Friends University: Executive Master of Business Administration

[ EMBA ]

Success Students

Doug Scott
Eric L. Richardson
Randy Neill

Doug Scott
Friends University-what a positive, refreshing experience. Not only did I achieve my Masters Degree at Friends, but the Executive Master of Business Administration program at Friends University has definitely provided me the opportunity to reach out and expand my ability to participate with other companies in improving performance. So not only is this program and Friends University about higher education, but it is about an experience which stays with you beyond the achievement of your degree. Reflecting back during my experience at Friends University, I often think about the very prominent speakers that we had to share their experiences. They are excellent. These speakers are always superior leaders of our community and a driving force to their respective industries and would share with us unselfishly so that we could learn. Also, we had a very good cross section of industry within our class. This gave us an appreciation of how different industries and businesses dealt with the challenges of our economy and global external forces. This knowledge I still apply in my day to day opportunities with the Boeing Co. To this day Im still in touch with my classmates benchmarking and sharing best practices. Just as important, I still participate with Friends University as they bring graduate and undergraduate students to Boeing to learn how we apply advanced manufacturing techniques to the factory to improve performance. This experience is one of the pleasures I still enjoy with my relationship to Friends University.

Doug Scott
Director/Strut, Nacelle and Composite Manufacturing
Boeing Commercial Airplane Company
Wichita Kansas

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Eric L. Richardson
At the prompting of a career mentor, I began searching for a MBA program. Having grown up as an Engineer and Test Pilot, we discussed what additional education would be a good compliment. After looking at the variety of programs in the Wichita area, I ended up at Friends based on recommendations of former students coupled with the logistical fit of their MBA program.

Only a few months after graduation I moved into a leadership position. A year and half later, I was given more responsibility managing over 160 team members. I have often reflected how much having a MBA on my resume has helped over the years. In my new position, I drew extensively on our Leadership course, accounting and organizational behavior classes. Frequently, I counsel mentees that I see not having a MBA a competitive disadvantage.

Currently, I am on hiatus from Flight Test working in the Six Sigma community. This is a two-year assignment where, our best and brightest are trained in stastical methods to eliminate or reduce waste and minimize variation in any process. This assignment has truly opened my eyes to the rest of the company. I liken it to earning my MBA in that I now know how much more I do not know.

Eric L. Richardson
Black Belt Team Leader
Cessna Aircraft Company

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Randy Neill
I was made aware of the Friends University Executive Master of Business Administration program (EMBA) in the fall of 2000. This was a landmark year for me as a 20 year professional in the high technology sector of computing. I had experienced a period of fast moving technological advances covering the last years of mainframe computing, the first years of personal computing, the birth of the Internet, and the beginning of the knowledge era. My career to this point had been very satisfying and rewarding, but there was something missing. I had missed nearly the entire aspect of business management and how it had impacted the decisions of leaders within those companies that I had been a part of. Furthermore, I did not possess a business acumen as it related to my present job. I was given broader roles requiring both business centric understanding and leadership qualities and I clearly felt ill equipped to take on such responsibilities.

The EMBA program fit perfectly into my busy schedule and lifestyle as a working adult, father, and husband. It was just a matter of commitment and desire to reach for a higher place in an ever-changing environment. Throughout the two-year program, I found immediate opportunities to apply the classroom experience into my current job tasks. Each business subject presented me with new challenges to grow personally and professionally while molding me into a leader.

I was recently promoted to Operations Manager for LSI Logic Inc. This position demands much of me from a business standpoint and thanks to my degree from Friends University I am confident of my success and future.

The EMBA program taught me that the world is in continual need of leaders and the best leaders are those who dare to climb higher. I believe I became one.

Thank You, Friends University
Sincerely,
Randy Neill

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