Paul Wood returned to Manchester 18 months ago to begin his fourth University of Manchester degree, the Global Part-time MBA. Now he has completed his MBA, we caught up with the “Mad for Manchester” chemistry graduate to find out how the last 18 months have been and if he has officially hung up his academic boots for good.
Paul was part of our Global MBA Accelerated cohort of senior candidates who complete the programme in 18 months rather than two years. The Global Part-time MBA was a change to the other degrees he had studied in Manchester, which were full-time and had a science focus rather than business. The MBA was very different, he met executives from various walks of life and countries, and this degree was a new experience and chapter in his academic journey.
With Paul's background in the education sector and as a headteacher, he is not the usual type of professional we see walk through the doors at Alliance Manchester Business School to study an MBA. As well as his Manchester degrees, Paul had also completed an MA in Educational Management at the University of Bath. This had really helped his career to this point, but once he became a head of school he had to deal with areas such as marketing and budgets. He knew there was definitely a gap in his expertise that he could only fill by studying an MBA.
Studying the MBA part-time gave Paul the chance to bring back everything he was learning straight into his job, for example he is already looking at business plans and marketing operations. Everything he has studied over the last 18 months he is able to use and reflect on from an education perspective. The MBA helped him to understand the concept of lean operations and everything that goes on behind the scenes in a school environment.
Having the opportunity to study an MBA with peers from a variety of countries, cultures and business backgrounds was the reason he chose Alliance MBS. “I found working with people from different industries, and learning how they work and see things differently, really helpful," he said. "I got to learn so much from everyone else’s experiences. The profile of the cohort was varied and it was nice to meet people who are comfortable in international settings.” Another part of the appeal of Manchester was the opportunity to study across the globe; Paul did electives in both the Shanghai and Dubai centres.
We would like to congratulate Paul on his fourth graduation. Paul says this is not necessarily the end of his academic journey as he loves to study and add to his knowledge continuously.
