Alumni Spotlight – Chris Crump – Class of 1991

Like most BHP students, I started my career with a desire to achieve as much as possible.  A 1991 BHP graduate, I started at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) in 1992 after getting my MBA at McCombs.  I worked at Accenture for 22 years, 12 as a partner in Accenture’s Strategy practice.  Focusing on organization change, leadership, and employee engagement, I worked on some of Accenture’s largest global accounts at places like Exxon, Chevron, Cargill, and DuPont.  Along the way, I enjoyed exciting work; fantastic teams; and the opportunity to be on the inside of some of the biggest companies in the world.  I also earned 4 million airline miles, and though that sounds great, the travel began to take a toll on my health and well being.

Time for a Change

The plan was never 22 years.  Like most new consultants, I thought 2-3 years of experience across industries would give me a good idea on what I wanted to do next.  As it turned out, I was too busy to figure out what to do after consulting.  After preaching change management to my clients for two decades, it became clear that I needed to embrace change in my own life.  So I walked away from consulting to start a sabbatical, and I did so without a plan!

So, Now What?

On March 12, 2014, I was unemployed for the first time since the Reagan Administration.  Not surprisingly, I was a bit lost on what to do next.  There was no new promotion to go after, no new client to win over, no important executive to network with.  With none of the usual demands on my time. I was able to spend more time with my family and friends and to nurture some new interests.

When I left Accenture, my son was a 7th grader.  After having missed way too many teacher conferences and school events due to business travel, I fully embraced being a stay-at-home dad.  Making breakfast every morning, and cooking with my son in the evenings are memories that will stay with me forever.  Even though he is about to be a high school junior, I am still the first 30 minutes of conversation after school each day.  It is nice to be available at 3:30!

All this is great, but I still needed to figure out what to do with my time and energy.  I considered any number of possibilities, from writing to teaching to opening my own coffee shop.  As nothing seemed quite right, I decided to spend my time learning instead of stressing on what’s next (didn’t I leave work to avoid stress in the first place?).

First, I dusted off the French textbook from college and committed to learning a second language.  Three years later, I am largely fluent, devouring French newspapers, movies, and novels.  Despite all my business travel, I had rarely traveled internationally for leisure.  With my new found language skills in tow, that quickly changed.  With time for longer trips abroad (yes, I backpacked, no I did not stay at a youth hostel), I gained a deeper appreciation and study of European history, politics, art, and architecture.  No longer worried about the next client, I can now be found tweeting on the French election instead.  I have enjoyed the process of learning French so much, that I have recently began learning German as well.

The break from work also gave me more time to reconnect with the University.  Now serving on the BHP Advisory Board, I enjoy the time I have spent talking to students and other alumni.  It has served as a good reminder about how much I care about the University and how nice it is to connect to today’s BHP students.  They are truly an impressive group of young people.

Second Act

Still in my forties with lots of energy, I have started a more active search for what’s next.  Freed from concerns about the next promotion or the next deal, I am looking at opportunities differently  than I did in my prior life.  One of my favorite things about Accenture was working on globally diverse teams.  Of all the  I miss from my prior career, what I miss most is the opportunity to work with smart people from other countries, learning how they do things and what they value.

Given my preference for international work, and my new-found language skills, I have begun the process of networking in Europe with the goal of finding meaningful work there.  Specifically would like to apply what I learned in the business world to education, teaching, and preparing future leaders.  I’m not sure yet if that will lead me to a think tank in Paris, a classroom in Zurich, or the UN in Geneva, but, as I now live my life free of plans and expectations, I am happy to patiently wait to see what comes my way.

Like many BHP graduates, I left school looking to always have a plan and to be in control.  Surprisingly, I have found that giving up control can actually lead to a more fulfilling life. I know not everyone can take multiple years off from work, but for those that can even take a short sabbatical, I highly recommend it – you never know where you may end up!

Sophomores Shine in 151H Case Competition

This past Friday, every BHP sophomore competed in the BA151 Sophomore Lyceum Case Competition. The case, presented by Accenture, focused on KIPP Austin and identifying strategies that would increase persistence rates in post-secondary institutions for their students. Out of 30 teams, five advanced to the final round. Each team took a very different approach to solving the problem, and the judges were impressed with the level of thought that went into the cases. The final round was judged by Anthony Salerno, Director of the KIPP Through College Program (KTC); Robert Prentice, BHP Faculty Director; and three Accenture employees – Amit Patel, Jacob Spangler and Casey Sherley.

In the end, first place went to Muhammad Ghauri, Nazifa Mim, Jiaying Han and Vinesh Kovelamudi. Second place went to Anna Wang, Jessica Breckenridge, Vamshi Gujju and Morgan Moulckers. Third place went to Jonathan Burstain, Reagan Stuart, James Rodriguez and Elliot Kim.  Yesha Shah, Sarth Raj, Matthew Wolf, Erika Rodrigues, Aasim Maknojia, Hank Golman, Ashley Chen, and James Abbott also made it to the final round, but did not place.

Accenture will be packaging recommendations from all of the cases to present to  KIPP Austin. The names of the winning team members will be etched onto a plaque, which lives on permanent display in the BHP office. Congratulations to all of these students and special thanks to Accenture for providing us with such a great case and tremendous support for the competition this year!

First Place Team - Muhammad Ghauri, Nazifa Mim, Jiaying Han and Vinesh Kovelamudi

First Place Team – Muhammad Ghauri, Nazifa Mim, Jiaying Han and Vinesh Kovelamudi

Second Place Team - Anna Wang, Vamshi Gujju, Morgan Moulckers and Jessica Breckenridge.

Second Place Team – Anna Wang, Vamshi Gujju, Morgan Moulckers and Jessica Breckenridge.

Alumni Spotlight: John Ward, Class of 1988 – Accenture Managing Director

JohnWardJohn Ward, BHP ’88, is a Managing Director at Accenture .  His current role is Commercial Director for one of Accenture’s largest accounts and the Lead for other Commercial Directors in Accenture’s Communications, Media & Technology business unit in North America. John has been with Accenture for 15 years and, although he has had multiple opportunities to take other roles outside of Accenture, one of the primary reasons he has stayed is because of the company culture. Accenture is a BHP corporate partner and has several upcoming opportunities for BHP students. Applications for summer internships are due by October 8 and the Accenture Leadership Series application will open early next semester.

Take me through your career path leading up to working at Accenture.

When I graduated from UT, I knew I didn’t want to be an accountant or auditor, but I knew that two years at an accounting firm would help me understand accounting as the language of business, so I accepted a position with Arthur Andersen. I spent two years at Arthur Andersen in Dallas. Arthur Andersen met all of my expectations and I still have relationships that I formed there.  I knew I wanted to go to a top-tier grad school, so eight months after marrying my college girlfriend we loaded up the moving truck and relocated to Philadelphia to attend the Wharton School of Business.

After Wharton, my wife and I wanted to move back to Texas, so I took a job in Finance and Corporate Development at American Airlines in Dallas.  After four years of the airline business, I learned that it was a very difficult business for management to influence. I decided I wanted to be in a role where I could have more control and influence over the business, so I moved to a CFO role for a couple of different start-ups, one of which was a private equity investment fund. When a head hunter called about a role as the Portfolio Manager of Andersen Consulting’s venture capital fund, I couldn’t say no. In a lot of ways it was like going home because Arthur Andersen/Andersen Consulting, which eventually became Accenture, employed the same kind of people, so it was really easy for me to go back there.

I have been here for 15 years. I started as a portfolio manager, but after we went public in 2001, it was in 2002 that our shareholder came to us and told us we needed to sell the venture portfolio, which I was tasked with.  After selling the portfolio, I had to make a decision as to whether to leave Accenture and stay in the investment world or remain at Accenture. I chose to stay because of the great corporate culture at Accenture.

After coming into Accenture, how did your role evolve?

After I sold the venture portfolio, the CFO asked me to stick around and said he would figure out something for me to do. The first thing he had me do was figure out how to manage compensation and benefits around the globe. I chartered Accenture’s first global compensation and benefits committee. I worked with HR to form a comp and benefits committee chaired by the COO at the time. We built processes around compensation and benefits for all 52 countries we were in. In that role, I met leaders in our business around the world and learned the business. It was a great introduction to Accenture as a whole.

The next big move was to move closer to clients, so I moved to the client I am on now, taking on more responsibility within that account over time. Three years ago, I was asked to lead the other commercial directors in our business unit, Communications, Media and Technology, for other clients.

You moved from working in industry to start-up to private equity. Do you feel your breadth of experience prepared you well for the management role you are in now.

As Commercial Director, I am the COO of Accenture’s relationship with one of its largest clients. In that role, I manage a finance team, a legal team, an HR team, a sales operations team and a business operations team. All of my experience with HR, legal, accounting, finance, strategy, etc. prepared me for this role.

What have you enjoyed the most and what is most challenging?

I enjoy the client interaction and helping my client achieve its objectives.  I actually get energy from meeting with my clients.    The most challenging part of the COO role is that I am often handed the most difficult problems that require tough client discussions, so that’s tricky, but I enjoy it. Those client bumps in the road are the biggest challenges and the most rewarding. My client’s problems become my problems and sometimes those discussions can get pretty challenging. When you deal with a large client, they expect big things and sometimes those are difficult discussions. My job is to remain unconditionally constructive and continue to find constructive outcomes. It helps to put yourself in your client’s shoes and understand the position they are coming from.

What do you enjoy most about working for Accenture?

The people and the corporate culture. We have incredible ethics. We hire good people and we treat them well. Not every company has the strong culture we have. We don’t mess around in the way we conduct ourselves. We have six core values which are: stewardship, best people, client value creation, one global network, respect for individual and integrity. These core values truly represents who we are. I see it day in and day out and people who don’t adhere to those values don’t last very long.

How did you feel BHP prepared you for the MBA curriculum at Wharton and what did you gain from earning your MBA?

I was fully prepared, so much so that I was asked to be a teaching assistant for two classes, which was great because it helped me pay for some of my grad school. I felt fully qualified to be there and BHP was really the ramp-up for that.

If a current BHP student is considering getting an MBA in the future, I recommend that they put it on the back burner for a while.  An MBA isn’t something I would rush.  Most importantly, you should have significant work experience before going to get your MBA. The benefits of getting an MBA are really more around the people you meet and using the curriculum to take it all to the next level. Much of the Business Honors Program is effectively a mini-MBA. .  Take your BHP degree as far as you can in your career without getting the MBA, then go get it when you need something more or different. Don’t go get it straight out of BHP.  Coming out of BHP, I wouldn’t do the MBA unless it is from a top-tier program. I knew I didn’t want to be an accountant, I wanted to be something different, so I felt I needed to go get my MBA.

Once you head down the MBA path, one piece of advice I wish I had received is not to place out of classes. You will most likely have the opportunity to place out of “core” classes in an MBA program and I would argue against that. If you place out of some of those core classes, you lose the opportunity to develop those relationships with your classmates.

What advice do you have for BHP graduates who are just starting their careers?

Choose an employer where you respect the people and the product or service. I call it the “take home to dinner” test. Find a culture of people you are comfortable with. Not just were they are nice or successful, but are they people you really want to associate with and take home to dinner with your family. Find a challenging industry/role where you can add value, grow your skills and use what you learned in BHP. Don’t be afraid to take risks. It is important to stay somewhere for a couple of years at least, but be open to trying new roles that aren’t in your comfort zone and stretch yourself. Also, establish a reputation of always doing a good job and being excellent at what you do. At the same time, keep some work life balance and maintain activities and interests outside of the company.

Corporate Partner Spotlight: Accenture

Company Partner Spotlight: Accenture

We are pleased to welcome Accenture on board as a BHP corporate partner this year. Accenture is one of the world’s leading organizations providing management consulting, technology and outsourcing services. Sophomores and juniors interested in Accenture will have the chance to visit with Accenture representatives over dinner on October 22. We asked some of our recent BHP graduates working for Accenture to share more about their experiences working for the company, as well as offer advice to current students.

Accenture - HenryName: Henry Shi

Position: Senior Analyst, Resources (Houston office)

Grad Year and Majors: BHP/MPA 2013

Describe your specific analyst role (what types of projects are you working on?): I’m currently working on a $20 billion joint venture to build 26 chemical plants in Saudi Arabia as the communications lead role where I coordinate information across the company. I will actually be travelling to Saudi Arabia later this month to help facilitate implementation operations on the ground. There are a lot of moving parts and shifting timelines, but it is fun and very challenging to keep ahead of potential problem areas and navigate in all the uncertainty.

What do you most enjoy about working for Accenture? The resources and opportunities Accenture offers with almost 300,000 employees worldwide is incredible. There are many different types of projects to work on in the consulting sphere, whether that’s systems implementation, strategy, process improvement, outsourcing, etc. You name it, we have it. Accenture reminds me of UT in that sense, both are large organizations with vast resources at their disposal but also home to phenomenal people and a sense of community (having 500+ Longhorn alums also helps).

Important skills for an Accenture employee to have are: The ability to learn fast and pay attention to the details as well as to articulate problems and solutions clearly.

What unique opportunities exist for an Accenture employee, or what opportunities have you personally experienced? If you earn the trust of your project team, you’ll be given duties and responsibilities to lead at a very early stage. In my first month, I was leading weekly meetings with the CIO of a Fortune 500 company and giving input and I’ve heard similar stories from my peers.  That doesn’t happen everywhere so make the best of those opportunities that come along.

Advice for current students: Get out of the classroom and explore. Activities outside the classroom help broaden horizons and can make you a much more well-rounded candidate. Being well-rounded will always, always help you in your career.

 

Accenture - PranithaName: Pranitha Patil

Position: Analyst, Strategy (Chicago office)

Grad Year and Majors: 2014, Finance

Describe your specific analyst role (what types of projects are you working on?): In my first year, I’ve had the opportunity to work on one role so far in the Health & Public Service industry. I’m a category lead for a healthcare provider, and am conducting strategic sourcing and procurement work. Over the next 6-8 months, I am in charge of identifying potential non-value add services where ROI doesn’t justify spend for a specific set of vendors that provide Health and Disease Management. Following the identification, I will be working on a fact-based negotiation strategy to either consolidate suppliers or term services in order to attain cost savings for the client. My entire team is made up of seven people, and we each manage our own categories.

What do you most enjoy about working for Accenture? As a previous summer intern, returning back to Accenture made me realize why I wanted to come back in the first place. As cliché and repetitive as it may sound, the people and culture are the reason to stay. Since day one, my team members, my mentors, and my counselor have shown their interest in my progress, success, and happiness.

Important skills for an Accenture employee to have are: Adapt. Be curious.

What unique opportunities exist for an Accenture employee, or what opportunities have you personally experienced?

Whether it is non-profit work or international interest, Accenture provides venues for you to explore industries in all areas. The ADP (Accenture Development Program) collaborates with organization work in the international development sector by delivering innovative solutions to the way people work and live. Additionally, there are always opportunities to explore interests outside of work with Accenture people, whether that’s career related or personal. I have personally been involved with Healthcare 2020 which is a new global community of healthcare strategists focused on cutting-edge healthcare innovation trends.

Advice for current students: In order to find a career you enjoy after college, explore all possibilities. If you find yourself interested in something, seek venues to explore and put yourself out there. These are four (or five) years of learning that you aren’t going to get back, so make the most of your time on campus to find out what you truly find interesting and enjoyable.

 

Accenture - JacobName: Jacob Spangler

Position: Interned in Houston office, will be starting full-time in 2015)

Grad Year: 2015

What projects did you work on in your internship?

Over the summer, I interned with the management consulting group in Accenture. As an MC Summer Analyst, I had the opportunity to work in both the resources and consumer products spaces. With my resources client, I helped integrate a singular instance of Oracle into a large chemicals company that was previously running on 13 separate systems nationwide. With the products client, I helped put together a pitch for ways in which our company could help our client cut costs on its energy management practices. Both were very different, and yet, very rewarding. I was able to see the work Accenture does in both its technology and strategy arms.

What did you enjoy most about your internship?

I heard every single consulting company I interacted with over my four years tell me that the best thing about their firm is the people. And until I experienced an internship with Accenture myself, I didn’t like that answer. But now I get it. To me, It’s the kind of people I worked with: subtly brilliant, yet completely relaxed and easygoing at the same time. I was challenged daily by my peers and my managers, but didn’t for a second enjoy my learning and growth opportunities. I was very fortunate to work with such great people for a few months, and am very much looking to going back!

What are you most looking forward to about starting full-time?

Part of the “people” part of Accenture are the resource groups that make up communities within the company. I’m really excited about the potential of making new friends in specific groups that make me who I am, like the Men’s Group or the Interfaith Group. The idea of forming close bonds with coworkers gets me excited about going to work every day, and allows me the ability to make all kinds of contacts, making a big company feel small

 

Accenture - AveryName: Avery Beach

Position: Senior Analyst, Products (Dallas office)

Grad Year: BHP/Finance 2013

Describe your specific analyst role. I have worked in two different industries – Pharmaceuticals and Property & Casualty Insurance. Within these industries I have been part of a marketing process improvement project, a training deployment, and an operating model transformation.

What do you most enjoy about working for Accenture? I love the fast-paced work and ability to impact key decisions within the client organization. Every week brings a new task or assignment; my roles are continually evolving as I grow and learn more about my clients.

Important skills for an Accenture employee to have are: An executive presence – the ability to confidently voice your opinion and articulate the benefits and value of your work.

What unique opportunities exist for an Accenture employee, or what opportunities have you personally experienced? The great thing about Accenture is that there are so many learning opportunities. Once you find an industry or type of work you are passionate about, there is an endless possibility of training resources, support from leadership, and practical application through project experience for you to develop a specialty in that area.

Advice for current students: Network! Make the effort to speak up and participate in class discussions. Learning to carefully craft and articulate a point of view or opinion is so important and the classroom setting is a great place to start refining that skill set.