You do not need an MBA for anything, but it is a sustainable learning experience and it is a valuable way to develop a set of skills. As a Project Management executive with Geodata Group working in an international environment, California Lutheran University´s MBA at IBSA in Austria provides interesting courses and the learning content that adds an asset to your skill set.  California Lutheran University´s MBA program is the perfect add-on to get ready for the next career step and to be able to manage the challenges of an international working environment.

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.

I discovered Cal Lutheran’s MBA program as I wanted to prepare myself for the next step in my career. As someone with a technical background, the extremely relevant, high quality courses in that MBA program were perfect in helping me to transition into management. The combination of weekend compressed and online courses proved to be a perfect fit with my busy career, and the study trip to California simply has been an unforgettable experience that I will remember forever. I now feel fully prepared to take my career to the global level.

Having to do a lot of international travel in my job as a business development executive for Central-Eastern-Europe, I found CLU’s Blended-Learning MBA program at IBSA in Austria to be a perfect fit for my busy lifestyle and unpredictable schedule. The content of my coursework was immediately beneficial and relevant to my work. My professors were extremely knowledgeable in their fields, always accessible, and most helpful in working with me to achieve success in the program.

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.

My decision for CLU’s MBA program was primarily based on its international orientation, the English language and the distinctive practical relevance of American postgraduate studies. The know-how and comprehensive business experience of the lecturers as well as their ability to link theoretical contents with real-life cases is more than impressing and allows me to easily find linkages with my daily job. The participants of the course are composed of different educational backgrounds and various industries which enriches the discussions and case studies and enables me to extend my personal and professional horizon. Comprehensive teamwork and the combination of face2face weekends and online sessions allow me to complete this part time MBA program in parallel to a time-consuming job.

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.

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.

A major USP of this MBA program is that you study at an American university while being here in Austria for most of the time. Thus you experience all advantages of the American approach regarding education. Excellent international instructors with comprehensive practical experience respond individually to students and promote the widest possible growth of each. The whole program is conducted in English in a blended learning format which utilizes all advantages of e-learning. Being in California at the campus of CLU during the final study trip to complete the MBA is an absolute highlight.

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’.

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.

CLU‘s MBA program has been the perfect complement to my already existing degree in Industrial Engineering. It added an economic component to my knowledge base and expanded my experience in collaborating with other international students. Both the courses offered, as well as the very professional and knowledgeable professors, made my time at CLU highly memorable. CLU‘s MBA has been a major enabler for me to get my current job as it made my career profile far more complete and thereby interesting, especially for large multinational organizations.