November 1 is Global Business Analysis Day, a time to reflect on how business analytics professionals impact industry by providing companies data-driven decision-making options that guide organizational change. Every day, however, is a celebration of analytics in the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Haslam College of Business’ Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) program. With business analytics being such a driving force in the business world, on this Global Business Analysis Day, two employers familiar with Haslam’s MSBA program and the program head discuss how program graduates help their organizations.
Stand Out with a Cutting-Edge Degree
Bogdan Bichescu, head of Haslam’s MSBA program, says the faculty are working every day, reviewing and revising their course materials, to ensure students are versed in both the technical skills to analyze data and the soft skills required to communicate their results persuasively. Further, at Haslam, MSBA students’ education goes beyond the classroom, from internships to interactions with industry professionals in the department’s Business Analytics Forum. With this preparation, graduates are ready to help their employers pursue their business goals upon being hired.
“Employers — like our partners in the forum — have told us what they are looking for in new hires,” Bichescu says. “So, we take a holistic approach to ensure MSBA graduates have a total package of job-ready skills primed to apply on day one. While we are always striving to improve, employers regularly tell us how satisfied they are with our alumni’s job-readiness.”
Technical Skills That Deliver Results
As Bichescu observes, businesses that hire Haslam graduates are pleased with their work. On the technical side, Todd Myers, director of finished vehicle logistics for Nissan North America, has found his Haslam hires to be equipped with the data analytics tools required to perform their jobs.
“They bring a lot of fundamental skills like statistics, Tableau, Python and R, and they also bring some database skills with SQL,” Myers says.
Peter Maynard, chief data and analytics officer for Guardian Life Insurance, adds that any employer would welcome the skills Haslam MSBA graduate bring to the table.
“They have the rigor around the statistics, the analytics, the data science and the AI, and that is just instrumental for any organization that they have those skills coming in,” Maynard says.
Communicating Solutions in Relatable Ways
Solving the problem is only half the job of business analytics experts; they must be able to clearly present their results to decision makers to demonstrate how implementing their solutions will improve the organization. Haslam’s JTV Center for Applied Business Analytics is dedicated to ensuring its students gain the communication and presentation skills needed to make their results meaningful to decision makers.
“Their communication skills and analytical skills are top notch, right?” Maynard says. “If you’re not able to communicate the results effectively, and you’re also not able to communicate the strengths and the weaknesses of your approach, that would be a struggle in any organization.”
Immediate Contributions to the Employer
It’s one thing for new employees to have the technical aptitude to deliver results to their employers. However, having to find their footing in a new work environment may inhibit their ability to do so. Maynard hasn’t found that to be the case with Haslam graduates.
“What I found is that they were really comfortable in challenging situations,” he says. “So, things that were new to them, they were not afraid.”
Employers find Haslam MSBA alums armed with the technical and soft skills necessary to make an immediate impact on their operations. According to Myers, Haslam equips its graduates with one other critical quality: adaptability.
“What makes them unique, though, is their ability to work in unfamiliar systems and learn those rapidly; I value that,” he says.
Learn more about Haslam’s MSBA at the program’s website.
CONTACT:
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Scott McNutt, senior business writer/publicist, rmcnutt4@utk.edu
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