When Roy Nygaard (IMBA '07), accepted a summer internship at General Motors Budapest during his
IMBA Program, he thought it was a great opportunity to learn about the automotive manufacturer and
its business goals in Eastern Europe and to use the skills he learned through the IMBA
program. He didn't imagine that a year later he would be working there full time as a
marketing manager for a group of countries that encompasses Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia,
Kazakhstan, Moldova, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Now an emerging leader at GM, Nygaard applies
his IMBA training to his work on a daily basis.
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Zlatko Custovic on internship in
Budapest, Hungary
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Over the last six years, GM's Central and Eastern European Regional Headquarters in
Budapest, Hungary, has served as a training ground and launching pad for several Moore School of
Business students and alumni, including three summer 2007 interns at GM Budapest: Zlatko Custovic,
Kavita Maheshwari, and Matthew Metzinger. Each intern was immersed in a variety of projects
that directly impacted the company's success in the region. Custovic created pricing
guideline manuals and competitive analysis for the finance and administration unit, and Maheshwari
coordinated all marketing activities related to the launch of the Opel Astra notchback sedan car
launch, including a launch event in Antalya, Turkey. Meanwhile, Metzinger supported the
efforts of the GM regional Retailer Network Development (RND) team by building country retailer
network blueprints. Using their IMBA core curriculum knowledge and previous experiences, each
intern contributed business skills directly to his or her team and experienced the culture at GM
Budapest first-hand.
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GM's Eastern Europe shipping trucks
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Keen identification and placement of talent has given GM access to some of these top
students. A strong relationship with the Moore School of Business has made the auto
manufacturer a key part of the internship experience and the valuable experiences and opportunities
to contribute to the company make it a target employer for IMBA graduates. After his
experiences as an intern, Nygaard knew he had taken on a challenge that was a good fit for the
skills he had learned, so when GM extended him a full-time offer, he accepted. Nygaard said,
"Moore prepared me well since my electives focused on marketing as well as business
development/strategic planning. Since these are some of the last growth markets in Europe,
both of these focus areas are vital to make it happen. GM is experiencing great success in
this part of the world as well, so without exaggeration I can say I am in the right place at the
right time."
Ulrika Speckman
IMBA Class of 2008
(October 2007)
