Flexibility and reputation

WHEN Subsurface Exploration Team Leader Matthew Choo was choosing a Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme, the Edinburgh Business School degree stood out for two key reasons.
“First is the course flexibility and structure that caters to working students and families, and second is the global reputation of both the Edinburgh MBA and HeriotWatt's contribution to the oil and gas sector,” said Choo, who works for SapuraKencana Energy, a public-listed Malaysian oil and gas company.
Choo, who leads a team exploring for oil and gas deposits in Malaysia, began his studies in September 2015 at the state-of-the-art Heriot-Watt campus in Putrajaya. He admits that combining work and study is hard and so, he has to be disciplined and make sacrifices.
“I’ve recently been promoted to a Team Lead role with employees made up of both junior and senior personnel so there have been significant opportunities for me to apply what I’ve learnt in the work place.
“I’ve been able to hold indepth discussions with the company’s accountants and business development planners as well as understand the thought-process behind some of the decisions made by the HR department.
“In addition, I’ve been able to make signifi cant improvements to the team’s procurement strategy and give meaningful performance feedback to my team members. It’s been an enlightening learning curve for me so far, with significant opportunities for me to reinforce my new knowledge in the workplace.
“After a hard day’s work it’s not easy to gather your thoughts in the evening to do the necessary revision. I wouldn’t be able to do it without the support of my family, especially my wife who has to deal with the bulk of the children’s evening routine. I’ve also had to do away with evening outings and some social events,” Choo said.
He added that the notes given are well written and self-explanatory, and are well supplemented by weekend lecture classes and revision weekends.
The Edinburgh Business School MBA programme has been delivered by top UK and Asian faculties at Putrajaya since 2013. It is approved by the MoHE, fully accredited by MQA, and delivered by HeriotWatt University which is accredited by the Royal Charter, UK.
To date, 34 students have completed the programme with 93 currently studying. Students join a global learning network of more than 11,400 active students and 19,800 graduates worldwide.
Registration is open for the January 2017 intake and the school is holding a MBA preview for prospective students at Hilton Sentral, Kuala Lumpur on Nov 3 at 6.30pm.
For more information, contact MalaysiaMBA@ebs.hw. ac.uk