It had been 10 years since Danishman Soren Skou was last on campus – he graduated from the IMD MBA in 1997. Then in June this year he returned for his 10 year Class Reunion.

Originally, Soren came to IMD with his wife and 2 children and the intention of changing and furthering his career. After 13 years in Operations with the A.P. Möller Group (Maersk), moving steadily up from trainee, he resigned from the company to seek a more commercial role. In fact, when MBA recruiting time came, it was an offer from Maersk that he decided to accept, and his steady growth with the company continued to his current position as Group Executive Board Member, A.P. Möller Maersk.

“The recruiting market was quite strong during my year at IMD, but the advantage of going back to Maersk was that I could evaluate exactly what was being offered – a director-level position, for one of their small businesses in Denmark. Then, in 2001, I became CEO of a division of Maersk and got my first P&L responsibility.

“It’s unusual to stay so long in the same company, but my career has pretty much been a straight line. I came to IMD with the intention of furthering my career, and am now working in a global environment with plenty of travel opportunity – the business I run has zero customers in Denmark - so I have to get out there! As I’ve moved up, I’ve gravitated more towards the importance of HR and value based leadership, and a major focus in a company as huge as Maersk is always how to continue growing successfully.”

While Soren hadn’t physically returned to campus since his graduation, he has still played an active role, by sponsoring two of his executives for the EMBA program and a couple of MBA ICP projects, “I wanted to support the school if I possibly could, and in doing so the company has also been able to benefit.”

From a personal point of view, Soren believes that the three most important things he got out of his MBA were: an updated tool box, a sharpened analytical ability and improved communications skills. “It was marketed as a tough program, and it was. But it was also an inspiring year and I had the time of my life.”

Published: 2007