Isenberg School's Operations Management Program Excels as Advocate for Productivity and Quality

Operations Management Alumni Profile:
Matthew Sawa '98

"As an operations management student, I received a strong background in both technical and "people" skills. That, combined with generous attention on a personal level from professors Ali and Robinson during my senior year, helped me to successfully launch my career," recalls operations management graduate Matthew Sawa '98. What a career it has been! Immediately after graduation from the Isenberg School, Sawa joined Eugene M. Isenberg's firm, Nabors Industries, working there until May 2004. In September, he entered Harvard Business School as a full-time MBA candidate. Nabors, Sawa points out, is the world's largest land-based driller of petroleum and natural gas. It has a growing "fleet" of offshore rigs as well.

Sawa spent his first two years at Nabors in rotational programs in the United States learning the Houston-based firm's technologies and management systems. "After that-only two years after graduation from the Isenberg School-I found myself in Saudi Arabia. It was the learning experience of a lifetime," emphasizes Sawa. "In Saudi Arabia, I became actively involved in deal making and negotiations with Saudi Aramco, an important Nabors customer. (Although the petroleum industry is by and large vertically integrated, drilling is done under competitively negotiated contracts by firms like Nabors.) To be successful, I had to learn as much about Saudi cultural nuances as about telemetric readings of drilling environments," he recalls. Following fourteen months in Saudi Arabia and another nine in Yemen, Sawa transferred in December 2002 to Bombay, where, as an operations manager, he helped supervise a start-up offshore drilling venture. "We towed the rig all the way from Houston to Bombay. By the end of 2003, we had achieved 90 percent of our forecasted earnings," he notes.

So why leave the real world learning experiences and fast-track upward mobility at Nabors for the Harvard Business School? "At Nabors, I increasingly asked myself how I might manage and set strategy two to five years down the road. There's also a "big crew change" ahead in my industry as many senior managers approach retirement. The Isenberg School gave me a tremendous foundation in operations management; Harvard will complement that with additional, strategic skills."

Next: Operations Management Alumni Class Notes

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