Volunteering as a medical technician for the Lebanese Red Cross, he was one of the workers who assisted in August 2020 when a huge explosion at the Port of Beirut left the city reeling.
Zahy graduated from his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering that year, during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic. Despite a challenging jobs market, he landed a job as a shelter and settlements program officer at the Red Cross.
To take his studies further, he was looking for a fully online MBA with an affordable price tag that would give him the additional strategic thinking and leadership skills he needed to really make a difference in his role.
That’s when he came across the Online Global MBA from the Lebanese American University (LAU).
Why an Online MBA?
Knowing that he would have to divide his time between his work at the Red Cross and studying, Zahy’s Online MBA from LAU gives him the flexibility he needs to dedicate his time to his demanding job while gaining new skills.
The LAU Online MBA is taught over two years, has no residency requirement, and costs $16,500.
The Adnan Kassar School of Business at LAU is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), placing it in a prestigious group of just 5% of business schools worldwide.
While Zahy had gained a variety of project management experience through his work with the Red Cross, his Online MBA requires no prior work experience. Like him, many students take the Online MBA right after undergrad.
“This program will help me take a huge step forward in my career and open new opportunities and experiences,” Zahy says.
100%-Online MBA experience
LAU’s fully online MBA allows students the flexibility to continue working while studying, but the online teaching method doesn’t make the program any less demanding.
Despite only being two courses into his MBA, Zahy can already attest to the quality of his online program.
“The best part so far is the level of professionalism the instructors are showing to transfer the best version of knowledge and information to the students,” he says.
“They interactively deliver the information and have never failed to respond to a single inquiry and email making the online learning experience a pleasant one.”
LAU Online MBA students are taught by research-driven faculty with global experience and join a global network of alumni across the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas.
As LAU is an accredited American university in Lebanon, the accredited Online MBA focuses on both Western and Eastern business culture. Students follow foundational MBA courses in areas like finance, statistics, and strategic management, but there is also the option to customize the curriculum to their specific career goals.
Through MBA electives, students can choose to specialize in business analytics, marketing, or general business management. Some of the more niche elective courses on offer include social media marketing and tourism planning and development.
Online MBA to real-world impact
Zahy might be more used to working in disaster zones than boardrooms, but he says he’s already recognizing the benefits of his Online MBA.
He credits his fully online MBA program with giving him new perspectives, increasing his critical thinking skills, and teaching him new techniques to help improve his efficiency at work—all of which are helping him to complete more rewarding work helping vulnerable communities in his native Lebanon.
Ultimately, Zahy recommends the program to anyone looking to boost their management skills while still being able to focus on their career.
What other advice would he give to prospective Online MBA students? “I would tell them that if they do it now, they will be investing in themselves,” he says.
“Eventually, they will realize that this was the right choice to make.”
