What Can I Expect?
From the time you apply till the time you graduate, you will be surrounded by leaders.
More than a series of lectures, the MBOE program is an ongoing exchange of ideas and insights. This powerful marketplace of ideas allows you to learn, challenge assumptions, rethink what success looks like and reorient your approach to solving problems. Our curriculum is designed to seamlessly integrate these various facets. So seamlessly, in fact, that students often find themselves immersed in a transformative learning experience where traditional boundaries between classes blur.
Student Experience
During on-campus sessions, concepts come to life through interactive discussions, hands-on simulations, company visits and immersive project work. By engaging directly with professionals from both academia and industry, students gain invaluable insights into real-world challenges and emerging trends. These interactive sessions foster a culture of innovation and critical thinking, empowering students to apply their knowledge in practical scenarios and develop effective solutions.
Sample Session Schedule
By traveling to select companies throughout the program, students experience firsthand how what you are learning is being put into practice through real-life case studies across industries. These site visits allow students to analyze operations and assess the value of ongoing process improvements in a variety of settings.
In between on-campus sessions, students typically dedicate 10 to 20 hours per week on course assignments and project work, including meeting with your assigned industry coach.
Curriculum Areas of Focus
Building Operational Excellence Systems
The academic foundation of the program is operational excellence systems, which include problem-solving systems, daily-management systems, strategic alignment and adaptability systems, and people-development systems.
Driving Decisions with Data
Analytics is more than a toolset; it is a mindset. It is a way of seeing, thinking and working with data that sharpens decision-making and reveals growth opportunities.
Speaking the Language of Business
While our primary focus is on operational excellence, we understand that true operational excellence leadership requires a comprehensive understanding of business fundamentals. That's why our curriculum not only emphasizes operational strategies but also incorporates essential business elements including finance and leadership.
Creating and Sustaining Change
While data and analytics have the potential to inform sound decision-making and reveal new opportunities, that power is diminished if it collides with “established ideas and mindsets.” The principles of change management can be applied to open eyes and minds to the new learning that analytics can provide.
Meet the MBOE Faculty
Charles Buchanan
Master Business Administration (MBA) from OSU (2016). Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology from Heidelberg University (2003).
Senior Lecturer, Management & Human Resources
Jurriaan de Jong
PhD, Operations Management, The Ohio State University, Fisher College of Business. MS and BS, Industrial Engineering & Management Science, Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands.
Assistant Professor, Management Sciences
Academic Director, MBOE
John Draper
PhD in Statistics, The Ohio State University. BS in Mathematics, Florida State University. BS in Statistics, Florida State University.
Clinical Assistant Professor
Whitney Mantonya
Whitney Mantonya is a Senior Lecturer in Operations and Business Analytics Department, where she teaches Operations, undergraduate electives and in the Master’s of Operational Excellence program.
Julia Sebastian
Julia Sebastian is an adjunct faculty member at The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business, where she teaches courses in Operations and Business Analytics through the Master of Business Operational Excellence program. She is also an executive coach and serves as Senior Vice President of Business Management & Marketing at IgniteData.
Jill Treece
MBOE, The Ohio State University. BSN, Case Western Reserve University.
Senior Lecturer
Bruce Watkins
Bruce Watkins is a lecturer at The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business, where he teaches courses in Operations and Business Analytics through the Master of Business Operational Excellence program. He is also an MBA coach for Fisher students and Board Chair of GBMP Consulting Group.
Chad Zipfel
Chad Zipfel is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Finance. He joined Fisher in 2018 with more than a decade of progressive finance leadership experience in the Corporate space. Prior to his appointment at Ohio State, Chad led the turnaround of The Oneida Group out of bankruptcy: rebuilding a new Finance organization, reducing inventory, enacting price increases, and refinancing the Company’s capital structure. Prior to that, Chad delivered top-rated results at L Brands and Procter & Gamble in diverse capacities and locations: ranging from FP&A, Corporate Finance, M&A, Innovation, Sales, and Supply Chain.
Questions? I'm here to help!
Hello! I’m Breanna Falb, your guide to the Master of Business Operational Excellence program at Ohio State. Whether you’re just starting your exploration or ready to apply, I’m here to provide personalized support. Please don’t hesitate to contact me — I look forward to helping you achieve your goals!