How an exchange added international experience to Lauren Morrey's MBA
Once Lauren Morrey decided to study an MBA, the choice of where to do it was an easy one.
"It was a pretty easy decision for me. It was Melbourne Business School or no business school," says Lauren, who studied a Part-time MBA.
"I went to an information and met some of the alumni there and heard about their experiences, and I just knew that was the school for me."
Now an Innovation Manager at NAB Labs, Lauren was drawn to Melbourne Business School in part because of the strength of its alumni network and international exchange program.
"It was really important to find a school that aligned to my wanting to build out a network and getting international exposure and experience that I could bring back to my career as well," she says.
During her studies, Lauren took part in the MBA Exchange Program to attend London Business School in the UK.
"London Business School is the number one business school for finance and I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to go over there and learn from the international community and bring that learning back to Australia," she says.
"I got to learn first-hand from business leaders that are over there in Europe in the real world about their experiences and the challenges they face in that market.
"It's just been absolutely critical with how I now look at everything in the Australian market, particularly in finance."
What helped Lauren make the most of her time in London was understanding the value of relationships – which is a key part of the Melbourne Business School experience.
"It was a really fantastic opportunity to build my network globally, but it's about that niche value of building relationships and having good, deep networks that you get at Melbourne Business School that made my time at LBS really worthwhile."
Lauren is now challenging the status quo at NAB as part of the company's NAB Labs innovation hub.
"I actually came back to a new position here in NAB Labs which is a fantastic role where I'm able to directly apply the things I learnt into my role day-to-day," she says.
"If I hadn't done an MBA, I wouldn't have had that breadth of experience or be able to transfer different elements that you need to draw on to be successful doing innovation in a big corporate."
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