Piotr Słupczyński
1. What influenced your decision to pursue an MBA at PJAIT?
Once, in a conversation with the CEO of a corporation, I heard that nothing changes a professional life as much as an MBA. I have been associated with the IT industry for over 21 years. I myself had previously completed two postgraduate degree programs and had been considering undertaking an MBA for a long time. There are many programs of this type on the market. After reviewing the program description and conducting a thorough analysis, I decided on the specialized IT MBA program at the Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology. What ultimately decided the choice was the experienced faculty of practitioner lecturers. Today I know it was a very good decision. Another step completed!
2. How do you recall your time spent on the MBA for IT at PJAIT? What was most important to you during the studies themselves?
My time at the MBA program at the Faculty of Computer Science at the Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology in Warsaw was an exceptional period for me - I learned a lot, I also learned a lot about myself, but most of all I had the opportunity to meet a wonderful group of people - open-minded, professional and extremely friendly.
3. Which areas of the curriculum covered during the MBA studies were most important to you and proved most useful in your professional life?
The most important things for me were classes in public speaking, the psychology of leadership and managerial decisions, and brand building.
As I mentioned, professionally I am involved, among other things, in conducting and developing proprietary training programs. The practical public speaking classes were of great significance to me – they significantly influenced the way I impart knowledge.
Additionally, I understood what the personal branding process is, which consists of many factors. I applied the tips and guidelines to myself, and my career development definitely accelerated.
Classes on privacy protection and reputation in the internet era and the change management process were very meaningful to me. I was very impressed by the business psychology classes. They touched upon issues of empathy, respect, communication errors, proactive attitude, the law of closure, and drew attention to how important feedback is.
4. How do you assess the cooperation between MBA students during classes and the contact between students and lecturers? Are the relationships that you managed to build important to you?
Relationships are one of the most important values in these studies. As a group, we cooperated very well both among ourselves and with the lecturers. We were very active in class and open to the instructors' guidance. We eagerly worked in groups. I would describe contacts with the lecturers as partnership-based, and some I would call leadership-oriented. I consider the organization of studies during the difficult pandemic period to be perfect.
Thank you for this amazing adventure to the lecturers, participants, and organizers of the studies
5. How have the MBA studies contributed to the development of your professional career?
Undoubtedly, these studies changed my life. As the plenipotentiary of the management board of one of the publicly traded companies, I was able to develop soft skills that are very useful in an engineering-profile company. During my studies, the editor-in-chief of one of the specialized magazines offered me to run a regular column on raising awareness in the area of cybersecurity. Today I already cooperate with several publishing houses – I have always liked sharing knowledge, and now I have discovered a passion for writing specialized articles. I often speak as a speaker at conferences, congresses, and seminars in the area of social engineering, security, cybersecurity, and fraud using the latest technologies. I should add that for over 11 years I have been the owner of an IT and educational services company, which is entered in the register of training institutions. Currently, I am in the process of writing a post-conference scientific publication at the Polish Air Force University in Dęblin and am seriously thinking about a doctorate.
6. What values, apart from the curriculum itself, were most important to you during the MBA studies?
I met top-class specialists and managers from my industry. The mutual exchange of experiences, contacts, and sometimes also friendships remain priceless. If we add to this experienced lecturers who declare consulting even after graduation, we get an amazing bonus for the further professional path.
I will mention that thanks to these studies and the people I met there, I started my adventure with playing golf.
7. What advice could you give to prospective candidates for MBA studies?
MBA studies teach a different perspective on the changing world and allow you to spread your wings. Combining practical knowledge with theoretical knowledge during group work yields amazing effects. The possibility of exchanging mutual experiences makes problem-solving skills come easily and stay in the participants' minds for a long time. In addition, there are contacts with study participants and lecturers, which are an amazing added value of this program.
