Foster Means Business

Author: Kshitij Tambe, TMMBA Class of 2013

I have spent a large chunk of my professional career in engineering/technical roles so it was easy for me to think people in management/business careers as sitting on the ‘wrong’ side of the table. Spending 18 months in TMMBA changed this perspective. It has empowered me with the knowledge and tools needed to ‘cross the table’ and understand how and why particular decisions are made by the people sitting on ‘the now right side’ of the table.

When I decided to pursue my MBA, like any prospective candidate I was looking at several options in the Seattle area. What pulled me towards TMMBA were the following factors:

– Term: 18 months seemed perfect to remain focused while remaining employed.
– Reputation: Foster means business! The leading business school in the northwest meant a lot.
– Faculty: I had heard great reviews about the faculty from several of my friends and from alumni.
– Support Staff: TMMBA staff is amazing. They take care of registration, parking, provide dinners, lunch, breakfast (depending on the class day). All books are taken care of.
– Location: The classes being held on the east-side (close to work and home) meant no long commutes at rush hours.

None of the above would have made any impact if I did not have the support from my wife. As we keep saying at home ‘all of us in the family will graduate on June 3rd’.

Apart from the knowledge about several business topics like Marketing, Finance  Accounting, Strategy, Supply chain, Leadership & Economics TMMBA taught me to think like an Entrepreneur. It provided numerous opportunities to network with students from other Foster MBA programs, alumni, business executives and entrepreneurs. Class discussions were of high quality. How people with relatively similar professional background can come up with diverse business strategies was fascinating to learn. TMMBA taught me to look at solutions from perspective of a customer in addition to that of an engineer.

I can go on and on, but in short ‘TMMBA changed my life forever!’

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