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Digital Health: Copenhagen MBA Drives Online Customer Experience At Coloplast

Katharina Nau is bringing the Danish healthcare company and its customers closer together

Thu May 19 2016

BusinessBecause
MBA alumni from Copenhagen Business School are driving strategy and innovation at some of Denmark’s biggest firms.

Katharina Nau graduated from the Copenhagen MBA in August 2015. Now, she works at Danish healthcare company Coloplast, responsible for the design and implementation of Coloplast Care, a new global consumer loyalty program focused on continence care.

The pioneering initiative provides Coloplast’s customers with a personalized online support service enabled by data-crunching technology. It’s part of the company’s general strategic direction; to come closer to its customers and help break down the cultural stigmas surrounding intimate healthcare issues.

Katharina previously worked in hospitality and human resource management consulting in Germany. The Copenhagen MBA gave her the confidence to make a career triple jump – changing country, industry and role – to settle into a career in Denmark.

In fact, she may not have landed her new job without it. In a paradigm of the power of networking, she was introduced to the company through one of her MBA colleagues; whose wife she now works with!

What is the thinking behind Coloplast’s new consumer loyalty program?

In a hospital, when you get diagnosed and told that you have to use a catheter, you often get 15 minutes with a nurse on how to use it, and that’s it. Our program’s mission is to support patients when they get back home, to be there for them, to provide advice, and to try to make their lives a little easier.

A lot of the issues that our customers have are really personal and not something you want to share and talk about. Making a program to engage with them and talk about some of the issues that they have, really breaks down barriers.

Normally, it’s retail companies that have loyalty programs. For a healthcare company, it’s a really big step.

What role does big data play in helping to provide such a service?

It’s very important.  Depending on the data we can get, we can then personalize the information we share with our customers. The more we know and the more data we have, the better the user experience that we can provide.

What does the company look for in its job applicants?

I had several interviews with different stakeholders and I could really feel how they were interested in me as a person. Of course, they were looking for an ambitious person, but also someone who would be enjoyable to be around at the Friday breakfast table.

It’s about showing what you have a true passion for, thinking about the extra value that you can bring and not looking at it as just a job, but as a career.

Why did you decide to pursue an MBA?

I was looking for personal development as well as academic development.

When you’ve worked in a field for a while, you always meet the same people and work on similar subjects and with similar perspectives. An MBA broadens your horizons and you meet so many people from different industry backgrounds, cultures and experiences.

Why did you decide to study at Copenhagen Business School in particular?

At Copenhagen Business School, they look at the MBA as more than just an academic program. They have a high focus on your own personal development – as a leader or entrepreneur – and they take a lot of time to engage in career coaching.

Plus, Denmark is a really impressive country. It’s tiny, but it takes such great steps on issues like climate change, leadership, women and sustainability. I thought that would be a really interesting context to learn from.

How have you profited from your MBA experience?

The MBA has given me the bigger picture of how an organization works. Before, I worked more with my intuition. Now, my thinking is much more structured.

We also had a really good careers manager, Claire Hewitson. I worked very closely with her throughout the program, and she was extremely helpful; challenging me and helping me find out where I wanted to go.

What attracted you to Denmark as a career destination?

They have extremely low hierarchies. Even in an organization like Coloplast, with over 10,000 people, I’m only a few positions away from the vice president.

Such dynamics are really motivating. No matter your position, your opinion really counts.

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