Danielle Eriksson
“I had been exposed to open banking and open data concepts, which, paired with my own background in finance and capital markets, led me to believe that my ability to harness and use the power of data would be paramount to my success as well as that of any companies where I might work.”
MSQM: Business Analytics
Industry:
Prior Education:
Tufts University
Economics, 2008
Reflections
The team approach at Fuqua exceeded my expectations. My team comes from different nationalities, locations, and industries as well as roles. This diversity in our makeup has proved to be extremely complementary, especially regarding the curriculum for our program. At every turn, when confronted with new material, it has been so rewarding to see different individuals on the team contribute and bring their own perspective and skillset to our learnings. Although the team experience at Fuqua is very rewarding, it is definitely more difficult at times versus individual learning. However, I believe that bringing a strong focus on teams into the learning environment is more truly representative of what managers and strategic decision-makers face under real world circumstances.
Before Fuqua
I am a product manager at a Fintech that builds digital banking experiences for Financial Institutions. Specifically, I am a part of our InnovationTeam focused on API Banking and Data Intelligence tasked with discovering and building new, cutting edge technology and solutions for our customer base.
After Fuqua
I plan to leverage my quantitative and leadership skills honed during the MSQM: BA program to make an impact in any organization with which I am associated. Based on the knowledge and experience gained from this program, I will be able to use data to face problems from a strategic, managerial perspective and make better-informed high-impact business decisions.
How I've Applied Program Learnings to My Career
There have been so many times already - after only two terms in the program - where I’ve been able to directly apply what I am learning to my current role. This includes the Managerial Economics course, specifically regarding pricing and sensitivity analysis; the Programming course, providing context about coding and the data structure underpinning APIs; as well as Probability and Statistics related to my company’s burgeoning data strategy, which my team oversees.
The most specific example I can give was from the Business Fundamentals: Marketing and Strategy
Course. In this course we reviewed the various methods and frameworks for considering strategic decisions, starting at a Macroeconomic level and leading to Microeconomics, industry, and firm-specific elements. This course continues to help me consider the positioning of my current firm within its own competitive environment as well as in the analysis I undergo on a weekly basis as part of the product organization. This includes evaluating the market, analyzing problems, determining pricing models, and ultimately the crafting of a high-level vision, guiding our product strategy.
MSQM:HA students "meet" in Durham without leaving home
Global Executive MBA
Top Areas of Career Focus
Financial Services (20%)
Consulting (5%)
Sales/Business Development (5%)
Energy/Chemical/Gas (9%)
Marketing/PR/Advertising (6%)
Consumer Goods (3%)
Average Age
Average Work Experience
Countries Represented
Women
Non-US Citizenship
Master of Management Studies: Duke Kunshan University
Undergraduate Majors
Business/Accounting (51%)
Economics (22%)
Liberal Arts (14%)
Engineering/Natural Sciences (10%)
Other (4%)
Average Age
Average Work Experience
Countries Represented
Women
Non-US Citizenship
Master of Management Studies: Foundations of Business
Undergraduate Majors
Liberal Arts (33%)
Business/Accounting (24%)
Engineering/Natural Sciences (18%)
Economics (17%)
Other (8%)
Average Age
Average Work Experience
Countries Represented
Women
Non-US Citizenship
Weekend Executive MBA
Top Areas of Career Focus
IT (16%)
Financial Services (14%)
Health Care/Health Services (10%)
Manufacturing/Operations (9%)
Sales/Business Development (8%)
Consulting (8%)