Guillaume Boutserin, International MBA, International MBA, 2021 class

What was your academic and professional background before starting the IMBA?

After my graduation at the HEI Lille, an engineering school, in 1998, I enrolled in a CSNE (international civic service) and I had my very first international experience spending18 months in England. 
Upon my return, I joined the Danone group in 2000 where I carried out several operational functions within the methods’ department (a division meant to improve the company’s production lines performance) and where I have also been involved in the implementation of a continuous improvement culture. 
It was a great experience which deepened my affinity for operational missions and for working in the field. 
I was then promoted and began my journey in management , managing the production and maintenance teams.

In 2012, I joined Miyoshi Europe, a Japanese company which settled down in Lyon in order to tackle the European market by producing and selling makeup powder, foundations and lipsticks. At that moment the company had a total of 12 employees and was at its full potential. 
I first joined the team as the production manager but soon became the operations director thanks to the growth rate of 15 to 20%.
In 2018, I had the change to move to the United States where I continued working for Miyoshi. I lived there for 2 magnificent years where I had the opportunity to brighten my horizons by immerse myself in a completely different working culture. The challenges were big but the team work aligned with the opened-mind mindset allowed to turn many challenges into success.  
In 2020, I returned to Miyoshi Europe, this time as the Vice-President and I am now the President of the European division of the Miyoshi group. 

Why have you enrolled in the IMBA?

With a highly technical engineering background and a strong operational and industrial career path I felt that my new functions required a new set of academic knowledge. I felt the need to quickly acquire knowledge regarding the fundamentals of managing a company while continuing to fulfilling my professional obligations. 
I was looking for a program that had a practical approach rather than a theoretical one, that did not ignore new management practices and which addresses the contemporary challenges (social-economical, environmental and the post-pandemic world). For these reasons and after some exchanges with the program’s faculty and former participants of the IMBA, the iaelyon’s IMBA seemed to be the best choice. 
Spot on, the IMBA allowed me to improve my English proficiency while enriching my knowledge through the innumerous seminars lectured by professors and professionals from all around the world and the exchanges with the other participants which have an international background as well.
 

How did the International MBA impact your professional development?

The IMBA is a great opportunity to learn in different fields. Beyond the pedagogical aspects of the program it also allow us to improve our self-awareness. After more than 20 years without studying, we may doubtour skills; our capacity of understanding, learning and memorizing an important number of information At the end of the program, the participants discover their strong skills and rediscover their aptitude to address, individually or in a team, complex problems and to analyze them in the most pertinent ways.
 

What are the highlights of the IMBA program?

The short duration of the program (1 year) covers most of the essential challenges of corporate management 
The small cohort of 13 to 16 students allows a the cohesion of all participants and makes it easier to work together. 
The biggest strength is the International dimension.
The workshops based on serious and real problems that companies face allows us to apply the theoretical knowledge we have learned throughout the year.
The organization of the courses in 2 days per week at the end of the week allows us to combine our student life with our professional and private lives.
 

4 pieces of advice for the future participants

• It is essential to take the time to breath between each session. The content is dense and sometimes it is necessary to give ourselves a time to “digest” it all;
• Team work is extremely helpful when the workload is heavy.
• Believe in yourself and your dreams, even if it seems crazy.
• Be opened-mind: different points of view and experiences enrich our own, unexpected events often turn out to be nice surprises.

► More about the International MBA (IMBA)