Sprott alumnus embraces the challenges of international business

Craig Nichols is a graduate of the Sprott School's Bachelor of International Business and MBA in Shanghai. — Craig Nichols is a graduate of Sprott’s Bachelor of International Business and the Sprott MBA in Shanghai.

Working in international business brings new challenges every day, according to two-time Sprott School of Business alumnus Craig Nichols (BIB/09, MBA/10).

Whether it’s making supply chains move across borders or navigating a country’s legal system, Craig has put his education in international business into practice working in countries all over the world.

Now back in Ottawa, Craig is the president of Arplay Medical, a provider of medical radiology products based in Dijon, France, and serves in a number of roles for Arplay’s parent company TeamBest^®.

An International Education

Although he had initially considered studying engineering in university, Craig had a change of heart after taking part in a Rotary Exchange to Germany between grades 11 and 12.

“I loved interacting with German life, learning the language and the feeling of being abroad, so I decided that’s what I wanted to do,” he said.

When Craig discovered Sprott’s Bachelor of International Business, with its intensive language training and full year of study abroad, he knew it would be the right fit.

Craig studied Mandarin Chinese and spent his third year of the program in Shanghai, an experience he said teaches many lessons in how to be resourceful in a new place.

After returning from China and finishing his undergrad degree, it wasn’t long before Craig was back in Shanghai to continue his education through the Sprott MBA Shanghai program. By completing his MBA there, Craig continued to develop his language and intercultural skills, which he now relies on more than anything else in his day-to-day work.

“When you study abroad, you’re exposed to so many people who you wouldn’t normally meet,” he said. “Those interactions with different cultures help prepare you for working with different types of people.”

While completing his MBA, Craig found work as a consultant with a Shanghai-based marketing agency that helps international pharmaceutical firms expand in China. Craig found the job through an expatriate job website, and soon went in for an interview conducted half in English and half in Chinese.

“They said they’d been looking for someone to fill the position for two months but couldn’t find any Westerners with good enough Chinese language skills,” he said.

An International Career

After graduation, Craig found a new opportunity through a family connection with Krishnan Suthanthiran, the founder of TeamBest^®, a family of medical companies operating around the world.

“He really liked that I spoke multiple languages and had lived in China and Europe,” Craig said.

Craig joined TeamBest^® as an International Business Development Specialist on a team looking to acquire a Belgian company.

“The MBA classes helped me in being able to see, and consider, the different areas of the company, like inventory, the supply chain, and company valuation,” he said. “The variety of classes gave me a base I could build on, and I continued to learn while I was on the ground in Belgium.”

After the deal was finalized, Craig stayed with the company, now known as Best Medical Belgium, as the Vice-President of European Operations, handling items such as company finances, labour negotiations and strategy among other general management tasks.

“Because I had gone through so much with the acquisition and knew everything about the company, I was in a really good position to be able to navigate the transition,” he said.

Craig stayed in Belgium until the end of 2011, when he returned to Canada to settle down, be closer to his family, and start a new chapter in his career with TeamBest^®.

Now, he wears several hats that have him applying his skills in business development, corporate finance, legal, sales, and purchasing. Perhaps the biggest project on his plate is his role as president of Arplay Medical.

Craig typically travels to Dijon once a month to handle business operations in France, while other trips through out the year bring him to China, the U.S. and Europe for new business development and trade shows.

There are challenges to working in such a global environment, Craig said, like dealing with many different legal systems, trade laws, and cultural differences.

“In a given day I might be speaking with people in France and Italy, where they share a border but the culture and mentality is so different,” he said.

In spite of the challenges, Craig said he loves being in a leadership role with the company and seeing his efforts pay off.

“It’s really great that I have the opportunity to build something and can see it coming into fruition,” he said. “I love the diversity that comes with the work and how no two days are the same.”