[Korean Economic Daily] PMBA '22 Wooree Lee
- SKKGSB
- Hit6717
- 2021-11-10
- PMBA Class of 2022 Wooree Lee Interview
- 1. Could you tell us a little about yourself?
I’m Wooree Lee, I’m enrolled on SKK GSB’s Professional MBA program, and I’ll be graduating in February 2022. I’m currently working as a consultant at McKinsey & Company.
- 2. What were your reasons for deciding to do the MBA, and why did you choose SKK GSB?
I’d been thinking that to achieve sustainable performance and results in the rapidly changing business environment we see today, global business expertise and problem-solving skills are both crucial. Though I’d been steadily developing myself, from a long-term perspective I strongly needed globally applicable comprehensive job skills in marketing, finance, organizational management, and strategy.
I also needed to become familiar with various case studies, and with insights through not only experts’ sharing of ideas, but also through a solid theoretical base. That’s why I decided that an MBA would be the best solution to build this kind of expertise. SKK GSB has maintained a steady global ranking, all its classes are in English, and there’s the opportunity of a dual degree with Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, so this school seemed to align well with the global business career I’m pursuing.
- 3. Please share how what you have learned during your MBA course has contributed towards your actual work, and how you can utilize this in the future.
I’d say the most helpful things that I learned on the course fall into two groups: theory and practice.
Theoretically, there were many things that I could apply directly to business situations, so I experienced their effectiveness straight away. In particular, the Digital Marketing course helped me understand the digital marketing ecosystem. This course included a lot of useful simulations, and these helped me to understand the practical impact of optimizing the customer journey, to appreciate various perspectives of performance analysis, and to learn channel strategy.
Thanks to the Marketing Analysis course, I could increase my access to marketing data with R-Programming. On this course, we analyzed data from various; we used vast amounts of data, and then we found optimal clustering criteria during the customer clustering process. I found this especially interesting, and later, when I was analyzing customer data in a real business situation, I could determine the criteria for applicability and confidence of data more quantitatively.
Regarding practice, the most striking phrase that springs to mind is “speak out effectively”. My classmates had a range of experiences, jobs, and backgrounds, so by discussing and presenting with them, I developed creative problem-solving skills. These skills were helpful in real business situations as I could convey my opinions more concisely and efficiently. Since all of SKK GSB’s classes are in English, it closely modeled a real international business environment, and by using my classmates’ strengths as benchmarks, I found the global nature of the experience valuable.
- 4. What was the biggest challenge you encountered on the MBA course?
It takes a lot of energy and effort physically and mentally to take the classes, to work on assignments, and to get through the exams, all at the same time as working. Taking this course involves a lot of case reading materials and assignments every week, so it was far from easy to balance all those tasks while working, but with motivation from my classmates, I could manage the classes and assignments without major issues. The MBA course has a lot of group assignments, and we grew together by learning from other members' strengths, by helping them with their shortcomings, and by maximizing and building on each other's abilities. This helped us to overcome our challenges.
- 5. Please give a word of advice to prospective applicants who are considering an MBA.
I think prospective students should clarify their needs and expectations after graduating with an MBA.[JPB1] Even if students enroll with a strong will, some may lose sight of their original goal or withdraw because there are a lot of challenges. Yet if students clearly know what they want to achieve, then they are more able to overcome these challenges with their classmates. Remember you aren’t alone: the other students on the course are invariably keen to develop themselves even in difficult situations, and you’re all in the same boat, so everyone tends to help each other very well. I’d say that applicants who take an MBA after considering these points carefully will find the content, process, and methodology that they learn a great benefit as they grow into thriving business professionals.
Original article in Korean: https://www.hankyung.com/society/article/2021101463141