Chile’s 9/11

• February 24th, 2014
• in International Trip

It was sunny and breezy. In fact, the weather could not have been more beautiful. We sensed this was a special place from the green-uniformed guards at each corner of the sprawling lawn. We posed in front as classmates and as friends to remember our International trip for UA EMBA class of 2014. But this space is remembered in Chile for other reasons.

We were in front of the Chilean Presidential Palace, a newer building with old-style architecture. That’s when our guide Ignacio told us the story of Chile’s September 11, in 1973. Shortly after being named Commander in Chief of the Army, Auguste Pinochet overthrew the government and this presidential palace was the site of the takeover.
“Imagine your navy seals and fighter jets assaulting your White House and the US Army taking over the country. That’s what happened that day to my country,” he shared.
Imagining the contrast between the perfect, peaceful afternoon and that day in 1973 provided my first lessons of the trip:

• no matter how different the culture may seem, the human experience of tragedy and patriotism, and a hundred other experiences, unite us
• as divisive as our political scene is today, we are blessed to have never experienced the attack of our own government by our military… this puts our political problems in a much different perspective
• even after the toughest of times, beauty returns and life goes on

The world makes an exceptional classroom, and this photo will hold for us both memories and lessons.

Staci Woods
HEMBA Class of 2014

Team: Prestige Worldwide
Sonya Bailey, Matt Bogue, Christopher Jones and Staci Woods

EMBA Class and Alumni Meet P&G CIO Filippo Passerini

• February 19th, 2014
• in EMBA Alumni Network, UA EMBA Latest News/Events

Dr. Filippo Passerini, CIO of Procter & Gamble and President, Global Business Services of P&G, presented a full-day seminar on “Staying Relevant in a VUCA World” on Saturday, February 15, to the T-EMBA Class of 2015 and EMBA alumni.

In the morning session, Dr. Passerini discussed the VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity) faced by businesses.   Afterwards, he talked about the solutions to these issues, which is also VUCA (Vision, Understanding, Clarity, and Agility).

Dr. Passerini spent the rest of the morning session describing how P&G operates in a VUCA world through the use of business analytics for decision making, in particular the visualization of big data with decision cockpits and Business Sphere environments

(see http://www.pg.com/en_US/downloads/innovation/factsheet_BusinessSphere.pdf).

In the afternoon sessions, Dr. Passerini covered a variety of interesting managerial topics including leadership characteristics for success, the five situational leadership styles that managers must employ to be successful, the importance of storytelling for business leaders, a framework for business models, and frugal innovation in developing markets.  The students and alumni in attendance also participated in several managerial role-playing sessions.

Bringing in such profound leaders of industry is just one of the ways the University of Alabama Executive MBA creates value for both students and alumni.

“I think the session went very well,” said Ben Paulk, Sr. Product Manager at BBVA Compass and TEMBA Class of 2012. “It was great to hear from such a profound leader in industry, and it was a great opportunity for alumni to return for a refresher, get updates from faculty and network with current students.”

For more information about Dr. Filippo Passerini, please see http://www.pg.com/en_US/downloads/company/executive_team/bios/pg_executive_bio_Passerini.pdf.
For more information on the EMBA Program at The University of Alabama, contact Cheryl at 205.348.4501.

Strategic Thinker + Technology Geek = Hottest Hiring Commodity

• January 21st, 2014
• in UA EMBA Latest News/Events

MBAs in the 90’s were groomed to be strategic thinkers. The following decade netted technology geeks. Today, the two have merged to integrate into the hottest hiring commodity. Extracting information from vast amounts of corporate data is crucial for companies to enhance the ability of an organization to make better decisions.

How is the Manderson Graduate School of Business at The University of Alabama addressing the analytical career explosion?

According to Denise McManus, associate professor of management information systems, “To stand apart, our MBA students have stepped up to meet the rising needs of the corporate world of big data.” Technology advances allow individuals to analyze larger and more diverse data sets very quickly to answer information intensive questions. “It is important that managers understand the ‘why’ behind the request,” said McManus.

“Employers ranging from insurance companies, financial institutions, big box retailers, consulting firms, basically any and all businesses that benefit from data driven answers are looking to recruit analytical talent,” said Connie Chambers, director of corporate and alumni relations.

The Manderson Executive MBA Program at The University of Alabama emphasizes critical problem solving skills, concise communication delivery and strong intellectual curiosity – skill sets that are crucial in the area of data mining and data analytics. EMBA students begin their first semester with a statistics data analysis project that produces return on investment back to employers and skill sets that our alumni tell us they use every day.

For more information on the EMBA Program at The University of Alabama, contact the EMBA office at 205.348.4501.