How emlyon’s International MBA helped one student build a global career in gaming?
Jingna Zhu
International MBA
Every day, the world of business becomes increasingly global. This means companies ranging from huge corporations to tiny startups can access and connect with people all over the world. This has many advantages, but also new challenges.
Professionals are now expected to not only have technical skills, but also be able to work across cultures, manage diverse teams, and adapt to new environments quickly.
These skills are something emlyon business school enables its students to harness, catapulting their global careers.
For Jingna Zhu, emlyon’s International MBA allowed her to take the 10 years of technical skills she had in gaming and tech in China and apply them in an entirely new culture in Malmö, Sweden.
Finding emlyon
Before starting her International MBA, Jingna built up her expertise in various roles, from operations to production, in tech and gaming companies in China. However, she felt as if she was missing something.
While she had become adept in the technical elements of her role, she wanted to step back and understand how a business operates as a whole.
“I wanted to see the bigger picture, rather than just focusing on the specific thing I'm doing,” she explains.
During the pandemic, she reflected on what she wanted and decided her best course of action was to find an MBA that would expand her understanding of business. After researching various schools, she found emlyon.
Its ranking, return on investment, and intensive one-year format all made it clear it was the perfect fit for her.
Developing a broader skill set for business
The emlyon International MBA gave her the broader perspective she was looking for through an intensive 12-month program designed to immerse students fully in business fundamentals.
Courses such as accounting, supply chain management, and macro- and microeconomics proved particularly valuable.
“These courses helped me understand how a company runs,” Jingna explains. “Now, when I read something like an annual report, I have a much better idea of what it’s talking about.”
Beyond technical knowledge, the program also helped her develop softer skills that would later prove essential in an international career.
Broadening perspective through international exposure
A key part of the International MBA is developing practical skills through working closely with classmates.
The program also places a strong emphasis on international exposure, reflected in its ranking for international mobility in the Financial Times.
“Before, most of my colleagues were Chinese, and we had very similar working habits,” she says. “At emlyon, you start to see how differently people work.”
That experience was reinforced by a course focused on cultural differences in business, something she didn’t fully appreciate at the time.
“When I took the course, I didn’t think it would help that much,” she admits. “But after I started working in Europe, I realised it’s actually very useful.”
From differences in hierarchy to communication styles, these insights became particularly relevant once she moved to Sweden.
“In Sweden, everyone is equal… you have to do a lot of negotiation.”
Connecting classroom learning to career strategy
After graduating, Jingna approached her job search in a more structured way, applying what she had learned during the MBA.
“I did a SWOT analysis for myself,” she says. “My strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats.”
That process helped her identify the gaming industry in the right direction, building on her previous experience while also opening international opportunities.
She also recognized that her background gave her a unique position.
“Gaming is very global, and China is very strong in publishing,” she explains. “I can help bridge between Chinese studios and European teams.”
This thinking led her to a role in Sweden, where she worked on large-scale game development projects.
Applying what she learned in a fast-moving role
In that role at the gaming company Sharkmob, Jingna worked across teams and functions, helping to coordinate complex projects that can span several years.
“There’s no playbook,” she says. “You have to build it yourself.”
This is where the IMBA has proved particularly useful, particularly in areas such as decision-making and design thinking.
Risk management has also been important in a live production environment.
“In this kind of work, anything can happen,” she says. “You need to have a plan A and plan B and be ready to act quickly.”
She’s even carried presentation skills into her day-to-day work.
“Now I always think: who is my audience, what do I want to say?”
For Jingna, the IMBA wasn’t just about gaining business knowledge. It was about changing how she approaches her career and developing the mindset needed to navigate an increasingly global working world.