Euro*MBA alumnus in Expansion magazine

How to juggle job and studies

Thierry Davila s career path speaks for itself. When he decided to do an MBA he naturally talked with his employer at the time, Lafarge, but did not succeed in convincing them of the logic of his approach. When I started to talk of my wish to do an MBA so that I could evolve from purely technical functions to a more transversal position, the company s answer was negative and they didn’t see the point, he recalls.

Working in Egypt, then in Malaysia, this project manager saw his request for funding and for leave of absence to study a programme refused.  In 2004, in order to acquire the much-valued diploma, he opted for the Euro*MBA. This programme, offered by several European schools including Audencia and the IAE of Aix-en-Provence in France, involves e-learning modules complemented by weeklong seminars every four months at one of the partner schools.

It was a period during which he is aware that his wife and children also had to meet the challenge.  I used up my holidays to attend the group work. As I knew the dates well in advance, I could be well organised. It was hard for my family because practically all my holidays plus the weekends were spent studying, he says.

The sacrifices were greater still due to the extra time Thierry needed to complete his thesis, a compulsory part of the programme. Normally, when employers support this sort of project they reorganise the employee s workload so research can be done. That was not my case, continues this manager, conscious that the true value of his diploma would only be appreciated by a new employer. The gamble paid off and he has now been appointed regional purchasing manager for cement manufacturers Holcim in Switzerland where he has moved with his wife and children.