Tackling the Toughest Challenges
Well-prepared female alumni of Executive MBA Programs thrive
 In 2005, the United States experienced a devastating disaster when Hurricane Katrina battered New Orleans and the coasts of Louisiana and Mississippi.
Laura McManus faced leadership challenges that few see, as she and Entergy employees furiously worked to restore electricity while dealing with their own losses.
“We lost over 1.9 million customers of our approximately 2.5 million customer base with a cost of restoration between $1.1 and $1.5 billion,” says McManus. “Many employees lost everything they owned and continued to work long hours to get our customers restored in record time. It was very challenging, but also rewarding to see how our company and employees responded to what seemed an impossible situation.”
 McManus put all her skills to use during the crisis, including tapping the knowledge and experiences that she gained during her Executive MBA Program.
She entered the program as director of distribution operations. The president and CEO of Entergy Texas encouraged her to consider an Executive MBA Program, and the company sponsored her.
“He felt there were advancement opportunities that I would be considered for in the future and that the MBA would be beneficial,” says McManus, who received her undergraduate degree in electrical engineering. “I was interested in developing a better understanding of the financial side of our business.”
Her career soon moved forward; she first became director of asset management for all of the Entergy system, and in January 2006, she was promoted to her current position as vice president of customer service support, and as an officer for the company.
The Executive MBA helped her advance and grow, she says. “Both the professional and personal benefits are well worth the effort, and I feel it is a very rewarding accomplishment.”
Reaching new levels
For Jacquelyn Fredrick, her career has progressed “with greater opportunity than I would have imagined.”
 She began as program director of a service line at BloodCenter of Wisconsin and “then received a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to develop national programs for the American Red Cross in Biomedical Services.” She led the largest blood program in the world at the Red Cross, then returned to BloodCenter as president and CEO, the organization’s first female CEO.
The Executive MBA Program made a significant difference in her advancement. With a B.S. in medical technology and a minor in chemistry, she wanted to broaden her business expertise and leadership and management skills, and the Executive MBA Program fit the bill.
Not only is the degree a requirement for senior leadership positions, she says, “I could not have successfully advanced my career without the experience and the learning that I gained through the program.”
Fredrick benefited from academic and theoretical knowledge in the areas of strategy, leadership, and business. “I gained a sense of confidence that I could perform as well or better than others similar to myself across many different organizations and businesses,” she says.
As the first female CEO of BloodCenter, Fredrick is helping pave the way for more women to reach the higher levels. Although “I have never looked at being the first women CEO of BloodCenter as an accomplishment because I am a woman,” she does realize that as a female CEO, she serves as role model for both men and women.
Finding the elusive balance
Fredrick acknowledges the inherent challenges in pursuing work, education, and life all at the same time.
During her time in the Executive MBA Program, Fredrick also had a six-month-old son at home. She worked hard and found support at home, at work, and through the program.
“My husband, who had just finished a Ph.D. several years before, was of tremendous support in being the primary caretaker during that time. The convenience of the program, both in location and academic expertise, and fitting into my work schedule also were important.”
 A chemist by training, Katharina Jehle now works in international sales for Buchi Labortechnik AG, Switzerland. She needed a management and financial background for her current job, and also crafted her own way to balance.
“I only work four-day weeks at the moment,” she says. “I told my boss I wanted to do that. I knew he’d agree, and it’s helping a lot. On average, I have 10-12 hours of work each week, on top of my job. For the three-week modules, we have an agreement that I can only work in urgent cases.”
 Lori Rockhead, public policy consultant, decided to take a different approach.
“I’ve quit doing all work (as a consultant) for 18 months, so when I’m home I really work around my nine-year-old daughter’s schedule. My husband has been extremely supportive about me doing this.
“There are several men in this program with young children,” she says. “It doesn’t prevent them from doing it…I have found that it is possible to manage our family life while doing the program, and it has been a tremendous experience.”
Making a positive impact in the class and on the job
Christine Pans enjoyed her Executive MBA Program experience and made her own impact on the program.
 In recognition of her contributions, she recently received the RSM Leadership Award that recognizes leadership qualities, promotion and development of others, social responsibility, and vision.
“I felt and still feel honored about it,” says Pans, senior manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Amsterdam. Her nominations mentioned her ability to connect people and bring a supportive balance to MBA teams.
“I am mostly focused on people and processes, and I strongly believe in win-win situations,” she says. “I find the fact that my fellow students have valued this approach positively very inspiring indeed.
“It does give substance to my belief that also in competitive environments this type of leadership can thrive. I think this is one of the great advantages of following an MBA: You can trial different types of behavior and new ideas in a safe environment on seasoned and demanding professionals. If these approaches work, they help to grow confidence as a manager and leader.”
During the program, Pans also was promoted at PricewaterhouseCoopers. The Executive MBA Program offered her some clear advantages: state-of-the-art business know-how, improved communication skills, confidence in interactions with seasoned professionals, and a strong and varied business network.
A chemical engineer by training, she had been working in strategic marketing. “I wanted to refuel with new ideas and at the same time ‘merge’ my ongoing professional experience with some thorough and state-of-the-art business thinking,” she says. “Also, I thought I could benefit from interaction with other experienced business professionals…I feel confident that both objectives have been achieved during my Executive MBA Program.”
Bringing the Executive MBA to the business world
In one of her Executive MBA classes, a professor threw out a challenge to all students: Pursue job responsibilities that seem unreachable.
 Kathleen Corbet took that challenge to heart. While in the program, she was vice president at Equitable Capital, leading a team of nine members. During the program, she was promoted to managing director, and after graduation to chief of investment products, responsible for product development and marketing.
After Alliance Capital acquired her firm, she took on increasingly senior roles, as chief of investment operations, CEO of Alliance Capital London, chair of Alliance Capital Australia and New Zealand, and CEO of Alliance fixed income division.
And in 2004, she left Alliance for her current position, as president of Standard and Poor’s.
Her Executive MBA served her well. “The specific skills and knowledge I learned in finance were outstanding, and the general management course helped me to be better equipped to lead an operation.”
Corbet chose to return to school five years after graduating from Boston College with a marketing and computer science degree. Then, a manager in an investment firm, she “recognized that to further pursue a career in finance and to advance in the management ranks of the firm, I needed to obtain an MBA.”
Her boss offered to fund her time in the program, and the Executive MBA Program gave her the flexibility to pursue her education while continuing to contribute to her company’s management team.
She encourages both women and men to pursue an MBA. In addition to the education, the experience provides a built-in network.
“Historically, networking has not been readily accessible to many women; yet it’s fundamental to individual success in business. The network that I established through the program has been a great resource for me in the years since graduation.”
Blazing new trails
As a business woman in Asia, Echo Teng is part of a changing cultural environment, one where women are making advances, yet still encounter traditional attitudes.
 “Women are bearing more pressures than men in Asia,” says Teng. “The traditional concept emphasizing men more than women in family is still existing, and it is even more difficult for women to get promoted because many women are requested to quit jobs after getting married to look after the household and raise children.”
Teng decided to return to school to enhance her management ability. She quit her job, but in the second year of her program, she received a job offer and continued her Executive MBA studies as she returned to work.
The program exposed her to diverse industries, new concepts, and knowledge that she applied. Teng continues to use the analysis and presentation skills that she gained from the program in her current position as country manager for the Taiwan office of Arc International.
Opportunities continue to open for women, she says. “With the equal chance of education and the collapse of the old family concept, women are now more free to have their own career independently.”
And more women leaders in the business landscape will benefit companies. “I see women possess more characteristics, such as detail-oriented, patient, sensitive, and perseverant, to be more suitable in leadership.”
Changing the direction of a career
After Abha Divine completed her master’s degree in electrical engineering, she started working in industry to apply and commercialize her research. Soon, her world expanded beyond the technical boundaries.
 “I began to understand the need to solve not only the technical issues related to a new offering, but also the business issues related to market interest and profitability,” she says. “As I began to move into positions of leadership, balancing the technical and business considerations became even more central to successful decision making.”
It was time to learn more about business, says Divine, who also received bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering and applied mathematics, along with honors in liberal arts.
She considered both a full-time MBA and an Executive MBA and was offered full financial support from her organization for either option. She chose the Executive MBA because working while studying “afforded me an opportunity to work on richer problems when selecting topics for class projects and the chance to apply my learning immediately on real, multifaceted business issues.”
She entered the program as a director of interactive media and systems at SBC Labs, leading a large-scale development project for new IP service deployment and was promoted to executive director of IP systems and applications by the end of the program.
After completing her MBA, she was named vice president for corporate strategy for SBC Communications where she led the development of comprehensive strategies and investment plans, including the launch of both consumer IP and business e-services offerings. She transitioned from strategy to launch and led the development and delivery of a new slate of national data services for SBC. In 2003, she launched a fourth new business area for SBC, what is now AT&T Knowledge Ventures.
Today she continues to serve as president and CEO of AT&T Knowledge Ventures, the intellectual property management and marketing entity of AT&T. She is responsible for commercializing and generating other strategic value from the broad set of patent, trademark software, and other organizational assets through licensing and portfolio development.
The Executive MBA has proven useful in many ways.
“I moved from a technology leadership role to a broader business leadership position, which was exactly my aim in entering the program,” she says.
And the benefits continue. “In my role as president/CEO for a business unit, I draw upon my business skills daily,” says Divine. “The principles that I learned in business school apply to every decision and plan I make – since each decision requires an understanding of the financial implications, the strategic considerations, and alternatives for achieving market success through the tactics we apply.”
Taking the degree to remote places
Her job as head of retail banking in Papua, New Guinea, requires travel to some of the remotest parts of the world. On her trips, Margaret Mee takes with her the knowledge, skills, and wisdom that she gained through her Executive MBA Program.
“Working in Papua, New Guinea, there are gender issues, but you overcome them with tenacity and by achieving results,” says Mee.
“In my view, the realization is that women in the workforce at the management level need to understand the rules of play and then decide whether they have the inherent skills, decisiveness, and desire to play. It is a tough and competitive arena, but women can make it and truly bring a different social skill set to the workplace.”
When Mee entered the Executive MBA Program, she was in middle management. Now in senior management, she oversees more than 200 employees, and she often turns to her degree experience.
“Everyday, situations arise, and I think there was a tool or formula that I studied,” she says. She applies strategy, human resource development, economic theory, and more. “The list is endless.”
In her program, she also explored gender diversity issues and concerns that women face in male-dominated fields or as a minority voice on the board. “This area of study enabled me to understand the dynamics of gender and how one needs to work with those dynamics in order to be effective.”
Women are in a good position to assume leadership roles in business, she says.
“Women in general are great communicators,” she says. “We understand the needs of the household, we live and breathe it everyday. Multi-tasking is a key skill that will be in more demand in the future as productivity levels rise in line with competitive pressure. And I believe that the leadership required of tomorrow will be the ability to make the tough decisions with dignity based on a communicative and nurturing style in line with an emotional understanding of life events.”
The Executive MBA degree helped her achieve new levels of success, but other factors play a role in that success also. Successful women and men both benefit from finding a supportive environment and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, including balance between work and life.
“My degree experience has given me the key to play but in terms of dealing with these issues, it comes down to socialization, experience, and also resilience with a will to win (not at all costs) but at the relevant cost to achieve the desired result.”
Offering significant advantages
The Executive MBA offers significant advantages to men and women, says Abha Divine, president and CEO of AT&T Knowledge Ventures.
“I would encourage anyone intent on moving into a leadership role in a company to pursue an MBA,” says Divine. “Perhaps some of the skills could be developed through experience, but the degree program affords you an efficient means for gaining the tools and expertise one needs to manage complex business issues and make informed decisions.”
But there may be some added gains for women to consider such programs.
The Executive MBA offers a “level playing field for men and women to achieve their goals,” says Jacquelyn Fredrick, president and CEO of BloodCenter of Wisconsin.
The program also provides a disciplined and structured program to achieve the degree in two years. “This can be important to women who have children and want to continue to succeed both at their job and in their personal life.”
Executive MBA Programs also can provide a place to find colleagues and female leaders.
“Executive MBA Programs also often offer women role models, either as your professors or in the business leaders they invite in,” says Fredrick. “In some areas and organizations, this may be one of the few opportunities a woman student has to observe a female leader closely.”
Like Divine, Fredrick encourages all high-achievers and those who want to contribute to their organizations in meaningful ways to pursue an MBA.
“Women need all the skills, expertise, and academic credentials as their male counterparts to be successful,” says Fredrick. “Women must interact as well as anyone within an organization and have the leadership, management, and strategic skills to advance their organizations and careers. An Executive MBA Program provides a safe environment to take those risks and explore one’s boundaries.”
Back to top
|