"To excel, most businesses need a sound strategy. Strategy formulation and execution rely exclusively on people. The DBA program brings focus to behavioral science, HRM, and organizational behavior, which are all primarily people-related skills."
Pat Pollock enrolled in the St. Ambrose DBA program looking to gain leadership insights. He earned tangible gains on an intangible, yet essential, aspect of doing business.
Chief Executive Officer
ALM Positioners, Inc. Rock Island, Illinois
Sound Strategy
"Business is very dynamic; most business challenges don't fit neatly into functional buckets," Pollock said. "To excel, most businesses need a sound strategy. Strategy formulation and execution rely exclusively on people. The DBA program brings focus to behavioral science, HRM, organizational behavior, primarily people-related skills. Without a detailed understanding of people, the best strategy is destined to fail. The DBA program enhanced my understanding of the people side of the business and helped me become a better leader."
Gain Deeper Understanding: Knowing Why
An "aha moment" for Pollock was gaining a deeper understanding of the factors that drive business challenges. "I realized I spent about 70% of my day dealing with non-technical, non-financial challenges. The so-called soft skills kept coming to the forefront of my day-to-day conversations. I found the DBA, with its unique blend of theory and practice, well-suited to address my needs. The depth of understanding I achieved during my DBA studies helped me understand the why of the more complex business challenges."
A Transformational Program
"I recommend the DBA program to my peers because I found it transformational. The program helped me see the critical link between strategy, execution, and human behavior. My recommendation of the DBA program would extend to leaders who are truly interested in gaining an in-depth understanding of the 'why' of the human aspect of business. The post-COVID world will need more leaders with the ability to step across functional boundaries and help teams and organizations achieve truly impactful results."
