Hana Reader

“Perhaps I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t studied for an MB.A. at the University of New York in Prague,” says Hana Reader (34), regional HR manager of Zentiva Group. In 2009, when she began the 18-month MBA program with a focus on HR, she already had seven years of experience in the field. But she felt she was missing the economic background necessary for a managerial position. While she was filling this gap on the University of New York in Prague MBA program, she was promoted to a position at the European level.

“Only since doing the MBA have I fully understood some of the connections in our business. Among the most useful for me was new knowledge about economics and finance. Such as what P&L is, what a balance sheet is, how to read an annual report, how the stock markets work…,” Hana explains.

From Hana’s perspective it was crucial that the MBA program was based on real life and that most of the discussed topics and tasks to solve were applicable in the students’ own workplaces. This is something that she achieved with the most challenging task – the final thesis. “When I started to work at the regional level, I was suddenly faced with hiring foreigners from all over Europe, and I found out that this is quite a complex agenda. I decided, therefore, that my thesis would be on the international mobility of the workforce. And then it was transformed into the ‘Welcome to Zentiva’ manual we use today in the business for hiring foreigners.”

Zentiva is a very diverse company in terms of nationalities – there are fifty foreigners from fifteen different nations working there. Learning about new cultures is Hana’s hobby, so when she was deciding which MBA program to choose, she opted for the multicultural environment at UNYP.

Learn more about Hana’s program