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Stephan Poirier
Vice-President, Business Development
The Calgary Airport Authority
Canadian |
“About three years ago my boss tasked me with writing a ten year business plan, outlining a strategy for developing the airport's business, here at Calgary Airport. The final document was intended to educate and inform the seventeen members of the board of directors, as well as forming the basis of a request for over $10.4 million (CAD) to start phase one of the new business strategy.
When I looked at the Executive MBA at Saïd Business School, because of the core project component of that programme, I was extremely excited. I suggested to my boss that, as I wanted to study for an MBA, and he wanted me to develop the business plan, why not combine the two through the Executive MBA. That way I could take an MBA, and the company would get a well researched business plan, without the additional costs of involving external consultants.
I started the EMBA programme in January 2005. Every paper I wrote on the programme was connected to my work in some way. So in marketing, for example, I wrote a paper on one of our largest customers, Air Canada. In strategy I looked at UPS, and FedEx. The more progress I made through the programme, the more I was able to fine tune my business development plan.
At the end of the Executive MBA, I ended up with a project that not only satisfied my boss, but, when we took it to the board of directors and presented it, they unanimously endorsed the idea at the first draft, and committed over ten million dollars of funding. Plus I was promoted to spearhead the entire implementation of the five phase plan.
There's no question that the Executive MBA at Saïd Business School was a win-win experience; extremely valuable, both for me, and for my employer.”
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Garth F. Atkinson
President and Chief Executive Officer
The Calgary Airport Authority |
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"As Stephan began his programme at Oxford, we had agreed that he would thoroughly research the global logistics industry in order to identify potential opportunities for our company. Although we were somewhat confident that an opportunity existed, much research needed to be conducted in order to better define the opportunity and develop the appropriate 'phase one' action plan. As a result of his presentation, the Board of Directors unanimously approved the plan and has allocated 10 million dollars to the first phase.
I have followed Stephan's development and would like to express my appreciation and satisfaction about the programme." |