Decrease font Decrease font
Decrease font Decrease font
Enlarge font Enlarge font
Enlarge font Enlarge font
Jan Vymazal '08, Alumni, Executive MBA - Europe, Graduate Degrees

Jan Vymazal '08, Czech Republic
Thunderbird’s Executive MBA module-based learning format is what Jan Vymazal says allowed him to continue his daily role of managing his company’s operations while pursuing the prestigious degree.


Jan Vymazal '08

With so much success under his belt, some would wonder why Jan Vymazal ’08 even decided to return to school for his MBA.

By the age of 26, he had already delivered his Czech Republic-based company, Hanacke zelezarny a perovny, from bankruptcy, transforming it into one of the largest industry leading enterprises of its type, globally. A leading European producer of suspension springs for the railway and automotive industries, Hanacke serves companies such as Volvo, Bombardier, Iveco, Alstom and Scania.

“I started to feel limitations in my knowledge in the finance and accounting areas,” he explains. It wasn't long after he began Thunderbird's Executive MBA-Europe program that it became clear just how valuable an untertaking it would prove to be. Even as a student Vymazal says he took important lessons from Thunderbird directly back to his company.

“We decided to create a new corporate identity, along with the re-branding of our company [while I was in school]. This was discussed in our Marketing Management class during the module in Moscow," he explains, giving him up-to-the-minute insight and best practices from around the globe. Concepts learned in his Executive MBA finance classes, he says, added more value - helping him evaluate investment projects.

The Czech native credits Thunderbird’s Executive MBA module-based learning format for allowing him to continue his daily role of managing the company’s operations while pursuing the degree. “I travel quite frequently throughout Europe – mostly Sweden, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, Netherlands, France and Romania – meeting our customers, suppliers and equipment manufacturers,” explains Vymazal. The program's location and delivery made travel, work and study a compatible mix.

At Hanacke, Vymazal provides leadership to a 350-person workforce and is responsible for the company’s finances, business development, production, human resources, investment activities and quality. “Suspension springs are considered to be critical safety components, and therefore research and development and quality are critical,” he says. He admits that he thrives on creating new things, challenging the status quo and providing leadership.

The self-described strategist says he got his first taste of the global world as a business administration student at Oklahoma Christian University in the United States. “I lived with people from all over the globe, which helped me learn more about different cultures – something my current job requires, as I deal with business partners from all around the world.”

As the competitive tennis player, father and husband looks to the future, he envisions continued leadership roles with global corporations. “I always enjoyed working in business and have never thought of doing anything else.”