Forget oil, gas, and steel; intellectual capital is the hottest commodity around. With an ever more global economy, the only way to differentiate yourself to employers and justify a generous salary is to prove that you have the skills to generate revenue for a company.
The MBA degree is currently in high demand. Basic economics shows that supply will adjust to meet demand and the MBA degree is no different. Thousands of students domestically graduate each year with an MBA degree, not to mention the growing presences of MBA programs globally. I am currently in China studying and have attended lectures at CEIBS and Beijing University (more on that in a few later blogs). So the question boils down to this; how does Tepper... and more importantly how do we as Tepper students differentiate ourselves? The answer is through analytical thinking and decision making.
Math; it might as well be another one of those four letter words that shouldn’t be used at the dinner table. Plain and simple, many business people are scared of it. I see this as a golden opportunity to make myself invaluable to an employer and Tepper preaches analytical decision making. Today’s business environment is like nothing seen before. Companies now have a plethora of information that is ripe for mining. Thanks to classes like Data Mining, Optimization Methods in Finance, and Sequencing and Scheduling Tepper students have the know how to collect data, structure problems and interpret results. Who needs these skills? Look at companies like Harrah’s, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Wal-Mart, any bank, etc. they monitor your spending and searching habits and tailor their services to extract the maximum dollar value out of each of their customers.
Combining the more quantitative classes with Strategy, Organizational Behavior, and Communications courses mold students into well rounded individuals who are able to communicate at the C-level and not be afraid to get their hands dirty. Numbers are not to be feared; they should be embraced. In so many different industries rules of thumb are used. To me rules of thumb basically mean I either A. don’t want to put in the time and effort to treat the problem as unique or B. I don’t know how to approach the problem so I’ll use a generalization. Needless to say, not having the tools necessary to analyze complex and dynamic problems can lead to big mistakes. Being able to bring an analytical approach to decision making can quickly catapult you on the fast track within a company. I have heard countless accounts of this happening with my classmates and alums and have also seen this first hand. Not many people have this ability, with it I feel like I don’t have to rely on anyone and will be able to tackle problems in a different manner than many of my colleagues. I know that the Intellectual Capital I have acquired while at Tepper is well worth the time, money, and effort I have put into. Well, I have to be up in 6 hours for a lecture at CEIBS and visits to Eaton and Microsoft so I will sign off.
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