Blog 8: Project Reflection

My work throughout the semester in Design Thinking for Business Innovation has led me to gain hands-on experience in topics completely new to me. My time in this course has been incredibly insightful and unlike anything else I have learned so far in business school. Throughout the team project we worked on for Target, I felt I learned the most about two key concepts – business models and prototyping.

After completing this project, I feel I have a much better understanding of the concept of a business model. Because of my time in business school over the past 3.5 years, I had already possessed a general knowledge of what the term meant. However, studying the business model diagram and analyzing both Target and Nordstrom’s business models for different class projects helped me gain a much more in-depth understanding of the concept.  The diagram we studied was especially useful for me. When analyzing different companies, I am now able to study their business models from a visual lens and use the diagram to distinctly categorize various key components of the company. During the final phase of our semester-long team project, I gained even deeper insights into the concept of business models through our analysis of the business model impact for Target caused by implementation of our prototype. This section of our project required us to extensively analyze the business model before and after a major innovation occurred. We had to think critically about which areas would be most impacted by a significant implantation like the in-cart child gaming experience we were proposing. Analyzing these two before and after states of the Target business model required a very extensive understanding of the retailer’s business model as a whole. This was very helpful to me because it allowed me to see first hand how different business decisions can affect the business overall on a larger scale. Furthermore, it painted a clear picture of how seemingly small innovations can create massive change within a large organization. I am very grateful to have learned more about the key concept of business models through this real-life project, and I know I will apply this deeper understanding to many more business projects in the future.

Business Model Diagram for Target following implementation of our prototype, the "Target Your Treasure" in-cart gaming experience for children.

Unlike my prior familiarity with the concept of business models, I began this project with no previous experience with the process of prototyping. One of the things I have enjoyed most about Design Thinking for Business Innovation has been the opportunity to gain experiences with the prototyping process. It’s likely that I will never have another class during my time as an undergraduate that teaches students about prototyping, so I love that I had the opportunity to learn about something so new through this class.  In my opinion, our time working on the prototyping section of our project yielded the most dynamic teamwork, creativity and engagement for our team throughout the entire semester working together. After spending so much time to understand our persona, it was thrilling to then leverage and apply our insights in order to create prototype solutions for our particular segment. This showed me the importance of sincerely understanding your target market on a very personal level in order to truly deliver solutions that satisfy their needs. When looking back on the semester, it has been incredibly interesting and useful to learn more about the prototype process through both the team project and in-class experiences, such as our analysis of prototypes for Coleman during class lectures. As a marketer, I know I will use this new understanding of prototyping as a means of creating innovative solutions for consumers based on the insights I gain.

While I do feel that every component of the project was valuable and necessary in its own way, I was most confused by the research design component. While I understand this section was needed in order to gain insights in a structured manner, it was a very difficult task to tackle with such a limited idea of what our main objective was for the research. Furthermore, it was difficult to plan our research when our team had such limited access to our target segment. Because we chose Hispanics in their upper 20s who were married with children, it was hard to have immediate access to people in this particular segment. This made it difficult to realistically plan out our research when we weren’t even certain how in fact we would be able to find direct access to people who met our target segment criteria. McCombs students have had limited experience with carrying out qualitative research because most skills we have mastered have been in designing experiments to gain predominantly quantitative data. With vague guidance on this section of the project and no previous experience with the process, I felt I gained the least value from this part of our project.

This project would not have been doable without a team. When it came time to finally create our prototype after leveraging our segment insights, it was absolutely necessary to have a team in order to think creatively and generate various out-of-the-box ideas. My team members were all incredibly creative, and we worked very well together when it came time for the actual idea generation process when designing our actual prototype.  By that point in the project, we had established open communication with one another. This enabled us to freely bounce ideas off one another and come up with a solution that we could all be proud of. The biggest struggles we faced as a team occurred only when it came time to set meetings and compile the final project. With a team of five, it is hard to coordinate everyone’s schedules to find enough time to meet as necessitated by the extensive depth of the project. This made things complicated when working on our final presentation deck because we had limited time to work together as a team since there was just one week in between the Phase 4 submission and our final presentation. That being said, I do feel very confident in my team members and in our final product. I feel we performed our best given the time constraints we were facing.

Images of our prototype mock-up design:

 

Blog 6: Reflections on Creativity

            For me, creativity is somewhat unexpected. While I like to think of myself as someone who is overall a creative and clever person, there are definitely moments in which my creativity seems much stronger than others. The challenging facet of creativity for me is that these moments of spiked creativity and innovation come in the most unexpected times. There has never been any rhyme or reason to when I am more creative, and it’s not a quality I can just turn on or off. My own level of creativity seems to be dependent on my moods, which are relatively hard to predict and anticipate. In the times I am feeling most giddy and happy, I find myself to be much wittier and creative. In times of stress, I find my creativity to be strained. In fact, I often find that I am least creative during times when I am working hard to be creative. It’s an unfortunate paradox, but I think that the pressure of trying to be creative and think of out-of-the-box ideas actually places more stress upon me and as a result restricts my thinking.

            This realization became especially clear when I worked on a team for L’Oreal’s Brandstorm Case Competition during my junior year. After making it to the final round of the competition, my three-person team was tasked with creating an idea for an entirely new product for the L’Oreal Paris brand to launch in Southeast Asia. My group would meet often to rigorously work on this case, but we found that our least creative moments always occurred during the meetings themselves. For some reason, the pressure to be creative on the spot affected us all, and none of us were able to innovate new products when faced with the deadline of immediate idea delivery by the end of the meeting. In fact, our inevitable product idea came when we all took a week to think of ideas on our own. After giving ourselves this break of time away from any pressures, we all came back with fresh, new ideas that we were able to combine to create an innovative new product that inevitably guided our decisions for the remainder of the project.

           

As a business-minded individual, when I am under pressure or feeling stressed, my natural reaction is to follow very step-by-step thinking and take things one at a time. This type of process-driven is not conducive to creativity. I have found that creativity is strongest for me in the unpredictable moments where I feel completely carefree, optimistic, happy and free-spirited.

            During my internship at L’Oreal in New York City this summer, I was always blown away by the creativity of my superiors within the marketing department in the Luxury Products Division. Many of the marketers I interned under were incredibly creative. As a member of the digital team, I saw first-hand as many of the managers were able to create clever digital campaign themes and witty copy on the spot in the middle of our meetings. When I reflect back to why this may have occurred at L’Oreal, I believe the reason can be traced back to the importance placed on group meetings at L’Oreal. Employees at L’Oreal jokingly discus that you’ll never go a day at L’Oreal without at least 5 hours worth of meetings. From my own experience this summer, I can attest to the truth in this. Marketing managers are constantly meeting with one another to discuss and collaborate on a wide variety of projects. While at times these meetings seem tedious and unnecessary, I think the frequency of these meetings inevitably leads to L’Oreal’s continuous innovation. As I sat in on meetings with the Kiehl’s team, I saw that people from various segments of the marketing department were able to piggy-back on one another’s ideas and effectively grow and refine the ideas until they became fine-tuned surefire paths to success. Each person in the meeting brought a fresh, new perspective to the table. Because the Kiehl’s brand within L’Oreal has set such casual, comfortable in-office environment, employees felt free to openly express their ideas. L’Oreal rewards out-of-the-box thinkers and group collaboration, and I really think this helps to promote creativity within the corporation as a whole.

            I do believe that both individuals and groups have the potential to be creative. However, I think group thinking can create constraints to creativity unless key conditions are met:

• Optimistic Group Thinking: Negative groupthink can create stress and tension within the group, in effect constraining free-thinking and creativity. It’s important for a tone of positivity to remain within the group to ensure that members feel motivated to think creatively and innovate.
• Open & Dynamic Relationships: It’s key that a strong team dynamic exists in order for a group to collectively work together to be creative. There needs to be a strong relationship amongst team members and a level of respect for one another. If one team member does not respect the ideas of another, this will create tension within the group and will make members feel fearful to freely express their ideas. Open expression is key to generate creative ideas.
• Planning: As discussed above, the pressure of deadlines often places members of a team under so much stress, that it’s harder for them to be creative. I think it’s important that a group plans ahead in order to allow for the team to have enough time to think without being faced by stressors and deadlines.

            Overall, it’s important for individuals, whether alone or a member of a larger group, to reflect personally on what drives their own creativity. We must be individually aware of the conditions under which we operate most creatively. If we have this knowledge, then we will be able to better understand the environments we desire or groups we need in order to maximize creativity and spur innovative thinking.

Blog 5: Visualizing Insights with Infographics

The consumer segment of teens and tweens, ranging from age 12-17, has always been a powerful segment for consumer product companies and retailers. Each year, teens and tweens account for massive amounts of spending on goods, yet a large majority of this segment is too young to drive or even own a credit card. Today's segment of teens and tweens are especially unique due to the environment in which they have grown up in. These teens and tweens are reliant on daily technology, are more connected than ever before, outpace all other age groups in social media use, and have become experts in the art of multi-tasking. The presence of so many technology channels amidst the daily lives of these consumers means that they are exposed to more information than ever before, creating a highly competitive environment for marketers. The infographic I created explores this phenomenon while offering strategic solutions through a multi-platform marketing approach.

There are 4 major sections of my infographic visual:

• "Teens of Today" Left Panel: This section outlines they key characteristics of today's segment of teens. As seen in the visual, multitasking and daily reliance on technology have become the new norm for this group of consumers. This essentially means these consumers are often very distracted because they are exposed to such an immense amount of information and noise on a daily basis. This creates a challenge for marketers to stand out amongst the competition in order to effectively reach this distracted audience. 
• "Motivators" Top Right Panel: This small section outlines the major influencers for teens and tweens when it comes to use of technology and shopping. When shopping for beauty and personal care items, teens and tweens use technology with two main objectives: save money and obtain special offers and deals. This segment is unique because they really value family and enjoy spending time with their family. In fact, 63% of the segment shops with family members. This creates a need for marketers to target not only the teens and tweens themselves, but also their parents who maintain the ultimate purchasing power for this segment. 
• "Multi-Platform Approach" Middle Right Panel: This section outlines teen and tween usage of various technology platforms. Due to the high usage of each of these platforms, marketers can effectively reach teens and tweens by creating integrated marketing communication campaigns that span multiple platforms. 
• "Implications" Bottom Right Panel: Based on the information found in the section above, the Implications section outlines strategic solutions to effectively use each of platforms displayed to reach teens and tweens. The Internet should be used to offer online deals to teens and tweens browsing the Internet to encourage in-store visits and purchases of the advertised products using the offer provided. Social Media should be used to promote the brand's current offers and promotions. Because teens use technology to save money and obtain offers for beauty and personal care products, they are likely to share the promotional social media blasts with their friends. The mobile platform can be leveraged to reach teens and tweens as they shop in stores through text messages since such a vast majority of this segment owns cell phones. Because teens are often too distracted to respond effectively to traditional marketing approaches, strategic product placement should be used with TV in order to reach teens and tweens through the television programs they frequently watch. Many teens and tweens use their peers as an information source for personal care and beauty product information. As a result, sampling would be a great way to create loyal brand advocates amongst the segment who can in turn influence their peers through positive word-of-mouth. 

Today's teens and tweens communicate through more platforms than ever before. To be effective in reaching this segment of technology-dependent multi-taskers, marketers must create marketing campaigns that are rooted in multi-platform approaches. 

Blog 4: Business Model Analysis of Nordstrom

In today’s fast-paced, entrepreneurial world, it’s often a rare instance to find a business celebrating its 114^th birthday and still thriving in the marketplace. Since Nordstrom was founded in 1901, the company has evolved into a major specialty retailer that continues to grow their revenues while gaining market share. Nordstrom can be described as an American upscale fashion retailer existing in the services sector within the apparel retail industry. Within this arena, Nordstrom is positioned as high-end, yet affordable with a strong focus on excellent, top-notch customer service. Relative to its competitors, Nordstrom is positioned as more luxurious and high-end than Dillard’s, yet more affordable and attainable than Saks Fifth Avenue or Barney’s.

In regards to business operations, Nordstrom has two segments: Retail and Credit. Its credit segment includes the company-owned federal savings bank, called Nordstrom fsb, through which Nordstrom provides a private label credit card, two Nordstrom credit cards, and one debit card. Within its retail segment, Nordstrom operates through five main retail channels:

• Department stores under the “Nordstrom” name
• Discount stores under the “Nordstrom Rack” name
• E-Commerce through the Nordstrom.com website
• Online private sales through the HauteLook brand
• Four individual free-standing boutique stores under the names Jeffrey, treasure&bond, and Last Chance.  

    

Nordstrom currently operates in 34 states across the United States, servicing customers through 117 Nordstrom stores and 132 Nordstrom Rack stores. These numbers have positioned Nordstrom with the largest number of store locations and the largest geographic footprint of all its major competitors in the U.S., including Bloomingdales, Neiman Marcus, Lord & Taylor, and Saks Fifth Avenue. Through its multiple retail channels, Nordstrom serves its customers with a wide variety of product categories. The categories of products sold by Nordstrom are listed in the chart below.

            For me personally, Nordstrom has always fascinated me for a wide variety of reasons. First and foremost, I have always been incredibly interested in the world of retail, particularly in fashion and beauty retail. Prior to beginning my junior year at UT, I spent the summer of 2012 abroad in Florence, Italy. While abroad, I took courses in Retail Marketing and Fashion Merchandising and spent much of my time analyzing retail operations and strategies. My time in Florence fostered a deep interest in both fashion and retail. When the time came to embark upon a new journey during the summer of 2013, I moved to New York City to work an internship for the major beauty retailer L’Oreal. Through this internship, I garnered knowledge and experience that deepened my understanding of and interest in the retail industry. Because I worked within L’Oreal’s Luxury Products Division, Nordstrom was one of the key retailers we worked with to distribute our more high-end product lines. Nordstrom interests me because they have managed to do what few other luxury retailers have done by creating brand subsidiaries that widen their customer base. Through their mix of products and mix in price points across different retail store types, Nordstrom has successfully appealed to a wide-range of customers. This is far unlike many other luxury retailers, who predominantly cater only to a wealthier, upper-class audience. As a millennial myself, I am particularly interested in companies that have a strong digital presence. Nordstrom has excelled in creating a seamless user experience that is in line with the traditional Nordstrom brand. Furthermore, they have also been an industry leader in E-Commerce through their use of real-time inventory updates and mobile and tablet platforms. Lastly, my interest in Nordstrom has also stemmed from the way the company carried itself through the economic recession in 2008. Unlike many major retailers that are still struggling to regain strength in a post-recession world, Nordstrom took major strides to adapt to the economic recession by updating their product mix to include more affordable options. I continue to love the experiences I have during my own personal time shopping at Nordstrom, and my interest in the company is fastened deeply in a respect for the company’s wide customer base, strong digital presence, and economic adaptability.

            As stated in the above paragraph, one of the things I love most about Nordstrom is the ability to appeal to a wide-range of customers. That being said, Nordstrom has a large variety of customer segments that are crucial to the store’s success. For my business model analysis report, I hope to dive deeper into the customer segments that I believe are most in line with Nordstrom’s major streams of revenue. The customer segments I plan to analyze are:

• Women, ages 30-40, mothers in the middle-to-upper class:
• These women are the matriarchs of the household and are likely the major buyers of apparel for their families. These women are incredibly busy raising their children while balancing work and social obligations. That being said, the value proposition for this customer segment is that of time. They desire stores that will allow them to shop for items quickly in an environment that is easy to navigate and never chaotic. In addition, these women also value affordability and reasonable prices. Although they may be in the middle to upper class, they still have a need to ensure they are spending within reason due to the multiple expenses associated with raising children.

• Men, ages 25-35, young professionals:
• Based on past financial reports, sales from men’s clothes typically account for 18-20% of Nordstrom’s revenues. This is a large portion of the overall revenues for the Nordstrom stores, which means that men are an incredibly valuable customer segment for the company. Men between the ages of 25 and 35 are likely to have just recently begun to shop with more discerning tastes. As young professionals, they desire to look clean-cut and professional in order to present themselves well to others. Because of this, these customers value high quality. If they are willing to pay higher prices, they want to be guaranteed that they will receive high quality in return. Much like the segment of young mothers, these men also care about prices, as they cannot afford to be too outrageous in their spending. They want to shop in a comfortable environment that is easy to navigate and that is unpretentious while still offering high quality products.

• Women, ages 55-65, upper-class women no longer working:
• Women in this customer segment have led successful lives and are enjoying retirement. Time is no longer a main concern for them, as their schedules allow for a greater amount of discretionary time. Rather, these women are concerned with quality and customer service. Much like the men described above, these women desire quality items that are luxurious and high-end because they have now attained financial security in their later years of life. Moreover, they desire a positive customer experience. They want to feel like their money is well spent, which means they value a shopping experience that features impeccable customer service and positive interactions with employees.

Sources Used:

Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/companyProfile?rpc=66&symbol=JWN

New York Times: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/nordstrom_inc/index.html

Business Insider: http://www.businessinsider.com/learning-from-nordstrom-2011-7

Bloomberg Businessweek: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/how-nordstrom-bests-its-retail-rivals-08112011.html

Nordstrom: www.nordstrom.com

Blog 3: Generative Research

Close To Me Map:

[WHAT I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT]:

•  Family – I come from a family where my parents never let us skip a family dinner. Each night, I was constantly surrounded by my parents and reminded of the importance of family. As an only child, my relationship with my parents is incredibly strong, and they are huge influencers within my life. 
• Faith – Attending church also played an integral part of my upbringing. Mainly, my faith is something I cannot live without because my faith guides my actions and decisions. I strive to uphold Christian values by acting with integrity, treating others fairly, and loving those around me well.
• Friends – To put it simply, I can’t live without my friends because life without my best friends would just be boring.
• Technology (iPhone & Macbook) – As part of the millennial generation, my technology products (mainly my Apple products) are necessities in my life. I use them on a daily basis, and they help make me feel more connected to the world. Much of my day-to-day life involves use of these products, which means they play a pivotal role for me as a consumer in my search for products and services.
• Aspirations – When thinking critically about the things that I truly need to make it through each day, my goals and aspirations play an integral role in my daily life. The aspirations I have – predominantly those I hold for my own personal career – push me to wake up each day and exert effort in order to accomplish my goals and attain what I want out of life.

[WHAT I CARE ABOUT GREATLY]:

•  Health – I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis when I was only 18 months old, and it’s something I still face every day. If I didn’t make health and fitness a major priority in my life, the condition of my joints and my mobile abilities would be hindered. Throughout my years as a young adult, I have worked closely with the national Arthritis Foundation to share my story and advocate for the importance of exercise in overcoming your disease. I will care greatly about this for the rest of my life.
• Current Events – As someone who is about the enter the workforce, I believe it is my responsibility to society to be an active citizen and keep up with what is happening both in the U.S. and internationally. I care greatly about being informed on the latest happenings in politics, the economy, and the media.
• Fashion – As vain as it may sound, I have always loved clothing and fashion. Spending a summer studying retail marketing in Florence, Italy only grew this interest. I enjoy shopping the latest trends and drawing from the creativity of the fashion world.
• Beauty – Beauty is not about looking a certain way or fitting any societal mold. For me, I care about beauty because feeling beautiful means feeling confident. After working a marketing internship for the international beauty company L’Oreal, I saw first-hand the joy beauty and skincare products can bring to consumers. I care about these products simply because they instill confidence in me.
• Leadership Roles – I have always loved working with others and leading others. I care greatly about the leadership positions I hold in various organizations both on and off-campus.
• Travel – I have lived in multiple cities throughout my lifetime, so I care greatly about exploring new places and traveling as much as I can. I hope to work in a job that allows me to travel and interact with people and business across the country.

Digital Ecosystem Map: 

• Web Search – When it comes to current events, I find out most information by watching nightly news-related programs on TV. As I hear about current events through this media source, I am simultaneously using the internet to search for more information about the events and news topics that grab my interest most. I use web search to find more information because of it’s high level of convenience, due in part to the search capabilities powered by my iPhone. When searching an event or news topic, I often utilize Google and will scroll through anywhere from two to five links about the topic depending on how much information I am hoping to obtain.
• National TV Broadcast Websites – If my web search for the news-related information did not provide me with the amount or depth of information I was looking for, then my next step is to head to the websites of the national TV broadcasts that I typically watch. I do this through my computer, and I often use this medium for information related to politics and the government. I use National TV Broadcast websites because I trust these platforms. In these instances, brand integrity is key for me. I want to receive news stories only from sources which I can trust are fair and accurate, and I know I can typically trust things reported by national TV broadcasts.
• National Magazines Online – I spend a portion of my free time scrolling through the websites of various magazines covering a wide range of subjects – from business, to economics, to pop culture, health and beauty. Much like with national TV broadcasts, I turn to national magazines online because I can often trust them due to their national status and brand name. I don’t often come to these platforms to search more deeply into a current event or topic; rather, I use these sources to leisurely explore on my own time and get a feel for what topics are currently trending in the world around me. 

Day in the Life Map:

Journey Map

            Choosing a major is one of the most important decisions a student makes during their college career. The major one selects will dictate what they study for four years of their life, and likely what they spend their time working on both immediately after college and well into their future career. For Alex, picking a major within McCombs presented an incredibly challenging dilemma that required months of research and intense thought in order to confidently arrive at a major decision. 

           

            Alex had been influenced by factors since before he even step foot in high school. At the young age of 13, Alex’s father gave him a book, one that he still cherishes to this day. This book, entitled “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”, inspired Alex to strive for financial security from an early age. “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” taught Alex the value of money, and it also taught him that it’s important to put yourself in a position where your money works for you, rather than being in a place of working for your money. The author of this New York Times best-selling book, Robert Kiyosaki, advocates financial independence through investing, real estate, owning businesses, and increasing one's financial intelligence. Kiyosaki himself was an accountant, and he described in the book how being an accountant provided so much security throughout his lifetime because all types of businesses always needed accountants. From the moment Alex finished reading the “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” book, he knew he wanted to be an accountant in order to garner financial security, career versatility, knowledge, and expertise from such a key business role.

            Throughout his years in high school, Alex held on tightly to his dream of majoring in accounting. He excelled in all quantitative subject areas, and he spent a great amount of time researching undergraduate universities that provided top-notch training for careers in business and accounting. Alex had always had an interest in the University of Texas at Austin due to a long line of family members that had graduated from the University. When he discovered the prestige of UT’s Master’s in Professional Accounting Program in McCombs, he knew he was set on attending the University upon graduation to pursue a Master’s degree through the MPA program. After receiving his letter of acceptance from McCombs during his senior year of high school, Alex’s future career path in accounting seemed incredibly clear and he felt fully confident that changes in his major were implausible. However, Alex had no way of foreseeing the rocky decisions that lay ahead of him during his sophomore year in college.

            After two years in McCombs, it came time for Alex to officially apply for the Master’s in Professional Accounting program during April of 2013.  With two years of business courses under his belt, Alex’s confidence in pursuing accounting had been shaken. As he had taken more and more business classes, Alex realized his business interests extended far beyond income statements, tax returns and corporate budgets. Alex was incredibly interested in every aspect of the business – from ideation, to product development, to marketing, supply chain management and organizational behavior. More specifically, Alex was fascinated by the prospect of analyzing entire business entities, something that is typically common of careers in management consulting. Alex was entirely confident that he wanted to pursue a career in consulting at a prestigious, yet highly competitive, management consulting firm like McKinsey & Company, Bain, Boston Consulting Group or Deloitte. While there was no clear path to attaining one of these highly sought-after jobs, Alex was no longer confident that accounting would be the best major to get him to that place. He had found himself at a major crossroads of deciding between a major in accounting, which had always been his plan, or a major in finance, which seemed more exciting and consulting-related, yet had many more risks and uncertainties.

    

            Despite his contemplations, Alex still applied to the MPA program to give him more time to decide while he waited to hear back about his acceptance. He received his acceptance into the MPA program in June 2013. He now had only a few weeks to make a crucial decision before it was time to register for his MPA classes for the impending fall semester. As Alex contemplated his decision, he was influenced most by a few main factors: level of personal interest, future career path possibilities, and job security.

• Personal Level of Interest: With regards to personal interest, Alex knew his passion and interest did not lie in the world of public accounting. On the contrary, Alex was scared that a job in public accounting would be far too mundane and monotonous for him. While he enjoyed crunching numbers and carrying out quantitative tasks, he was more fascinated by entire operations of companies, and he wanted to be involved in a much bigger picture of the corporation. He feared that a job in accounting would lock him in to one specific function of the business for the rest of his career, and he was confident that he was much more interested in the business as a whole. The factor of level of interest made him feel less confident about accounting and pushed him towards majoring in finance, as he felt he was more interested in the topics that a finance career covered.
• Career Path Possibilities: One of the most influential factors for Alex was the type of career paths one could pursue with a degree from finance or accounting. To gauge what career paths looked like from both majors, Alex looked mainly at older students he knew to see what careers their particular majors led them to. Alex noticed a common thread - those who majored in MPA were almost entirely now working as auditors at a major "Big Four" public accounting firm. This scared Alex, as he knew this was not the career path he wanted to pursue right out of college. He was certain about his desires to pursue consulting, and it lessened his confidence to see so few students come out of the MPA program and pursue a career in something other than accounting. He was beginning to think that majoring in finance would open up more doors to the careers that he wanted to pursue; however, he couldn't shake the job security and level of prestige that a Master’s in Professional Accounting degree could bring to him.
• Job Security: The prospect of job security yielded by the MPA program had drawn Alex to the degree ever since he was just a 13-year-old boy. Every business would always need an accountant, and it provided a level of business security unfound within finance. In the 2008 financial crisis, people with finance degrees with often some of the first to be laid off within major corporations. While all business employees face similar risks, Alex knew his risk would be minimized with a degree in accounting. Furthermore, he was drawn to the idea of graduating with a Master’s degree, especially from the #1 Master’s in Professional Accounting program in the nation. Alex knew this could give him an added level of experience and prestige that could make him even more of an asset to any corporation. This made him much more confident about continuing with his plan to major in accounting and accept his position in the MPA program.

            Alex was aware of the factors driving his decisions, which were his level of interest, career path possibilities, and job security. After weighing these factors for both majors, Alex was finally influenced by perhaps the most powerful source: people. In the weeks following Alex’s acceptance into the MPA program, Alex was able to secure informational interviews with established individuals in multiple corporations. He contacted and met one-on-one with recruiters from two consulting firm, the principal of a major private equity firm, a former partner of a “Big Four” accounting firm, and the owner of an international hedge fund. All of the people he met with held jobs that Alex one day hoped to obtain, so he trusted all of their advice and knowledge. All of these people hold jobs at firms heavily integrated in finance or consulting. However, much to Alex’s surprise, they all unanimously advised him to pursue the same major: accounting. This shocked Alex, as he sincerely expected them to write off accounting as a technical role with limited capability for significant career and financial advancement. Instead, each person he met with valued the differentiation that a Master’s in Professional Accounting degree could bring. They all felt that it could help Alex stand out amongst the sea of finance majors who strive for the competitive management consulting or investment finance positions. Furthermore, they advised him to pursue the major for the security that it could bring to him in the long run.

After months of contemplation, heavy research, many meetings and multiple lists of pros and cons, Alex began the fall semester of 2013 having finally arrived confidently at his decision. Primarily influenced by the wise advice of those leading well-established careers, Alex excitedly accepted his position in the MPA program. However, he kept his passions and interests in mind. When the semester began, Alex immediately began attending information sessions and networking events for the management consulting firms that he hoped to one day work for. Furthermore, he maximized the career fair events by networking with financial firms in hopes of obtaining a summer internship in finance between his junior and senior year. He hoped this finance internship would help diversify his resume even more to make him a more qualified candidate when it came time to apply for jobs at major consulting firms. While it may have been a bumpy ride to arrive at his decision to major in accounting, Alex began his first semester in the MPA program feeling more confident than ever. He knew he had exhausted his resources and had truly thought through every aspect of his decision. With that in mind, Alex felt certain that pursuing a Master’s in Professional Accounting from McCombs would inevitably lead him to career that yielded all the success and excitement that he so strongly desired.