Blake Langridge’s career has taken him around the world, from Singapore to New York. Despite his triumphs, however, there was still something Blake felt his career lacked.
To advance his skills and expand his career prospects, Sydney-born Blake embarked on an online MBA. He has since used his business degree to switch roles and expand his international career even further, securing a top MBA position in Dubai.
Having previously worked in tax advisory as a partner at EY, he is using his work experience and business school learnings to thrive at DP World, an Emirati global logistics company, in Dubai as an executive, where he is responsible for leading multinational corporations in the region and helping grow into a larger regional market of 3.5 billion consumers.
Deepen Business Knowledge on an Online MBA
While Blake’s MBA was key to securing his high-flying role in Dubai, he began to see the benefits of his online MBA from Maastricht School of Management (MSM) early in his career at EY.
The online MBA has helped him evolve his skills from a deep tax specialist to someone who can use that expertise on a larger scale to drive business transformation.
“The online MBA gave me a solid understanding of the technical fundamentals of how a business actually works. From there, I was better able to diagnose the root cause of the business challenges my EY clients were facing. confronted and to offer them effective solutions,” he says.
Knowing how quickly the business landscape can change, Blake adds that he sought out an MBA program that would bring him up to speed with cutting-edge business trends.
While the MSM Online MBA is studied remotely on a part-time basis, students can travel to the MSM campus in the Netherlands for two weeks to study chosen electives including Industry 4.0, Big Data, Fintech and IT. ‘Green innovation.
Students can choose to complete the program in two and a half years or over four years.
The flexibility of studying online means students can tailor the MBA to their existing commitments, which is exactly what motivated Blake to join the program.
“I would take my books on airplanes and work in hotel lobbies all over the world,” he says.
Using an Online MBA to Start a Career in Dubai
It was while studying the online MBA that Blake realized his potential to move into a new role in a different region.
“The MBA case studies gave me a better understanding of different sectors, issues and regions. You work with a very diverse cohort of students who all bring different perspectives as well,” says Blake.
In the MSM MBA program, students access a discussion forum where they complete weekly assignments and participate in debates. He says it helped him gain a deep business understanding that would be crucial in accelerating his career and moving into a different operational role in a new region.
The average MSM Online MBA cohort includes people of 15 nationalities with an average work experience of 12 years. MSM Online MBA graduates go on to land top MBA jobs in technology and entrepreneurship.
It has also helped the distance MBA offer courses in global business strategy and cultural diversity management, helping to broaden his international outlook and deepen his previous experience as head of tax efficiency at EY.
Since graduating, Blake has traveled the world to assume his current role at DP World in Dubai, where he is responsible for strategy and business development for DP World’s Global Business Corporation project and Jebel Ali Free Zone.
Leveraging the Online MBA Network to Thrive at DP World
In addition to expanding her career prospects, Blake honed her networking skills on the MSM Online MBA.
“The experiences and career paths of those who took the online MBA were all so different from mine,” he says, adding that he has worked alongside people working for tech-based NGOs in Africa and data scientists in the Netherlands.
Having this global network at his disposal meant that changing jobs to another part of the world didn’t seem so daunting.
“Since moving from New York to Dubai I have met people I met virtually on the course and we are now friends. They opened up their networks to me and vice versa,” says Blake.
In her MBA position at DP World, Blake enjoys navigating a larger organization and dealing with a much broader set of stakeholders than ever before. He says he regularly uses his MBA skills like strategic thinking, innovation and problem solving to ensure Dubai remains a top destination for international companies, advising them on investment and operational strategies. .
“The MBA showed my employers and colleagues that I was committed and had followed a rigorous program that broadened my capabilities and helped me bring new value to teams,” he says, adding that her online MBA has given her the confidence to make this career and place leap.
