Santa Clara's Evening MBA program has "opened my eyes" to the world of business. 

The dynamic and diverse character of the Silicon Valley is reflected in the student body. From launching a telecom business in Bangalore, to going through the process of an IPO, or learning how to manage change after an acquisition, the many perspectives that my peers bring to class have helped me better understand the real challenges facing business leaders today. 

I have also had the opportunity to experience international business firsthand through one of Santa Clara?s Global Perspectives course. I spent 10 days in London and Geneva studying at the London School of Economics and visiting some of the top financial institution in the world.

Through all of these experiences I have developed lasting friendships that will continue long past graduation. I am taking with me the skills, confidence, and network I need to create a business, not just be a part of one. 

Jennifer Ernst knew when she started the Executive MBA program at Santa Clara that having the degree would give her more career options, but it was even clearer when she graduated with honors in 2005.

“A decision to get an MBA, especially an executive MBA with its accelerated program, is a strong declaration you’re serious about business,” she recalled during an interview at PARC (Palo Alto Research Center), where she has been director of business development for the Xerox-owned company since 2006.

Her job includes leading business-to-business sales in the United States and Europe, expanding PARC business in Asia, and responsibility for all phases of business development, resulting in multiple $1 million-plus deals with companies throughout the world.

Ernst, who has an undergraduate degree in radio and television from San Francisco State University, spent her early career in communications. She’d started as a project manager in the creative services group at PARC, working up to communications manager from 1998 through 2006.

“Before I got to SCU, I had been doing marketing,” said Ernst. “I didn’t know what else was out there so I really didn’t know what I’d be good at. The MBA program helped expose me to a lot of varied opportunities.”

Continuing to work fulltime through the SCU program made her classroom work more relevant because she could immediately apply what she learned, as well as benefit from the experience of her classmates.

 “When I interviewed people from SCU, I found a sense of groundedness, of no arrogance,” she said. “Within the EMBA cohort, we had diverse people. Our skills complemented each other. I brought an understanding of research innovation and functional experience from marketing and communications. Others helped me learn leadership, finance, and handling change.”

Ernst said she probably would not have been considered for her current job if she hadn’t had the MBA.

“I had a richer tool set having done the EMBA,” she said. “I went from being a communications person, to being a business person with a communications background. I went from reporting the news to making it.”

Although Kevin Haley MBA ‘05 anticipated changing direction after completing the MBA, he never expected that as a result of a class project, he would become founder of a new company whose product may revolutionize fossil fuel emission control when it comes to market later in 2011.

He began the Executive MBA program because he “didn’t want to be just another engineer” when he left a 20-year career at Intel.  During his program at Santa Clara, he and his classmates developed a creditable business plan for a new “clean-tech” product  that would virtually eliminate soot from diesel engine emissions. It wasn’t until the project was completed that Haley revealed he was an expert in thermal technologies and knew that the product also was scientifically viable.

“I said, I know what this is and it’ll work. We’ve got to make a company out of this,” recalls Haley, a former engineering manager who holds 19 patents. When he retired from Intel in 2010 , he launched Clearstreme LLC to market the product. He expects that by year’s end, the product will be on the market after being approved by the regulatory agencies that monitor emissions-cleaning laws and compliance.

Haley, who received his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Washington, said earning his MBA gave him the confidence and training he needed to become an entrepreneur.

 “A lot of what I learned confirmed what I’d been doing at Intel, but it also exposed me to different aspects of business,” he said.  “I’d had no familiarity with accounting, international business or money policy. When Clearstreme becomes successful, it will be because of Santa Clara.”  

“Kindness” is not usually first on a list of what creates excellence in a business leader, but it’s up there for Nilofer Merchant, CEO and founder of Rubicon Consulting, an influential Silicon Valley firm specializing in high technology business.

“Kindness disarms people,” said Merchant (MBA ‘00), “Rubicon does strategy at the highest level for multi-billion dollar companies (Adobe, Apple, HP, Symantec and Nokia are a few). These are companies that have to decide who they are today and where they want to go. They never call us because things are going great. You get called because something is broken.

“Now, you could see these people as screw-ups, or you can see them as people who’ve done the best they can with what they have. I think that compassion and courage are rare in business. I’m the first person to say what the elephant in the room is, but I say it kindly. If you don’t have kindness in your heart, how many people are going to want to tell you what’s going on in the company?”

On the other hand, Merchant also has coined the phrase “murder boarding” for her process of promoting good ideas and killing bad ones. She has a pitch-perfect ear for the catchy phrase, exemplified by a talk she gave called “Even Steinways Get Out of Tune.” The talk, later turned into a company White Paper, was about spirituality in business – a topic that first piqued her interest when a classmate (who later became her husband) suggested she take Andre Delbecq’s course, “Spirituality for Business Leaders.”

“You had to study a tree and write a journal entry about it,” she recalled. “I remember thinking it was the silliest exercise ever.”  But as she thought more about the assignment, and about the capstone project was she was working on, she realized that the tree was a powerful analogy for business. She saw core strengths and experiences as the roots and the fruits of labor up in the branches. The class also inspired her to explore her personal values and goals.

“What kind of person do I want to be? What feeds me at a personal level?” she asked herself. She says that people who don’t ask those questions often never learn what their answers are.

Merchant admitted that although she learned much at Santa Clara, she wasn’t a stellar student. It took her seven years to finish her degree, which was interrupted by leaves of absence as she was promoted into new positions.

“When I started the program, I wasn’t even a first-level manager,” she said. “By the time I left, I’d been a vice president at a start-up and an executive at a Fortune 500 company.”

“What was nice about the program was that everyone was in the same spot,” she added. “Everyone was in ties and suits and working really hard. Going to SCU added tremendous value to my career. I’d go to class Tuesday and then apply what I learned on the job, and then come back to class Thursday with a different take on the issue.”

Her MBA program gives her access to SCU’s network of alums populating businesses throughout Silicon Valley. Merchant also keeps in touch by frequently serving as a guest speaker to Leavey classes.

“Santa Clara is justly known for serving the working executives of this area,” she said. “If you want to continue working and building your career, it’s really the only choice.”

Merchant took what she learned and tested in the marketplace and turned in into The New How, a book about strategic leadership and the perspectives needed to make it work. The book was released by O'Reilly Media in late 2009.

I recently accepted a new position with Vanguard as Principal, Head of International Marketing. This is an exciting development in my career as I join one of the largest mutual fund companies in the world.
 
I truly believe the Santa Clara Executive MBA made a huge difference in preparing me for my new role. I am proud to tell others I earned my MBA from the Leavey School of Business. For this alumnus, the investment is truly paying off!
 

The Santa Clara EMBA program integrated an innovative program design with a carefully selected cohort which incorporated a diverse set of industries, experiences and backgrounds (some people were from Marketing, Operations, Engineering, Supply Chain, etc.).

The result for me was an accelerated learning environment that gave me both the tools and confidence I needed to start integrating some of the leading concepts in my company early in the program. The immersion aspect of the program which united us not only with up and coming Chinese companies but also with domestic Cisco executives and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and investors was transformational for me. The experience opened my eyes to gain real world experience and expertise in several industries.

Towards the end of the program I was promoted from directing a modest group of project management professionals to the role of Director of Business Services responsible not only for the Project Management Office but also Supply Chain, Information Services, Operational Excellence and Risk Management – an organization 8x the size of the group I had when I started the program which will allows me to utilize many of the aspects of the program.