The Unexpected ROI of an MBA

How one MBA opened doors from Toronto to Switzerland.

This article was originally written by Amy Dove for RRU.

When Michael Hoang stepped onto campus for his MBA residency, he didn't expect to end up in Switzerland.

That he did is a serendipitous story linking lessons learned at Royal Roads University to networks built in Toronto, Canada, and two weeks in Basel, Switzerland, that helped bring it all together.

“So many things have happened this year,” says Hoang, who recently completed his MBA specializing in management consulting. “It's almost hard to believe.”

Investing in growth

After moving up the corporate ladder—from Vancouver to Toronto and into roles in technology, supply chain, and procurement—Hoang had reached a professional ceiling. He had built deep technical expertise but wanted to lead differently.

“How do I give myself a competitive advantage?” he remembers asking himself. “How do I become a people leader and think a little differently at the executive level?”

He wasn't just looking for a credential. He wanted an education that would challenge his thinking, introduce him to different perspectives, and fit around his career.

Royal Roads stood out for its blended model and recognition of his professional experience. He could keep working while pursuing the MBA and bring the realities of a high-pressure professional environment into the classroom. The diversity of his fellow learners ultimately sold him on the program and kick-started an 18-month journey that would take him across the world.

Taking the learning international

It would have been easy to miss the poster about studying in Switzerland. He spotted it by chance on the wall in a student kitchen during residency, promoting one of the international options available through Royal Roads' Study Abroad program.

The timing was tight, but the Royal Roads partnership with FHNW - University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland offered a rare chance for a working professional to experience an international learning exchange.

Shortly after his second residency, he boarded a plane to attend FHNW's two-week BSwiss International Business Summer School.

It was an opportunity to apply the frameworks developed at Royal Roads in a completely different environment, he says. Having no “home field” advantage was humbling, he says, and helped push him deeper into the learning.

A global network, built at home

The experience had a connection closer to home too.

Throughout his studies, Hoang had begun building connections through the Swiss Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Ontario. In the months leading up to his trip, he was elected to its Board of Directors. From the classroom to the boardroom, his network and interests were aligning.

“It helped me leverage my MBA at Royal Roads, my exchange in Switzerland, and be able to tie it all back and contribute to the local business sector,” he says.

Today, Hoang serves on three non-profit boards, contributes back to Royal Roads University as a capstone supervisor, and offers his business skills as a senior consultant in the financial services sector. With a new baby on the way and his family's support, he is also exploring management consulting and potentially teaching in the future.

Going slow to go fast

Looking back, one of the biggest lessons at Royal Roads was unexpected. For someone used to fast-paced corporate environments, he quickly learned that sometimes leadership means slowing down, Hoang says.

That lesson came in many forms. A failed class forced him to reconsider his assumptions about leadership and pay closer attention to the people around him.

That awareness carried into how he showed up for his classmates more broadly. Long study sessions, honest conversations, and a willingness to meet people where they were, not where he expected them to be, became second nature over the course of the program. It wasn't something he set out to do, he says, it was just who he'd become, without noticing.

“The takeaway for me was it wasn't about me,” he says. “It was about everyone else.”

He started his MBA looking for a competitive advantage. What he found is harder to quantify: new leadership skills, an international network, and a better understanding of himself and his priorities.

"The ROI for me was learning to show up for others. It ties into how I will show up for my son, my wife, my community, and the people around me," he says. “There is no dollar amount you can put on that.”