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Rhonda Buehler, EMTM '96
Background
Rhonda was working for AT&T as a reliability engineer when she enrolled in the EMTM program, hoping to round out
her undergraduate degree in electrical engineering. She was only four years into her career, but she had her sights
set on moving out of a "back office" role and into a managerial one. "I wanted to be able to move up in the
organization but I was fairly young and didn't have a lot of business acumen or experience managing people, and
I knew I was going to need more of both."
Why EMTM?
At first, Rhonda investigated MBA programs, and since one of her mentors at AT&T had attended Wharton, she began
her search at Penn. It wasn't long before she came across EMTM, which she believed would better suit her needs
than a traditional MBA. "The combination program would allow me to continue to hone my technological skills while
acquiring a business education and exposing me to people working in different industries. I planned to continue
working full time but didn't want a program that would require attending night school for five years. I wanted
the degree and I wanted to complete it pretty quickly." These factors, coupled with the manageable commuting
distance from her home in central New Jersey, made the decision to attend an easy one.
Career Impact
The imprint of the program on Rhonda's career was immediate and tangible. After completing EMTM, Rhonda stayed at
AT&T for another four years, moving up into a regional management role. She then found a director-level position
at General Electric. "EMTM gave me exposure to senior executives and an understanding of how management works.
With my degree I felt very comfortable taking the next step, and from there things moved fairly quickly for me.
What's more, the name recognition solidified my resume and helped me land the job at GE." In her current position
at GXS she is a vice president with global responsibilities.
In particular, core business classes like Finance and Marketing plus a technology elective in telecommunications
deepened her understanding of product management and the industry as a whole. "The education is entirely oriented
to technology, so that when you discuss products it's not about putting cereal on a shelf — it's about deploying
new technology and designs in the marketplace. All of the professors had some level of contact with the industry
or market they were discussing, which made their classroom discussions current and relevant."
As a manager she routinely relies on lessons from Organizational Behavior & Design. "Closely examining the relationships
in the workplace absolutely helped me define and develop a framework for understanding the politics within my organization.
I can identify who is a change agent, who is a steady-state person, and, most of all, who I can depend on."
Today, Rhonda sells products across multiple industry lines and the breadth of knowledge she gained from her fellow
classmates at EMTM is invaluable. She stays in touch with her EMTM colleagues, exchanging referrals for industry,
job and product information. "EMTM is really about cross-pollination. When I sell products to the chemical industry,
I can draw from my experience working with a classmate from Rohm & Haas. I can speak my clients' language and I can
help them find the right solutions."
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“EMTM gave me exposure to senior executives and an understanding of how management works. With my degree I felt very comfortable taking the next step, and from there things moved fairly quickly for me.”
Rhonda Buehler, EMTM '96
Vice President, Global Solutions Definition
GXS
Gaithersburg, MD
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Student/Alumni Profiles
Industry Diversity...
Innovative Thinking
Exposure to different ideas ignites the spark of innovative thinking and new solutions.
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Alumni Profiles
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