Testimonials

Why did you choose to undertake the Rotman-SDA Bocconi GEMBA?
In life, learning is an ongoing process. This philosophy is my natural engine in both my personal and professional life. The global pandemic emphasized the necessity to question the rules, and now the world is going through fundamental changes. It is great to be part of the SDA Bocconi international community to learn together and from each other new ways to approach business, brands and people.
Which personal/professional needs/motivations lie behind your choice?
I am a woman from centuries old civilization renowned for inherent entrepreneurship and meaningful life philosophies. I would love to unite my western mindset with these foundations and propose a new profile of leadership.
What are your expectations for the upcoming months within the GEMBA program?
Learn, share and grow on a human and intellectual level.
Your GEMBA program in 3 words.
Structure. Vision. Empowerment.
If you really believe in it you can do it. 
So just do it.

Why did you choose to undertake the Rotman-SDA Bocconi GEMBA?

I chose Rotman-SDA Bocconi because I was looking for a global MBA with multicultural students and international perspectives. Nowadays, the world is getting more complex due to globalization, structural crises, global competition as well as other reasons. The way to face those challenges is to listen and understand in order to be included in that transformation process.

How is this choice satisfying your needs?

I understood I made the right choice when I met my collegues. All of us are looking for a big change in his/her life based on an internal revolution. In that frame, GEMBA is the key for our personal gate to the future! Skills, passion and motivation are what we all need.

What are your expectations for the upcoming international modules?

I understood I made the right choice when I met my collegues. All of us are looking for a big change in his/her life based on an internal revolution. In that frame, GEMBA is the key for our personal gate to the future! Skills, passion and motivation are what we all need.

Your program in 3 words/adjectives.

Intellectual tzunami, transformative, totalizing.

Why did you choose to undertake the Rotman-SDA Bocconi GEMBA?

My reasons behind choosing Rotman-SDA Bocconi GEMBA were mainly driven by my desire to combine a groundbreaking and innovative learning experience with a solid global perspective provided by two of the top business schools in the world.

Over the past few years, I’ve been reflecting a lot about my career strategy and how my job and expertise will change and evolve in the future, coming to the conclusion that we are in a rapidly changing business environment like never before: to keep up the pace you must keep moving and learning.

The second reason is linked to the global nature and modular format of this program. I like to consider myself a citizen of the world and an addictive learner: having the opportunity to experience this journey with an international community is an accelerator of the experience itself. The diversity that comes from travelling, engaging with professionals from all over the world, understanding different cultures and ways of doing business pushes you out of your comfort zone while giving greater managerial confidence to approach complex settings. The modular format of the Rotman-SDA Bocconi GEMBA revealed to be the best solution for managing my work commitments and making the best use of my time.

Finally, I strongly believe that the joint expertise of the two leading business schools is the perfect match to meet my desire of broadening my mindset, refining my business skills and being able to spot and capitalize future challenges faster than I ever have.

How is this choice satisfying your needs?

So far, I couldn’t ask for more. The faculty is made up of outstanding professors and the classroom environment is extremely empowering. The Directors and program management team are highly committed to continuously supporting the class throughout every single step of this journey by offering stellar guidance that lets us really focus on learning. Every module so far has been a blended experience which balances interdisciplinary knowledge, new hands-on strategic tools for business, and a strong focus on leadership and team skills development. We could also boast the opportunity to experience memorable “learning safaris” by visiting leading companies around the world, that are intended to give us concrete insights and shape our understanding of the concepts covered in class.

Concerning networking, it’s impressive how the class was able to connect and make strong bonds since the beginning: sharing, forming trust and helping one another towards deliverables and goals is allowing us to develop new ways of thinking and, why not…even offering potential business opportunities, career advice, personal growth, or simply new knowledge. We all have diversified backgrounds and roles, we come from 26 different countries and from several industries with various seniorities and generations, but everyone is striving for excellence and we all share the same vision and passion for learning and business challenges. That’s key to getting the most from the program.

What are your expectations for the upcoming international modules?

Keep fostering my network inside and outside the program by leveraging all the hands-on opportunities, keep learning and I can’t wait to translate into action all the insights learned so far to positively influence my job and my life.

Your program in 3 words/adjectives.

I would say:

#NextGlobalLeaders which is the hashtag we voted on as a class to represent our team in this transformative path together. It fully represents our strong team spirit and our commitment to always keep looking ahead.

Challenge as this program is an intense lifetime experience, powerful enough to completely change our personal and professional lives from now on.

Energy since GEMBA is for people who are willing to go the extra mile, to go above and beyond the expectations and make a bigger effort to have a real impact.

I had been working in very different positions over the years as well as in cross country and cross cultural business environments when I was encouraged to apply for GEMBA by my employer, Prysmian Group. I have been  particularly excited with the international content and context of the program.  The program has provided a more extensive understanding of international business environments, complexity and opportunities. I have found the program just the right add on to my existing professional portfolio and toolbox. It is important for me to be able to immediately take to work some of the ideas and methods learned during the sessions. These tools I will need even more, because Prysmian has just promoted me to a new position in a new county.

My expectation for the program was also to get to know professionals from other companies, by networking and learning from others.  That expectation has also been fulfilled. My GEMBA class is a diverse and interesting group of people with different ages, genders and backgrounds. Even though following the program is hard work, as a group we do have a lot of fun!

I spent several months evaluating top ranked Global Executive MBA programs. I was looking for a broad and international program to get the chance to connect with a wide and diverse range of senior professionals, top business schools across the globe and outstanding teaching.

I found that SDA Bocconi had the most compelling offering: a 20 months intense program going from Innovation to Financial Markets modules, 4 to 6 weeks abroad in top notch business schools, from US to China, as well as a selection process carefully balanced and able to attract as many cultures and backgrounds as possible. The whole study plan was extremely clear from the beginning, giving me the opportunity to match study and work activities.

The actual experience is even more outstanding: my GEMBA classroom is made of 12 different nationalities out of 25 people. Everyone has extensive international experience. The program is intense: it requires working in teams during and in between modules. Managing virtual teams becomes a core competence, as participants are often on the go. Nonetheless, commitment is at the highest level, driving motivation and passion. Contents are immediately applicable in the daily job to manage teams, evaluate investments and transform businesses, regardless of the industry.

Alongside that, you get to use all the Bocconi databases and access the alumni network, which is an invaluable network of professionals located all around the world. I could not be more satisfied with my decision to join SDA Bocconi!

GEMBA is a lifetime opportunity that must be taken by everyone that has the opportunity!

The most wonderful part is the exchange of experiences and points of view between classmates and professors helping with professional and personal growth in a short amount of time.

People are accurately selected to create the most diverse class and with the highest added value possible. These international managers coming from different sectors, countries and seniorities resulting in an incredible synergy that repays your investment since day one.

Classes are tough and intense but amazingly well balanced between theory and practice.

I reached a moment in my career where I felt I had become very good at learning-by-doing in increasingly complex international business dynamics, but I also felt that my humanities background in Chinese Studies needed an upgrade to face the corporate management pressure I deal with every day… I needed a boost to complete the picture! That is when I decided to attend GEMBA. After only few months into the program, I can say that it was the best choice I could make. Extremely stimulating international environment, with a great network of professionals from all over the world who enrich every course day with their different views and skills, and a top quality learning path that had a positive impact on the outcome of my work from the very first day. An enlightening experience from every point of view… and I know the best is yet to come!

SDA Bocconi Global Executive MBA is an outstanding program, which perfectly fits the needs of a modern executive who is willing to reinforce and properly complement his competences.

I am extremely satisfied with the quality of teaching and lecturers as well as the composition of the classroom. A stimulating environment with great possibilities for long lasting networking, extended by initiatives of the Bocconi Alumni Community.

What I find stimulating is the level of challenge in terms of study. This program requires smart and serious efforts and this contributes to raise the bar in terms of the objective to be achieved: a key feature to a modern executive seekings to keep up with his ambition.

I particularly appreciate the feeling of a perfect blend between rigorous academic study of fundamental subjects together with a well-balanced contextualization into the real working life requirements for leading a company in a contest of complexity, change, innovation and people management.

A very satisfactory and constructive experience which is adding a great deal of value to my overall competence to exploit current and future executive responsibilities.

For almost 15 years I have been acting as a marketer, project manager and sales person in different industries. I have always tried to become a better professional seeking new opportunities,  learning on the job and attending a few short term courses (soft skills trainings, coaching, as well as a mentoring program).

As a next step, I realized that I need a program that would help me become a more structured, knowledgeable, and strategic thinker and fully aware of management skills and of the many aspects of my job. In my professional environment, SDA Bocconi was highly recommended. While researching, I appreciated the GEMBA program because of the curriculum and the strategic sessions with live examples from India, US, Singapore, as well as the international perspective. Furthermore, colleagues work in different countries and sectors and all the professors have real experiences in the international business environment.

Going back to study has been quite an experience, very exciting (leaving aside the time constraints). Today I am very much motivated to contribute to the program mainly driven by my class GEMBA who are inspired professionals with diverse experiences.

Everyone is curious and eager to learn, share and accumulate expertise, an environment that can only happen in school. The network is adding value to my experience as well.

I am impressed by the professors that run the program and their commitment. I appreciate that all of them have professional experiences in addition to their academic expertise. These experiences bring a lot of value to the class.

Last but not least Milan is the city of art and fashion, the time there is amazing.

I decided to participate in GEMBA in order to acquire a broad scope of competences in fields like business strategy and finance. My goal was also to increase my management skills leading me to perform better as a leader in my working environment.

So far, I can affirm that the quality and richness of the classes and practical exercises I have attended have already made me tremendously improve on these aspects.

Besides, I appreciate having the opportunity to confront my ideas with an eclectic team coming from various business and cultural horizons. Along with the possibility to quickly and efficiently learn key business knowledge from excellent professors, the Program gives me the feeling to be part of a successful business family.

I am looking forward to continue growing and keeping up with this amazing work!

I applied for an advanced global business degree at SDA Bocconi School of Management for plenty of good reasons and my experience so far is enthusiastic.

First, I have a pharmaceutical-scientific background. I did not have the chance to have a formal training in Accounting, Business and Management. My experience so far in GEMBA is great in filling these gaps with formal training and understanding the theoretical underpinnings.

Second, future managerial capabilities require flexibility, digital and global attitudes. My GEMBA experience so far embodies perfectly these requirements: global class and digital tools to exchange materials and experiences.

Third, the GEMBA program offers the opportunity to create new networks and links, which are always important assets in life and this is another important advantage of this executive MBA program.

I chose to attend the Global Executive MBA because at this moment of my career and at my age I felt the necessity to find new intellectual inputs and new challenges for continuous personal growth. The business environment I’ve been exposed to over the last 10 years increased significantly in dimension (more than four times bigger) and geography (now covering almost all the globe) and the “learned by doing” approach, if not refined by a solid business intelligence, will show its limits.

Furthermore, the greatest challenges for any business in the future is the availability of skilled people willing to improve continuously and my attendance in this MBA will show to my organization an example of a continuous development and provide me with a global network of professionals ready to face global challenges, people who are not easy to meet in normal professional life. The first months of GEMBA were really intense for me in learning and networking: real value for money!