When moving from Brussels to Frankfurt to start her job at DB Netz, the German Rail Infrastructure Company, it very soon became clear to Sophie Ismaier that the project she was in charge of was bearing great business potential still to be unfold, but which would require additional leadership skills and business-oriented competences. At a personal level, she had the feeling that she had made the best use of her public administration profile, strengthened by three years at the European Commission, but yet needed to reach for more. Sophie was looking for enlarging her intellectual horizon to, for her, largely unexplored territories and was eager to meet new people. Therefore, she decided to participate in the Mannheim EMBA Program.

The Mannheim EMBA fulfilled all of her expectations. Sophie values in particular the high quality and practice-oriented training and lectures. She regards her participation in the EMBA Program as the experience of a life time:

“The high-level of expectations towards the participants could be met as the group offered motivation and mutual support for delivering the best out of ourselves during the day - and enjoy a great time together in the evening.”

On a personal level, Sophie appreciates her personal growth and the bonds with the other participants:

“The EMBA gave me a sound self-confidence, strengthened my ability to propose, decide and deliver, and brought me new, long-lasting friendships. It made me a better, and a more resilient professional. In this respect, and even though I largely self-financed the program and attended it on my holidays, I regret neither a cent nor a day. I would do it all over again.”

Today, Sophie works as a project manager for DB Netz.

When her employer, DCL International, Inc., asked Tawnya VanGroningen to move from Canada to Germany to develop and grow the European business, she already held a bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering and had 7 years of work experience at the company in technical, sales and management roles. Still, she felt that she lacked a solid knowledge of business concepts which were necessary to succeed in this new position.

Tawnya VanGroningen, who worked as Sales Manager for Europe at DCL at the time, evaluated different schools and programs and chose the Mannheim EMBA. It appealed to her as it not only provided courses on every important subject related to business but also different methods and ways to present the information, including leadership camps, seminars, lectures, workshops and a variety of lecturers from both academia and business. Tawnya VanGroningen was convinced that the strong focus on multi-cultural and multi-competence group work would further enhance her leadership skills as businesses become more international and working with colleagues of different cultural background becomes more important. In addition to this, the three residencies located in France, USA and Asia appealed to her as it was an opportunity to gain hands-on experience for learning business concepts from different cultural backgrounds.

Tawnya VanGroningen also appreciated the time format:

"Another advantage of the program is the length of 18 months and scheduled classes every other Friday and Saturday. This was a schedule I could sustain in my personal life and my company could agree with while I was working a full-time position."

The EMBA provided her with personal and professional benefits:

"Since the EMBA I have more confidence in myself and my leadership abilities. It is sometimes challenging being a younger woman in a leading position, and I feel the EMBA provided me with a solid base of business concepts, presentation techniques and leaderships skills which gave me the confidence I needed to discuss, negotiate and interact with a variety of business professionals in high level positions. In the leadership workshops and exercises I also gained experience and tools to be a good leader and motivate my employees."

She regards the program as one of the best experiences of her life:

"It was a challenging 18 months but I learned a lot about myself. It helped me identify my strengths, improve my weakness, fine-tune my time management and organizational skills and build relationships with classmates of different cultural backgrounds and professions. The skills, contacts, and memories I made during the Mannheim EMBA program will stay with me for the rest of my life and guide me through the remainder of my career!"

Today Tawnya VanGroningen is Managing Director of the European subsidiary of DCL International Inc., DCL Europe GmbH. 

When Jörg Bruch started his career with SAP SE, he held a degree in biology and geography, but had no formal education related to his business life. In order to fill this gap after more than ten years of work experience, he decided to join the Mannheim EMBA program:

"One major motivation to do an Executive MBA was to fundamentally learn all the theories, tools, and skills that are relevant in business life. To me, choosing the Mannheim EMBA was a natural choice – first because it is the best business school in Germany and one of the best in Europe; second due to the proximity to my current hometown Heidelberg; last but not least due to the interesting curriculum."

Bruch values the impact his MBA degree has made on his business life:

"The learnings are really helpful in my day-to-day business life, now having a solid background in Corporate Finance, Financial Accounting and many other disciplines. I also found myself reconfirmed in my leadership role, not only within my company but in a group of other executives from different companies and industries with really diverse backgrounds. Finally making so many new connections to other executives, not only in my class but through the Alumni network of MBS also to many others, is a real value in itself."

Bruch's biggest take-away from the Mannheim EMBA program:

"A kind of 'I can do' attitude – going 'back to school,' managing all the lectures and assignments besides my normal work and eventually graduating after eighteen months was a great re-confirmation that I can still learn very efficiently and that I can achieve something great. Also the Entrepreneurial Project was a really changing experience that is hard to gain in a corporate environment. Keeping this entrepreneurial thinking for my work in a corporate environment alive is definitely something that puts the question of value in the center of the work."

While before the degree, his daily business was mainly operational and related to budgets, processes and formal HR topics, Jörg Bruch took on additional responsibility after his MBA - first as Vice President and COO of a large development unit within SAP and now as Head of IT Operations, responsible for the operation of all SAP business systems worldwide.

Mirko Strube started his career as Inhouse Consultant at MVV Energie AG and was convinced that in order to take his career to the next level he needed to expand on his leadership skills. For him, becoming a member of the Mannheim EMBA Class of 2008 was the logical consequence: 

"The excellent reputation of the Mannheim EMBA program and the possibility to work closely together with executives from a wide range of professional and educational fields were the decisive factors for my decision to participate in the program.”

Strube considers his expectations towards the program more than met:

“Besides the profound education, the most important aspect of the program was the intense team experience: without feedback and self-reflection it is hardly possible to grow – as a person and as a leader. Looking back, I can say that I learned as much from my peers as I did from my professors.”

His biggest take-away from the Mannheim Executive-MBA program: 

“Acknowledging and appreciating the value of past experiences, learning from mistakes and establishing an environment of trust and mutual support.”

Today Mirko Strube is Senior Vice President Controlling at E.ON Germany.