Applying the Glion MBA beyond hospitality
在酒店行业之外运用格里昂MBA的知识格里昂高等教育学院 2014年11月20日
JOHN WILLIAMS
格里昂在线课程校友John Williams — 毕业于2013年
Verizon Enterprise Solutions领导力思维&纵向理论全球活动副总监
虽然John Williams从格里昂获得了MBA学位，他的个人履历却并不符合一个典型的格里昂在线MBA学生的情况：他不是从事酒店管理层的工作，而是技术行业的思维部门领导。John成绩优异，获得格里昂毕业论文奖。他已经在Verizon Enterprise Solutions市场和品牌部门工作了12年，Verizon Enterprise Solutions为全世界的企业客户和政府客户管理云服务、移动业务、安全服务和通讯业务。John定居在英国汉普郡奥尔顿（Alton，Hampshire, UK）。格里昂学校问John为什么选择格里昂在线MBA以及这个课程以及如何证明这个课程与他的工作相关。
为什么选择格里昂在线MBA课程而不是一个更典型的传统MBA课程？
确实，格里昂在线MBA最初的几个课程模块都是强烈倾向于酒店行业的。但是自那之后，这个MBA课程就适用于广泛的服务行业了。并且我选择了更加主流的课程模块。比如说，我不会选营收管理这样极具酒店管理专业性的课程，我会选择市场沟通或策略这样的课程。
我为什么不选择亨利商学院（Henley Business School）这所看起来更符合我职业发展的学校？因为如果我选择这所学校的话班里都是和我相似的人 — 大家有着相似的教育背景，相似的工作背景，相似的国籍。我不想这样。在格里昂，大家来自世界各地，来自不同的行业，有不同的背景。你在一个在线课程中就可以体验到这些，因为你不会受到任何地域限制。这样的多样性极大地丰富了我们讨论的内容和深度。
并且，在面对面的实体教室中，总会有一些人的观点受欢迎一些人的观点不受欢迎。在线教室提供了一个水平的沟通环境。每一个人的观点和声音都会以完全相同的方式传达给其他所有人。这一点相当独特。
你的头衔是市场部思维领导力副总监。就实际情况而言，这个职位是做什么的？
我的团队负责观察现有的和未来的科技如何推动企业机构成长、开发新市场、提高生产率、更好地满足客户需求以及推进企业本身的工作效率。我们制作出思维领导力资料来观察Verizon为其它企业提供的科技和其它公司相比是如何推动行业和企业间的变化的。
我的团队和哈佛商业评论（Harvard Business Review），经济学家（The Economist），以及牛津经济（Oxford Economics）等这样的第三方合作，我们运行的主要研究项目让我们洞悉人们如何使用科技。我们也收集Verizon在全球几亿的客户信息。我们解释我们的见解并创建研究报告，再加上信息图表、视频和其他材料以帮助管理人员形成自己的观点、创建策略及最终作出决定。
你在MBA学到的东西是怎样和你的工作联系在一起的？
当我开始学习这个MBA课程时，我已经工作了大约15年。这个课程可以为我的实践知识和工作经验融入学术理论，它还对我在工作中的思维模式给予了学术研究方面的验证。
在领导力课程中，指导老师要求我们记工作互动记录，把在工作中与别人的互动交流记录下来。你可以把这些例子带到讨论室和大家一起分析。这会使你思考你在接人待物时所做的决定和采取的行为，并且突出显示你在哪里可以做的更好。这样你就可以改善那些原本可能不太好的关系。写这份工作互动记录的意义在于监督你在交流过程中肩负起你的职责，强化感同身受、倾听这些领导力品质。
跟我们谈论一下你的论文。
我的主题是企业的社会责任(CSR)。Verizon公司长期以来一直坚持对社会负责并支持公益事业。我想检测我们在不同国家的员工对工作有多投入，并且我想知道如果让员工们融入到企业的社会责任中来，他们是否会感到更热爱这份工作及更亲近这个品牌。我调查了我们公司在美国、印度、新加坡、澳大利亚和整个欧洲的员工。
大公司倾向于认为他们可以推出适用于全球各个国家的企业社会责任原动力统一模版，但这行不通。我发现要使员工参与进来，我们需要授权当地团队找到适合他们文化的工作动力。适用于美国密尔沃基（Milwaukee, USA）的员工文化不一定就适用于印度德里（Delhi）的员工。
我把我的论文呈递给我们的基金会主席。我建议基金组赋予欧洲和亚太地区的团队成员独立的预算责任，而不是总等待美国总部的指挥。
你会建议你在技术行业或其他服务行业中的朋友也以和你类似的方式深造吗？
绝对会。格里昂在线MBA是一段特别好的经历。确实很难，但十分值得。
在现在这个时代，教室一定不是理想的学习环境了，因为我们所有人都极度缺乏时间。如果你参加了在线MBA课程，那么无论你的生活中有什么事情发生，你都可以先把最重要的事情做完，这样你就可以在合适的时间段进行学习。在线课程为你提供了无与伦比的灵活度。
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Applying the Glion MBA beyond hospitality
by Glion Institute of Higher Education 20 November 2014
JOHN WILLIAMS
Glion Online Alumnus – Graduated in 2013
Associate Director, Global Campaigns, Thought Leadership & Vertical Propositions at Verizon Enterprise Solutions
While earning his MBA with us, John Williams did not fit the profile of the typical Glion Online MBA student: He was not a hospitality executive but a thought leader in the technology industry. John excelled in the program, winning the Glion Dissertation Prize. He has worked in marketing and branding for 12 years with Verizon Enterprise Solutions, which manages cloud, mobile, security, and communications services for business and government clients all over the world. He is based in Alton, Hampshire, UK. Glion asked John why he chose the Glion Online MBA and how it has proved relevant to his work.
Why did you choose the Glion Online MBA program rather than a more typical MBA?
It’s true that the first couple modules of the Glion Online MBA are strongly slanted toward hospitality. But after that, it’s a broad services industries MBA. And I chose more mainstream modules. Instead of, say, revenue management, which is a hospitality discipline, I took a marketing communications course, or a strategy course.
Why did I not go to the Henley Business School, which is down the road from me? Because the class would be full of people just like me— people with similar educational backgrounds, similar working background, similar nationality. I didn’t want that. With Glion, there were people from all over the world, from all different industries and backgrounds. You get that with an online course, because you’re not tied to any location. This diversity added significantly to the discussions and the depth and richness of our discussions.
Also, in a face-to-face classroom, there are always people who want to be heard and people who don’t want to be heard. An online classroom levels the playing field. It allows for everyone’s point of view and voice to be heard in an identical way to everyone else’s. Which is quite unique.
Your title is Associate Director, Thought Leadership Marketing. Practically speaking, what does that mean?
My team is charged with looking at how existing and future technologies can enable enterprise organizations to grow, expand into new markets, increase productivity, better engage customers, and drive efficiencies within their businesses. We produce thought leadership materials that look at how the technologies that Verizon provides, among others, are driving change within industries and businesses.
My team works with third parties, such as Harvard Business Review, The Economist, and Oxford Economics, to run primary research activities that provide us with insights into how people use technology. We also gather data from the hundreds of millions of Verizon customers around the world. We interpret that insight and create research reports, along with infographics, videos, and other materials that help executives form opinions, create strategies, and ultimately make decisions.
How is what you learned in the MBA relevant to your job?
When I started the MBA, I had been working for about 15 years. The program allowed me to join the dots of my practical knowledge and experience with academic theory, and it gave me research-based validation for the way I think in my work.
In the Leadership course, the instructor had us keep a reflective journal of our interactions with people at work. You could bring examples to the discussion room and analyze them together. This makes you think about the decisions you make and the actions you take with individuals, and it highlights where you could do things better. So you can improve the relationships that perhaps aren’t so good. It’s about taking responsibility for your part in communication. It’s about deepening leadership qualities—empathy, listening.
Tell us about your dissertation.
My topic was corporate social responsibility (CSR). Verizon has a long track record of being socially responsible and supporting good causes. I wanted to test how engaged our employees are in different countries, and to ask whether, if employees were to get involved in CSR initiatives, they would feel more engaged and closer to the brand. I surveyed employees in America, India, Singapore, Australia, and all over Europe.
Large companies tend to think they can roll out CSR initiatives that can be applied in exactly the same way across the globe. But that doesn’t work. I found that to engage employees, we need to empower local teams to generate initiatives that appeal to their culture. Something relevant to employees in Milwaukee, USA, wouldn’t be relevant to those in Delhi.
I presented my dissertation to the president of our foundation. I recommended that the foundation team give budgetary responsibility to team members within Europe and Asia Pacific as opposed to having them always look to the U.S. for direction.
Would you recommend that your peers in the technology and other service industries take a similar educational path?
Definitely. The Glion Online MBA was an amazing experience. Really tough, but incredibly rewarding.
Classrooms are certainly not ideal learning situations in this day and age, where all of us are completely time starved. With the online MBA, no matter what comes up in your life, you’ve got the option to reorganize priorities so you can invest the right amount of time into studying. The flexibility it affords you is second to none.
【原文引自】：http://www.gheac.com/thread-7229-1-2.html
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