Your success is our success

People used to think that learning stopped when education in schools and universities was over. However, learning and developing is a process that lasts throughout life. Life is a journey where we learn, develop, and grow. Two years in the COTRUGLI EMBA program were exactly such a journey for me and a great opportunity to meet and work on projects with colleagues coming from completely different industries.

It was a time of my personal development and getting stronger for all the challenges that a dynamic business environment like logistics brings. As a woman in, unfortunately, still the ‘man industry’ that transport is, the EMBA program gave me the possibility to sharpen skills from my economic education background and for coping with daily challenges in transport as well as being prepared for strategic decisions. With lots of practical and interactive parts of modules, the EMBA program gives the students a tool applicable to their jobs but also to their day’s life.

The EMBA program gave me a change in perspective and taught me how to adjust my approach to reaching goals. I have learned a lot about digitalization from modules, but especially from colleagues due to the wide variety of their profiles, who in my generation came mostly from the IT industry. Very important part is that some of the colleagues became my good friends with whom I kept the contact after the program is over.

Already early in my life, I knew what general direction I wanted my professional career to take. Information and Communications Technology appealed to me in various areas and on various grounds. One such a factor is the strong presence of change dynamics. ICT never “is”, rather we find it is always “evolving into”.

Similarly, I experienced how my choice of challenges evolved during the last decade from a technological focus into the managerial challenge. Our industry needs both: skilled, experienced experts, working both with and on technology, as well as those whose focus it is to work with the people: colleagues, customers and business partners. My university background as an engineer had been a suiting basis for my career launch. But I felt it did not sufficiently fuel my skills for the new challenge I had chosen, which was managing a highly diverse, multi-national team of skilled specialists in a competitive industry, where ICT is the most tangible of all supportive business processes.

Further, one has to reckon that in a mature, highly competitive industry, there’s a strong risk when choosing to evolve managerial or leadership skills through experience alone: time is lost on making the right, often crucial decisions. Here is where the EMBA program of COTRUGLI Business School made the difference for me: unlike any other program I evaluated, COTRUGLI is focusing on that perfect blend of knowledge I was convinced I needed for my next career step to be successful for myself and the company.

Through new insights and fine-tuned skills, and by opening doors into a vast network of similarly motivated colleagues from many industries, COTRUGLI’S EMBA program has truly left me ready to face tomorrow’s challenges, confidently.

My first job after completing the university was that of a product designer. Having graduated from mechanical engineering and driven by the passion of designing new products, I thought that I possessed all the skills necessary to achieve my career goals. However, as I became more ambitious and moved into the business development, I realized that I lacked managerial and soft skills necessary to succeed at the highest level. All of a sudden, my daily tasks and people interaction became too challenging and I soon made the decision to pursue an MBA degree. COTRUGLI Business School and its MBA program seemed a perfect fit for my needs.

I enrolled into the program in 2009, after winning the scholarship. Today I am happy to see how positively MBA has influenced my professional (and personal) life. The knowledge and skills that I have gained at COTRUGLI have had a transformational effect on my performance, while the business network that I have built during the program has opened new doors and new professional opportunities. At the same time, many of my COTRUGLI colleagues have become my close friends. I firmly believe that people who want to prosper should strive to improve themselves through continuous and life-long learning. The society, on the other hand, needs people with fresh ideas and proper skill set to lead and manage companies that will be able to compete on a global level. For such people, COTRUGLI Business School is a unique opportunity to gain new knowledge and competencies, and build a network that will push their careers to the next level.

I firmly believe that diverse experiences often lead to success, whether we are discussing careers or projects. My journey in beer started in 2007 as a Trainee at Zagrebačka Brewery in Croatia, during the time in worked in several commercial areas, when in 2011 I decided to join the COTRUGLI Business School MBA program.

Working and studying wasn’t always an easy task, however I found working on a group MBA project exciting and useful, as it captured some of the underlying principles of every successful teamwork: open conversations, challenging each other, building on ideas, and sometimes disagreeing, but committing to progress the work together! I also found studying in an international environment very enjoyable as different cultures and backgrounds emerge with different ways of thinking, whether from lecturers or colleagues.

Perhaps a coincidence, but not long after graduating from the MBA course, I joined the international division of Molson Coors, primarily focusing on the development of brands through partnerships in Russia and Ukraine, later Eastern Europe, and, more recently, in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific.

It has been a great and diverse experience that still excites me. One principle we always valued during our COTRUGLI studies, and which I still find true today, was: Work Hard, Play Hard. Business makes sense if you are doing it with people you like to have on the team and with whom you have fun!

Some things just stick with you no matter how much time has passed. When those things also drive positive change, you can consider yourself lucky person. That has been the case with my COTRUGLI experience. I still remember it like it was yesterday – great teachers, insightful lectures, engaging colleagues, and days packed with fun. You should expect the same! Nothing less.

I learn how to work diligently through problems. How to multitask and prioritize. How to think in a structured way and to efficiently communicate ideas. I knew things on Sunday, and I successfully applied them on Monday. I started my career back in 2004. I was 19 a 19-year-old student with zero experience in the newly founded RTL newsroom. It was a stroke of fortune. I applied for an MBA eight years later while still on the grind through the journalistic nightshifts and weekends. After attending COTRUGLI Business School, I started to grow faster than ever.

Today, I´m shaping RTL Hrvatska's overall company strategy, with a special focus on digital transformation. I´m far from over, but none of this would happen without the foundations laid down during my COTRUGLI years. I expect nothing less from you. It is simple.

First, you learn and then make it stick. The rest will come.

To be completely honest with you, it appeared that I am kind of addicted to COTRUGLI Business School. I am surrounded by the COTRUGLI brand name! My partners in the company are participating in the program; the angel investor who put money in our web-development business completed his Executive MBA program with COTRUGLI, not to mention the fantastic client relationship we established with other participants in the program.

To those who ask me, does it really worth investing in the COTRUGLI Executive MBA I can tell, that I managed to double, even triple every cent I put in the program. And it’s not just the fantastic contacts. It is a combination of knowledge you receive and a network you create by establishing relationship with professionals from all over the region.

Therefore it should not sound strange that the project I am currently working on (Merar Investment Network: www.merar.com) is inspired very much from what I have learned from the COTRUGLI program. As a network we want to open new doors for starters and entrepreneurs from all over the world and especially from the emerging markets.

This is also what the COTRUGLI Business School program is about – broad the horizons for businesses and the creative minds.

Enrolling in an MBA has been a wish of mine for a long time, and COTRUGLI was an obvious choice as I had heard many good things about it. Naturally, however, I wondered if it would meet my high expectations and be worth the time and money invested. At some points, it was tough and strained both my personal and business life, but looking back, I can say it was one of the best choices I have made.

My entire career, I have been in the telecommunication industry in different positions in Sales. From sales assistant to managing, leading internal and external sales channels and building sustainable partnership ecosystem. Due to my increased responsibilities over the years, I wanted to further my knowledge and managerial skills to maximize my career goals. The telecommunication industry is very dynamic. In the last decade, we have witnessed many new opportunities and challenges with expanded connectivity and smart technologies. Still, in a way, I also consider it a closed system to work in.

While pursuing an MBA, it was important for me to be part of a classroom of high-level professionals and unconventional thinkers of different backgrounds to explore myself in that diverse environment. COTRUGLI Business School was the best choice because I wanted a program with world-class professors where I had the privilege to enhance my leadership, interpersonal, and critical thinking skills. The most beneficial for me was the knowledge gained in Finances, Strategy Management, and Personal Development. Since I’m working and living in two cities, one of the big advantages for me was a program structure with weekend modules, which enabled me to navigate my personal and professional life even better.After finishing my Executive MBA, my career leaped. I’ve become Sales Director for the Croatian market.

Thanks to the program, professors, and classmates with whom I shared experiences and gained knowledge, I can now teach others, communicate for success, and build high-performance teams. Personally, however, the biggest rewards for me were the people and the journey itself. Every professional development is intrinsically linked with personal growth, which I gained from this once-in-a-lifetime experience.

An MBA was the best investment in myself! Even the most challenging journey begins with a single step. While this phrase may have become a cliché, it actually describes my career trajectory exceptionally well after I finished my MBA. Before joining COTRUGLI, I was working at Croatian Telekom as the Corporate Sponsorships and Events group leader, where I was responsible for developing and delivering the top creative concepts for corporate events.

But my biggest step was moving from a national team to an international one at Deutsche Telekom HQ in Germany, which I did after I finished my MBA. I always felt at home working with cross-cultural teams. After finishing my MBA, I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and change it for something I had very little idea about. So, I took the plunge and applied to join the Strategy and Performance Mgt. Europe department in DT Germany. Together with my diverse team, we worked on executing the long-term strategy to transform and unify the DT organization throughout Europe. Living and working abroad has broadened my horizons. For me, it was a great chance to discover my strengths. It also made me more confident, motivated, and able to adapt to change and new challenges.

My story shows what kind of opportunities for growth and development become available when an individual decides to embrace change and take that first step into the unknown.Beginning of 2019. I took another very brave step when I decided to follow my dreams. I left my job and moved to Barcelona; I founded my own company and started working in a completely new industry – the motorsports industry – as a brand activation consultant building innovative immersive experiences for moto GP events all over the world.

I just returned from a two-month project in Southeast Asia, where I worked on MotoGP Thailand and MotoGP Malaysia 2019. Working in other countries is a rich and challenging experience that teaches you flexibility, resilience, the ability to adapt to new situations, and the ability to be creative in solving problems. It is unique and ultimately a rewarding life experience. Curiosity about technology, coupled with a desire to learn, helped me discover some new talents. I just released a VR game for the Asian market and again learned that anything is possible. Courage is like a muscle. We strengthen it with use. Be brave!

The most important thing I gained with an MBA is a big-picture perspective. It gave me a broad perspective of the business world and how the economy works, and I gained important analytical skills to understand how every element of the business contributes to its overall performance. When it’s time to step up to a leadership role, you need to have that wide view of how your business functions and what is happening in your industry. Through the COTRUGLI program, I was not only navigating economics and marketing but also team-building skills, including problem-solving solving teamwork.An MBA program is like a meeting of the minds.

Being surrounded by ambitious professionals means not only will you be more driven to do your best, but you could be meeting your next business partner. Something incredibly valuable is that you learn a lot from each and every person. MBA was a learning and a maturing experience. And Yes, the MBA will be stressful, but it will be incredibly worth it!!

Before enrolling in the COTRUGLI MBA program, I already had ten years of experience in several companies in sales positions. After all these years working in similar positions, I felt the need to develop further, and thanks to the support of my manager and Croatian Telecom, who regularly invests in various employee training programs, I decided to step into the “mystical” MBA world.

With the first modules, everything cleared up very quickly, and it became clear that my new colleagues became my new best mentors. Their enthusiasm, different industries they came from, experiences, and different approaches to solving business challenges became my everyday life. The process of acquiring new knowledge is driven by top professors who encourage collaboration and do not provide instant answers but ask questions and offer methods to analyze and select the best solutions.

I enrolled in an MBA as a key account manager, and one year after graduation, I accepted long-term projects, became a sales team leader, and three years after that, I was promoted to Director of Real Economy Corporate Sales Department. The knowledge, techniques, and lessons learned in addressing various business challenges have enabled me to more easily and quickly master the path of operating tasks related to managing sales activities and developing a client strategy to the position of providing strategic direction, leadership, and focus for the entire department.

Adding an MBA business education to an already overburdened life-work balance brought with it new tasks in the part of time management, but after mastering this task, it became easier. Soon after, aligning business life with new goals in the private realm, such as completing several marathons, was no longer an overwhelming obstacle.

Sharing experiences and connecting with a team of people with similar preferences but different industries has become my lifeline when I need advice, where I usually only make one phone call apart from making the best of my decision. Being exposed to such an “onslaught” of the enthusiasm, ideas, and minds of top professors and colleagues is something I would always recommend to every person eager to receive, absorb, and use new knowledge, experience, and personal progress!

COTRUGLI Business School helped me to moonshot my career. I was fortunate at the start of my career. I gained a lot of knowledge and practice through it, which led me to manage a subsidiary of a German Facility management company in Slovenia. I was looking for a way to “refresh” my management knowledge as I saw black holes in it, no matter how much time I devoted to self-learning. The revelation came from the COTRUGLI Business School scholarship selection process in Ljubljana. I was excited by the energy and qualifications of the COTRUGLI students and graduates. The event was prepared so well that I knew what my next step would be. What also surprised me greatly was the opportunity to attend their regular meetings in Ljubljana, so I was eager to start the journey. Unfortunately, an event in my private life stopped me for a while, but I was determined to enroll and finish school. And I will never regret my determination and decision!

Although it was hard to balance all private and business activities with school, I was always hardly waiting for the next module: First to meet again with my colleagues or, better to say, lifelong friends, with whom you can always exchange opinions openly and who have supported me in hard times. Second, listen to great lecturers who are always prepared for discussion and have shared their knowledge with you for free. Third to get insight and understand new trends and tools happening worldwide and how to apply them in our

everyday life. And last but not least to have fun. Although it was hard to balance all private and business activities with school, I was always hardly waiting for the next module: First to meet again with my colleagues or, better to say, lifelong friends, with whom you can always exchange opinions openly and who have supported me in hard times.Second, listen to great lecturers who are always prepared for discussion and have shared their knowledge with you for free. Third to get insight and understand new trends and tools happening worldwide and how to apply them in our everyday life. And last but not least to have fun.

Although lectures required a lot of concentration and seriousness, we have always had fun. If lectures in our schooling system were like this, I would be a permanent student. But Mike George's lecture influenced me and pushed me to rethink my future career. With the help of an amazing colleague, I was able to follow my passion and land my current position in Taiwan, covering also China. Due to the knowledge and experiences obtained during the COTRUGLI EMBA program, I believe I can successfully work in this different cultural and business environment than ours.

Prior to my MBA, I worked as a technical expert in Končar, being part of different teams, and had a great time doing it. After finishing my PhD in electrical engineering and being promoted to a managerial position for the first time in my career, I had to deal with financial and people management. Very soon, I noticed the gaps in my knowledge and a growing need for learning new skills that would help me excel in my new roles. Therefore, I searched for a learning opportunity, and the Executive MBA program at COTRUGLI Business School seemed like a perfect fit – and now, a few years later, I know it was the right decision!

Having the opportunity to learn new things that are not even tackled in the technical and engineering faculties helped me set the groundwork for my managerial position. This was especially true while learning about accounting, financial management, people management, and leadership. The world-class lecturers and professionally guided teamwork sessions are what really make the difference between mediocre and real business success.

From my perspective today, the business plan development I did during the Entrepreneurship module was the most influential part of my future career. This process showed me the importance of cross-disciplinary team members, good teamwork, and all the complexity required to develop market-successful products and services.Today, despite working in a corporate environment, this knowledge helped me push several entrepreneurship activities for developing disruptive digital products. This effort resulted in positive culture change and company-wide acceptance of novel business models in Končar. For any ambitious young manager with an engineering background and who wants to succeed and efficiently cope with the real-world problems of the business environments – COTRUGLI Business School is a must!

For 15 years, I worked as a consultant and manager in different companies, in different positions, settings, and even different countries. Still, as I am a computing engineer, I was always perceived as a technical person and not a manager knowledgeable in economy and management. This was the reason why I started EMBA at COTRUGLI Business School.

My first month in school accidentally coincided with starting my position as a government official leading the Croatian Health Insurance Fund (CHIF) where, during four years, I had the opportunity (and responsibility) to lead 2400 people, a 3 billion EUR budget, and support Minister of Health in managing health system in Croatia. Luckily, I was gaining a lot of beneficial skills and knowledge in COTRUGLI school and having support from teachers who were there to answer any questions I had. Also, I had support from other students, some of whom were still very good friends.

When I look back, the management part of my experience in CHIEF was interesting and easy – managing people, teams, budget, operations, strategizing, every day communicating with media, designing and implementing reforms, negotiating, fighting, presenting, debating, reporting, etc. Even though I had a lot of management experience, my success and self-confidence in actual challenging situations (which I had almost every day), I attribute to the formal knowledge I gained at COTRUGLI.

Currently, I work as an international expert in Armenia, Austria, Spain, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Serbia, Russia, Albania, etc., leading, organizing, advising, teaching, managing, communicating, etc., and for all that, I very often browse through my COTRUGLI books. Also, I started my PhD in Health Financing at the University of Maastricht, where they acknowledged my EMBA COTRUGLI diploma as a prerequisite. In my experience, every investment in education always pays off.

Learning just never stops.

After technical education and several years spent mostly working on technical positions, I had the opportunity to lead a department in an IT company. I accepted that challenge, but soon, I came to the conclusion that I missed the wider picture of business with my current education and experience level. So, I was very excited to be able to enroll to COTRUGLI. Two years spent at COTRUGLI was an exciting journey. It was sometimes tough to manage everyday business requirements with my family and school obligations, and from time to time, I caught myself asking if it was worth it.

Looking back, COTRUGLI was an amazing mix of meeting great new people, making friends, learning, and having fun. Three years ago, I was given an opportunity to change my job. It was a difficult decision to make, but I accepted it with complete self-confidence that I am sure I wouldn’t have without COTRUGLI. I continued to base my work on feeling, cherishing relationships, and a good working environment. Every single thing I learned during my time at COTRUGLI helped me to lead the team, motivate them, and, in the end, completely transform the company.

The transformation included both changing people’s mindset and changing the business focus to make the company more agile and profitable in years to come. The transformation resulted in a company that cherishes a relaxed working atmosphere, where people respect and support each other and where the teams are working closely together on the path of fulfilling the new business objective.

Two years after we decided that the company should focus on IT security, we received the status of the best partner in Croatia from our biggest vendor. I am very happy and proud for us.It resulted from lots of hard work, focus on quality, and people relationships. It is a big motivation for the team and me to achieve even better results in the future. Except for the formal education I got during my time at COTRUGLI, some lectures and lots of great people from my generation, as well as some friends that believed in me, helped me to change myself and reorganize the company. Nobody can succeed alone; therefore, I am very happy to be surrounded by some amazing people.

“None of us, including me, ever do great things. But we can all do small things, with great love, and together we can do something wonderful. ”  – Mother Teresa

After 19 years of consistent track record in the telecommunications and ICT industry with a continuous focus on constant learning, improving, and reinventing new products, business models, technologies, and strategies, I am a firm believer in lifelong learning. This enhances not only personal development but also self-sustainability, as well as competitiveness and employability on the market.

Working in Vipnet and Croatian Telekom has given me a unique perspective on the entire value chain of industry leaders focusing on customer satisfaction and constant innovation. What I especially like while working in this ever-changing environment is the opportunity to work with cutting-edge technology and business models, such as Cloud, IoT, Big Data, etc.

Still, one of my best decisions was to join the executive MBA program with COTRUGLI, where I had the opportunity to learn from and exchange ideas with top-ranked international lecturers, business professionals, and the COTRUGLI team. The program was intensive and required serious commitment regarding time and effort, but I have strongly benefited from several fields like management, financials, communication, and strategy.

Another significant value added from the program was an excellent network of friends and professionals from all over the region, who provided different perspectives on all parts of my life and taught me that there are many ways to tackle some problems. Ultimately, this was one of my motivations to start my own company after working for a long time in a corporate environment. In the end, there is a famous quote – If you think education is expensive, try ignorance, which has been my credo for my whole career.

My experience shows COTRUGLI Business School as a unique institution, where successful managers, together with young and strong potentials from the entire Balkan region, develop more challenging careers. The educational model of COTRUGLI Business School has provided me with an opportunity to learn from international experts, interactive studies based on the real life situations and using up-to-date top class materials. This method provides excellent opportunity for enhancement of creativity and entrepreneurship. Combined with the extraordinary network of successful people from the whole SEE region, COTRUGLI can be named as the best place for ambitious people – where new ideas are born, developed and new businesses are created.

COTRUGLI Business School is creating a network of successful people, strong managers and top leaders in the countries of this region. Being a member in that kind of network is a big benefit for every student. On a business level, it was the experience that has given me a lot of practical knowledge and useful ideas. On a personal level I have had the chance to interact with extraordinary group of innovative, talented and intelligent individuals. As a conclusion, during the studies I got excellent professional knowledge upgrade and created unique friendships with other strong managers and leaders from the region. In my profession, it is a huge asset.

For me, the COTRUGLI Executive MBA program is the lifetime experience, which has “opened new doors” and provided me with huge opportunities. The COTRUGLI Executive MBA program is an excellent program compatible with the full time employment of executives. Regional participants generate extraordinary networking opportunities.

I can proudly say that I am one of the many examples where COTRUGLI’s Executive MBA had a direct impact on the successful development of my career. I enrolled to COTRUGLI’s EMBA program while working as Head of the Sales Promotion to SMEs Unit in Ohridska Banka Societe Generale Group. My career in the Macedonian banking industry was in constant growth, triggering hunger for more knowledge, the one that extends beyond the banking business. My intention was to back up my professional experience with an academic background, which was offered by the eminent professors at COTRGULI and supported by top and middle management colleagues.

Has the COTRUGLI’s Executive MBA program met my expectations? YES, it is even far beyond what I have expected… The COTRUGLI program offers the necessary range of knowledge and skills for a contemporary manager, which enabled me to discover more of my managerial potential during the intensive modules. The exchange of experience with my colleagues and professors encouraged me to further consider where I am now and where I want to be. Furthermore, Executive MBA is a unique opportunity to build a network of current and future business leaders of the South East Europe. I finally made my decision: I have rapped-up my seven years of banking career and accepted the challenge of joining the ”real sector” of Steel Con, a Macedonian – Dutch Steel Construction and Rebar Production Company.

As a part of the Executive Board, I am now in charge for Finance, Strategy, HR, Marketing and Sales, the areas I feel more confident about after completing the COTRUGLI program. Now I have the unique opportunity to put to practice what I have learned. Time will be the judge of the progress I have made in my professional career since joining COTRUGLI as well as the unselfish support from a large network of regional business leaders.

I have always believed in continuous education and that the University should not determine what you will do for the rest of your life. Close to finishing Medical University in Zagreb, I discovered that my education could also be useful in other areas, not just in hospitals… I discovered the Pharmaceutical Industry.

On my first interview in Roche, I simply said I had finished university, and I wanted to work, learn, and have an open mind. I got the job. Soon after, I was introduced to Sales training, later Marketing, and later Leadership. I was intrigued by those topics and wanted to learn more. As my professional network grew, I discovered the MBA and, naturally, COTRUGLI. Immediately, I applied for the scholarship. However, I was not even invited to assessment day, but I did not give up, as I believed in myself and reapplied again the year after. Not just that was I accepted in assessment, but I won the scholarship, which for me was an amazing achievement. The MBA program started. For the first day, it felt right.

Back in school, it was like so many interesting topics I knew so little of. As the journey through COTRUGLI was lasting, I felt like a kid in a toy store. Everything was interesting and I wanted to know more.More importantly, besides pure lessons, I met amazing people and learned more by connecting with them. We ended up as a great generation. All my colleagues advanced with the knowledge we gained, myself included. Close to finishing, I transferred to an international role, and my career only grew since then.

My only regret is that due to the work I was involved in, I could not utilize the continuous program for Alumni, something I need to work more on to find the time and develop further.