JWMI profiles our distinguished faculty in a new featured series “Faculty Voices.” Learn what sets our program apart and how our faculty drive success for JWMI online MBA students. Read additional faculty profiles here, or read stories from our diverse student and alumni community, via “Winning Voices.”
Patricia Sahm
Business Analytics and Marketing Faculty
How have your professional experiences in the business world prepared you for this teaching position?
I have a long career in marketing and sales, strategy, business intelligence, and consulting, within the financial services industry. I focus on the area of applying data and analytics (and Augmented/artificial Intelligence AI) to customer acquisition, credit risk, and regulatory requirements.
Tell us a little bit about the credentials you have earned and why you wanted to teach at JWMI.
I earned my BA from Georgetown University (History); an MBA from New York Institute of Technology (NYIT); and a Doctorate from Case Western Reserve University.
JWMI allows me to take my experience and learning into a practitioner/academic setting. Rather than have students just study theory, students use the curriculum and implement in their business and life. JWMI epitomizes the balance between theory and practical application.
Describe your teaching style and how that benefits JWMI students?
I see myself as the conduit for students to be exposed to and understand fundamental concepts and theories of the class applied to their everyday business situations. I don’t focus on grades but want to see students going from wondering what the class is about to sharing how they are using our class material in their lives.
How do you mentor, coach, inspire passion in your online classroom?
Early on I try to find out why the person is in the program and what hurdles they may have as we go through the class. It enables me to give personal and relevant feedback. People know when it is rote and when you are really in the moment with them on their specific project.
How do you adjust your style of teaching to a diverse student body?
I move from mentor into an example mode. For students who just naturally get the material you push them to do more; for those who may be struggling with a concept I take them to the core idea; relate it to their work or life; and then come back to the concept and ask them to give me a way they can use the concept in a different scenario. I, also, use Bloom’s Taxonomy of learning to share that we all have things we don’t know or understand but if we apply time and ask questions, we can move up Bloom’s scale.
What hobbies or activities keep you busy when you aren’t teaching?
I am working on AI (Augmented/artificial intelligence) and hope to have JWMI consider a course in that area. It is the future, and our students will benefit greatly from an understanding of what it is (and is not) and how it will transform business and the workplace. Outside of AI, I enjoy cooking, gardening, hiking, and some volunteer work. I also enjoy quality time with my cat, Suzy.
Are you a published author? Please share more about the books and publications you have written.
I enjoy speaking at select conferences around the country on a variety of topics from “Customer Complaint Management: ideas from the field” to “How to use credit scores to decrease risk/loss.” Also, I’ve published multiple papers and research articles including: “Putting socks on an octopus: a qualitative understanding of the move to customer relationship management (CRM)” and “Customer Experience and the 911 Moment.
What advice can you share with prospective students who may be looking at JWMI for their MBA education?
Make sure you have people in your life who will encourage you when you think you just can’t do this. Support is very important. I know that from my Doctoral program. There were times that I felt I could not get it, but people around me said: “that’s nonsense, of course you can.”
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