Tepper’s Back To The Future Move Toward Management Science

Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University

MORE COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE B-SCHOOL & OTHER UNIVERSITY SCHOOLS

Kate Barraclough, head of the MBA program at the Tepper School of Business

More clearly positioning the school in management science also reflects recent changes in the MBA curriculum on analytics and data. “One of the things we did was evaluate the content of our core classes,” explains Kate Barraclough, head of the MBA program. “We looked at where analytics come up in the fundamental courses. And we found that we had this really strong mix of courses that were emphasizing core analytical skills. We also brought in a more analytical tool kit, a serious statistics package for our students, and we really started to go much deeper into our other courses on machine learning, data visualization, and Fintech.”

An increasing part of Tepper’s coursework, moreover, has become interdisciplinary since the opening of its new home, the Tepper Quad, at the center of Carnegie Mellon University. In both MBA concentrations, a sequence of three advanced courses in such areas as accounting or finance, or in tracks, a series of six courses and a capstone, collaboration with other university schools and departments is becoming more common than ever. In the school’s energy track for MBA students, for example, a professor from the engineering school now teaches. In the tech strategy and product management track, MBA students are taking deeper dives into computing and interactive design courses being taught by professors from the university’s computer science school. 

“It’s giving students the opportunity to go even deeper into data analytics than had been possible or available ten years ago,” adds Yeltekin. “We have really leveraged our strengths and the university’s strengths. These opportunities are not just for track students but for all students. Moving to this building moved us closer to the rest of the campus. We really want to be a business school that is well integrated with the university.”

‘THE WORLD OF BUSINESS TODAY REQUIRES SKILLS THAT GO BEYOND THE BASICS’

Dammon, who will return to the classroom when his deanship ends this academic year, agrees. “This is a reflection of the fact that the world of business today requires skills that go well beyond the fundamentals,” he insists. “It requires interdisciplinary knowledge that goes outside the business school. The most important problems being faced by business and society are not going to find their solutions in a single school or college. We are making sure our students have that experience here in the classroom before they go out into the workforce.”

The school’s other focus on leadership development is also leading to collaborations outside the business school with Carnegie Mellon’s School of Fine Arts and Drama. “We haven’t pulled back on our emphasis on leadership so we continue to offer leadership in our curriculum which is only growing in popularity with our students,” says Barraclough. “And they have taken an interdisciplinary approach, too.  You need to communicate your findings and that is why we are still strong in that space because we are trying to educate well-rounded leaders.”

The school’s recent AACSB accreditation was done by a review team that included Duke Fuqua Dean William Boulding, Michigan Ross Dean Scott DeRue, and Vanderbilt Owen Dean Eric Johnson. “After they read our report and did our focus group chats over a couple of days here, they emphasized how much innovation has occurred in the MBA program,” says Yeltekin.

‘SEXY OR NOT, IT CAPTURES WHAT WE DO HERE’

“They also thought we had a very strong culture and agreed that the core of the school has been built on intellectual capital,” adds Dammon. “And they were really quite amazed at this building. One of them said, he had seen lots of new business school buildings but this is the first one they saw that was designed to support a strategic position” (of being an integral part of the university).

Asked if the notion of management science is all that sexy in today’s modern era, Dammon laughs, “It’s sexier than industrial administration. Whether sexy or not, it captures what we do here when it comes to education and research. We are moving in the right direction. We really do take a scientific data-driven approach to all that we do here.”

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