Matt Clarke, CEIBS MBA Class of 2028
Age: 30
Hometown: Nottingham, United Kingdom
Undergraduate Institution and Major: Manchester Metropolitan University, BA International Fashion Promotion
Postgraduate Institutions and Majors: University of Liverpool, MSc Operations and Supply Chain Management (Distinction); University of Nottingham Ningbo China, MA International Relations
Pre-MBA Work Experience: I spent 3.5 years at Amazon UK in e-commerce and logistics operations, joining as an operations intern and progressing to Area Manager II, where I led a 150-strong fulfilment team. Before that, alongside my university studies and early career, I founded and ran a men’s accessories e-commerce brand for eight years.
Why did you make the decision to attend business school? Why now?
Why business school? I want to move from running operations to designing them – leading supply chain facility launches and build-outs rather than managing what already exists. To do so credibly, I need the business fundamentals that operations doesn’t teach: finance, strategy, and cross-functional decision-making.
Why now? The industry isn’t waiting. The newest site I worked on requires roughly 80% fewer front-line roles than a comparable building from ten years ago, and automation is absorbing jobs I led only a couple of years ago. That was hard to ignore. I’d rather shape that shift than react to it.
Why did you choose CEIBS? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to attend?
First, geography. If you want a career in supply chain or automation, Shanghai is the obvious place: the world’s busiest container port, a global manufacturing hub, and home to JD’s fully automated warehouses, which are years ahead of European competitors. I’d also lived in China before for my first master’s in Ningbo, so I knew I wanted to come back properly rather than for a short exchange.
Then CEIBS, specifically. I visited campus twice before applying, in April and September, and came away with friends in the 2027 cohort. They walked me through the Integrated Consulting Project, the mentorship programme, and the closeness of much of the alumni network to campus, with many within a taxi ride. The word they kept using was tight-knit. After two visits, I could see why.
What do you think is your most valuable or differentiating contribution to the Class of 2028?
An unusual combination of scale and China context. I’ve run operations at a size most people don’t see until later in their careers – a 400-person department, a £550M facility launch – and I’ve been sourcing from, studying in, and visiting China since 2015. In a case discussion, I can usually say something concrete about how a large operation behaves and how a Chinese manufacturer behaves. Those two things don’t often arrive in the same person.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself that didn’t get included on your application:
I DJ! It started as a lockdown hobby, and these days I play parties and events across Shanghai.
Post-MBA career interests:
Operations infrastructure – the projects side rather than the running side. Short term, that means leading facility launches, network build-outs, or turnaround strategies for an e-commerce or logistics firm. Longer term, I want to be the person signing off large-scale infrastructure projects – a director of operations infrastructure or similar – and to act as a bridge, bringing China’s automation innovations to European operations that are years behind.
Advice for Current Prospective Applicants
–What is one thing you would absolutely do again as part of your application process?
Visit. Two trips to the Shanghai campus turned my essays from ‘I’ve read your website’ into ‘I sat in on this and spoke to that person’, and they settled the decision in my own head as much as in anyone else’s.
–What is one thing you would change or do differently?
Give the GMAT more respect. I treated it as a box to tick around a 60-hour workweek, and it took longer than it should have as a result. CEIBS and many other schools offer scholarships tied to GMAT scores. A strong score improves your chances of admission and relieves some financial pressure.
–What is one part you would have skipped if you could – and what helped you get through it?
The application essays. Many of my CEIBS friends and I spent far too long deciding what to include: revisions, edits, and even complete pivots. In the end, the simplest fix worked. Read the question, answer it with your gut, and let your personality show through. The admissions team have read plenty of polished essays. They haven’t read yours.
What is your initial impression of the CEIBS students/culture/community?
People are here to learn and share. I expected an open MBA cohort, but I didn’t expect that openness to extend across the whole campus. In three weeks, I’ve had real conversations with lecturers, industry experts, EMBA and Global EMBA participants, exchange students, and second-years – on campus, over dinner, and over drinks – and every one of them was happy to share their unique ideas and experiences. There’s no sense of hierarchy. Ask a good question, and you get a real answer.
What student organizations have you joined/are you hoping to join and why?
Possibly too many. I’m one of the MBA2028 Student Representatives, co-founding the ‘Open Letter Club’, joining the AI and Smart Manufacturing clubs, and planning to run for the TEDx CEIBS event.
The Open Letter Club is a safe space where classmates can share a poem, a piece of philosophy, or a short presentation without the pressure of a formal stage. The idea is to help people come out of their shells, because that will build a stronger community for everyone.
What is one thing you have learned about CEIBS that has surprised you?
How analogue the classroom is. Most of my Term 1 professors ban laptops, tablets, and phones outright, instead allowing printed handouts, pens and paper. For a school built around China’s digital economy, it’s a very deliberate choice. And it works. Classes are engaging, and I have found that I remember topics much better when writing vs typing.
What is one thing you are most excited about in your first year?
Getting inside the companies I’ve only read about. I’ve used JD’s automated warehouses as my go-to example for two years without setting foot in one. Being in Shanghai, with classmates who’ve worked inside these firms and a school with CEIBS’ access, I intend to fix that.
