When Intan Puspitasari started EU Business School’s MBA in Blockchain Management, she wanted to advance her career in telecommunications. Instead, her MBA led her to a job in digital innovation.
Intan spent 15 years at Ericsson, the networking and telecommunications company, progressing from engineer to consultant, before deciding to advance her education through an MBA at EU Business School.
EU Business School’s MBA in Blockchain Management boasts a flexible, hybrid learning approach, with start dates throughout the year and the ability to study full time, part time and fully online, which Intan opted for.
The MBA program provides students with a business skill set combined with an in-depth knowledge of blockchain and its applications.
Now, Intan is using her experience to move into a digital innovation job where she’ll manage the connectivity side of the Internet of Things (IoT) at the high-tech Swiss manufacturer Schindler Group.
Why an MBA in Blockchain Management?
Intan started at Ericsson in 2007 in Indonesia as an integration engineer. She moved to Germany in 2011, where she worked in various roles including integration engineer and pre-sales manager, and finally as a senior consultant manager.
Having worked at Ericsson for over a decade, she wanted to find a way to progress further in her career and develop skills that would allow her to work in a leadership role.
“I needed more knowledge and skills,” Intan explains. “I was exposed in my daily work, but somehow, I couldn’t make sense of it. I couldn’t connect the dots. That was the reason I chose an MBA.”
She had two prerequisites for an MBA. First, it needed to offer an online option, as she wanted to continue her job, and second it needed to be accredited.
Accredited by ACBSP, EU Business School’s MBA ranked top in CEO Magazine’s Online Global Rankings for the eighth year running in 2022 and achieved four stars for excellence in business from QS Stars.
“When I did my research, I found that EU Business School was the perfect package for me,” Intan says.
Her decision to specialize in blockchain management came while she was working on a pilot project for Ericsson, which introduced 5G technology into areas like healthcare, manufacturing, and augmented reality.
During this time, Intan was exposed to the application of blockchain into food safety. Previously, her understanding of blockchain was limited to cryptocurrency, but after this work she was drawn to it as an emerging technology.
“Blockchain is interesting because it can be applied to many industries to help revolutionize processes to be more transparent, effective, and environmentally friendly,” she says.
What do you gain from an MBA in Blockchain Management?
During the MBA in Blockchain Management, students examine how cutting-edge technologies like blockchain are impacting ways of doing business, and apply blockchain technology to solve a problem in an economic sector.
Despite the course being online, Intan found she was granted a hands-on, real-world experience, beyond what she had learned as a technical consultant.
In their final term, students can take a course in blockchain and sustainable development, a consulting-style project where they apply blockchain technology to either solve a public issue with a sustainable approach or create a new venture that produces breakthrough innovation.
“My daily work is more about technology and a technical type of domain,” Intan explains. “But now I have more to it. For example, I now know how to manage an organization from the HR or the strategy point of view.
“Being hands-on is very important for me, especially with blockchain. It’s not yet a mature technology, so I think this insight is crucial, especially in a management MBA.”
What jobs are there for MBA in Blockchain Management graduates?
MBA in Blockchain Management graduates can land jobs in blockchain directly, as a consultant, crypto trader, or blockchain project manager. There are also blockchain career opportunities across sectors like asset management, healthcare, logistics, and fintech.
Intan found that the career networking opportunities were a significant advantage of attending EU Business School. “That’s what I used to get a new role in a new industry,” she says.
At first, Intan was skeptical about the ability to network because of the online learning environment. However, EU Business School arranges on-campus weeks for online students in December, March, and June, filled with networking events, guest speakers, and company visits.
While these were online during Intan’s studies due to the pandemic, she was able to build a network with students from other specializations, as well as students and professors within the blockchain MBA.
Intan found her new job through Linkedin. After creating a network of connections through her MBA, she was served various roles that matched her qualifications, which led to finding her role at Schindler.
Now, she’s joining Schindler Group’s Berlin-based digital innovation unit as a senior service manager within the elevator and escalator sector. Escalators and elevators are becoming automated, she says, and she’ll be managing the IoT technology that enables the automation.
Intan says the knowledge and skills she’s gained from her MBA differentiated her from other candidates during the recruitment process.
For anyone looking to work in tech, AI, and innovation, she strongly recommends pursuing an MBA in Blockchain Management.
“Employers in non-IT industries now value and understand the potential of blockchain as an emerging technology,” she says.
“Since the technology is not yet mature, the ecosystem needs more people to know about managing blockchain to accelerate its adoption.”