With experience in the world of business being a common thread connecting students pursuing an online MBA degree, it’s not surprising that many learners are seeking out an advanced education as a way to more sharply define their career paths. While an MBA is a versatile degree, it lends itself to several unique applications that require a deep understanding of modern business practices and the key elements of leadership. One role that prospective and current students may be interested in is the specialist in corporate excellence position.
Understanding the concept of corporate excellence
The meaning of corporate or business excellence is a vital starting point for all MBA students, whether they want to pursue a role in this space or simply understand how it impacts their career path. The ability to define business excellence in this context is important. A brief yet detailed explanation of corporate excellence is a continuing effort to develop a consistent infrastructure of rules, standards, workflows, and processes that enable staff to perform to the best of their abilities. The American Society for Quality points out that excellence involves both regularly outperforming baseline standards and avoiding serious problems or waste while doing so. The advantages of a corporate structure that emphasizes high performance and empowers employees to work to the best of their abilities are clear. Internal advantages, such as staff feeling engaged along with financial and operational efficiency, and external ones, such as happy clients and a strongly positive reputation, can propel a business to further growth and development. If a company can create, review, and update its strategy for corporate excellence, it can put itself in an especially beneficial position.
For a successful approach to corporate excellence, organizations need to measure some important metrics. Operational efficiency, employee engagement, and customer satisfaction, among many others, can all come into play. A business that has great processes and strong relationships with clients, for example, likely won’t reach its full potential if it doesn’t have employees who have a sense of ownership tied to their work and feel respected and valued by the company. It’s also not enough to set strong goals, reach them, and then sit back. Corporate excellence should be a continual goal, as FierceCEO points out. Regular reviews of goals and challenges, along with relevant adjustments, are necessary for long-term success in this context.
How an MBA degree helps graduates become corporate excellence leaders
Employees who understand the building blocks of corporate excellence and can facilitate the process are also vital for building a sustainable, dependable, and positive program. An MBA degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham provides graduates with a powerful foundation of managerial and business knowledge. This information and context allows them to work in the field of corporate excellence, applying leadership principles, operational efficiencies, and employee engagement strategies to ultimately bolster performance. While the overall curriculum of the UAB online MBA program advances students’ understanding of the principles that support a corporate excellence strategy, a few courses stand out as especially beneficial:
- Management and Organizations focuses on the internal environment of businesses, as well as related legal, ethical, and social considerations in the U.S. and globally. Students learn to identify policy issues and build their understanding of internal organizational behavior.
- Quantitative Analysis for Business Managers centers on developing analytical skills for making strong business decisions. This is especially important when it comes to reducing waste and identifying opportunities for more efficient operations in terms of developing an organizational excellence framework.
- Strategic Cost Analysis and Decision Making provides valuable information on the use of cost data as criteria for making decisions and evaluating performance, as well as creating budgets and financial goals. The course emphasizes the strategic context of managers making good business decisions by drawing on this data.
- Operations and Supply Chain Management focuses on supply chain functions in both manufacturing and service organizations, allowing students to learn about the concepts and principles needed for effective management of this critical part of an organization’s operations.
- Strategic Management is the capstone course of the MBA program. It serves as a chance for students in their last term of the program to synthesize the knowledge and skills developed in the other courses students participate in during their time in the program. By using this accumulated knowledge to study business policy and strategy, students are able to hone abilities that are especially relevant to corporate excellence considerations.
How UAB provides an effective, powerful MBA education
Taking business management courses online helps students manage existing personal and professional responsibilities while also furthering their education. With an asynchronous learning environment, students can learn at their own pace and on their own time, studying and completing coursework whenever free time is available. An online MBA degree from UAB replicates everything from the on-campus program except for the need to physically attend class in Birmingham, offering the exact same benefits. From highly regarded faculty to a diploma identical to the one on-campus students receive, online students can expect a competitive, enriching learning environment. To find out more, speak with an enrollment advisor today.
Recommended Reading:
Using networking to your advantage in the UAB online MBA program
How to narrow down a career with an MBA
Sources:
UAB Collat School of Business: Course Descriptions MBA
UAB Collat School of Business: Online MBA Degree Program
US News & World Report: MBAs and Leadership
FierceCEO: Companies stand out with organizational excellence
ASQ: What is Organizational Excellence?
Huffpost: Organizational Excellence Is About Being Perfect Together