The Walton MBA Learning Series

The Walton MBA Learning Series allows students, alumni and the public to practice continuous learning, network with successful working professionals and gain new perspectives.

Started in 2018, the learning series was originally created for MBA alumni but was extended to the public due to its popularity. 

Aditi Kar, assistant director of the Executive MBA program and learning series coordinator, spoke about the value of the learning series:

“The learning series provide additional knowledge and insight into the business world which is not covered in the curriculum,” Kar said. “The business world is constantly changing with new emerging technology. Sessions like this help us keep ourselves updated on the latest knowledge.”

Kar emphasized the importance of networking at and learning from learning series sessions. “Students need to take advantage of these sessions because they get a chance to learn something new free of cost which is not covered in the class curriculum,” she said. “They get a chance to interact with alumni working in different positions – sometimes very senior positions in companies like Walmart, J.B. Hunt, Tyson, etc.” 

Current Walton EMBA student Sean Hollender, who has attended five sessions, said the learning series sessions are important learning and networking opportunities. “The sessions have been really topical and informative, and speakers talk about things that are currently trending,” he said. “It adds a richer dimension to the MBA program having those speakers available.”

Allen Kitterman, who earned an Executive MBA in 2018, has attended five learning series sessions. His favorite was “The Great Short Squeeze of 2021,” hosted by a panel of Walton College finance professors. Kitterman says the session went beyond the script and facilitated in-depth discussions. Kitterman said the learning series has helped him “keep current on developing trends and topics in the business world.” 

“It is important to take a step back from current events in business and have the opportunity to put developments in a larger historical and academic context,” Kitterman said. He enjoys applying what he has learned from the session in his work as a real estate agent. “There has been a very good balance of topics that I can apply to personal work environments and also opportunities to look at megatrends.” 

Walton MBA alumni Cecile Chen has shared and applied information from the eight learning series sessions she has attended. Chen works as a brand licensing manager at Licensing Matters Global. She was admitted to the Walton MBA program while working at a large IT company in Beijing. Attending the learning series sessions has allowed her to gain new perspectives on technologies, economics, business operations, global environments and more. 

Chen enjoys learning from the sessions and sharing information with peers and friends. She particularly enjoyed Dr. Song Yang’s session, “Social Network Analysis.”

“The cultural elements and default social rule sets discussed by Dr. Song Yang, to my personal understanding, had connections to psychology research,” she said. “I have always had tremendous interest in psychology, so Dr. Yang’s lecture offered me much more to think about and discuss with coworkers and friends later on.” 

Britt Fogg, founder and CEO of Shiloh Technologies in Rogers, Arkansas, in his learning series session, “Artificial Intelligence in Retail,” said artificial intelligence in retail industry analytics is a central focus for his business and product offerings. “We believe it has the potential to significantly change the effort and quality of analytics in retail,” Fogg said. 

MBA alumna Daymara Baker, CEO of Rockin’ Baker, a local nonprofit bakery offering high quality artisan breads produced by young adults on the autism spectrum to leading hospitality groups and restaurants in Northwest Arkansas, host “Entrepreneurship During COVID,” and told attendees: “Entrepreneurs must adapt and be willing to reinvent themselves and their businesses to overcome challenges.”

 
Baker encouraged students and other business owners to be ready to adapt to a “new normal” during (and after) COVID. “The MBA Learning Series provides opportunities to stay on top of new trends and to keep up with skills needed to succeed in such a changing environment,” she said.