via IBSA in Austria I am able to fully leverage the acquired knowledge and managerial skills in my professional and personal life. Although challenging, the program at IBSA was flexible by combining face-to-face sessions with virtual class room courses and therefor enabled me to complete the program in parallel to my comprehensive job obligations. Leadership and trust of the CLU faculty provide mutual respect and foster motivation to think, share and be creative.

After a careful selection process I came to the conclusion that the Master of Business Administration program offered by the Californian Lutheran University in cooperation with IBSA Graz is perfectly suited for my personal requirements, and for those of my international acting company. The program featured all I would expect, namely: international setting, tutors from the business world and a broad mix of courses covering all relevant business issues. Moreover, courses are taught in English and can be attended while working full time. I am very impressed by the combination of flexibility and excellence offered by the CLU, the diversity of tutors with their wealth of experience and the carefully composed curriculum. An international working environment requires a sound understanding of international management tasks and challenges for which the program is building a great base. I have dedicated a lot of time and efforts to learn from the best and I am very satisfied with the ‘return of investment’.

The knowledge and experience of the instructors at CLU/IBSA and their ability to connect the theoretical content with real-life examples was definitely impressive and helped my fellow students and myself to find relevant connections to our daily businesses easily. The mixture of participants from different industries and cultures and their practical inputs as well as our interesting discussions supported gaining not only additional professional but also interpersonal skills. Apart from that, I found the structure of the program with the mixture of online- and weekend-sessions and the fact that a lot of teamwork was required in order to fulfill the targets very practical and useful. Last but not least I am convinced that completing the MBA-program at CLU/IBSA helped me to find a new professional challenge recently.

With my technical background and after having been in various management positions over the past years I eventually decided to do an MBA. I have chosen the MBA program of CLU in co-operation with IBSA because of the perfect fit with the daily business. The mix of weekend courses, online sessions and time in California is very balanced and this program is maybe one of the few programs where business, family and further education can be easily handled, even if you are not from Graz.  I also enjoyed the high quality of the instructors and the fact that nearly all of them came from the US.

With more than 300 locations worldwide and constant growth through brown- and/or greenfields, Magna International is one of the leading global suppliers to the automotive industry. My position requires a substantial amount of travelling and the ability to work with employees from very diverse backgrounds. The IMBA program at CLU has equipped me with the necessary skills, competencies and crosscultural abilities to do so. Thinking out of the box, being proactive and highly reactive to new business challenges makes up my daily work day. Being part of a global community I work following the sun. At CLU the combination of professional and highly qualified faculty, paired with an interesting and challenging curriculum has prepared me well for my career at a multinational corporation.

“Als Führungskraft mit technischer Ausbildung in einem international tätigen Unternehmen ist dieses MBA Programm eine ideale Vorbereitung für den Schritt in Richtung Management. Die Kombination eines in Englisch geführten Studiums mit den sehr fortschrittlichen Arbeits- und Denkweisen einer amerikanischen Universität war für mich ausschlaggebend bei der Entscheidung für diese Ausbildung. Der Praxisbezug des Studiums wird durch systematische Vertiefung des erworbenen Wissens in Analysen und Fallbeispielen aus dem persönlichen Arbeitsumfeld hergestellt. Durch das ausgewogene Verhältnis von Präsenz- und Onlinemodulen und die Unterstützung des professionell agierenden Professorenteams ist die erfolgreiche Durchführung des berufsbegleitenden Programmes möglich. Persönlich bin ich überzeugt, dass ich mit dem Abschluss dieses internationalen Studiums für nächste Karriereschritte optimal vorbereitet bin.”

Education is surly one of the most important investments people have to make. Studying International Development at the University of Vienna gave me a good understanding of trade, economic theories and business development around the world. However I strongly believe that an entrepreneurial mindset and applied business skills are critical and fundamental success factors for an international career in those days. CLU’s MBA program gave me the perfect tools for working in an international environment, in an organization which I was part of from its start up. The flexible schedule enabled me to pursue a degree from an American University and experience this great multi-cultural environment.