【Interview】ACT Global Program:Bill Tsai(IBMBA)

A few days ago, the IBMBA Alumni, Bill Tsai returned to school to share his experience of joining ACT Global Program. Currently, Bill is a digital manager of Wistron in Guangdong, China. “The experience of ACT Global Program helps me a lot in my current job” Bill laughed. Here are the abstract of the experience that Bill shared:

  1. Motivation and expectation for ACT program
    I decided to join double degree program right after I got admitted to IBMBA, and I plan to complete it within two years. In reality, it took me 2 and a half years to finish it, but it’s an investment that worthwhile.
    The learning path and course design of IBMBA is relatively free, which broaden my knowledge in terms of subjects. To deepen myself in certain topics, I decided to participate in ACT program which already has modularized courses, and receiving another Master’s degree also enhance my competence regarding academic perspectives.
  2. The most remarkable thing in terms of academic aspects during ACT program
    ‘The courses’ quality in University of Victoria in Canada.’’ Bill answered. As a Master’s student, we all know the importance of preview, but the course design and learning atmosphere in Taiwan make it hard for us to put into practice. However, if you do not preview sufficiently, you can barely discuss with professors or classmates, let alone clarifying your own mistakes. In addition, the course activities combine theoretical and practical aspects together, so that you won’t feel the distance between books and the reality. Furthermore, the learning environment and the mastering of courses from professors satisfy me. No matter individual work or group discussion, we are always focusing on the core ability of “problem-based learning”, which is also an evitable skill both in the fields of research and workplace.
  3. The unforgettable experiences in terms of cultural aspects during ACT program
    The business hours of shops in Austria are much shorter than the ones in Taiwan, and some of them are even closed in weekends. Therefore, from my observation, I found that Austrian will always bring a shopping list so that they wouldn’t miss anything and shortened their time of wandering in stores. From here we can see the philosophy of planning has already embedded into Germanic lifestyle. On the other hand, when we were conducting internship in Austria, even it’s just a student project, companies still do not compromise on time accuracy or work process. This spirit deeply affects my attitude towards life and work in the future.
  4. What are the challenges or difficulties you encountered during ACT program
    The great amount of reading materials stressed me a lot, since I’m not an English profession. Plus, not all my ACT classmates are English native speakers, and in order to efficiently accomplish our mutual goals, I need more patience and technique to communicate and cooperate with them.
  5. What are your self-improvements after ACT program
    Fast adaptability to the changing environment and the ability of time management.
  6. How does the experience of ACT program assist you in your current occupation
    Currently, I am a digital manager in a listed technology company, so the working pace is fast, and I keep encountering cross-domain challenges. However, no one knows everything, so the capabilities of “Defining scope of issues”, “Examining issues broadly and deeply”, and “time management” that I learned from ACT program help me a lot.
  7. How would you advice students who look forward to joining ACT program
    Living in the digital era, we need to possess knowledge of data and information. It doesn’t matter which industry you work in, having the ability to interpret data and information can induce conclusion and find problems faster. As a result, I would suggest junior classmates to enhance their fundamental subjects, such as statistics, accounting, and finance. Combining these capabilities with the global dexterity developed from ACT program, you will be easier to stand out among competitors.
Bill(left) with ACT program classmates