Master of Business Administration (MBA): Sharmila Gunasekaran

Sharmila Gunasekaran is a Marketing & Strategy Lead from Petaling Jaya, Selangor. She received a full bursary from the 30% Club, a voluntary organisation of senior professionals committed to making business better across more than 20 countries.

She obtained her Master of Business Administration (MBA) in 2021 from Heriot-Watt University Malaysia (HWUM) and tells her story about her experiences as a Heriot-Watt graduate and an alumnus in Malaysia.

“One of the things that are appealing about Heriot-Watt's MBA programme is that I especially loved the mix of the cohort. There are individuals from various industries, and it was a cohort that was proactive with sharing with the support of quality lecturers. I love the different perspectives and mix of experience that brought every class to life. I was part of the pioneer group with the new syllabus and to date, I find the syllabus very relatable and has transitioned perfectly for me from theory to practise.

“The MBA programme was able to fulfil the theory needs and provide me with leverage when comes to application, this helped to prepare me to meet the challenges in the industry or working world. It has brought different perspectives, structured and organised thinking when working on a project. I am from a pharmaceutical background and the MBA has opened doors and overcome the challenges in creating trust with employers when taking on as a lead on corporate projects with large impact.

“Heriot-Watt's MBA programme is flexible, transitions quick and adapted to online teaching with almost zero disruption when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world back in 2020. The quality of the teaching faculty and the ability to translate their experience to teaching were valuable.

“Attaining this MBA programme background meant that I was able to move into a marketing role in line with my career aspirations besides being promoted within a short span to a Marketing and Strategy Lead. The networking opportunities has been an asset with the cohort staying connected to date and always sharing learnings.

“Potential students who are exploring to pursue their MBA should be clear on the intention and goal of taking on the programme, leverage on networking to learn more. Every programme is different so deep dive into the expected outcome and pick the best institution to support that successful outcome like I did.”

Sharmila Gunasekaran

Marketing & Strategy Lead

GSK Pharmaceutical Malaysia

Heriot-Watt University Malaysia – Class of 2021