University at Buffalo School of Management

Autumn 2024 Buffalo Business 25 "When students have experienced challenges along the way, I have been able to connect them with someone in my network to offer support," says Balakrishnan. Fueling innovation through research Emily Grijalva, associate professor of organiza- tion and human resources, Min-Hsuan Tu, assistant professor of organization and human resources, and Sara Hoseingholizade, management doctoral student, used alumni partnerships for research when they connected with Miranda Hyzy, MBA '18, senior business analyst at HarbourVest Partners. The researchers sought to provide a more nuanced under- standing of how employees express their personalities in unique ways that have distinct organizational implications. "Miranda followed up with us at every step of the data collection process," says Hoseingholizade. "She genuinely cared about the research." Dozens of management alumni contributed to the study, which offered professional growth opportunities for participants and valuable insights for researchers. "I really enjoyed answering the questions each day because it allowed me to check in with myself in the morn- ing and then reflect on the day," says Hyzy. "In doing that I learned more about myself, and areas I'd like to keep work- ing on professionally and personally." Partnering for success The School of Management's new Projects Clinic offers an opportunity for alumni to partner with students to solve problems and create organiza- tional change through experiential learning. Robert McCormack, EMBA '14, professor and chair of emergency medicine at UBMD, says Projects Clinic students provided expertise that no one else in the business had. Jess Lin and Mounika Govindu, who graduated from the MS in Management Information Systems program in May, lever- aged skills they mastered in the classroom in their work for UBMD. Using Excel, BatchGeo and Google Maps, they created a mapping solution to enhance operational effi- ciency and user experience. "This project pushed our clinic interns to examine solutions outside of their comfort zone, while also being an excellent first step in assisting UBMD in creating opera- tional efficiency among their various clinics," says Michael Krupski, clinical assistant professor of operations manage- ment and strategy, and faculty director of the Projects Clinic. The clinic interns worked with UBMD to consoli- date and organize information to create a singular, user- friendly map displaying more than 50 UBMD locations and the services available at each. "I know I will work with the projects team in the future," says McCormack. "Working with students was coordinated, productive and free. They took on a task that we couldn't handle and produced." If you are a School of Management graduate and would like to engage with hiring, international recruit- ment, research or the Projects Clinic, send an email to mgt-alumni@buffalo.edu. This project pushed our clinic interns to examine solutions outside of their comfort zone, while also being an excellent first step in assisting UBMD in creating operational efficiency among their various clinics. " — MICHAEL KRUPSKI Clinical Assistant Professor of Operations Management and Strategy Hyzy, MBA '18 McCormack, EMBA '14 "

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