Blogs

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How to Develop and Write KPIs: A Guide for Product Managers Srinath Kotela Inducted into Beta Gamma Sigma in 2014 from University of North Carolina, Charlotte and involved with the Charlotte Area Alumni Chapter. This blog post is the second in a two-part product management series. Read part one here . TDLR; KPIs (key performance indicators) and metrics serve as essential tools for measuring the performance of your product and identifying areas for improvement. This article covers. What are KPIs and metrics Why they are important How to choose the right ones for your product. Key takeaways What are KPIs and metrics ...
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Product Operations: The Secret to Delivering Better Products Faster Srinath Kotela Inducted into Beta Gamma Sigma in 2014 from University of North Carolina, Charlotte and involved with the Charlotte Area Alumni Chapter. This blog post is the first in a two-part product management series. Read part two here . TDLR; Product Operations is a discipline that focuses on the operational aspects of product development. It helps product teams operate more effectively by streamlining processes, improving communication, and providing data and insights that help product teams make better decisions. Product Operations ensure that the product is developed ...
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Beta Gamma Sigma: the place in which the opportunities of the future are built. Manuela Manzano, Juan David Gutierrez Osorio, & Laura Tangarife Marin BGS Members Icesi University Beta Gamma Sigma is the opportunity no one wants to miss. Since we entered the business school at Icesi University, BGS has become the goal that every student wants to achieve, not only because it recognizes the top 10% of business students, but also because each member of the Icesi's chapter has extraordinary faculties to face the professional world. In addition, for many students, BGS Icesi is the place where students develop and improve skills in communication, leadership ...
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Suit Up. It’s Game Time! Volunteers Help Level the Playing Field of Life By Giving Back Kelsey Matzinger JA USA Marketing and PR Manager “Practice makes perfect.” – Benjamin Franklin This is a quote we have heard from the time we were little even into adulthood. If you were an athlete, you heard it from your coaches, support staff, and parents. Now imagine this quote never existed and instead read, “Good luck. I hope it works out for you.” No one explained the rules of the game. No practice. No game plan. No coaches. Just go out there and do your best, kid, but your best wasn’t good enough. It would be unfair, but nobody would blame the player. They ...
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4 Tips for Becoming an Invaluable Accounting and Finance Professional Barry Payne Director External Relations — Management Accountant AICPA-CIMA The ideal employee for finance teams is someone who knows numbers and is comfortable with emerging technologies. A digital mindset is becoming essential for navigating the constantly evolving world of accounting and finance, but what does that term even mean? “Back in college, when I first heard the term ‘digital mindset,’ I thought: ‘That is not a term that means anything; it's just corporate lingo,’” said Ashley Petryk, CPA, a Beta Gamma Sigma alumna who works in finance transformation at Elastic, ...
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Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on leading, self-belief and empowerment Beatriz Bagaces Serrano Jr. Manager, Global Recruitment IE University In a recent collaboration, IE University and professional network giant, LinkedIn , partnered to create the Blue Talks—a series of conversations with influential thought leaders to promote positive change. In the second installment, “ Challenging Leadership ,” Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, two-time President of Liberia, was hosted by the president of IE University, Santiago Íñiguez. She shares her insights into the modern world and how she has stayed true to her principles despite navigating uncharted—and ...
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Meet Julia van de Sandt, the 2021 Outstanding Alumni Chapter Member By: McKenna Sawchak “It’s a small world. It keeps recrossing itself.” – David Mitchell, English novelist, television writer, and screenwriter As someone who was inducted into Beta Gamma Sigma in 2016 and now works full-time for the organization, I didn’t expect to run into many members that I knew. With the large number of new members BGS inducts globally every year, the odds that one of my former graduate school classmates would end up receiving the Outstanding Alumni Member award, seemed small. I’m not sure of the exact probability, but what I do know is that Julia van de Sandt, ...
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Blue Talks: conversations to spark positive change Beatriz Bagaces Serrano Jr. Manager, Global Recruitment IE University In 2022, IE University and LinkedIn decided to collaborate on an exciting new initiative, the Blue Talks. This series of conversations creates a space to foster positive change and features some of today’s most influential thought leaders. Focusing on topics such as leadership, ethics and technology, the series aims to address hot topics which concern the global workforce, but with a personal twist. The first talk in the series, “ Forces of Change ,” featured Allen Blue, VP of Product Management and Co-founder of ...
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Off Script: Mastering the Art of Improv Peter A. Margaritis, CPA, CSP Being a leader is challenging, and if you are currently a leader or on the path to becoming one, your expectation is to possess an arsenal of skills, critical thinking, and traits. Demonstrating leadership qualities at every level of an organization will set you apart. According to Forbes Magazine, some of the most powerful traits you need to be successful are a combination of vision, managing complexity, strategy, adaptability, and self-management. Leadership development is often focused on controlling a framework and narrative, solving business problems, ensuring ideal ...
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New world, new skills finance professionals need Barry Payne Director External Relations — Management Accountant AICPA-CIMA We live in a new world. Even before the coronavirus pandemic, digital transformation and new ways of working were significantly influencing the skills and capabilities finance teams needed to succeed. As the pandemic accelerated the need for these skillsets, people and businesses sought digital experiences and solutions more than ever. In the world of finance there is also a new mandate for finance professionals to become a true value partner to the business. In other words, spending more time looking through ...
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On November 30, 2021, Beta Gamma Sigma will join thousands of other nonprofit organizations around the world in celebrating Giving Tuesday. This is the day set aside each year that unleashes the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and their world. Giving Tuesday kicks off the giving season by inspiring people to give back in numerous ways. The impact of Giving Tuesday goes well beyond charitable donations, inspiring giving in all forms. Across the world, people will embrace this day as an opportunity to raise money for charities and nonprofits, volunteer for meaningful causes, encourage kindness, and celebrate radical generosity. ...
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Join BGS in welcoming our newest board members! In July 2021, Beta Gamma Sigma’s Board of Governors Chair Mary Gowan, announced the addition of six new board members. With the 17-member board now complete, Dean Gowan said, “These additions to the Board of Governors bring new diversity and a great deal of leadership experience to the board. Their involvement will enhance our ability to provide even more value to our student and alumni chapters.” When selecting the new board members, Dean Gowan wanted to ensure BGS had a diverse representation from not only across the US and internationally, but also in educators and corporate professionals. Dean Gowan ...
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How Beta Gamma Sigma Can Propel You to New Heights By Pablo A. Ruz Salmones CEO, Grupo Ya Quedó I was spending the summer doing coursework at Carnegie Mellon University when I received an email from Beta Gamma Sigma regarding their promotion for the Global Leadership Summit . I had little knowledge of it, since only a few months ago had I been enrolled in my chapter at Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (Mexico City), and completely unaware of how it could change my life. Yet, I always loved traveling, and something inside myself told me I should do it. I called my mother and let her know I wanted to go, and she encouraged me to do so. ...
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This BGS member-owned business has a positive message and the drive to succeed. When the pandemic reached Elon University in North Carolina in the spring of 2020, BGS members Stephen Hawthorne, Andrew Veillieux and their friend Sean Hess had to do what the rest of the world did: socially distance themselves. Like many people, they were unable to socialize in person—apart from weekly grocery store trips. “Isolation was very difficult. Every day was more or less the same, and adjusting to online class was a challenge. Staying at school in our off-campus house made it a bit more enjoyable as I had my roommates’ company to enjoy, but it was weird not ...
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5 ways your BGS membership can help with your career goals in 2021 (and beyond) I think we can all agree that 2020 didn’t go as planned—for any of us. If you had specific ideas for your career that got derailed this year, you’re not alone ; many of us had to shift our focus to other things just to survive 2020. Maybe you were laid off, or you had to put school or work on hold to care for a child or other family member. Maybe you’ve struggled to find a position because you graduated when the pandemic hit. Maybe you had to take a job that doesn’t align with your career goals—just to make ends meet. Setbacks happen ...
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Real World Leadership

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Real World Leadership I recently discovered that I own ninety percent of the 25 best leadership books of all time . But that shouldn’t surprise me, as I developed a passion for leadership in college, and I have been chasing down "the keys to successful leadership" ever since. And considering the vast number of books written on the subject of leadership, I naively entered the workforce expecting to be greeted by managers emulating the likes of Herb Kelleher or Alan Mulally . I quickly realized that my expectations didn’t align with my reality. After graduation, I joined a large private label food manufacturer as ...
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Job search going nowhere? Here are 10 ideas to try By Liz Ryan It’s beyond frustrating to sit in front of your computer pounding out job applications and then waiting for weeks to hear a word back from employers. After a few weeks of typing so much that your arms get sore without a single encouraging reply, you might start to think that your online job applications are going straight from your keyboard into the depths of nowhere! You are right. You cannot conduct a 2020 job search by applying for jobs online and waiting for employers to respond. You have to take matters into your own hands! Here are 10 ideas to try when your ...
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A message from the BGS CEO The protests in the United States over the past week are about expressing outrage for the killing of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer. They are about the killing of many more people before him in violence against black lives. Breonna Taylor. Ahmaud Arbery. Michael Brown. Jamar Clark. And countless others. Beta Gamma Sigma supports all who work for justice in honor of George Floyd and those lost before him due to racism. We must stand up for each other. Empathy is not enough. We can read the articles and watch the news and try to understand, but it can’t begin to convey the feelings of people who are scared ...
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Creating Your Career: Owning Your Story By S. Alyssa Preston, Ph.D. “You either walk inside your story and own it, or you stand outside your story and hustle for your worthiness.” --Brené Brown When Dr. Brené Brown gave her TED talk on “The Power of Vulnerability,” a steady rebellion ensued. People from all walks of life and professional backgrounds began to take stock. Investment portfolios and resumes were weighed. Authenticity buoyed to the surface as a pivotal evaluative measure of a person and their relationships. Priorities were challenged. Vulnerability became chic. People came unglued. The idea of being vulnerable ...
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How to master the virtual interview As technology has improved and more people are working remotely, virtual interviews are more prevalent than ever—and job hunters need to be prepared to complete them with the same level of professionalism and polish expected of any other job candidate in any other interview scenario. What is a virtual interview? There are two main types of virtual interviews: video calls and online prerecorded interviews. Video calls are live interviews done through conferencing programs like Zoom, Skype, or Google Hangouts. Prerecorded interviews are exactly what they sound like: they’re sessions where you’re given recorded ...
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