Describe a significant career accomplishment that you found particularly rewarding

“Well thank you Brock, for showing us how to eliminate your position.”


As odd as that sentence may sound, hearing that sentence from my boss’s boss, the VP of Finance and Business Development, is my most significant career accomplishment.

I currently work for England Logistics, a Third Party Logistics Company that has gone from 18th in 2007 on Transport Topics’ List of Freight Brokerage Firms to 11th in 2010. We are a $237 million dollar a year company.

I was hired as a credit and claims analyst to process credit requests and claims, but also to tackle inefficiencies in our credit and claims processes. When I started I literally started with filing the claims folders. He then asked me to handle claims under $1,000 then $5,000 and now I handle any claim we have. Some are as high as $50,000 and require a considerable amount of time and effort when coordinating with insurance adjusters, government inspectors, factoring companies, our company, and salvage companies. I also helped create a spreadsheet tool that tracks the progress of cargo claims. This tool enables the company to keep track of the progress of a claim, thus eliminating costs of employees verifying completed steps in the claim process.

An example of tackling inefficiency in the credit request process since my arrival seven months ago is that credit requests now only take an hour instead of five. That is an 80% reduction in time spent approving credit! Once these stopgap measures were in place for claims and credit I was able to focus on other inefficiencies in the company.

At the beginning of my employment the company’s credit risk was about five hundred million dollars. That was the available credit extended to our customers to use (or abuse). My job is to reduce that risk. I analyzed our customer’s shipping needs, how often they ship, and the last time they shipped. I was able to adjust the amount of credit we extended to them and as a result of my efforts we have been able to reduce our credit risk by almost $470 million dollars! We’ve since safely extended another 10.7 million in credit to our customers.

Another fulfilling project for me was Dunn & Bradstreet analysis. I suggested using some university students to do statistical analysis of data we use when deciding on giving credit to a customer or not. This resulted in my supervisor thanking me for thinking outside of the box. That project is still a possibility as we study programming capabilities on our end, plotting of information, and statistical considerations.

My most significant career accomplishment to date though involved another initiative I took in automating the credit approval process for smaller credit amounts. This had me considering the complete automation of my position, resulting in complete elimination of human involvement. This effort is on hold till we hit a certain number of requests per year, which is currently about one half of the needed number in order to automate the process. Till then my position will still exist. My superiors, after reading my proposition said, “Well thank you Brock, for showing us how to eliminate your position.”

Briefly explain how the MBA degree would assist you in your short- and long-term career goals.

This post and the two after are for posterity sake really is all.

As fast as information is promulgating in the world, you cannot know all the answers. As our country becomes more service oriented it is imperative that those in management positions know how to best serve the internal and external customers. A leader best serves their constituencies not by knowing everything but knowing which questions to ask in order to get the correct answers. This applies to both short-term and long-term questions. The ability to drill down to the fundamental issues and ask the right questions is what I hope my MBA education will afford me.

Since getting my undergrad, I’ve been exposed to workplace dynamics and politics. I have seen how those who are qualified will often get passed up for positions or responsibilities because they don’t have the proper letters after their name. I don’t want my lack of education and training to be part of the equation for myself. Receiving an MBA will allow me to get to the table so that I might be able to help my bosses, associates, and stakeholders with my expertise, critical thinking skills, and knowledge.

Going back to school will give me the chance to learn the intricacies of how things should interact with each other in a business setting. This understanding is necessary in managing the course corrections needed to get a business to run efficiently. These skills and understandings are as applicable to running a Fortune 200 company as an entrepreneurial venture. The case studies and coursework of an MBA will help prepare me for the dynamics of business, whether directing a third party logistics company, a laser manufacturer, or a blue jean zipper supplier.

Long term the MBA will help me be a proactive leader rather than being a reactive manager to the dynamic changes that are a trademark of our global economy. A MBA will help me know what needs to be done versus relying on others telling me what needs to be accomplished. Bosses want someone who says, “THIS is what needs to be done next.” Additionally, I have seen how those with the ability to make changes simply don’t either because they do not see the need for the change or they lack the confidence to make a bold move, which could flop, or on the flip side, could benefit the company. A Masters of Business Administration will give me the knowledge and confidence to be proactive in the various roles I will have throughout my career.

I have been impressed by the Apple’s recent success. They are a prime example of having first mover’s advantage. Their competitors are reacting instead of being proactive to their success. Apple’s success is causing “creative deconstruction” to the rest of the PC industry with their “post PC” products. This is just one aspect of business that the rest of the business world is seeing come to light and I hope that getting an MBA will shed light on this and many other practices shared by successful companies that I do not currently know of.

I believe a MBA will make me a more productive employee, a wiser manager, and a more successful entrepreneur. I will always continue to educate myself but the structure and expertise of your MBA program will usher me to a higher level of business practices. This will ultimately allow me to have more to offer my employer, my family and my community.



Who Moved My Cheese

Who Moved My Cheese

By

Spencer Johnson, M.D.

What I learned from this book is that not only should you open to change, but also you should be looking for it. Once you spot it, you should move forward going after it and try and stay ahead of it. My brother sent me a link to a video describing social media, Facebook, and LinkedIn. It was wild to see the stats flashing across the screen. Basically the point of that video to me was that things are happening in big ways in social media and if you aren’t using it to your advantage via those sites or a blog then you are and will continue to fall behind. If you don’t believe me keep reading.

The average American I just read spends 6.83 hours on Facebook each month. That is over 81 hours a year. That is over 81 hours a year people. 81 hours is two full workweeks! Spent on one social networking website. I’m going to bet that a good majority of those same people also spend equivalent time on Twitter and You Tube and paying their bills online and Pinterest and, and, and. That said we’re talking about a full month (conservatively) spent on social networking sites and if you aren’t there then you’re not anywhere and future employers and schools aren’t in your future either.

Who’s to say that colleges and universities don’t make it a requirement as part of their admissions process that you have a certain number of ‘friends’ or blog posts? Why would they do that? Why would you want to be around someone or let someone into your college club who is socially awkward and doesn’t know how to interact with people and would be more a hindrance then help to your mission?

Think about change and embrace it.