Meet your MBA lecturers: Oliver Olson
Wondering who your MBA lecturers are going to be? What their teaching style is? How you can apply what you learned in your job? This and much more will be addressed in an upcoming series of blogs in which your MBA lecturers will introduce themselves and their classes. This time we introduce you to Oliver Olson.
Let me introduce myself…
My name is Oliver Olson and I am Senior Lecturer in Marketing and Strategy. In the MSM MBA programs you will follow my course in Marketing. In addition to the Marketing course I also teach Strategy in the MSM Master in Management program and when you follow one of the Global Programs you might meet me during your Marketing or Strategy course.
Next to my teaching responsibilities I am also the Academic Coordinator of the M.Sc. in Management and Engineering programs, Academic Coordinator Executive Short programs and Discipline Head of Marketing and Supply Chain Management. Before becoming a lecturer, I was active in banking in the USA for 14 years, culminating as CIO of a small bank near Dallas, Texas and I acted as the Marketing Product Manager of Salamandar AG in Stuttgart, Germany. Before joining MSM in Maastricht I was one of the founders of Maastricht School of Management Romania and was that school’s first Dean and Academic Director. I earned my Undergraduate Degree in International Business and German from California State University, Fullerton and my MBA from the University of Texas, Dallas.
Lecturing chose me…
I started in Administration as an MBA Director in Budapest, Hungary. After 7 years in management, I was invited to teach a course for MSM in 2012 (Strategy), and the rest is history. I had previously taught some one-off courses, such as business communication, presentation skills and IT topics in banking, but 2012 is when I can say I became a lecturer.
What students can expect during my course.
Stories, humor, group work, minute papers at the start of the class and a lot of practical examples to better understand the theory. The mixture of theory, practical examples and aspirational values are all included to engage the students to the fullest.
I feel it is my responsibility as a lecturer to not waste the student’s time.
I need to be more interesting and relevant than the hundreds of other options that a student has available (Facebook, Instagram, work, family, vacation, etc.). The students are investing valuable time and money to be in my class, and I need to ensure the students feel every moment was a good investment.
A first insights into my classes…
A typical class follows the following schedule: minute paper (opening quiz), lecture, group case work and case discussions. The Maastricht based courses also include simulations and guest lecturers from industry experts.
The main take-aways…
Marketing is not advertising or the so-called ‘4 Ps’. Marketing is the entire customer journey from conception of a product/service, creating of the product/service, delivery of the product/service to the customer and the ongoing relationship with the customer. Advertising is the most visible part of the marketing process which happens at the very end of the journey to let the customers know what need your product/service will fulfill, but it is only a very small part of marketing.
Marketing is not just the marketing and/or communications department
This topic is big. Marketing encompasses almost the entire business. One of the goals of the course is for the students to understand that they are probably somehow part of their firm’s marketing function.
To my future students I would like to say…
Read the case before class. Be on time…:) Then you are well positioned to challenge me and we all learn!
About the MSM MBA
The Master in Business Administration (MBA) of Maastricht School of Management is an experience in the essence of organizational leadership and entrepreneurial management in a fast-changing, multi-cultural and global business environment.
It is offered in three different formats to accommodate your needs:
Our MBA takes a practice-oriented approach, focusing on putting your newly gained knowledge and skills into your daily professional and personal life. Immediately from the first course you can apply what you have learned during the interactive lectures, practice-based assignments, work visits and guest lectures (on-campus MBA programs). During the MBA you will also develop your hard and soft skills to be able to manage in an effective and responsible way. To fully align your MBA with your career ambitions or to develop yourself in a completely new area you can choose from different specializations. You will share your MBA experience with fellow students coming from different countries around the world and having different cultural and professional backgrounds. This not only adds to your learning experience but will help to significantly grow your international network.
