Masashi Tanimura, MBA '14

A master's degree in cognitive science gave Tani a strong foundation in his usability and user experience work for IT giant Fujitsu in Japan. But good design isn't everything.

"Even if you make the product easy to use — if no one buys it, it doesn't make any sense," he notes.

So an MBA was a natural next step to strengthen his practical business skills. He liked Ross' great academic reputation, diversity, and status as a public university. And the Global MBA program turned out to be a perfect fit in a number of ways, starting with the fast track, 16-month format.

He also appreciated the way his close-knit GMBA cohort has helped build his network throughout Asia.

In Ann Arbor, he also made friends from the U.S. and elsewhere — and enjoyed the resources of the broader university.

"You can have both small classes and the big community. It's a rare program," he says.

He also received concrete takeaways in subjects like marketing, data analysis, and managing organizations — and Ross' action-based learning kept things interesting.

And the atmosphere?

"It was really friendly and collaborative. Everything involved teamwork."