No knowing where knowledge can take you

Export contracts worth over £35 million

Victoria Ibragimova, from Azerbaijan, was an outstanding overseas student at Dundee University. On completing her MBA in Oil and Gas Management she had Scottish Networks International knocking on her door looking to recruit her.

Scottish Networks International is a trade development initiative that is building a unique global business network. A unique organisation within the UK, each year it recruits high calibre international postgraduates studying in Scotland to become its Associates, who are then introduced to Scottish companies planning to penetrate new markets, or to strengthen their presence in existing ones. Expertise in the fields of Sales and Marketing, Engineering, Finance and Biotechnology is particularly sought after.

This global business network provides over 800 key contacts in 89 countries around the world and over the last five years has helped Scottish businesses secure export contracts worth over £35 million.

The interdependence of education and business

Graduates from Scotland's many internationally renowned MBA programmes are obvious targets for such headhunters and this connection is another example, aside from research, of the extraordinarily fruitful collaboration and interdependence of education and business in Scotland.

Two hungry ladies

Victoria Ibragimova was placed with Aberdeen oil equipment procurers Macgregor Energy Limited who were keen to do business in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan – notoriously challenging places to penetrate. With Victoria's local knowledge and fluency in the local language added to her expertise gained in the field from Dundee she was able to smooth Macgregor Energy's path with local governments and civic leaders. (That's the Oblasts and the Akims!)

Though they are both liquids that have brought tremendous wealth to Scotland, there is a world of difference between oil and whisky. The skill however is, of course, to match the right Associate with the right company. And Highland Distillers plc couldn't have been better matched than by Lana Butterfield. Lana, a Texan MBA graduate from the University of Edinburgh Management School and a marketeer with a background in the hotel and leisure sector was the ideal candidate to be placed with Highland Distillers. Especially, as the task in hand was to promote The Macallan in the cigar bars of Las Vegas. In terms of her success: more and more high rollers are no longer asking for 'a' malt but demanding, in preference the definitive article. And Lana is now a brand manager for Highland Distillers at their Perth headquarters.

In both cases, doing an MBA in Scotland proved a learning curve that took them into new, adventurous directions.

Follow the links here for more information on Scotland's MBA courses and Scottish Networks International.