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. 

Blog 1: Empathy Map of Mike

[THINKING AND FEELING]:

For Mike, life revolves around the legacy you leave behind. At the end of the day, your family is what matters most, and Mike works tirelessly to provide for his family day in and day out. He is preoccupied with ensuring that the wife he loves feels cared for, and that the children he has raised have access to opportunities that lead to a good life and career. He worries about retirement, which is slowly impending and weighing on his mind. He hopes to continue to lead a successful career. He hopes to maintain his marriage with his wife of 32 years. He hopes to one day play with his grandchildren and see the homes his children will build. Yet above all, he aspires most to leave behind a strong legacy for himself – one that inspires his sons to be men of character, dignity, success and virtue.

    

[SEEING]:

The floors are sparkling white tile. The walls are painted in tan and adorned with framed pictures of the UT campus. The shelves are sterile and impeccably clean, scenting the air with touches of Lysol. Mike’s everyday environment is the office of his own otolaryngology practice. Patients, nurses, and fellow surgeons surround him, tasking him with the responsibility to constantly display leadership and good judgment as he cares for the well-being of those who have entrusted him with their health. Mike is exposed to offers in the market that seek to provide high quality medical equipment, the latest in medical breakthroughs, or personal financial saving.

   

[SAYING AND DOING]:

Self-control guides Mike throughout his everyday life. He rarely allows rage or frustration to get the best of him and compromise his poise and integrity. Each day, he displays confidence and respect. He comes across to others as serious, dedicated, and hardworking. Mike values manners – he treats others the way that he would like to be treated, and he has taught his children to do the same. He believes in the power of first impressions; consequently, he places value in his appearance. He practices healthy habits, looks clean cut, and always dresses well.

[HEARING]:

The voice Mike hears the most is that of his wife of more than 30 years, Judy. She influences everything from his personal habits to his professional decisions. In times of hesitation and reservation, Judy pushes him to make decisions and step out of his comfort zone. The media commands Mike’s attention through online advertisements, radio blurbs during his morning commutes to work, and print advertisements that span the pages of his favorite medical journals and magazines.

 

[POINTS OF PAIN]:

As the main provider for a family of five people, Mike’s worries revolve mainly around attaining and maintaining a position of financial stability for his family. He finds himself constantly focused on ensuring that an ample amount of money exists in savings to provide for his family well into the future. The recent burden of college tuitions and expenses impede upon Mike’s ability to save as much as he desires. Outside of his personal life, Mike is pained by the changes in the healthcare system. Government healthcare regulations inflicted upon Mike have not only increased his workload, but have also caused an increase in expenses. As the owner of his own practice, Mike constantly battles with the dilemma of having less and less time to see patients due to the added responsibilities brought on by the ever-changing world of healthcare.

   

[GAINS]:

For Mike, success cannot be defined by just one thing. Professionally, Mike hopes to achieve success simply by avoiding failure. He seeks to perform surgeries without making mistakes in order to maximize the benefit and life improvement for the patient. Personally, success would be measured by the happiness of both he and his family. Mike hopes to retire with enough money in savings to live a very comfortable lifestyle – one that would still allow him to play golf with friends, take trips with his family, and enjoy trying new restaurants with his wife.