Diploma helps change perspective

After more than seven years of working in the logistics and planning sector, Italian Renato Giuliano decided it was time to consolidate his working experience with a management qualification. He enrolled on MGSM's postgraduate diploma in management and has progressed to the Master of Management qualification.

He is now working on credits towards the MBA. 'As soon as I started with the first subject I immediately began to look at things from a different angle,' he said.

The payoff from his studies was evident in his working life. 'It comes naturally, when I am in meetings with other departments to apply concepts and even mention sample cases that were studied in class.

'I am not only organising my daily activity, but I am now more confident when I plan for middle- and long-term objectives.'

Mr Giuliano, who moved to Hong Kong almost nine years ago, is a planning manager in the logistic department of an Italian trading firm Caben Asia Pacific. He said his studies had given him skills that enabled him to better understand the company he worked for and the general business environment.

The challenging and stimulating environment encouraged him to progress to the MBA level, he said.

'The ceremony for the postgraduate diploma has been very important for me, marking the achievement for which I worked hard,' Mr Giuliano said.

Mr Giuliano chose the MGSM business school for its wide range of possible courses and the flexibility it offered.

'Important to my decision was also the timing of the intensive seminars that did not clash with my working hours. Even now that I work in Shenzhen, it's still possible for me to follow the incoming subjects to complete the MBA.'

Mr Giuliano said time management was one of the most challenging aspects of his studies. 'You must be able to manage your family and friends' time and the time required to complete assignments or research. At the beginning this was hard, but after some time I started to handle it.'