Rob van Dijk (EMBA in F&A cohort 2018)

Name: Rob van Dijk
Job title: Operational Excellence Manager at Voergroep Zuid Previous degree: MSc in Work, Organization and Personnel Psychology, Radboud University Rob started his career as a young professional at Agrifirm as an HR Adviser. Soon after he specialized as Black Belt and worked on international improvement projects with a lean SixSigma perspective. Pursuing an MBA at this stage of his career was greatly supported by his company, Voergroup Zuid. In his current position Rob`s ambition is to lead his group towards the best results. In order to achieve his goals he will benefit from the new skills and knowledge acquired throughout the Executive MBA in Food & Agribusiness programme. 

Why did you choose the EMBA in Food & Agribusiness?

If you are going to do a MBA, make sure you do it at a good and highly recommended school. After comparing three options of highly ranked schools in the Netherlands TIAS came out on top. Then an important argument was the F&A track. My personal background is in Agriculture and my current employer is a feed producer in the south east of the Netherlands. Taking into account that my employer contributes to my MBA education the track was a logical and valuable addition. Last but not least I want to stay in the agribusiness and in this way I can use the knowledge of the WUR in the MBA: a perfect combination in my case.

What is your future goal?

General management. For this I have a long way to go but with the MBA and a well thought of career path and the drive to reach  also personal goals, I will succeed. This is also the reason I chose an Executive MBA.

How did people around you react when you shared/decided to embark on an MBA?

Joyful and with respect. A logical step in my development and in that way not unexpected. Also I got the advice not to underestimate the time I will have to invest in it. But almost all reactions were positive and they admired the ambition in taking on the challenge.

What is your impression about your MBA peers?

Early to judge but the first impression is very good! I like to hear the story of others. You can learn from everybody, from their experience, culture, background, company, sector, profession, etc. They are all ambitious and smart but also very social professionals who are open for a challenge but also fun: don’t always take life to serious. A nice combination: work hard, play hard.

How will you manage to balance studying with work and personal life?

Because we only just started: future will tell. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t taken it into account when making the decision to start. I have a full time job, a family with a young son and busy social life with sports, voluntary jobs and being with friends. For this reason I had to stop a couple of these activities in order to create the time to spend on the EMBA. Also I had open and honest conservations with my wife and some of my best friends. Doing an EMBA also will have an impact on them. They were all very nice and supportive and said they understand this can have an impact on the time spend with them. But: spending time with friends and family also gives me the energy to reach my goals, so my personal life is not over.

The Executive MBA (EMBA) in Food & Agribusiness is developed for
mid-career professionals, with the ambition to grow further in an executive function in the Food & Agribusiness sector.

Interested in the EMBA in Food & Agribusiness, click here for the full overview on all content, or download the brochure.

For more information you can contact programme adviser Agnes Kiss.