Stephanie Lindan, One Planet MBA 2016

Digital Strategy Senior Manager, Accenture

Hailing from College Station, Texas, Stephanie was initially attracted to the MBA programme’s commitment to change for good and strong partnerships with leading technology companies such as IBM.  “I didn’t just want an average MBA,” she says. “I believe that effective use of technology can empower positive global change and help businesses create value by addressing the key social and environmental issues facing the world,” she adds. Stephanie spent her year on the programme focusing on technology and how it can be a catalyst in the very change for good she is pursuing.  “I am passionate about innovation and digital transformation, and I wanted to work at the intersection of business and technology,” she adds.

So she did just that. Stephanie worked with IBM all throughout her tenure, which culminated in a consulting project with IBM and a big six energy provider. Her project resulted in her developing the business case for smart metering and artificial intelligence in wake of recent UK regulations. IBM’s Mike Bernard, remarked on Stephanie’s work, “Stephanie’s project delivered truly exceptional results, bringing an innovative approach to a customer problem that led to entirely new discussions with senior client executives.”

Stephanie credits much of her success to the Emerging Business module, ably taught by Adam Lusby, One Planet MBA’s lecturer, and Senior Circular Economy Research Fellow at the University of Exeter Business School. “Within this module, we are looking at emerging and disruptive technologies, social trends, and at a variety of business models that are created from the inevitable collision of social and technological aspects. We examine platforms like eBay and Amazon, co-operatives, shared economy models and more, keeping at the heart the notion that companies can and should do good,” Adam says. Because the module is relatively broad brush, the assignments are run in conjunction with partners, Barclays, Oxfam, Fairtrade Foundation, just to list a few. Students’ input into real-life solutions, not to mention the contacts gained, are invaluable.

Stephanie says “My MBA knowledge with blockchain, big data and artificial intelligence has opened many doors. At the Business School, the MBA programme as a whole allowed me to identify the opportunities in the marketplace to create value for companies while solving global business challenges”.