Alumni profile
Jonathan
Betts, Full-time MBA
The Bradford full-time MBA enabled Dr Jonathan Betts, who came from a scientific background, to gain an excellent grounding and accelerated learning in all areas of business.
Jonathan, aged 43, comes originally from London but was resident in the United States at the time of applying for the MBA. He chose Bradford due to its international standing and its value for money.
"I initially trained and worked as a scientist and became increasingly interested in the business side of biotechnology. The MBA training provided me with the grounding to move from research into business," explained Jonathan, who graduated in 1997.
He is now Sales and Marketing Director for Leeds-based Science Warehouse, which is a leading provider of Web-based procurement and catalogue solutions, enabling buyers and sellers to connect Online and trade. The business works with some of the world's leading organisations to deliver savings, control and visibility in the supply chain.
"I think the MBA provides a solid under-pinning to my current approach to analysis and decision-making. For example, currently, we are developing our growth strategy within the business. This draws on some of the tools learned at MBA level for product development and market development. I have also used the learning as the basis for developing my own market segmentation models that we use in the business based around customer groups," said Jonathan.
"I have worked on many business and marketing plans over the years and without the framework provided by my MBA training would have struggled with a lot of this.
"The MBA is an excellent way of not only building knowledge and skills but of benchmarking your ability and providing you with the confidence and independence to go out there and try anything.
"Another benefit is the strong network of bright, like-minded individuals I have around the world. After a lapse of 12 years, I recently reconnected with a number of them via Linkedin, which was fabulous. There was an instant bond which people want to maintain.
"I feel the Bradford MBA affords a level of respect in business but it is important to recognise it as a springboard rather than giving you any rights - you still have to work hard to build the respect of your team and never stop learning. Certainly in 96/97 the MBA course was very much structured around delivering graduates into a blue-chip or consulting environment. However, it has stood me in good stead in the entrepreneurial start-up environment," Jonathan added.