Video - Nicolas Favre

MBA student testimonial

Video of Nicolas Favre at the MBA Residential School in Brussels, 2011.

Transcript

Q1. Tell us about yourself.

My name is Nicolas Favre. I’m originally from Switzerland, and so I’m part of the Geneva Group in this B716 module, but I moved recently to Copenhagen, with my family, beginning of March.

I have a scientific background, working for a pharmaceutical industry, called Lundbeck, as a Global Brand Manager, in marketing and actually it’s a drug that is used for Parkinson’s, called Azilect.

Q2. Why did you choose an MBA with The Open University Business School?

I decided actually to perform this MBA at The Open University because of the flexibility. I think it’s the main criteria. Since I started, at a moment in my career when I was actually changing working environment. I also had some family changes, with a new baby that came in the family, so I said, okay, I would like to do something new, but would like to make sure that if something happens, or if suddenly financially it’s impossible to continue, I can stop for a while and then continue a little bit later. For me, that’s the main reason, flexibility, I would say.

Q3. How is it going so far?

I like it very much, and I have to say that sometimes I realise that it’s very difficult to work 100% and doing your studies after work, or over the weekend, especially when you have a family, when you also have hobbies. But it’s also a very good way of learning how to organise your life, and I try actually to be on time, and to be on track as much as I can.

Q4. They call it distance learning. Is it really at a distance?

I have to say that since I moved, during my module from Geneva to Copenhagen, I didn’t really feel the fact that there was a distance, because you still have the tutor group forum, where you can chat with your colleagues, and if I actually was performing, and not an online MBA but a standard MBA in Geneva, I should have to commute and this would have become even more of a distance MBA that this one is, at Open University. I found even if it is distance learning, it’s very easy to interact with students in your group.

Of course, it’s always better to have face-to-face meetings, but this is also sometimes things you can arrange, aside, if you have other students working in the same, or living in the same city as yourself, and I think it’s quite easy and lots of students are doing it.

Q5. Early days, but would you recommend it to others?

Yes, I think I will, and especially for the reason I mentioned before, the fact that it’s flexibility and if you are still not really sure how you want to do it, and how you want to do it, so I think it’s the best call for that. Also, I strongly believe that the content, for me, it’s impossible to compare with other programmes because I never took any other, but I really like the content, and the fact that it’s focusing a lot on evidence, and it’s not only theoretical. This is something that I really, really like.