Faculty

Which class(es) do you teach online?

OPSY 5315: Operations Management and MISY 5355: Business Intelligence & Analytics

Why did you start teaching?

At first, I was very reluctant to teach Operations Management online because it is a quantitative course, and most students find it challenging, but I had no choice. Pretty soon, I realized that online education is the future. It took a couple of semesters to make the course better with several tools and videos and enjoy teaching it.

What's the value of an MBA for today's professionals?

When I was an engineering student, I was cocky and used to wonder what the business students were learning, if anything, because there were so many business people without any college degrees. I realized the importance of an MBA when I took the Operations Research course during my graduate chemical engineering program. I understood the importance of quantitative decision-making in organizations. That's when I decided to change my field to mangement.

My industry experience reinforced my interest to study management. So, I ended up getting a Ph.D. and teaching MBA students. With the growing importance of data analytics and data-driven decision-making, an MBA is becoming more and more valuable for today's professionals.

What's the best advice you could give your students?

Do not underestimate the value of an online MBA degree and do not underestimate how much work you have to put in to excel in my course.

What qualities make someone particularly successful in business or management?

Care about people and focus on process. Learn the concepts of the Balanced Scorecard and the triple bottom line (TBL) and implement them if possible.

How do you see online learning affecting the future of education?

Online learning is the future of education. Educational institutions are slowly coming to that realization. They need to spend more time, money and effort in making online education more effective.

What is the one book you think everyone should read?

“Reengineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business Revolution” by Hammer and Champy

Tell us something interesting about yourself that your students might not know about you.

Coming from a remote place in India, I was lucky to get educated. My family and my teachers get a lot of credit for me to become an engineer and a professor. I make my course relevant with real-world examples from my own industry experience. My students tell me that they learned a lot in my course and used what they were learning in class at work. They tell me that my lecture videos are extremely useful. They also know that I am just an email away when they need help. I respond promptly, even during evenings and weekends.