“It is necessary for you to learn from others’ mistakes. You will not live long enough to make them all yourself.” – Hyman Rickover, US Navy Admiral.
The best managers and leaders know this: it’s not enough to learn from theory, practice is the one that really sticks with you. Of course, this is extremely relevant for executive programs, meant to give leaders insight into what works best for their teams and companies. In other words, don’t tell me what to do, show me how others have done it and what they’ve achieved.
Any proficient learning experience will blend in theoretical and practical knowledge, which is a common feature of our Executive MBA and Fast Track Management Program lecturers. Not only have they studied thoroughly articles, research papers, books, processes and models, but they’ve also implemented them in tens of organisations, as senior-level executives or consultants.
But let’s see who the lecturers of our management programs are, what they teach and where can you meet them outside the programs.
Who are the lecturers?
The course range for our programs is diverse, so it would be hard to make an all-encompassing article about all our 20+ lecturers that does justice to each of them. So, we’ve made a selection of a few lecturers, which we’ve tried to group by topics. The selection was no easy feast, which is why we also invite you to check out the full EMBA, Fast Track and Master in Management lecturers here.
Change & Critical Thinking
Regardless of the industry and size of an organization, people are at its core. Be they customers, partners or team members, each company is built on the foundation of people. This is why a leader must have strong inter-personal and soft skills, in order to be successful.
Adrian Stanciu, our Associate Dean for Knowledge & Leadership specializes in organizational culture management and change. He is one of the co-founders of MsM Romania, from over 10 years ago. If you read the Romanian business press, you may have heard from him on ethics, responsibility, values, leadership and organizational culture. He reposts his articles on his personal blog here.
In the professional field, his work touched more than 50 organizations, large or small, in Romania and other countries, and many hundreds of managers and leaders whilst consulting on organizational development or coaching top executives.
Adrian also talks on management systems: what works, what doesn’t and how to improve them. Below, you can listen to one of his talks from Romanian Business Leaders Forum (in Romanian), that highlights the need for companies to maintain their entrepreneurial spirit, to encourage autonomy and flexibility. Adrian is a lecturer on Leadership & Organization Behaviour, Managing Cultural Diversity and co-lecturer on Change Management for the EMBA and Leading People & Organizations for the Fast Track Management Program.
Radu Atanasiu is the Adjunct Lecturer for Critical Thinking and has been an MSM lecturer for the past 6 years. Radu’s course is unique in topic and approach and he’s shared his experience internationally, with tens of thousands of students through the online open course Critical Thinking – Reason and Fair Play in Communication. Radu is also an angel investor in start-ups like 2Performant, SmartDreamers and Evertoys, a business founded by 2 EMBA alumni.
Radu is also a frequent speaker and contributor for business events and publications. He talks about why we make bad decisions, why we stick to our opinions and how biases influence decision-making in businesses. You can read one of his extensive interviews here and listen to his talk on changing your mind. Radu teaches Critical Thinking in both the EMBA and Fast Track Programs.
Business Entrepreneurs & Senior Executives
Sergiu Negut is the Associate Dean for Entrepreneurial Growth and Adjunct Lecturer of Entrepreneurial Business. He is also a co-founder of MsM, so he’s been involved in the school’s MBA for over 10 years now.
Sergiu’s experience is diverse and includes being an Angel Investor, Board Member or CEO Advisor for a number of local businesses. Until the end of 2011, Sergiu has helped expand massively what is now known as Regina Maria, the Private Healthcare Network. At the moment, he is a Board Member of frufru, 2Performant, Euro IT Group and Softelligence, whilst also being the co-founder of a rapid growth fintech startup, FintechOS.
He also frequently speaks in business, start-ups and HR events. Sergiu teaches Corporate Strategy and is a co-lecturer of Change Management for the EMBA and Managing Growth Through Innovation for the Fast Track Management Program.
We do mention walk the talk, so how could a faculty be complete without an acting senior executive too? Steven van Groningen is the president and CEO of Raiffeisen Bank Romania since 2002 and a former Olympian rower. He is an activist, cyclist, photographer, rocker and a blogger on his website. He teaches Corporate Responsibility & Ethics in the EMBA program. He believes companies should have a responsibility to create value and you can hear from him in a talk from the Romanian Business Leaders Gala:
Finance from Singapore
All the lecturers have international experience, but no one joins the MBA from as far as Singapore, like Joy Chan does. She is now a full time lecturer at Central European University in Budapest and has held senior positions in the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, Trade Development Board in Singapore, the Ministry of Trade and Industry in Singapore, and more recently at KPMG Central and Eastern Europe. Joy teaches Finance for the EMBA program and Financial Intelligence for Fast Track Management Program.
How can you meet them?
If you’re thinking ok, this sounds great on paper, but what about in real life? The good news is you have plenty of opportunities to meet the lecturers, talk to them and even attend one of their courses. Here are a few examples below:
Our MBA open courses, events and masterclasses
We frequently run MBA open courses, masterclasses and events featuring our lecturers and alumni. Check out the schedule on our events page. Our next Q&A EMBA evening, featuring 3 of our lecturers, takes place on 3 December.
Join a class to get a taste
With classes already taking place for our MBA cohorts, we’re giving you the opportunity to join an actual EMBA course and see for yourself how it feels to be a student again (in a virtual setting). If you want to join one, message us at info@msmromania.org for the schedule.
Or, feel free to follow them on social media, they’re always eager to start a new conversation on their topics and who knows what new things you’ll discover?