Corina Cioranu
Lead by Example
Executive MBA - Student
Corina Cioranu is VP of Global Packaging and External Supply at Mondelēz International in Zürich Area, Switzerland. In 2019, she chose to roll up her sleeves and reach for new heights by enrolling in the Executive MBA-Global Supply Chain program at the Haslam College of Business.
Corina grew up in Romania and upon finding the opportunity to attend a university and join a company now known as Mondelēz International, she was a sponge for information. In early adulthood, she mastered the art of multiple languages and began traveling internationally for work. She continues to take advantage of every opportunity awarded to her for personal development.
With a background in economic studies, Corina took on a role as marketing assistant 23 years ago. While she thoroughly enjoyed her marketing responsibilities, she accepted an offer to move to an operations role after having her second child. Although at the time, the career change was made primarily for personal reasons as the facility where she would be working significantly cut down on her commute time, it would later prove to be a successful game changer in her career journey. Corina worked in business development for a few years strengthening connections between marketing and plant operations and was soon thereafter named plant manager. A little over 12 years ago, she left Romania and has held numerous roles with responsibilities including manufacturing, supply chain, strategy, and procurement all over Europe with Mondelēz International. In June of 2018, she was named VP of Global Packaging and External Supply.
In addition to her role in global packaging, Corina is one of the sponsors for the diversity and inclusion initiative within Mondelēz International. She has a strong passion for strengthening gender diversity within the field of supply chain. Early on in her career, women were not represented on executive management teams. Corina had a number of male mentors to challenge and help her grow as a professional; however, she actively sought the perspective of senior level female professionals. Today she regularly hosts open discussions on how to support women and their career advancement. She encourages women to “seek male and female mentors and acknowledge the different perspectives diversity brings to the table”. Most importantly, Corina challenges female professionals to “be open to change and if you are ready to progress in your career, then drive forward and do not let up”.
Corina is a living example of her advice to colleagues and rising professionals. She serves as a mentor to many men and women within her company with the objective of helping them strengthen and fine tune skills so they can perform better and eventually take over executive level roles. “Women are consumers and make many of the purchasing decisions,” says Corina. “A company is doing themselves a disservice without female representation at the executive table. Women are smart and ambitious and offer unique approaches to drive company agendas”.
Considering her quest to always take advantage of any opportunity to learn, it is no surprise earning an Executive MBA is something Corina has always wanted to do. With the support of Mondelēz International, she has already benefitted from the opportunity to network with classmates from around the world and outside of her own company. She enjoys hearing from others how they are tackling similar challenges differently and anticipates the knowledge she is gaining will only help her progress further and perform better. Corina describes the supply chain environment as “active and full of life”. One of the biggest joys in her role is being able to make decisions and/or changes based on collective ideas and see direct impacts in supply chain.
Each one of our Executive MBA students brings a unique story to the table. We hope you have enjoyed learning about Corina and join us in anticipation of hearing of her future success in supporting women in supply chain.