During his time with the Jaguars, Rodrigo says he heard from the sports medicine staff about how much they wish they knew about the business side of sports. They encouraged him to pursue his MBA. At the same time, he saw his boss in sports medicine interacting closely with the organization’s legal, accounting, and finance teams, as well as with coaches and athletes. And he also witnessed the important role analytics can play in predicting and possibly preventing injuries, including GPS, biometrics, hydration, sleep, weather data, and other data points.

Using Sports Data to Provide Insights

“We were collecting a lot of data, but most of the data stayed siloed to specific areas of performance or injury prevention,” he said. “Weather data, such as heat index or humidity, can tell us whether or not the environment poses a risk for heat-related injuries. GPS data can tell us a lot about how fast and how far players are running during practice, which may inform us if someone is working too hard or at risk for injury.

In short, teams are swimming in data, but not all of that data is being used together. By incorporating artificial intelligence into sports, teams can increase data efficiency, provide important insights related to player safety, and guide the decisions of the medical team.

Corey Rodrigo 22DPT/MBA

“The primary goal in sports medicine is to keep folks healthy, but at the same time you are dealing with athletes with big contracts and with managers and owners who have a lot at stake to keep their athletes healthy,” Rodrigo said. “I learned that being in sports medicine is so much more than just being a good clinician,” he said.

As a result, Rodrigo investigated programs in which he could not only obtain his doctor of physical therapy degree but prepare for the business side of sports as well. He chose Emory based on its well-known dual DPT/MBA program and since both programs separately are ranked in the top nationally. The combined four-year program allows students to complete the MBA in just one year.

“Overall, the program has been awesome,” he says. “I’ve been impressed with how Emory has handled the program’s courses during the pandemic through online learning,” noting that he has developed great friendships and relationships over Zoom meetings without experiencing any learning gaps.

Emory’s DPT/MBA program accelerates you and sets you apart from the rest of the pack by making you a better manager and a better leader. It’s a difference maker.

Corey Rodrigo 22DPT/MBA

Perhaps most important, he will be able to use his PT and analytical skills, knowledge, and experience to help others, whether they are professional athletes or working professionals.

“The most important thing to me is helping others to continue to do the things they love. Whether I’m helping keep players safe on a professional sports team, or helping people get back to their kickball league, or attend their grandkids’ graduation, I know I’ll be able to help people in an important, unique way.”

For more information on Goizueta’s DPT/MBA program, visit here.

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Prior to joining the MSBA program, the Pakistan native worked as a senior knowledge analyst in Boston Consulting Group’s (BCG) digital marketing practice. Although her role included quantitative work, she wanted to expand her analytics skillset, business acumen, and skills.

“The Goizueta MS in Business Analytics program felt like the perfect fit with rigorous, challenging coursework that shapes students into data scientists while supported by faculty at an outstanding business school,” she says, appreciating the school’s focus on analytics and real-world business applications.

Today, as a project leader at BCG in Atlanta, she works closely with project teams to optimize marketing strategy, execution, and operations for corporate clients.

“I love being able to solve complex problems that unlock insight and value across a host of industries, while partnering with team members and clients who bring diverse perspectives and skills,” Haroon says. “I constantly find myself growing and stretching into new capabilities, whether they’re strategic, tactical, or quantitative in nature. It’s a lot of fun.”

Haroon credits the immersive MS in Business Analytics program for setting her up for success in her current role.

Each course in the program pushed me to get to the ‘so what’ of data science problem-solving through final projects that focused on the business value of analytical solutions.

Sameen Haroon 19MSBA

This included her Capstone project with Carnival Cruise Line that enabled her to obtain real-world experience by “working closely with teams and clients to frame analytics problems, develop solutions and communicate the value of those solutions.”

In addition to learning from exceptional faculty, the program offered her opportunities to learn from cohorts in an intimate learning environment. “I loved being a part of a small class where we learned with and from each other, which made even the occasional late nights in the library fun. I never felt like I was on my own.”

To future data scientists, Haroon offers this advice: “Be enthusiastic and willing to learn from those around you. Some of the best moments in the program happen outside of the classroom–by learning different ways to solve the same problem from your teammates, by enriching your understanding of the world through the diversity of those around you, and of course, by striking up conversations with faculty and staff who can help answer questions you didn’t know you had.”

From data visualization and machine learning to social network analytics and business analytics, our MSBA program equips students to be effective data scientists in many of the fastest-growing fields in the world. Support our data analytics programs.

The post Building Future Data Scientists appeared first on EmoryBusiness.com.

The 10-month MSBA program bridges the divide that exists between business, tech, and data by creating a business data scientist — one who speaks the language of business while being technically savvy and fully trained in data science.

The centerpiece to accomplishing this goal of creating future business data scientists is the Capstone Project during the Spring semester that builds on students’ foundational training in the areas of statistics, managing big data on the cloud, machine learning, and data visualization.

Student consulting teams work with business and data leaders in Fortune 500 firms, as well as small startups, guided by Ramnath K. Chellappa, associate dean & academic director of Master of Science in Business Analytics and Goizueta Foundation term professor of Information Systems & Operations Management, along with Panagiotis Adamopoulos, assistant professor of Information Systems & Operations Management, and mentored by MSBA Managing Director Scott Radcliffe. Projects are vetted carefully to ensure they add true value to the client firms, while strengthening the workplace readiness of the MSBA graduates.

Students apply data and technical skills to solve clients’ business problems using firms’ proprietary data, and in some cases also integrating with publicly available datasets. Deliverables include a robust technical handover package with empirical models, code, and cleansed data, a business deck explaining the benefits and methodology, and an executive dashboard developed on a visualization platform such as Tableau.

Radcliffe notes, “During my many years as an analytics leader in industry I learned that technical skills are table stakes for the business data scientist. Our broader approach to real-world analytics consulting experience enhances the ability to understand the right problem, articulate the problem, and define the fundamental data requirements,” he explains. “Our students learn skills to build trust among team members, create a reliable working environment, and accelerate productivity in project management.”

Student Teams Work with Real-World Client Data Challenges

Clients rely on Goizueta MSBA students to work with sensitive data and solve real-world data challenges. Project vetting and team assignment is an involved process. Radcliffe and Chellappa, meet with industry partners and their business and data specialists. Project definitions are created. MSBA projects involve proprietary datasets with significant liability implications for the clients, so a concurrent engagement with the firms’ legal and IT security divisions is established.

On ‘pitch day’ for students, project sponsors showcase their business problems and students rank their preferences. Through an optimization algorithm, skill-balanced teams of four students are matched to each project.

Chellappa points out, “Our program is special in that we find one unique project per team, so we end up working with about 11-14 firms in many verticals from healthcare to retail to banking.” Projects may address fraud detection, marketing, human resources, or other functional areas. “We aim to offer students a broad exposure to different industry applications.”

MSBA Students Gain Career Advantages with Real-World Data Analytics Skills

For students, the time and work invested in a Capstone project can pay huge dividends by opening doors to careers in business data analytics.

For recent graduate Mary Boken 21MSBA, that real-world experience combined with the knowledge gained in the program led to a job offer with Invesco prior to graduation for the company’s technology rotational program called “ITAP” (Invesco Technology Associates Program).

“Capstone was a great experience that allowed me to experience the challenges that come along with a real-world data project.” she said. “It was also a good opportunity to work with business partners to align the needs of the business with the capabilities of the team, constantly striving to achieve alignment between different stakeholders.”

For Boken, whose capstone team project involved predicting bust-out fraud detection for Truist Bank, the Capstone project was a good exercise to help her thoroughly understand the business problem and the available data before jumping into a solution.

“I learned how to lead a technology project and manage a project end-to-end, which will be useful at any stage in my career,” she said. “I also learned how to turn business requirements into technical solutions, and on the other end, communicate technical results as actionable insights to business partners.”

Boken’s cohort and recent graduate Grace Jieru Zeng 21MSBA agrees. “The program last year was vigorous but rewarding, where I substantially enhanced my business mindset and data science competencies. I feel more prepared than ever to start my career journey in the field.” Zeng has recently accepted a position as a business intelligence analyst in the Supply Chain Department with The Home Depot. “I am very excited to leverage the knowledge I have learned at school to create value and impact,” she said.

Goizueta Builds Corporate Partnerships for Long-Term Growth

In addition to providing invaluable real-world experience for students, the Capstone project is helping to forge important relationships with Fortune 500 companies and startups. Capstone sponsors also are heaping praise on MSBA students and the impact the projects have on their companies. To date, some 18 companies have worked in partnership with students on projects.

“It’s been nothing but positive,” said Saurabh Parikh, Chief Data & Innovation Officer with CONA Services. “We liked that the project was approached with a view of solving a real-life business problem and not only from a technology point of view.” Although this was the first engagement with Goizueta, Parikh noted that CONA looks forward to partnering more “on projects that allow students a real-life platform to put their skills to use,” and that allow the company to “gain from fresh thinking and access to a talent pool.”

Anqi Zou, Vice President, Enterprise Data Manager for Truist Bank agrees. “Our overall experience has been extremely positive to say the least,” she said. “Students from MSBA have always taken a methodical approach to our business problems and delivered tangible results with good-quality code, as well as thought-out presentations to our business and analytics leaders.”

Truist has been a sponsor of the capstone project since 2019 and has welcomed “at least 10 Goizueta MSBA graduates” to join the company. MSBA students have worked on capstone projects across multiple lines of business at Truist, including deposits account attrition and fraud detection use cases. 

Zou views Truist’s partnership with Goizueta as a win–win for her company and Goizueta. “We have recruited diverse and competent talent coming out of the program, conducted multiple Capstone projects using innovative approaches that drive business impact, and broadened our teammates’ horizons through MSBA-hosted events, such as the Business Analytics Conference.”

Perhaps most important for students, the real-world experience the capstone project offers sets them apart from the competition, according to Taiyi “Phillip” Fang 19MSBA. He accepted a position soon after graduation with Truist, having worked with the company on a Capstone project related to addressing credit card fraud. Today, he serves as vice president, data scientist II and leverages data analytics to build fraud detection models.

“The MSBA program is built in a way that suits the need for both technical and businesspeople,” he said. “What makes MSBAers different is that with the similar level of technical competencies, we have better business sense and the skill to communicate technical terms to non-technical people.” It is this perspective and ability to build a bridge between business, data, and technology that will continue to set MSBA students up for success for years to come.

Read more about Goizueta Business School’s Master of Science in Business Analytics.

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As discussed at this year’s Fourth Annual Goizueta Business Analytics Conference, held virtually in May, data, machine learning, and algorithms play an important role in both perpetuating and addressing inequity and prejudice within organizations. Hosted by Goizueta’s Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) program, the annual conference brings together alumni and industry partners in the business analytics, machine learning, and AI field to discuss the issues and trends. The conference also showcases select analytics projects from the MSBA students’ Capstone Projects, which involve real-world student projects in partnership with Fortune 500 companies.

Goizueta’s MSBA program creates business data scientists who reside at the intersection of business, data, and technology.

It is this focus on addressing real-world issues such as the relationship between business, society, and data that makes Goizueta’s MSBA program unique, according to Ramnath K. Chellappa, associate dean and academic director of Master of Science in Business Analytics. And feedback from alumni and industry partners has been very positive. “They think it’s fantastic that we are addressing these critical business topics,” Chellappa said.

The conference is an opportunity to showcase the expertise the MSBA program has to offer to potential students, as well as to industry partners. Each year, Scott Radcliffe, MSBA managing director, identifies the right partners and alumni to participate depending on the conference theme. And he works with some of the same industry partners to identify and coordinate real-world data projects for MSBA students to work on as part of the program’s Capstone Project. A few of the projects highlighted this year involved collaborative student projects with Cox Communications, Truist, and Publisher’s Clearing House.

Addressing Business and Society Issues through Analytics

Similar to previous focuses, the MSBA Annual Conference again this year held true to Goizueta’s mission of providing a positive impact to business and society. Last year’s conference explored the use of business analytics in reacting to the COVID-19 pandemic.

For this year’s theme – Organizational and Societal Implications of Data and Algorithmic Bias – Addressing Prejudice – four industry experts provided insight on how data and analytics play an important role in both perpetuating and addressing inequity and prejudice, depending on how it’s applied within a particular field.

“As a program focused on data-driven solutions to business problems, it is important to hear back from experts using and implementing a variety of techniques involved in the program,” said Chellappa. “At the same time, it’s also a celebration for our graduating students, and an opportunity to showcase their projects,” he said.

This year’s panel of experts included:

Julian Adler – Director of Policy and Research, The Center for Court Innovation

Bahman Engheta – Senior Principal Data Scientist, Medtronic

Genevieve Macfarlane Smith – Associate Director, Center for Equity, Gender and Leadership, UC Berkeley Haas School of Business

Adrianne Pettiford – Head of Client Insights and Analytics, Pymetrics

“While many firms are becoming aware of these biases, not all of them have yet formulated clear strategies to address these issues,” Chellappa said. “Technology can have unintended consequences and perpetuate bias if one isn’t paying attention.”

The speakers related real-world experience mitigating unintended bias in the justice, healthcare, and human resources fields.

“AI will disrupt businesses across all industries,” said Genevieve Smith, adding that AI could account for $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030. “It’s critical for current and future business leaders to understand ethical implications of AI and what responsible practices are,” she said. The ultimate goal, she said, is to unlock data’s value responsibly and ethically.

Adler agreed. “We are just scratching the surface between reconciling the efficiencies of AI and machine learning with the real ethical issues and value questions in the justice space,” he said.

Radcliffe added, as regulatory and legal systems play catch up to the evolving technology, it’s imperative for people working on these models to ensure that data built on algorithms and machine learning are fair and free of biases.

In Goizueta’s innovative, STEM-designated Master’s in Business Analytics program, we combine the languages of business, data, and technology. You will learn data visualization, machine learning, managing big data, social network analytics, business analytics, and more. We bring together knowledge from three fields — management, information systems/computer science, and applied statistics — to solve business problems. This is how you become a business data scientist. Learn more.

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Both came to Goizueta with successful business careers and a desire to pursue their passion for entrepreneurship and make valuable connections. Okebie had a strong finance and management foundation in the logistics industry, and Boland trained as a chartered accountant with KPMG Ireland, followed by a career working for a large multinational company, managing billions in annual logistics spend.

“It was an excellent experience from start to finish, where we were blessed to meet long-term friends and find great business partners,” Okebie  said. 

The two engaged in experiential learning as part of the Center for Alternative Investments and through an innovative Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA) program taught by Klaas Baks, professor in the practice of finance and the center’s executive director. These classes were supported by the teachings, industry experience and influence of Goizueta Adjunct Lecturer David Panton, managing partner at SPAC Opportunity Partners LP.

“The Entrepreneurial Private Equity course truly inspired us from day one,” Okebie added. “We were introduced to people who had been successful in the unique world of entrepreneurial private equity. It showed us that our dream was a real possibility, and that buying a business was statistically a better approach than trying to start your own business.”

The program – including classes such as Entrepreneurship, Mergers & Acquisitions, and Strategy – provided the road map to success they needed, as well as underscored the importance of choosing the right advisors and deal partners.

In fact, it was after one of these classes that Okebie and Boland got together to discuss their collective desire to acquire and manage a business. Okebie was inspired in part by his own experience of having started, grown, and sold an asset-based logistics business. And for Boland, who was inspired by a family of entrepreneurs in his native Ireland, business ownership was a path he had to pursue to stay true to his dream.

“A lot of people talked about it, but Onu was willing to put time and money into making our firm a reality,” Boland said.

Both Okebie and Boland learned from the EMBA program the benefit of diverse perspectives and experiences and wanted to leverage their uniquely different skillsets for a new joint venture.

Aligning Strategy for Success

As the saying goes, timing is everything. In 2017, Okebie and Boland officially launched Reserv Equity Partners while still enrolled in the EMBA program, spending countless hours working to stand up the firm.

After some near misses in recent years, the duo recently landed their first acquisition that matches perfectly with the company’s niche strategy: they acquired a full-service freight brokerage based in Charlotte, NC.

This acquisition was important to the Reserv team because it aligned closely to their investment thesis which is to target firms in the lower middle market ($5 to 50 million), a space in which many large private equity firms typically don’t participate.

“The seller inherited the business from his dad in the early 1990s and has grown it into a great business with a loyal customer base, which provided the stability we were looking for in a transaction,” Okebie said. “In addition, the processes in place at the company, while effective, presented opportunities for efficiencies through digitization and technology.”

Planning for Future Growth

Following the successful acquisition, both are now fully committed to growing their new business together. Okebie will serve as CEO managing the day-to-day operations along with the current management team. Boland will serve as CFO and business development lead, digitizing the finance and accounting functions and identifying further add-on opportunities to support inorganic growth. The team will conduct a “full court press” on sales and marketing to attract new customers and leverage their networks to bring in talent.

“We want to take our firm from zero to 60 as fast as we can, growing our business organically through additional marketing along with identifying potential add-on companies that fit our model,” Okebie said.

Acquiring the right company at the right time is validation, they say, that they made the right decision when they launched Reserv Equity with a strong foundation to build upon.

“It has been intense but exhilarating,” Okebie said. “From sourcing deals to due diligence, there is nothing like creating an investment thesis and executing on it.”

Boland agrees, noting that every day can bring about a new set of challenges that require a wider range of skills and immediate attention, in comparison to functional roles common in corporate America.

For others considering following a similar path, both have a bit of advice: Be passionate about your chosen path and be prepared for some ups and downs.  “It’s been an incredible journey so far,” Boland said. “It’s pretty intense, but I’m so glad we did it.”

Goizueta continues to elevate its commitment to fostering entrepreneurship and innovation through the activities and scholarly work of The Roberto C. Goizueta Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation.

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As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to change how we work and learn, organizations, including business schools, are not only having to adapt to survive but also are reevaluating their business models for a new reality. 

In 2020, Goizueta faculty pivoted to online teaching and were quick to adopt new interactive tools and applications, including online case discussions, breakout room technologies, online polling, and many others, according to Anandhi Bharadwaj, vice dean for faculty and research. To strengthen the teaching transition, Goizueta established faculty forums, discussion boards, tips, and idea sharing.

“The ability to not only adapt but to innovate is critical,” said Nicola Barrett, chief corporate learning officer at Goizueta Business School. “As with other sectors, higher education and executive development is undergoing significant change from new entrants, new technologies, and changing expectations of professionals and organizations.”

“For Goizueta, the time is now to explore the benefits and possibilities of digital learning and what it means for the future of teaching,” she said. Digital learning tools provide a perfect fit for busy working professionals as more individuals appreciate the flexibility of being more productive from the comfort of their home, she notes. 

Denys Lu, Goizueta’s chief technology officer, agrees and explains that digital learning enables everyone to take a more active role in the learning process. “The way students want to learn today is very different than 10 or 20 years ago when the most important person in the room was the teacher,” he said. “Now, everyone contributes and learns from one another, including the teacher.” 

Setting the Pace for Change

If 2020 was about adapting teaching methods and keeping pace with change, 2021 is about setting the pace and exploring the future of business education. Even before the pandemic, Goizueta was looking ahead to future learning innovations. “The goal is not to use digital learning to replace all of our traditional classrooms but to reach a different audience AND provide a top-notch educational experience,” said Jaclyn Conner, associate dean for Executive MBA. Conner has been spearheading the teaching innovation efforts. 

With three next-generation global classrooms, hologram technology, and augmented and virtual reality projects being developed, Goizueta is poised to take digital learning to the next level by providing business professionals with a truly immersive, dynamic experience from anywhere in the world.  

“Digital learning offers an opportunity to expand Goizueta’s global reach and offer an amazing learning experience that other schools do not provide,” according to Lu. 

By eliminating the need for travel for many working professionals, the technology draws in a more expansive set of students both domestically and internationally with a greater diversity of thought, experience, and culture. “To really enhance the level of conversations and engagement in the classroom, you have to bring people in who are as different as possible,” he said. “That’s what digital learning enables. It breaks the barriers for people who can’t afford to travel for a length of time.”

Investing in a More Dynamic, Interactive Student Experience 

Digital learning is another important way to further develop and hone business leaders that shape and drive organizations, according to Barrett.

“The future of work and the future of learning are so intertwined with technology that we must constantly challenge ourselves to imagine more effective ways for professionals to enhance and broaden their perspectives, learn new skills and tools, and adopt more successful behaviors,” said Barrett.

Goizueta is leveraging a generous donation from The Goizueta Foundation to move forward on teaching innovations in three key areas: virtual classrooms, holograms, and virtual reality or gamification. This summer, Goizueta’s Executive Education and EMBA students will be the first to experience The Roberto C. Goizueta Global Classrooms, which create online and hybrid learning opportunities that don’t sacrifice one-to-one connection.

Goizueta has partnered with X20Media—a third-party vendor—to power the digital learning platform that drives each of the three Global Classrooms. With multiple camera angles and state-of-the-art audio, faculty and students will be able to see and hear each other through a wall of 20 to 40 high-definition monitors positioned with each student’s video feed assigned to a monitor, all in a familiar format. 

The Global Classroom technology involves a lot more than just connecting students on a Zoom-type call. Making this possible is new in-house talent hired to run a production or control room in which production members can communicate with professors in real time regarding questions and topics that arise in the online chat. This allows students to interact with each other and the instructor. Conner likens the production or control room to a sophisticated TV studio. “It’s Zoom on steroids,” she said. Goizueta’s in-house instructional designers will work with faculty to help them prepare to fully leverage the world-class platform, and each session will be recorded for those who can’t attend or want to review.

Perhaps the greatest advantage, notes Conner, is the system’s learning analytics, which are the hardest to collect in a traditional learning environment. Faculty can conduct real-time polls to get the “temperature of the room” on any given topic. “The ability to use a digital platform to capture that data to provide to the instructor in real time is revolutionary,” Conner said. “As you are teaching, managing a chat board is almost impossible. But having a system that is looking for commonalities and provides a report showing keywords mentioned a number of times by a significant number of students — that is a game-changer!” 

In addition to real-time data analytics, the system also allows for greater flexibility and collaboration through break-out room options, white-board technology, and sharing of common assets to store files and presentations. 

Expanding Reach with “Pop-up” Classrooms, Holograms, and VR

Goizueta encourages faculty and staff to explore new technology and innovative approaches to teaching by funding high-impact proposals from the Experimentation Zone. The Experimentation Zone has enabled faculty and staff the freedom to explore additional learning opportunities by proposing ideas to create virtual reality learning experiences.

Expected to be in use later this year, holograms will allow Goizueta to invite guest speakers from all over the world, appearing as if they are right in front of students. Holograms also would make “pop-up” classrooms possible in locations around the world. This method is far less expensive than sending a faculty member to far-away places like Shanghai or Rome for in-person instruction. In the long run, this technology is expected to increase flexibility for new programs and create unique opportunities for innovation. 

Additionally, gamification or the use of game-like virtual reality (VR) simulations can pave the way for immersive learning experiences without incurring the costs of associated travel to off-campus locations or relying on external partners to create these learning experiences. 

Faculty are excited to explore how VR and holograms can enhance the student learning experience, Conner said. Barrett has co-submitted and received approval for two proposals involving virtual reality, including one with Lieutenant General USA (Retired) Ken Keen, senior lecturer in Organization & Management and associate dean for leadership. They are developing a customized VR crisis leadership simulation that transports learners into “real-world” scenarios. The simulation is designed to be flexible with unexpected challenges inserted mid-simulation to test business decisions, leadership behaviors, change management, and communication strategies. The simulation allows for forward-looking learning when dealing with a crisis or challenge as opposed to case study review to see how a company handled a previous crisis. 

“This simulation will make Goizueta unique,” said Keen. “What will differentiate this innovative crisis simulation will be how it uses state of the art technology, like virtual reality and holograms, to put leaders in roles within an organization, where they must deal with both sudden and smoldering crisis events that represent current research and future challenges.”

Barrett, along with Professor in the Practice of Organization and Management Michael Sacks, also proposed a VR negotiator simulation that has the potential to revolutionize how educators teach and research negotiations while providing a potential revenue stream through corporate education.

“Our goal with both the crisis leadership simulation and the VR negotiator is to provide our executive participants with highly relevant and engaging learning situations that can better assess and build competencies and provide practice opportunities, faster, more effectively, and with less variability than the current approaches most providers use,” Barrett said. “By standardizing negotiation practice, we will be able to take biases out of the experience and better evaluate, for each learner and for each negotiation, based on multiple data points over the negotiation rather than on the outcome alone.” 

For Steve Walton, professor of Information Systems & Operations Management, having the opportunity to explore how this technology can be integrated into the educational experience makes it interesting and fun. “This creates an opportunity to think creatively about what digital learning really means.” 

Walton’s proposal to create a virtual reality experience of the Delta TechOps facility has been approved for a prototype this year. Walton regularly takes his students to the Delta TechOps facility but the VR learning experience, developed in partnership between Goizueta and Delta, would enable every section of process and systems courses across every Goizueta program to have the learning experience. It will also allow Delta to experiment with augmented and virtual reality at TechOps to further its own business.

The Future of Digital Learning

“It is an exciting time to be in higher ed as we are constantly challenged to reimagine ‘what’s next’ and how do we better help professionals, managers, and executives adopt new mindsets, skillsets, and toolsets to lead their organizations,” Barrett said. 

But investing in technology by itself is not the end goal, Bharadwaj notes. Leading in the digital learning space means figuring out how to use it to add significant value for students and organizations.

“What you want students to remember is not the technology but the experience and how it enhanced their life,” said Lu. As a result of the increased flexibility and collaboration that digital learning tools provide, we will see more and more of this type of technology, Lu noted.

For Goizueta, digital learning tools will be one more differentiator from the competition while providing greater global reach.

“Technology will continue to be an important enabler, and we will continue to invest, learn, and adopt new technologies,” said Bharadwaj. “We will use technology to increase our school’s reach, to stay connected with our students and alumni on a global scale, and to improve our range, which is our ability to do more things in more meaningful ways to improve business and society.” 

Learn more about Goizueta’s Executive MBA program and Executive Education.

The post The Future is Now – Goizueta’s Digital Learning Innovations to Enhance Student Experience, Strengthen Global Reach appeared first on EmoryBusiness.com.

Organizations should reframe the M&A conversation as an opportunity for professional advancement and growth, highlighting the positives, such as having increased capital, expanded markets, and new technology and tools.

Assessing and retaining the right talent during corporate mergers and acquisitions (M&A) is never an easy task for leadership. But companies that successfully execute M&As have learned that prioritizing talent at the start is critical to the organization’s future success, according to Kevin Crowley, Goizueta senior lecturer of finance.

“Human capital is more important today than ever before for long-term growth. The companies that do M&A best understand it’s a smart investment,” said Crowley, who has expertise in pre-merger activities. “Companies in strategic acquisitions are in it for the long-haul; they are not intending to flip the business in a few years. Paying a premium to retain top talent is often less expensive than having to recruit and retrain new employees.”

“We are starting to see more of our clients assess talent earlier in the M&A process and asking if the talent of a target company has the right skills to align with the overall growth strategy,” said Jamie Traynor 14EvMBA, who serves clients with human capital in M&A for PwC’s deals practice.

Reframing the M&A conversation as an opportunity

Many employees traditionally think of the downside of M&As first, which can include job uncertainty and layoffs. As a result, they may be inclined to jump ship before considering the opportunities that may lie ahead for them within the newly merged organization.

“Often the immediate reaction of employees to M&A is concern about job security, pay, and benefits,” noted Traynor. But the reality for many organizations today is that the low-hanging cost cutting has already been done prior to M&A. “The days of creating value by simply reducing headcount are gone,” she said.

Consequently, organizations should reframe the M&A conversation as an opportunity for professional advancement and growth, highlighting the positives, such as having increased capital, expanded markets, and new technology, and tools. “Sometimes opportunities open up in new areas for additional revenue stream as a result of an M&A,” said Crowley.

Ali Frost 00C 07MBA and chief marketing officer for Crown & Caliber, has held a front row seat for several mergers and acquisitions in recent years, including one her company is currently undergoing.

“Today, many companies are strapped for resources. As companies come together, it’s important to share how a newly integrated organization might have the additional resources needed to achieve growth goals,” she said.

The strategy for the recent acquisition of her current company is to combine content and commerce to become the clear leader in the luxury watch market. This newly integrated company should provide opportunities for employees to take on new roles and leverage additional skillsets, she adds.

“Companies can be in a better situation to innovate post M&A to help accelerate market growth. And human capital is critical to innovation and growth,” she said.

Traynor agrees, adding that M&As can be a great learning experience for high potential talent. “The most important thing employees can do during an M&A is to get on board.”

Traynor notes two important ways to do this:

1. Serving on a cross-functional team to help with the business integration, increasing one’s knowledge of different processes, departments and people within an organization.
2. Being a change champion and influencer by understanding how work gets done and being an advocate for positive change.

“Change management really happens with the mid-level or front-line employee who is an influencer and can help drive change,” Traynor said.

Frost agrees, noting cross-functional business integration teams can focus on everything from processes to culture. For example, a cross-functional committee could evaluate existing Corporate Giving programs to make recommendations for the new company’s support, while providing employees with an opportunity to collaborate and define the combined culture.

Crowley, Traynor, and Frost all agree that it’s up to senior leadership to provide a common vision for the new organization, noting the type of skills needed for growth, as well as setting integration timelines or phases.

They all emphasize how important it is for leaders to communicate honestly and often about any impact to the workforce as a result of an M&A as well as what is still unknown and will be determined in the near-term – all of which can help avoid anxiety and built trust with the workforce.

So before jumping the proverbial ship, Traynor advises to “read the tea leaves and pay attention to leadership messages. Then form a view to how you fit into the new strategy for the vision and capabilities needed.”

At Goizueta, we build principled leaders ready to positively impact business & society. Learn more about The Roberto C. Goizueta Business & Society Institute.

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His current venture is no exception. Founded in 2017, Edmit is an online educational resource and consulting business that helps families make wise financial decisions as they navigate the college selection process. Edmit is gaining national notoriety with educational, corporate and nonprofit organizations.

As a result of Edmit’s success, Ducoff received the 2019 Emory Entrepreneur Award in the Financial Services category on February 27. This alumni award is sponsored by the Emory Entrepreneur Network, which annually recognizes alumni across a range of industries who have launched a business that has achieved significant advancement through innovation, profit, or influence. In addition, Edmit won the prestigious 2019 startup competition at the SXSW  EDU annual event. The South by Southwest Education Conference and Festival fosters advances in learning.  

For Ducoff and business partner Sabrina Manville, what began as an idea to help families financially prepare for life beyond college has turned into a thriving business, helping more than 500,000 families across the United States make sound educational investments.

“TrueCar transparency” for college

Today, Edmit has eight full-time employees and is supported by double-bottom-line investors−those that measure their performance in terms of positive impact−such as Founder Collective, Rethink Education, and Precursor Ventures.

“Edmit helps families make smarter college borrowing decisions so they’re better off after college,” Ducoff said. “There are over 45 million people with student loans in America and we want all of them to have access to Edmit for free. We make this possible thanks to our corporate partners who pay for Edmit for their customers, prospects, and employees.” Today, he estimates that the average Edmit family saves $5,000 in college costs.

Ducoff drew on his professional and personal experiences in creating the idea for the business. Earlier in his career and armed with a law degree from the University of Texas, Ducoff worked as a venture capital lawyer. One of his clients invested in a company called TRUECar, which helps car buyers ensure they’re paying a fair price.

“The initial idea for Edmit was TRUECar for college,” he noted, where students and families would know more precisely the true costs of obtaining a college degree before just jumping in.

Add to this his experience as cofounder of the big data firm Infochimps, which was sold in 2013 to CSC Corporation, and subsequent roles in higher education.

“As vice president for new ventures at Northeastern University, I saw firsthand how affordability and value played into student and family decision-making,” Ducoff said. The lack of resources available to evaluate “one of the largest and most important investments they’ll make,” he said, was glaringly apparent.

Along with Manville, who held an innovation role at a university prior to forming the company, and their own experiences as parents, the duo was confident they could create an online network to serve as a central resource hub for families wanting to make the best financial decisions possible for college and address the ever-rising tuition costs. As a result, they took a calculated risk and left their stable university jobs to launch Edmit, which has since found an important niche in the marketplace. Their book Better Off After College, augments their offerings.

Leveraging opportunities is key to success

Ducoff credits his professional success, in part, to the foundation he received at Goizueta and the ability to take advantage of key opportunities.

“If you survive long enough, you’re bound to have some kind of success, but the difference between good and great is creating successive big opportunities and capitalizing on them,” he said.

Practicing law that focused on tech and emerging companies, for example, led to Ducoff founding a technology business, which led to heading up new ventures at a university. And all experiences served as important building blocks for the launch of Edmit, he said.

“I’m quite intense and have a very high-risk tolerance,” Ducoff added. “I try to balance that intensity with empathy for employees and others through eastern philosophy and meditation, but I don’t want to lose it entirely as I think my intensity is a competitive advantage.”

An avid reader, he balances his intensity by collecting and reading books, along with spending time with his family.

And one important lesson he has learned as an entrepreneur is to take everything in stride, preparing for the unexpected. “I try to make myself immune to surprises. Anything can happen at any time and it is important to be able to handle anything. Nassim Taleb’s book Antifragile helped me see the world this way.”

Preparing for growth

True to his nature, Ducoff continues to seek out opportunities to grow and evolve his business.

As he pursues his goal of assisting more families throughout various college financial planning stages, Ducoff is exploring key partnerships with student lenders, financial institutions, and employee benefits providers. In addition, he hopes that schools will also adopt Edmit in the future. The founder of Naviance, which is used by over 12 million students in schools, is one of the company’s advisors.

With a 2020 goal to help families avoid extensive years of student loan debt, Ducoff says, that providing this kind of support to thousands of families is the most rewarding aspect of his career so far.

More Goizueta winners

Ducoff is not the only Goizueta alum who was recognized on February 27. The Emory Entrepreneur Network also honored the following Goizueta alumni:

• Peter Davis 96MBA (and his co-founder Trenton Spindler 12C) – Business-to-Business category. Davis is CEO of GreenPrint, a public benefit company.
  
  
• Jamie Koh 07BBA – Hospitality, Food & Beverage category.
  Koh leads numerous businesses in the food & beverage industry in Singapore.
  
  
• David Wu 11BBA – Technology category.
  Wu is CEO of Motus Nova LLC, a medical device company.
  

• Gerald Yao 14BBA – Media  category.
  Yao is chief strategy officer and co-founder at FiscalNote, a media and technology company.

• Flavio Zaclis 01BBA – Venture Capital category.
  Zaclis is founder of Barn Investments in Sao Paulo, Brazil. To read more of Zaclis, visit here.

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Treating patients via remote telehealth is going to continue to transform the healthcare field, providing greater convenience, specialization and reduced costs for consumers, according to panelists who participated in a recent discussion on healthcare trends, partnerships and capital investment. The Emory Alumni Association hosted the discussion at Atlanta’s WeWork space in Midtown as part of the Entrepreneur Network Series.

Stuart Bracken 07MBA, founder of Bioscape Digital, served as moderator for the panel discussion which also included

• Sarath Degala 05MBA, vice president, BIP Capital
• Jeff Kingsley 11MBA, CEO, IACT Health
• Tanya Mack, president, Women’s Telehealth
• William Plumer, managing partner, Bullet Partners

In today’s world of high deductibles, consumers are shopping around for healthcare services to keep costs low, particularly for things like ear infections that may not require an in-person visit. Additionally, according to Mack, specialists aren’t available for 70 percent of the country.

“Telehealth is a way to pipe it in and any doctor’s office can put it in,” Mack said.

There will be more telehealth adoption globally for B2B and B2C in the future, she said, with more incentives and with younger consumers opting for cost and convenience over care by an on-site provider.

In addition, the panelists agreed that developing the right strategic partnerships that deliver value is key to small and startup healthcare companies, particularly in rural areas. 

“We are seeing former competitors partnering together, particularly in rural areas where you have a small number of individuals and a high cost of treating these individuals,” Plumer said.  The key is to keep it “labor light” and match the right technology with the right service. Those that partner strategically in the right way will succeed, he added.

“It’s important to do your homework on who you get in bed with,” Plumer said. “If they can’t add value to your commercial relationship in 24 months, you don’t need to do the deal. You can find others.”

Mack agreed, noting that she looks for investors that also have a platform to help deliver in the markets that matter to them.

The timing of bringing in an investor depends on the type of capital funds and the stage of adoption a company is in rather than simply risks vs. rewards, Degala added.

But for those entrepreneurs who are willing to fight to bring new services and processes to market, there is tremendous potential. 

“Change will happen and it requires people who are willing to fight,” Kingsley said. “We have a phenomenal opportunity for disruptive innovation as technology will transform the broken healthcare industry. Every day is a fight but being first to a market and being a problem solver positions your company really well.”

More and more, he noted that providers will “bypass brick and mortar and conduct clinic research by working directly with patients in their homes. It’s going to be revolutionary.”

Ultimately, Mack sees her company’s role as a way to improve patient care, noting patient surveys that are over 95 percent favorable for telehealth. 
“I’ve been surprised at how open they (large healthcare providers) are to partnering with us to try new ways to care for patients,” Mack said. “You have to be assertive and just do it.”

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The number of growing security threats around the world today may lead some Americans to advocate for isolationism and the building of walls to keep out those who intend to do harm. The United States should guard against this and instead look to build alliances and bridges to become more secure in the 21st century, according to retired U.S. Navy Admiral and former NATO Supreme Allied Commander James Stavridis.

A noted author and the current dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, Stavridis spoke to a room of Emory alumni, students and guests at the Carter Center as part of the inaugural conference for the John E. Robson Program for Business, Public Policy, and Government. Established in 2017 and named for former Goizueta Dean John E. Robson, the program focuses on the growing complexities of business and civics.

History has proven that building walls doesn’t work, Stavridis said, citing the Berlin Wall, Iron Curtain and Bamboo Curtain. Stavridis noted from personal experience that not even the Pentagon, one of the safest buildings in the world, is truly safe, having witnessed the terrorist attack on the Pentagon up close and personal on 9/11.

“Walls will not create security,” he said. “In order to build security, we will need to build bridges, not walls.”

Today’s challenges are numerous and daunting. These include violent extremism, both abroad and at home, that can be religious, political and racially motivated, he said. In addition, several nations pose a threat to America’s overall security in some form, including Iran, North Korea, Syria and Russia. These range from state-sponsored terrorism to nuclear weapons to geopolitical posturing. 

Additional security threats include the pervasive drug trade that undermines fledgling democracies in the Americas, health pandemics and global warming, which may be the biggest long-term challenge. But the biggest security threat today is the rising number and sophistication of cyberattacks, which Stavridis described as the “ultimate challenge.” Recent political attacks that have been linked to Russia, as well as corporate attacks including Equifax, underscore how unprepared the U.S. is to deal with such looming threats, which can be politically and financially motivated.

Cybercriminal activities can range from stealing state secrets to stealing an individual’s most private and intimate details from the cloud.

Rather than building walls, Stavridis noted that the U.S. can build bridges to other cultures by becoming more actively engaged throughout the world to build intellectual capital. This starts by listening to allies, partners and with each other within the country to achieve greater understanding and different perspectives of complex topics, and by reading more about world affairs and studying foreign languages, which helps to remove barriers.

Americans also should hold fast to democratic values and freedoms in a world of uncertainty and chaos, he said. And they should continue to see the U.S. as a force for good, leveraging the country’s significant political, military and economic influence through a blend of both “hard” and “soft” power.

There will be times when the U.S. will need military or “hard” power as you cannot negotiate with extremists like those with the Islamic State, he noted. But Americans and our elected officials also need to be mindful of the impact of soft power through initiatives like literacy training for certain cultures and sharing our ideas throughout the world.

“We can launch missiles with great precision, but we need to get better at launching ideas.” Stavridis said. “We have to compete in the marketplace of ideas in today’s social network space.”

He stressed that U.S. officials also need to engage in personal diplomacy whenever possible, noting that “personal contact trumps everything.”

This balance of hard and soft power results in smart power, knowing when to strategically “dial it in” and lean on one or the other during an often complex and chaotic world. Stavridis said that the U.S. and the rest of the world can take a lesson on the power of engagement and intellectual capital from Wikipedia whose vision statement references that everyone is “given free access to the sum of all human knowledge.”

“By thinking and working together to create intellectual capital, we can create a sum of all security in the 21st century.”

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Artificial intelligence and blockchain technologies are beginning to change the huge business of healthcare and will continue to transform the industry in some important ways in the future. That was the consensus of a panel of innovators and thought leaders during a recent discussion at Goizueta moderated by Benn Konsynski, George S. Craft distinguished university professor of information systems and operations management.   

Sponsored by Atlanta Applied Artificial Intelligence and Health Futures Forum, the panel-led discussion on “AI and Blockchain in Healthcare” included

• Frank Mascarenhas, Touchpointz
• Nicole Morris, Emory Law School
• Ganeshram Ramamurthy, ObjectFrontier Software
• Thomas Savel, CDC
• Chrissa McFarlane, Patientory
• Roop Singh, IntuitFactory

Although AI is already being used to uncover patterns in mental health, for example, that lead to better patient diagnosis, sharing data across healthcare provider facilities remains largely fragmented today and unsecure.

“The public health universe wants to exchange information in a decentralized way but hasn’t had the technology to do that,” Savel said, adding that the CDC ends up being the trusted third party by default.

The combination of AI and blockchain technologies, however, is a game changer with implications for patient records, predictive analytics, payer-provider relationships and even doctor/patient relationships. Blockchain exists as a shared and continually reconciled database and is not stored on a centralized single server, making it virtually impossible for hackers to corrupt or steal data. Blockchain allows providers to quickly obtain and review vast amounts of data across different providers and healthcare facilities. It also allows them to securely share that information with patients, family members, caregivers, nurses and specialists.

Distributed Trust
“AI is learning from data,” Singh said. “Blockchain results in a much less fragmented model by giving us more training data to make better models and better decisions from those models.” At the core promise of this technology is patient-centric care and patient empowerment, noted McFarlane, whose company, Patientory, is a pioneer in merging blockchain technologies with healthcare.

“Doctors spend less time doing reports and test results,” she said, enabling them to focus more on the actual care of patients.
And patients can have more control over their records and history by accessing their “health wallet” and sharing selected pieces of their records remotely through encryption codes that make it HIPPA compliant, Konsynski added.

This allows organizations to build trust, Singh said, with a movement to more openness and distributed computing with no single owner of information. “Trust is in the chain or algorithm and not in a company or individual.”

For business, this avoids costly data breaches, saving money and time.

Technology and the future of healthcare
As technology continues to evolve, the panel agreed that new business models and entrepreneurs will emerge.

“We will see a growing ecosystem of private blockchains mature and evolve,” Savel said, noting that both public and private blockchains will need to interact and co-exist to solve business problems. There also will be scalability issues for public and private blockchains, Ramamurthy noted. 

Mascarenhas added that AI will also help regional hospitals survive in the future by offering “speed to value and speed to money.” In addition, blockchain can provide more options for patients about where to go, including a huge growth in freestanding clinics, he said.

And as blockchain technology evolves, inevitably there will be some complex legal questions as well. The trend toward more patient control will challenge the assumption of who owns or has rights to patient data, Konsynski said.

“The law punishes unauthorized disclosure of data,” Morris said.

The legal field will need to adjust to how far patient authorization regarding data goes, noting that it “becomes murky when you give permission to release data and don’t know what you are giving it for.”

The goal is “empowerment to the user,” Singh said, allowing consumers to be very selective about what records they want to share and to whom.

As healthcare approaches 20 percent of GDP in the U.S., the panel agreed that there are significant potential benefits for the industry as a whole and for patients. The challenge, Singh added, will be changing mindsets and continuing to explore new ways of doing things.

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What skills and qualities make a great leader? Although opinions may vary, there actually is a framework for becoming a successful leader, according to Jack Stahl 75C, former president and chief operating officer of The Coca-Cola Company and former CEO of Revlon.

Stahl is a noted authority on leadership, having written “Lessons on Leadership: The 7 Fundamental Management Skills for Leaders at All Levels.”

Stahl shared his formula for success as part of his presentation titled “The Work of a CEO” to a joint session of 2019 Modular and Weekend Executive MBAs recently at Goizueta. The framework for success consists of four essential pillars:

• Leading the organization
• Managing your work
• Managing constituencies
• Leading the development of people

For Stahl, “leading the organization” means first establishing and communicating a vision and strategy for where you want to take the organization. For a CEO, this involves recognizing the need to communicate to help align employees with the overall strategy. At Coca-Cola, this involved a 360-degree landscape in which they looked at the big picture of how the company fits into a stakeholder’s community, even using murals to help paint the picture internally.

During his early days with Revlon, for example, he set an ambitious goal to have 100 “one-on-one” conversations each week to communicate the new strategy during a challenging time.

Operating at the “60,000-foot level” is critical to success, but you also have to have a “6,000-foot perspective” as well and learn to manage your work. This means being close enough to the details so you know if something is working, which will then allow you to focus on other priorities. Having the right team in place to help you manage those details, he noted, is a critical part of success.

And the higher up you are in the organization, the more complex and challenging your job becomes to manage your various constituencies, from your board of directors and shareowners to your employees and regulating bodies. Find the “broadcast towers” or those top influencers in the organization to help make your job of sending the right message and strategy easier, and don’t forget to listen to and address skeptics’ concerns as well, Stahl advised. 

And finally, successful leaders know how to develop their people, which starts with being clear on what skills are important for success and being involved in their progress. Leaders should know where their people are in their development and provide coaching and feedback along the way, he noted, providing alternatives to approaches that may not be working.   

The ability to lead and develop your team is actually what Stahl hopes his leadership legacy will be.

“When I reflect on my success, I hope that I see people I have mentored and worked with moving inside an organization and having an impact,” he said.

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