Tag: EMBA

It was one big happy family when Executive MBA students took time after their classes to participate in an exercise to prep the MBA Class of 2018 for upcoming recruiter interviews. The purpose of the event was to give the first-year MBA students a chance to practice their 30-second elevator pitches and receive honest feedback in a nonthreatening environment. The EMBAs played the role of recruiters. It was a rehearsal, workout, and networking experience all in one event.

MBA students are honing their personal pitch and networking skills for the upcoming Meet the Firms event on September 14. Dozens of recruiters will be here to meet as many students as possible and it’s important to introduce yourself in a very short amount of time. It will be the first of two Meet the Firms events this semester, the second is Sept. 20.

Prof. Jackson Nickerson shared his communication expertise with the students before the speed-networking exercise began. The exercise is part of the MBA core class CRITICOM which is a key element to the greater Communication@Olin program.

Three Executive MBA students from Olin’s joint program with Fudan University in Shanghai spent a week in St. Louis this month to attend the EMBA Leadership Residency with students from the St. Louis, Kansas City, and Denver cohorts. Grace Zhou, Class 11, is Head of Reward and Benefits – Asia Pacific at Johnson Matthey in Shanghai; Thomas Cheong, Class 10, Vice President, Asia North Principal International in Hong Kong; and Michelle Cheng, Class 7, HR Business Partner GN Store Nord, based in Ballerup, Denmark.

Executive MBA students are required to attend four week-long “residencies” during their program that focus on different topics. The Leadership Residency – which occurs midway through the program – includes modules on formal and informal leadership.

Michelle Cheng visits the Ding, a gift from the EMBA-Shanghai Class 1.

A section on creative thinking enhances your ability to generate strong ideas, the building blocks of innovation, growth, and entrepreneurship. Classmates brainstorm concepts for new companies, products, and services in preparation for an innovation project.

The EMBA program provides one of the most academically comprehensive curricula in the country, with 60 credit hours required for graduation. Courses, themes, and residencies focus on leadership development.

The Executive MBA curriculum includes four required residencies: the GO! Week Residency; the Business of Policy: DC Immersion; the Leadership Residency; and the International Management Residency in Beijing and Shanghai.

Students in EMBA Class 47 spent their Leadership Residency week in St. Louis meeting with top execs in different fields to discuss current business issues across a wide range of topics.  Human resources was the topic of a panel discussion that included guests from leading companies. Vikki Schiff, Vice President of Human Resources for Ball Aerospace & Technologies, Carra Simmons, Vice President of Learning and Development at State Farm, Ray Kleeman, Vice President of Human Resources at Monsanto, and Wendy Livingston, Vice President of Talent & Leadership at Boeing participated in the evening dialogue, sharing their extensive knowledge of HR with the EMBA 47 cohort.

Wendy Livingston answers a student question as part of the EMBA Leadership Development Panel.

The panel was convened to bring real world solutions into the academic setting, and the student questions reflected the students’ immediate learning. One student posed the question based on an earlier classroom discussion, “How do we acquire and keep talent when the talent pool is shrinking?”

Livingston answered, “Be O.K. with people leaving, but on good enough terms that they want to come back later.”

Students also wanted to know to what these executives attribute their personal growth.

Carra Simmons

Simmons said, “throw me in a snake pit!” She believes that learning how to problem-solve has made the most impact on her personal growth.

Ray Kleeman

Kleeman replied, “take a risk and bet on yourself, have a good network, and know your worth on the market.”

Livingston’s comments included “never saying no to a job. This makes people you work with very grateful. Know your worth. Know the business.” Then she commented on when mentoring, male mentors will talk about business and female mentors will talk about being aggressive or pursuing dreams. “I can watch TED talks for that!”

Vikki Schiff

Some companies are using data analytics to determine potential leaders internally. Others are utilizing new self and departmental evaluations. Once a potential leader is determined, each company has its own method for developing their leaders, and these methods are continually being updated and challenged as the workforce changes.

Olin is grateful for friends like these who are willing to share their time and expertise to further our mission to create knowledge, inspire individuals, and transform business.

Executive MBA students in the second cohort of Olin and IIT-Bombay’s joint degree program were welcomed at the start of their program this month as tomorrow’s global leaders. Over 60 percent of the class are executives at the senior vice president level and higher. The 26 students have varied academic backgrounds and include an experienced surgeon and head of technology at Videocon Industries Ltd. The inaugural meeting of the new EMBA class was covered by The Hans India. Link here for complete article.

WashU’s Chancellor Mark Wrighton welcomed the new class via video message. “You can learn from your teachers as well as from each other. Commitment is an important dimension of success,” Wrighton said.

Kiran Shesh, CEO of IITB-WUStL Research and Educational Academy said, “These students bring a depth of experience from a diverse set of industries to march ahead towards preparing themselves as the global leaders.”

“The joint global degree is meant to equip executives with the tools, education and confidence to work in any industry in any part of the world as leaders in the new landscape of economic development. This also enables them to apply the concepts they learn while taking the course and know its impact in real-time,” pointed Prof. S. Bhargava, Head of Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management at IIT Bombay.

Link to more information on the EMBA-Mumbai program.

Eric Maddox, decorated Army veteran and May 2016 graduate of the Executive MBA program assisted in the capture of Saddam Hussein in 2003. He will share his experience as an interrogator for a Special Operations Task Force in Iraq on the CNN series “Declassified: Untold Stories of American Spies” scheduled to air June 26 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

Maddox spoke at Olin’s Century Club lecture earlier this year and shared his interrogation tactics that led to crucial intelligence on Saddam Hussein’s location and his ultimate capture by U.S. forces. In an email, Maddox writes,

“The episode to air June 26 is called ‘Hunting Saddam.’ Last summer, CNN producers and crew came to my hometown and spent three days filming and interviewing.  I have since been able to view the final cut and am really proud of the job they did.”

Eric Maddox, EMBA Class 45, addressed the Century Club in January 2016

While assigned to a Special Operations Task Force in Iraq, Maddox conducted over 300 interrogations and collected the intelligence which directly led to the capture of Saddam Hussein.

The new CNN series premieres Sunday, June 19, at 10 p.m. ET/PT and according to the website features, “true stories of America’s covert operations told firsthand by the agents who lived it, while getting unprecedented access to the riveting and secret world of espionage. Hosted by former U.S. Congressman, former House Intelligence Committee chair and current CNN national security contributor Mike Rogers.”

Click on image at top of page to watch CNN trailer.

You might think that a WashU Medical School resident in neurosurgery who assists in teaching an anatomy course for nurse practitioners and physician’s assistants, and mentors medical students interested in brain surgery, might not have time to pursue an Executive MBA degree. But then you don’t know Kathleen McCoy.

The 31 year old  McCoy who runs marathons, half-marathons, and triathlons in her spare time, just completed the rigorous 20-month Executive MBA program at Olin and was featured on the Poets & Quants website as one of the Best and Brightest of the Class of 2016. Here are a few excerpts from the P&Q profile:

“I knew I wanted to go to business school when …” My department had a presentation from the executive leadership of the hospital on the changing face of medicine and the financial impact that new health care legislation would have on the delivery of health care. I knew that I wanted to get involved in this realm, trying to maximize the quality of health care for our patients in a fiscally responsible manner, something that an MBA would help me achieve.

Favorite MBA Courses? Macroeconomics, Business Analytics, Negotiations.

Why did you choose this executive MBA program? Washington University’s executive MBA program has a reputation for excellence and its graduates have a track record of success. I spoke with multiple alumni of the program and was impressed with the quality of the executive education as well as the importance placed on the development of leadership skills.

What is the biggest lesson you gained from business school? The biggest lesson that I learned is the importance of not only the “hard skills” of finance, strategy, etc., but also the importance of the “soft skills” of leadership, including emotional intelligence. These interpersonal skills are equally as important, if not more so, for success as a leader.

What was the hardest part of business school? Two words: time management.

What is your best advice for juggling work, family, and education? There are no tricks or shortcuts. Work hard but efficiently, make time for family, and don’t forget to occasionally take time out for yourself.

What’s your best advice to an applicant to your executive MBA program?  Don’t be afraid to try something new! I had very limited knowledge of what the world of business entailed upon entering the executive MBA program, and I encountered many skeptics who did not see the value of a physician getting an MBA.

The program has opened my eyes to innumerable opportunities that allow me to continue practicing medicine while bridging the gap between health care practitioners and the business world in the ever-changing world of health care.

What are your long-term professional goals? I want to establish and maintain a busy neurosurgical practice, while also getting involved in hospital administration in an effort to bridge the gap between health care professionals and the business of medicine. My hope is to maximize the value of health care delivered to our patients with a focus on quality improvement balanced with cost management.

Link to Kathleen McCoy’s complete profile on Poets & Quants.