Student Talk | Dennis Andreas Martin

What distinguishes the Executive MBA Technology Management at RWTH Business School? What are the content highlights and what do you take away for yourself personally and professionally? Dennis Andreas Martin, currently in the middle of his second semester, answers all these questions and more.

Please briefly introduce yourself and your role in the company. What challenges do you face on a day-to-day basis?

I am an industrial engineer specializing in electrical engineering and information technology. My career took me to the automotive industry, where I first worked as a development engineer, project manager and program manager for automated driving in Munich, then as head of department for electrical/electronic development in Wolfsburg. After seven years in the industry, I am now Senior Portfolio Manager & Deputy Head of Department Portfolio Management at CARIAD SE (SW division of the Volkswagen Group). There I am responsible for operationalizing the Corporate Strategy by designing technology portfolios and orchestrating different areas such as Development, Finance, Innovation, Legal…

How did the decision to complete an Executive MBA program come about?

Shortly before my 30th birthday, I was able to take over the management of a department with over 60 employees, in the middle of the first and second Corona wave. The combination of strategic business development and operational employee management deserves and demands professional action in the context of complex and interconnected fields of tension – here an Executive MBA offers the opportunity to expand one’s own toolbox of methods and to gain new impulses in the exchange with other managers and lecturers to manage this balancing act in the best possible way.

Why did you choose the Executive MBA Technology Management at RWTH Business School?

In addition to the high quality of teaching in terms of classic, core business content, the RWTH EMBA offers two unique selling points: The focus on technology and innovation management corresponded to my personal preference due to the job profile listed above. The so-called Innovation Ecoystems modules take us to internationally renowned partner universities. These additional perspectives enable a broad understanding of the topics of digitalization and data-driven business.

What have been your highlights in the program so far and what are you looking forward to in particular?

My highlight so far was the combined module Strategy & Innovation Management. It offered a framework for establishing a promising market position of companies paired with a big picture on “data-driven” innovation management as well as their linkage.

I am especially looking forward to the Innovation Ecosystem module at IE Business School in Madrid. The topic will be “Creation of data driven organizations” with the goal of building understanding of how data collections can be anchored in the corporate context and leveraged for business development (especially in classic industrial companies/large corporations).

Work, family, and MBA – how can these three areas be reconciled?

With passion and commitment. In addition to the challenging content of the modules and the part-time nature of the program, self-organization and discipline are my personal keys to reconciliation. It’s definitely possible to continue to have a substantial family life and to achieve the required performance at work. However, learning early in the morning or late in the evening as well as on weekends additionally requires a burning desire for these topics. With this basic prerequisite, the EMBA can be integrated excellently in your daily life.

To what extent would you say the Executive MBA also makes you grow personally?

Significantly! On the one hand, you increase your personal efficiency and self-organizational skills enormously (see previous question). On the other hand, the teaching content, and the way of thinking of the lecturers and fellow students enable you to broaden your own horizons, and often also to broaden your own way of thinking and solving problems.

What will you take away for yourself and your professional future?

A professional toolbox of methods that can be profitably applied and transferred in everyday work from the very first module. In addition, concrete approaches for new business models (especially data driven). Finally, the competence to be able to fundamentally discuss disciplines outside of one’s own role (as an engineer, for example, on the topic of controlling).

The Executive MBA of RWTH Business School in one word?

Impulse-giving.