Cem Araci Full-time MBA , 2009
Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers
I was very impressed by the Effective Leadership module which is particularly useful for students who come from different nations and cultures. It combines practical and technical information with soft skills to develop your leadership ability.
I work for the international accountants and business advisers PricewaterhouseCoopers in Istanbul, specialising in indirect tax, foreign trade and customs advice but I have ambitions to transfer to the finance side. To progress in my career and become a manager, I needed to know everything that’s involved in running a successful business, not just legal and tax matters.
The MBA at Southampton is organised very coherently, giving students a complete picture of business management. For example, once you have covered marketing skills, you look at how to measure its effectiveness through techniques learned in accounting and finance modules.
I was very impressed by the Effective Leadership module which is particularly useful for students who come from different nations and cultures. It combines practical and technical information with soft skills to develop your leadership ability.
Knowing management theories and how to put them into practice is important but I feel the Southampton MBA has also taught me how to lead a company or organisation.
My education at high school and university in Turkey was in English and this has helped me settle into my studies at Southampton. I already have a degree in economics which has been useful grounding for the MBA.
I value the international environment at the University of Southampton, there were postgraduate students over there from many different countries and it was good to make contacts and learn about how business is conducted in other cultures. I suspect I friends for life on this programme.