NANYANG PROFESSIONAL MBA

Beyond Advertising: Why This Advertising Leader Invested in the Nanyang Professional MBA

High-performing managers know that self-development is the key to success; Nanyang Professional MBA (PMBA) alumnus Warren Wilson has drawn significant dividends from that lesson.

Warren is a Senior Sales Manager at Amazon, driving their advertising business in Southeast Asia. Over the past decade, he has cultivated an exceptional career in sales, growing the advertising business for Google, Facebook, LinkedIn and Apple. Today, he builds relationships with marketing managers and agencies to help them successfully leverage Amazon ads to scale their business.

Even with such an eventful career behind him, Warren felt the need to broaden his business management skills and expand his professional network further. “I wanted to expand my learning outside of advertising and felt an MBA would be the perfect value-add to increase my understanding of business disciplines,” he explained.

Warren found the Nanyang PMBA programme to be a perfect fit for his plans. Choosing a reputable school with a world-class faculty and talented students was a key consideration, as Warren believes that “any MBA is only as good as its cohort.”

The PMBA is also the only MBA programme in Singapore with an alternate weekend schedule – allowing Warren to juggle his school assignments with his full-time job. This flexibility was non-negotiable for Warren, as the opportunity cost of trading away his career for a full-time MBA programme would have been too high.

Sharpening leadership skills

As he got deeper into his PMBA, Warren found that the classes and discussions imparted a deeper understanding of the technological innovations disrupting industries.

For mid-career professionals like himself, “it is important to be agile and adapt to new ways of working, as the world is innovating and evolving faster than ever before,” Warren explains. “Brands need to adapt to stay relevant in this day and age. Given the rapid advancement in this space, every company today needs to be a tech-first company.”

During the PMBA, students explore the journeys of companies like Toyota and Apple, analysing how they operate and innovate. In these deep-dives, Warren learned “If [companies] do the same thing over and over again, those companies are not going to survive.”

PMBA students are also assigned mentors based on their areas of interest. Warren had the privilege of learning from Mr. Ramkumar Nedungadi, the former Managing Director of Kellogg’s Southeast Asia and a veteran in the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) segment.

“He was very generous with his time, and went the extra mile to check in with me through the programme,” Warren recalls. “I deeply appreciate his time and certainly took a lot of learnings from this session.”

where the rubber meets the road

The Strategy Projects At Nanyang (SPAN) programme was a formative part of Warren’s PMBA experience. For three months, Nanyang PMBA students team up to solve real business issues for companies.

Warren’s team worked on a change management project for a US-based software consultancy. They were expected to help the company transform their operations; as third-party consultants with an unbiased point of view, they conducted in-depth interviews with employees across all departments and levels to understand why certain products weren’t being adopted.

The project forced the team members to work outside their comfort zones, providing deep insights into the workings of a different corporate domain. The adjustment was eased with the help of an assigned mentor, who acted as the team’s sounding board and guide.

The plan they eventually created was presented to the company’s C-level executives. It was well-received, particularly the aspects that could be implemented immediately. “The fact that you can influence a company in three months […] puts you on the spot to make sure you deliver a presentation at a very high bar,” Warren says.

Benefiting from a broader perspective

Looking back, Warren credits the PMBA with helping broaden his business knowledge and deepen his critical thinking skills, which he now leverages in his day-to-day job to much success. “I can see myself being more curious and asking better questions, both at work and with my clients, to understand their business better,” Warren explains

The cohort’s diversity allowed Warren to work with people from different nationalities and professional backgrounds. He learned to be more agile in working with others, especially when faced with differing opinions.

“The PMBA really pushes you to adapt to how people are, and I would say that makes me more confident,” Warren tells us. “As I climb up the corporate ladder, I see myself managing a larger team, requiring a greater understanding of context.

“A lot of times when you’re working with people from different backgrounds, you’re blindsided by your own experience,” Warren says. “But the PMBA really broadens your horizons.”

Invaluable dividends for mid-career professionals

While it’s common to join an MBA for financial reasons, Warren places a greater emphasis on the other skills you receive during  the programme – dividends you just can’t put a dollar sign on.

“Think of an MBA as a life investment,” Warren explains. “You get to meet people smarter than you, work on real business problems, engage with business leaders and distinguished alumni of the school, interact with professors that have a wealth of knowledge to share and are invested in your growth, and above all, have fun while experiencing the programme.

“The clarity in thought process, improved critical thinking skills, and lifelong curiosity of learning were my key takeaways from this programme,” Warren concludes.