Executive MBA students Mitchell and McKinley Harris (EMBA ’22) bring new skills and solutions to the workplace after attending MBA Visual Analytics workshop.
The Walton MBA programs were dedicated to finding new and innovative ways to add value to students’ experience in 2020. After the successful introduction of MBA student workshops in Fall 2020, the Executive MBA program is sponsoring three additional workshops this spring and summer.
“We created the workshop series to provide learning opportunities outside of the EMBA curriculum and to add value to the program,” says Aditi Kar, EMBA assistant director. “Business is constantly changing, and the workshops provide an avenue for continuous learning on a variety of relevant and in-demand topics.”
Andrew Gibson, chief data scientist at Bench-Metrix and supply chain analytics and data visualization instructor at Walton College, hosted the last workshop of 2020 – a five-day crash course on visual analytics.
“The information Professor Gibson shared was extremely useful – with his wealth of experience in the industry, you can trust that when he says there might be a better way to present your data more effectively, there is” says Mitchell Harris, EMBA student, operations analyst manager at Leggett & Platt and workshop attendee.
“It is important to understand how to move through data quickly, how to clean it, how to organize it and how to present it,” Mitchell says. “In my role as an analyst, I am constantly trying to improve my story-telling with data and communicating effectively through visuals.”
McKinley Harris, EMBA student and marketing planning manager at Mercy, says in the age of big data, “Almost everything is tracked and measured in marketing.” She chose to attend the Visual Analytics workshop to help her “effectively communicate messages to stakeholders through impactful and informative visuals.”
As part of the workshop’s final project, McKinley brought raw data from the workplace and rebuilt Mercy’s marketing dashboard – a tool shared regularly with stakeholders.
McKinley also shared the knowledge and skills she gained in the workshop with her team members at Mercy. “I have shared a lot of the content with my team so that they too can benefit from the tools and information we covered.”
Mitchell also shared what he learned with the Bedding Segment team at Leggett & Platt. Upon completion of the program, Mitchell hosted a two-hour training session on predictive modeling, regression analysis and the difference between a good versus a bad visual.
Mitchell’s team has already set aside more time in the future to “put all that information into practice” and to apply it to the work they are doing with the production planning team.
“It has been a really rewarding experience to share that information with my coworkers,” Mitchell says. “We all want to be leaders – anything that is going to help me be a better leader or add value to my company I’m interested in.”
The workshop also proved to be a useful supplement to John Aloysius’ first year EMBA supply chain management course, “Quantitative Methods and Decision Making.” Mitchell says the workshop, especially the regression analysis techniques, “fell right in line with the EMBA coursework.”
Meet Mitchell and McKinley Harris
Mitchell Harris earned a double major in management and marketing from Drury University in Springfield, Missouri. After graduation, Mitchell accepted an internal audit position at Leggett & Platt where he gained exposure to global markets. He later accepted a position as an operations analyst in the Bedding Segment and was recently promoted to operations analyst manager. Mitchell holds a Six Sigma Green belt and has experience in financial analysis, ROI analysis and costing and operational analysis projects, such as freight load optimization, production consolidation and capital budgeting.
McKinley Harris attended Pittsburg State University where she earned a double major in management and marketing. She started her marketing career in the manufacturing industry before becoming a marketing planning manager at Mercy. McKinley volunteers for Children’s Haven of Southwest Missouri and the Children’s Advocacy Center. She speaks three languages: English, German and Spanish. McKinley holds a Lean Six Sigma Bronze belt and has experience in developing and optimizing new and existing processes, waste reduction, cost savings and managing and evaluating marketing efforts. She has worked with start-ups and non-profits to develop regional and local marketing campaigns.
Walton Fuse
All workshops are free for Executive MBA students. Additional seats are available to full-time MBA students on a first-come, first-served basis. Upcoming workshop topics include microfinance, real options for startups, cultural competency and digital marketing.
Join us for the next workshop, “Global Perspectives on Microfinance” on February 20, with Tim Yeager, professor of finance and Arkansas Bankers Association Chair in Banking at the University of Arkansas.
Workshops are co-sponsored by Walton College Executive Education – offering workshops and interactive programs to individuals and organizations in Arkansas and abroad. Cost varies.
