Written by Vijaya Ramireddy, EMBA 2021
I am able to make better strategic decisions, both professionally and personally. I can clearly and critically assess problems and have found the courage to make the tough calls. I now prioritize my work and can motivate the team towards a common goal.
What class did you benefit from the most?
This is a complicated question because many classes have helped me grow in my career. After taking the finance and accounting courses, I can assess our corporate projects based on the capital budgeting techniques learned. I learned to understand the company’s health by reading10Ks, valance sheets, income statements, cash flows, etc. Organizational Behavior was another impactful course that helped me understand an organization’s culture and impact on the employees working in the company.
Operations Management helped me understand the competitive and supply chain strategies associated with forecasting, purchasing, inventory, quality, scheduling, logistics, and customer service. Marketing Management helped me understand segmentation, targeting, and positioning to better market the product or service I am selling. Strategic Management enlightened me from the VIRO framework. Performance Transformation helped me understand the value curve that our product offers and its value proposition for the customers. C-suite Leadership is critical as many leaders fail to engage the complete team with appropriate priorities and accurate messaging. Statistics and Business Analytics helped me understand data, outliers, and how to use data to make management decisions.
Why did you pick UT Dallas?
I interviewed a few folks from SMU, UD and UT Dallas and believe that you gain a lot more learning from the UT Dallas Executive MBA program compared to others in the area.
What has your ROI been?
I am able to make better strategic decisions, both professionally and personally. I can clearly and critically assess problems and have found the courage to make the tough calls. I now prioritize my work and can motivate the team towards a common goal. Before the UT Dallas EMBA program, I had trouble communicating with the management about the underlying issues. As I progressed through the EMBA program, I learned to clearly articulate challenges and propose solutions to resolve them. This also allows me to effectively manage stakeholder relationships. Within a year of starting the program, my career progressed from an IT Manager to an IT Director.
