From data accuracy to decision-making complexity: Nimra Zafar Muhammad’s journey through the Evening MBA

21 July 2026

For professionals working in Finance, numbers are a trusted point of reference. But understanding the data is not enough: making effective decisions requires seeing how every business function contributes to creating value.

This is what led Nimra Zafar Muhammad, now Treasury and Finance Specialist at Gresmalt Group, to choose the Evening MBA at Bologna Business School. After several years of experience in Credit Management, she felt the need to broaden her perspective and gain a more comprehensive understanding of how businesses operate.

“I knew my own room very well, but I wanted to understand the architecture of the entire building.”

In her previous role, she was responsible for credit risk, collections, DSO and Net Working Capital. Yet, as she explains, she realized that was only part of the story.

“I was missing the other chapters: inventory, suppliers, investments, production, marketing and sales. I wanted to understand how these different levers interact and influence the company’s financial and economic balance.”

Her goal was clear: to develop a broader managerial perspective capable of connecting functions, processes and decision-making.

“I wanted to move from the accuracy of data to the complexity of decision-making.”

For Nimra, this has been one of the most valuable lessons of the programme. Professionals working in Finance, Administration and Control are accustomed to the certainty of an Excel spreadsheet, but business reality is far more complex.

“A balanced Excel spreadsheet is reassuring. Unfortunately, companies don’t work like spreadsheets. Between data and decisions there are people, constraints, priorities, timing, exceptions and consequences that no formula can capture.”

The MBA helped her develop exactly this capability: seeing the company as an integrated system and approaching complexity with a broader managerial mindset.

Another defining aspect of the experience was the interaction with her classmates.

“In class, it wasn’t enough to have an opinion. You had to be able to explain it, defend it and, when necessary, rethink it.”

Professionals from different companies, industries and functional backgrounds turned every classroom discussion into an opportunity for mutual learning.

“Engaging with highly skilled classmates whose experiences were very different from mine pushed me to raise the level of my thinking.”

That experience also led to a new awareness.

“I learned that my perspective, even when well-founded, wasn’t necessarily the only right one. The best decisions rarely come from a single function or a single area of expertise, but from the ability to integrate different perspectives.”

Today, Nimra works in Finance & Treasury, focusing on financial management and planning. She sees this professional evolution as closely connected to the path she followed at Bologna Business School.

Among the most significant changes, she highlights the way she now approaches decision-making.

“Today, the real difference lies in the quality of the questions I ask myself before making a decision.”

Understanding where data comes from, its implications and its connections with the rest of the organization makes it possible to anticipate challenges and make more informed decisions.

Her understanding of leadership has also evolved.

“A managerial role is not measured only by the ability to make the right decision, but also by the ability to make that decision executable.”

For Nimra, this means understanding the context, involving the right people and creating the conditions for strategy to be translated into concrete results.