Global MBA Testimonials
The process of creating value through work-integrated learning is extraordinary. It shifts the primary learning experience from the confines of academic institutions to the actual workplaces of our students. This transformation leads to an unparalleled sense of purpose, as it transitions skills training from theoretical teaching to the invaluable experience gained on the job.
Additionally, work-integration redirects the traditional focus of study from analysis to practical implementation. It is the act of implementation that has the power to bring about real change in the world. This new approach enables students to realize their potential in effecting positive changes within their work environments.
We invite you to explore the remarkable feedback from some of our students who have been willing to openly share their experiences of creating genuine value in their workplaces.
Miranda Khumalo, PARTNER at Atherstone and Cook, HARARE, Zimbabwe
12.2021 |
| With the current global changes, most organizations will now require revolutionary management teams to steer their business's into the future. This past week's discussions with Dr Andreas Kelling and the IBR Global MBA students definitely set the tone for us to introspect on our strategies in our various organizations. Thank you to IBR Institute of International Business Relations for the practical lessons. |
| Strategy Intensive |
Japhet Zoraunye, Research And Development Engineer at Stamicarbon, Sittard, Limburg, Netherlands
12.2021 |
| Eye opening discussions on strategy map, customer value creation and future profit potential vs current profit potential. Good insights from Prof Andreas Kelling and the IBR Institute of International Business Relations team |
| Strategy Intensive |
Thembelihle Ndlovu, Financial Controller at MASCA Zimbabwe, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
12.2021 |
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A big thank you to IBR Institute of International Business Relations and Professor Andreas Kelling for such an insightful and value adding online learning experience. The lessons around the importance of creating value over merely making money; as well as listening, seeing beyond today and evolving with the needs of your clients definitely struck a chord and provoked a change in our approach to business strategy. Also, the use of technology to encourage informal interactions in between the sessions was absolutely amazing. |
| Strategy Intensive |
Franzelle de Klerk, Industrial Engineer at Fischer Consulting Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia
12.2021 |
| Future profit potential! Not just a buzzword anymore. Now its a clear concept ready to be applied in any setup. Thank Prof. Kelling! To my fellow classmates, Zipporah, Miranda, Japhet, Martha, Cosmas, Pricilla, Linda, Mike, Farai, Manners, Lindelwe, Tatenda, and Thembi. The journey was better with you there. |
| Strategy Intensive |
Tatenda Makuni, Executive Director at Introcane Enterprises, Harare, Zimbabwe
12.2021 |
| Great week of learning, eye opening and practical approach to applying strategic management effectively. Many thanks to Professor Andreas Kelling, for walking us through the journey from Financial planning to Strategic Management. Looking forward to applying everything I learnt. |
| Strategy Intensive |
Mmakgomo Maubane, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer - Africa & Middle East at Zutari South Africa, Mahikeng, South African Republic
12.2021 |
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As an Executive I have derived a lot of value through this assignment at a personal level. I will give much consideration to preparing for the performance management and review discussion with my direct reports. My leadership and management will change as I will begin to have on-going performance discussions in my weekly meetings with them and provide feedback on the job and not wait for a meeting. For the organization I believe this new system of reviewing managing performance and development of employees will position the company as world class and enable it to achieve the status of the best place to work at giving it advantage over competitors. |
| Appraisal and Performance of Human Resources |
Mmakgomo Maubane, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer - Africa & Middle East at Zutari South Africa, Mahikeng, South African Republic
11.2021 |
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This assignment has delivered immeasurable value to me as an executive. I will be able to engage meaningfully and challenge HR and Recruitment specialists on the weaknesses and strengths of their recruitment, selection and placement strategies when discussing roles and vacancies to be filled in my department. I certainly believe the induction programme will deliver value for the business in its objectives of being an employer of choice and retain talent to pursue research and development to own its IP. |
| Recruitment, Selection and Placement of HR |
Dr Priscilla Madzinga-Kusena, Communication for Development Specialist at UNICEF, Abuja, Nigeria
10.2021 |
| This was an intensive financial accounting and planning module. I benefited a lot from key concepts on how to measure productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness of the company using standard financial accounting and planning tools. I didn’t think that I would see the three modules through, but here I am. Thank you for the opportunity to knit the 3 assignments together in one assignment. I could follow the stages and depth of financial management. |
| Advanced Financial Planning |
Dr Priscilla Madzinga-Kusena, Communication for Development Specialist at UNICEF, Abuja, Nigeria
10.2021 |
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The Residential period was enjoyable, informative, superb, and conducted in a relaxed manner. I enjoyed most the wealth of experiences and examples shared from a broad range of topics by Prof Jannie LeRoux .... from religion to different work spaces. The method of delivering key points was so refreshing - it was not the typical HR learning I am used to. What was most impactful on my mindset were concepts such as performance appraisal, productive paranoia and empirical creativity. The discussions around these changed my view about many business issues and decisions. Hence, I really had a great time. |
| Human Resources Intensive |
Lindelwe Manyawu, Executive Assistant to the Chairman at The Vumba Trust, Harare, Zimbabwe
09.2021 |
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This assignment has been very valuable in many ways both as a manager for the company and at an individual level. It has taught me that when doing financial planning it is critical to first and foremost ascertain our existing operational capacity utilization level. Once this is established it can then be used to set a target for the coming year(s) and should consider desired net profit(s) to establish required productivity levels per month, week or day. The assignment has also taught me ways l can prepare forecast financial statements (Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet and Cash Budget) that are helpful in not only forming a vision of what is likely to happen in the future but providing tools that can be used to monitor actual performance against set targets. As a result of this assignment, l am also now able to calculate the Break-Even-Point, an important cost management tool that indicates the point where a company makes neither a profit nor loss. The BEP can be reduced by reducing and controlling fixed costs and or increasing sales margin per unit. Before doing this assignment, l thought a percentage increase in cost of sales would reduce gross and net profit by the similar percentage only to discover that this is not the case. In this assignment, a 5% increase in cost of sales reduced the net profit by a drastic 73%. |
| Advanced Financial Planning |
Dr Priscilla Madzinga-Kusena, Communication for Development Specialist at UNICEF, Abuja, Nigeria
09.2021 |
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What a way to learn. This assignment took me the longest time to complete, as I had to grasp the basic concepts first of TDABC and CBA. Some concepts seemed simple during the Residential period and Tutorial, but it was not so when going through the exercises. Management was surprised with invoice analysis and capacity at which the company is operating. As new orders continue to come in, many discussions and decisions are being made on effective strategies to improve efficiency and manage outsourcing costs. The assumption was that the company is overwhelmed, and yet this analysis reveals some critical areas which can be strengthened for optimum capacity. Thank you, Professor Janos, for bringing valuable solutions to our doorstep!! |
| Financial Planning |
Charles Stols, Engineering Manager at MegChem, Cape Town, South African Republic
08.2021 |
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This assignment provided me with incredible insight. I found the importance to ensure proper alignment between the ICP and strategy map very valuable. Working on this assignment allowed me to discover how we - working in the real world - can save time and money by allocating effectively resources to most relevant tasks and activities. It has been an eyeopener that the option to not implement digital technology provides an enormous risk for companies to become obsolete. Digital technology is a necessity to stay competitive and improves effectiveness when implemented correctly, as demonstrated in my assignment. |
| Managing IT and Strategy |
Martha Bhunu, Associate Director at Standard Chartered Bank, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
08.2021 |
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When I embarked on my MBA journey, I had no idea how the decision would change my life. I honestly thought it would be all books and research but I wasn’t prepared for how the program would get me thinking about things I thought I knew and take me along the path of rethinking my interaction with stakeholders as I conduct Assurance Reviews. As a Reviewer covering many different markets it never really dawned on me that despite working in the same organisation with review subjects, the behaviour and understanding of things may differ as these are deeply rooted in how each culture understands and relates to the world we live in. The course on cross cultural management highlighted these issues in a fascinating yet educative way |
| Cross-cultural Management |
Japhet Zoraunye, Research And Development Engineer at Stamicarbon, Sittard, Limburg, Netherlands
08.2021 |
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This research and the recommended reading has taught me a lot in terms of management and how to ensure an organisation’s effectiveness and efficiency through the right management practices. It imparted on me important awareness on learning how to manage, that is I do not need to struggle without knowledge on how to manage, as I can learn the management tasks required for effective management. In other words it is possible for me to study and learn management and be good at it and hence avoid negatively impacting the effectiveness and efficiency of my organisation. The course helped me to understand what I need to do as manager to achieve results. Malik’s management tasks are easy to follow and clear to practice so that no manager need to struggle without knowing what to do. We can all learn from Malik’s management tasks and be effective managers who can achieve sustainable results. |
| Tasks and Tools of Effective Management |
Lindelwe Manyawu, Executive Assistant to the Chairman at The Vumba Trust, Harare, Zimbabwe
08.2021 |
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Coming from a Marketing background l have never found it easy to plan and monitor the financial performance of a company. This module through the TARI has provided me with a great tool that l can use whenever l need to do financial planning and monitor it against actual performance. After having completed this course, I am very happy to be in this kind of position were l no longer need to consult my financial colleagues to assist me with financial planning and monitoring. Through this course I have also learnt to use the TARI as a method to track the performance of the company to ensure that bottom line targets are met daily. Further to that, I have noted the importance of the need to ensure that going forward, all relevant information should be noted and captured to tabulate the average rate index for each and every sale. The TARI can be used as a yardstick against the company’s daily performance, making it easier to make immediate informed decisions and timeous implementation of corrective measures to improve the performance of the company. |
| Financial Planning |
Dr Priscilla Madzinga-Kusena, Communication for Development Specialist at UNICEF, Abuja, Nigeria
08.2021 |
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A lot of value was gained from analyzing the Profit and Loss Statement, the Balance Sheet and the Cashflow. As I went through the different calculations on the Profit and Loss Statement, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow, I understood the purpose of financial accounting to inform quality business decisions. However, for the type of strategic direction I give, there was a lot of financial information and content to digest in this course. At some point, I felt overwhelmed by the information. The Tutoring Session was very helpful to allay being overwhelmed. The residential session also helped a lot. |
| Financial Accounting |
Tatenda Makuni, Executive Director at Introcane Enterprises, Harare, Zimbabwe
08.2021 |
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What I have learnt during the analysis is that a good acid test ratio doesn‘t necessarily mean all is well especially if the time to collect the trade receivables is long. The organization might fail to meet its short-term current liabilities as a result putting the organisation in a bad financial position. I also learnt that maybe the medical business is not a very lucrative business to invest in if one is looking to make short term gains. The profits are lower, maybe due to the type of expertise that is usually associated with high expenses incurred paying the critical skills involved. I also noted the importance of reducing the time to collect as it is crucial to maintain a healthy cashflow to keep the business going. I also learnt the importance of keeping financial records as it gives a picture of the business which is a good point of reference when approaching investors as well as when making future financial projections. Personally, I have learnt the importance of cash in hand. While we will have customers who pay later in most businesses it is important that those payments are collected in time to avoid business failure. It is not enough to offer a services and brag about making sales whilst those sales only remain figures that remain unpaid. |
| Financial Accounting |
Linda Shininge, Section Head: Contact Center and Quality Assurance at City of Windhoek, Windhoek, Namibia
07.2021 |
| This assignment created immense value for me especially for my workplace, I work in the customer service environment and by understand a holistic view of an organisation can assist me by ensuring that we come up with aligned strategies, risks and opportunities and how these influence our strategic objectives and illustrate our impact and sustainable value creation. |
| Financial Accounting |
Miranda Khumalo, PARTNER at Atherstone and Cook, HARARE, Zimbabwe
07.2021 |
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I will certainly be able to use the teachings from this course in advising clients, particularly in mergers and acquisitions transactions and in tax assessments. Financial training will give me an added advantage. Every significant transaction or matter has a financial impact for a client. Anticipating, understanding and highlighting potential issues to clients will be of great value. I also wish to use this training internally in the firm. I will be able to help the managing partner with interpreting the firm’s financial statements and proposing suggestions or ways of improving our operations. |
| Financial Accounting |
Miranda Khumalo, PARTNER at Atherstone and Cook, HARARE, Zimbabwe
07.2021 |
| The residential was absolutely superb. The content was extremely informative and delivered in a way that a person without a financial background could easily follow. I particularly enjoyed the visual illustrations, through the games and case studies. Thank you Janos ILLESSY and IBR Institute of International Business Relations |
| Finance Intensive |