Balancing Time: How to find the Right MBA Programme

Thinking about earning an MBA, but worried you will have to take time away from work and family? Find out how Senior Accountant Ranim Yaman from Lebanon found the perfect MBA programme online to help her.

Having worked at a Switzerland-based organisation for many years, Ranim realized that she wanted to take on a more challenging and demanding position. Based in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, one of the main skills she knew she needed to pick up was the ability to work well across cultures.

An international MBA was the obvious answer, but Ranim wasn’t yet ready to leave her newborn baby or the job that she really enjoys. In order to make it work, she would need a programme and school that offered flexibility. After months of careful research and assessment, she found the perfect one to apply to. Today, she’s a proud student at the reputable Maastricht School of Management’s (MSM) Online MBA.

How did she choose the right Online MBA?

Choosing the right MBA was an important decision, considering all the factors that needed to be accounted for. The programme ticked all the necessary boxes: Ranim can do the programme in her time off without having to miss out on work or spending time with her daughter.

Plus, she had also taken a course with Maastricht School of Management in the past, and recognised them as a distinguished and reliable institution. It also helped that she was offered help with her tuition after she successfully enrolled in the programme.

“The extra financial help was appreciated,” she says.

What is it like to study for an MBA Online?

The courses are organised through online presentations, weekly assignments and a final assignment at the end of every course. There are two live sessions for every course that they do, which also gives her the opportunity to interact online with other students from all over the world.

Ranim takes every moment that she can to study. “There’s a live session in the first week, where we get to know our directors and meet our classmates, discuss how we are going to start with the course,” she explains.

“Then, we have a second session during the third week where we discuss how we should work on our final assignments.”

She’s enjoyed her time with the programme so far, especially the Business Communication course. “I really enjoyed the course because I think that to be a manager, you need to work on your personality. You need to work on your attitude at work.”

What is her experience like as an Online MBA student?

One of Ranim’s main aims was to learn about European business communication styles. Coming from the Middle East, she wanted to be more aligned with her colleagues in Switzerland.

The programme has definitely helped. In the short time that she has been studying for the MBA, she is already applying communication skills in her current projects.

With this MBA, she is confident that it will help her move up and become Finance Manager at her organisation. She will finish her first semester soon and is excited that she’s already able to apply the knowledge to in her daily work.

“I think this is the situation for many women today. No one is not working, or not studying.”