Recently we sat down with Executive Adjunct Professor, John Ward to discuss his background as well as the Information Technology course he teaches for Valpo MBA.

Q:  Tell us a little about your business background- please involve any professional organizations, boards you’re involved with.

Business Background:

Independent Consultant                                                                         Current

Provide consulting and project management services to corporations primarily in the area of Information Systems and Technology.  Extensive hands on and project management experience executing SAP software projects.

Lead the testing phase of an SAP Consolidation Project at a Fortune 150 Company.

Whirlpool Corporation – Benton Harbor, Michigan                                            1994–2010

Whirlpool Corporation is the world’s leading manufacturer and marketer of major home appliances, with annual sales of more than $19 billion, more than 73,000 employees, and more than 72 manufacturing and technology research centers around the world. The company markets Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, Amana, Brastemp, Bauknecht and other major brand names to consumers in nearly every country around the world. The company’s goal is to grow global sales to $35 billion by 2016.

Whirlpool Corporation – Benton Harbor, Michigan

Director, Global IT Operations, 2006–2010

Lead a team of 20 direct reports, five at the Manager level, and a total staff of 400 consultants from Accenture (supporting SAP implementation) and Keane (supporting legacy systems) in development and support of IT operations worldwide. Deployed best practices globally for testing strategies and methodologies, landscape management, system performance, internal controls, compliance, and the business-process advisor model within the AMS support structure. Serve as Program Lead and subject-matter expert for the Maytag Parts Integration Project and provide overall leadership to key global, North American, and Global Information Systems initiatives.

• Leading migration of all in-house developed legacy applications, many developed by acquired companies, with multiple redundancies to SAP to drive global systems and reduce IT costs.
• Leading role on Management Excellence Project that is projected to save more than $300 million over five to seven years by reducing costs for licensing, support, and hardware infrastructure.
• Established and executed the Maytag Majors Post Go-live Support Plan, which required supporting thousands of business partners across six project command centers.

Director, North American Region Global Information Systems Deployment, 2005–2006

Led development and deployment of IT systems for the North American Region, supervising a staff of approximately 130 internal and contract professionals.

• Succeeded in managing a North American IS budget of $28 million to a favorable variance meeting stretch objectives.
• Lead the deployment of the SAP solution to the core Parts Management and Distribution operations, yielding savings of $10 million annually, replacing 20 legacy systems, and providing Web services to distributors.
• Directed the migration of the NAR SAP system support and maintenance to Accenture, effecting global savings of $2 million.
• Lead several leadership education sessions including 21 Laws of Leadership, Leadership Alignment Discussions, and Developing the Leader within You; conducted Learning Map Sessions.

Director, NAR GIS Consumer and Appliance Care, 2004–2005

Managed all operations of a major call center. Participated in all phases of bringing college-level talent into Global Information Systems.

• Deployed Siebel to add consumer data, enhance customer service, and create opportunities that generate additional revenue, turning support operations into a process that generated $1 million in new revenue annually.
• Transformed the Whirlpool Canada Call center from a volume-based business to a customer-focused organization with the successful deployment of a Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) solution.
• Lead the Customer 360 Project, an in-house package for managing millions of consumer data records that has been used successfully for outbound marketing campaigns and to support product recalls.

Manager, NAR GIS Parts Management, 2000–2004

Led deployment of SAP to the Regional Parts Distribution Center and the Knoxville Call Center.

• Coordinated IS participation in the relocation of a major parts distribution center.
• Saved $15 million by outsourcing and completely redesigning business processes to a sourcing model.
• Completed I-Mentor training and assisted in teaching several I-Mentor sessions to various business units.

Keane Incorporated –                                    1992–1994

A leading IT and business process consulting firm.

Consultant, Whirlpool Financial Systems

Provided consultative support for the deployment of M&D Accounting software and for changes to the Whirlpool Manufacturing System to add a new manufacturing facility.

United States Steel – Gary, Indiana           1984–1992

A major heavy industrial manufacturing organization.

Systems Analyst

Implemented cost-reduction solutions within production finishing warehouses. Initiatives included the design, development, and deployment of Bar Code and Radio Frequency coil tracking and physical inventory systems. Deployed Production Planning and Scheduling systems at multiple USS locations throughout the United States and provided 24×7 support to business-critical manufacturing systems.

Professional Organizations Memberships:

• Corporate Reputation Institute (RI)
• Project Management Institute (PMI)
• SAP University Alliance
• Advisor, Valparaiso University Phi Beta Lambda (Future Business Leaders)
• SAP User Group
• SAPinsider

Q: What makes your MBA course different than others students might take at an undergraduate level?

MBA 645 Information Systems and Information Technology

This course takes more of an executive view on the importance of IS to the business organization.  Course covers the latest trends in technology and business intelligence.  The course focuses in on a process versus functional view of the organization while introducing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems.  MBA students get hands on experience with SAP (world’s number one business software).  Extensive research is completed on the latest IS and IT capabilities in the business environment.

Q. What are you hoping future managers/CEO’s will gain from taking your course?

Future managers/CEO’s will see how an effectively and efficiently run IS organization can provide a competitive advantage.

Q: How do your specific courses meet the needs of a working professional?

Course is taught in the evenings and can be successfully completed remotely.  VU’s MBA Live provides working professionals, who may not be able to attend the class in person, a vehicle to attend class remotely.

We thank Professor Ward for taking the time to connect with us! For more information about the Valpo MBA program please contact Cindy.Scanlan@valpo.edu or call 219-465-7952.

Throughout the coming months we will be profiling faculty from the MBA  program as a way for prospective students, alumni and even current students, not enrolled in particular courses, to get to know our outstanding faculty. Recently we sat down with Professor Doug Tougaw to discuss his background as well as the classes he instructs in the MBA program.

Q:  Tell us a little about your business background- please involve any professional organizations, boards you’re involved with.

I’m very actively involved in two professional societies, the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE).  I serve on the national board of directors of ASEE, representing faculty from Midwest and Southeast as the Zone II Chair.  I’m also the past chair of the Engineering Ethics Division and have been leading the effort to develop a Code of Ethics for ASEE.  I am also on the section board of directors for IEEE, organizing programs for electrical and computer engineers across the northern half of Indiana.

Q: What makes your MBA course different than others students might take at an undergraduate level?

I think that MBA 652, Developing People, focuses on how managers can develop their co-workers to help them achieve their maximum potential.  We focus on the skills necessary for effective management, such as dealing with difficult people, performing useful employee evaluations, and developing exemplary training sessions.  This is done with an eye toward practical expertise, but it is all grounded in the theory that students develop in MGT 304.

Q: What are you hoping future managers/CEO’s will gain from taking your course?

The most important thing that I hope students take from MBA 652 is that the best way to optimize the performance of a co-worker is to treat them with the respect and consideration deserved by another human being, one with hopes and aspirations just like their own.  To do otherwise is not only unethical, but it also leads to poor performance by the employee!

Q: How do your specific courses meet the needs of a working professional?

In any organization, the most important element of success is the people.  Strategy is developed and implemented by people, people do all the accounting, finance, and legal work required by the company, and people who are given the resources and opportunity can and will improve the quality and efficiency of the organization’s products and services.  By improving the performance of your people, you improve all aspects of your business.

Q: Do you have any published works? If so do you have links that can be included? Have you presented anywhere/won awards for works?

I split my research efforts between scientific articles in the area of novel nanoscale computer devices and educational articles focusing on multidisciplinary aspects of engineering and business education.  I have published 25 nanotechnology articles and 34 education-related articles, all in refereed journals or conference proceedings.

Four of my personal favorites are listed below:

1.     J.D. Wood and D. Tougaw, “Matrix Multiplication Using Quantum-Dot Cellular Automata to Implement Conventional Microelectronics,” IEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology, vol.10, no.5, pp.1036-1042, Sept. 2011.

2.     C.R. Graunke, D.I. Wheeler, D. Tougaw, and J.D. Will, “Implementation of a crossbar network using quantum-dot cellular automata,” IEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology, vol.4, no.4, pp. 435- 440, July 2005.

3.     D. Tougaw and M. McCuddy, “Implementing a New Approach to Teaching the Ethics of Emerging Technology,” Proceedings of the American Society for Engineering Education Illinois/Indiana Conference, March 2006.

4.     D. Tougaw and D. Schroeder, “Teaching a Multidisciplinary Course on Technology, Society, and the Natural Environment,” Proceedings of the American Society for Engineering Education National Conference, June 2005.

The first two of these papers describe important developments in quantum computing, and my co-authors and I received a patent for the work described in the second paper.  The third and fourth articles are in the educational domain, and both were co-authored by faculty from the CBA. Paper #3 received a national award for being the best paper presented at an ASEE sectional conference that year.

We thank Professor Tougaw for taking the time to connect with us! For more information about the Valpo MBA program please contact Cindy.Scanlan@valpo.edu or call 219-465-7952.

Recently, a group of MBA students tackled the hot topic of sustainability on Valpo’s campus. The primary focus of this project was on the “what to do” by taking the findings from gathered data and exploring further. This included examining other universities recycling programs and contacting appropriate companies such as The Sustainability Endowment Institute, Waste Management, ABITIBI Bowater Inc. and USAgain LLC. These resources aided in creating a plan of action that will promote environmentally conscience changes. The goal is to fulfill the overall objective of stakeholders by having a safer, greener, cost effective environment at Valparaiso University. As a part of the original MBA-601 recycling reform project, samples were taken from two university dumpster locations on September 22 and 28, 2010. Each dumpster serviced a different type of campus building- an academic building and a residential hall. Our MBA students identified 4 key phases needed to improve sustainability practices on campus.

The primary focus of Phase I is to improve recycling practices in order to be more cost effective. After bringing the findings from the fall 2010 dumpster research to the attention of the administration, much of Phase I has already been implemented.

Phase II focuses on strengthening waste management systems. As with Phase I, Phase II focuses upon improved recycling systems and practices. It proposes changes on campus that will strengthen waste management systems.

The third phase of this recycling reform aims to make sustainability and environmentally conscience decisions an expectation for not only administration, but also staff and students. The students noted that this, “needs to be a part of campus life. The VU mentality should be, “sustainability, it’s what we do here.””

Lastly, Phase IV focuses on the future. As the development in the sustainability efforts at VU continues to grow, so will cost savings. Further environmental improvements will become more challenging, detailed and extensive. This phase includes consideration of a full-time director for sustainability efforts and further exploration of what VU can do on the “reduce and reuse” portions of the three R’s.

Many of the suggested improvements have already been realized or are in the early development stages. By continuing to work with the presented resources and the proposed four phase system, VU plans to further develop a road map that will show environmental improvements and costs savings.

For more information about this project, Valpo MBA or our Sustainability program, please contact Cindy.Scanlan@valpo.edu or call (219)-465-7952.

We are proud to welcome our recent MBA graduates into the Alumni Family! December 11, 2011 was the winter graduation ceremony at Valparaiso University. Students were greeted by faculty, fellow students, alumni and family for graduation at the Chapel of Resurrection located at the heart of campus.

Tradition ensued as the freshly minted MBA’s and their significant others attended a dinner put on by the MBA staff. The dinner was located at a University favorite, Pikk’s Tavern, a daVinci Group concept that resembles a 1940s themed Chicago steakhouse with fine food and drinks, located in downtown Valparaiso.

(not all graduates represented in photo)

To see more photos, please visit our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ValpoMBA. We congratulate all of our MBA graduates and welcome you to the Alumni family!

For more questions about how you can become a part of the Valpo MBA, please contact Cindy.Scanlan@valpo.edu or call: (219)465-7952.

Recently the VU MBA program sponsored 3 MBA students to attend the National Black MBA conference in Atlanta. This is the first time that Valpo has sent students to this conference. MBA/JD student, Shantae Landingham, “really enjoyed attending the fair. The best aspect was the career fair as well as access to top employers.” Shantae said that she “Chose to attend the fair as a way to both network as well as job search.”

Shantae’s experience was very successful and she left with seven interviews, primarily in the tax planning and financial consulting industries which is her primary focus. Shantae also told us that this was the “Best conference I’ve attended.”

MBA student Sjeonshal Cherry also attended the National Black MBA Conference. While Sjeonshal is happily employed, she saw the value in attending, saying, “This was  a good networking opportunity to rub shoulders with other MBAs, to feel out the job market; and see other what the employer trends are.” Because she has a job, she was checking out the competition and looking at how companies are assessing job candidates.

“They are looking for students who are working or have experience; especially those who work and go to school.”

Sjeonshal attended several workshops including, “public speaking for profit, LinkedIn, as well as other workshops called, “What just Happened,” regarding innovation and “Management Leadership for tomorrow.”

While the students were able to increase their knowledgebase by attending the conference, they were also able to see areas in which Valpo can become more involved. Suggestions for how VU can participate in the conference more include:

• Case competitions
• Attend conference as school; have a table and network with employeers
• Send professors to host workshops to promote Valpo
• Send more students to host and speak at booth

Next years conference will be held in Indianapolis and the University is already planning on becoming involved with the different activities offered during the weekend.

For more information about the Valpo MBA, please contact Cindy.Scanlan@valpo.edu or call 219)465-7952. For more information about the National Black MBA Conference, please visit: http://www.nbmbaa.org/