University of Arkansas

Walton College

The Sam M. Walton College of Business

Intern Spotlight: Morgan Prince

Morgan Prince
July 31, 2020

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Episode Transcript

00:00 Morgan Prince: My Intro to Link class, it was those honors supply-chain program, had the most impact on what I do here, learning just different steps you can take to really look at a process from an outside view and attack the problems without getting anyone's feeling hurt.

[music]

00:31 Brian Fugate: We're here at the Kimberly-Clark Rogers Arkansas office with Morgan Prince. Morgan was a Walton Supply Chain grad in May 2019. So, Morgan, you told me you're a CIA. What is that?

00:45 Morgan Prince: I'm a customer inventory analyst for baby and child care here at Kimberly-Clark, so I cover Huggies Pull-Ups, Good Nights, and those types of products.

00:53 Brian Fugate: Okay, so I've paid for a lot of those in my lifetime. I have four kids, and so I appreciate what you're doing. Hopefully, you're keeping the cost low and customers happy. So, what are you doing in that role?

01:07 Morgan Prince: I'm on the order management team, and so our main goal is to problem-solve as we get orders in from the customer. We also focus on driving fill rate and making sure the in-stocks are at a good level at the customer.

01:19 Brian Fugate: Okay, so do you have main customers that you're focused on or...

01:23 Morgan Prince: Yeah, here at this office, we're just Walmart.

01:25 Brian Fugate: Just Walmart, okay, and that's plenty of business, I'm sure. Plenty of opportunities to work on fun things. So you started in June, so not too long ago. What are some of the more interesting things that you've learned stepping into this role?

01:39 Morgan Prince: Well, I don't know if it counts as interesting, but one of the things is that it's not nearly as simple as you ever think a problem is. One thing goes wrong, it seems tiny, and then there's 10 different departments that are involved in actually fixing it. It's just how cross-functional supply chain is even on a granular level.

01:57 Brian Fugate: Which makes that fun. So, I know you have a little advantage stepping into this role because you had a previous co-op here. Was it a six-month co-op, as well?

02:08 Morgan Prince: No, so mine was an extended co-op. I started January of 2018 and then I was here all the way through until I started full-time.

02:15 Brian Fugate: Okay, so you've been here for quite a while.

02:17 Morgan Prince: Quite a while.

02:18 Brian Fugate: How did that lead to your decision to join here full-time?

02:22 Morgan Prince: Well, one big thing was that I was already exposed to the people and the culture here, and part of the reason I love Kimberly-Clark so much is because they have a big focus on constantly learning, and driving efficiency, and being better. They're very people focused. They trust their employees, but also focus on the process to make those better.

02:41 Brian Fugate: Okay, so in terms of those, and you talked about supply chain and the cross-functional nature of processes. Can you remember back to... It was so long ago when you were in school, right?

02:52 Morgan Prince: Yeah. [chuckle]

02:53 Brian Fugate: Those classes that you had and any of the content or any of the things that you've learned that you're able to apply?

03:00 Morgan Prince: Yeah, I think my Intro to Link class, it was the honors supply-chain program, had the most impact on what I do here, learning just different steps you can take to really look at a process from an outside view and attack the problems without getting anyone's feelings hurt, and having that experience before I started was good.

03:18 Brian Fugate: That's neat, that's neat. So, you're now full-time and you've been in school most of your life, right? And now, all of a sudden, you're full-time. How is that routine different for you?

03:30 Morgan Prince: Well, the days are very quick. It's just a whirlwind every day, but in a good way. I think learning to manage your time is a little bit different. In college, you have a lot more deadlines externally from work, so it can be kind of hard to juggle those two things, but working full-time has almost been easier for me because I'm just focused on the one thing that I'm supposed to be doing and taking care of.

03:52 Brian Fugate: Okay, okay, good. So, I know I had you in class and I know you have a passion for supply chain. Why did you ever choose supply chain?

04:03 Morgan Prince: Well, when I first came into college, I didn't know what it was that I wanted to do. I was in business, but I didn't know that it was supply chain that I was interested in. When I took the intro course, I realized that the constant problem-solving that goes along with supply chain was exactly what I was looking for. And as you mentioned before, the fact that it touches everything cross-functionally, I'm interested in having that wider base of knowledge, so that gave me the word that I needed to explain what it was I was passionate about.

04:30 Brian Fugate: That's awesome. So, if you were to look back, given all the fun experiences that you've had and what you've learned, and look back and speak to some students in a business college, what would advice would you give them?

04:45 Morgan Prince: I would say, when it comes to choosing internships or going out to full-time, definitely look at culture more than anything. I know everyone always says that. It kinda sounds cliche, but it's true. Because your job, especially in supply chain, you're gonna be doing a lot of different things, but across companies, they're gonna be pretty much the same, but really it's the people that you're around and the way that they advocate for you to learn or get better is gonna make the biggest difference in the experience that you have at your job.

05:13 Brian Fugate: Well, that's really great advice. Hope our students pay attention to that. It's a common theme we hear, is the culture. Even though we say it a lot, I think that's really good advice. So, Morgan, I really appreciate you allowing us to come up to your office here today, and get to visit with you, and hear about the fun and exciting things that you're doing. I hope you'll continue to share those and keep us up-to-date. Thank you, Morgan.

05:38 Morgan Prince: Thank you.