Online Business Blog

People who learn about financial concepts can make more informed financial decisions at work and home. Read on to learn about five principles of finance and discover how the William & Mary Online MS in Finance can prepare you for the challenges you’ll face as a financial manager or C-suite leader in today’s evolving business landscape.

Getting an MBA is an achievement that can lead to great things for your career, but mastering the material and finishing assignments requires both hard work and time. But exactly how long it takes to get an MBA depends on a number of factors. Read more here.

Traditional economic theories assume that people act rationally when making financial decisions. So, what is behavioral finance?

If you’re wondering how to start a career in marketing, there are some concrete steps you can take to make the transition smoother. Keep reading for a step-by-step guide to becoming a marketing professional.

Every day, over 338 million terabytes of data are created as people engage with the internet for business and personal use.1 Data analysts and other data professionals can leverage this data to gather business insights and drive business decisions. However, data-driven insights are only as good as the data behind them.

A sense of belonging is very important to us as humans. It’s so important that it’s included as one of the five levels on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs along with survival essentials like food, water, shelter and safety. It should be no surprise, then, that it is also important to cultivate belonging at work.

During each month of 2022, an average of four million U.S. workers quit their jobs. Even as more layoffs are being seen in early 2023, employers can benefit from understanding the mindset of workers coming out of the pandemic. Companies that want to retain high performers need to design jobs and work environments that offer better value.

It’s fairly obvious when someone isn’t actively listening to you. When telling a story, asking a question or giving instructions, your words fall flat. The person on the receiving end isn’t engaging, is doing something else entirely or is visibility checked-out of the conversation. This has an expanded set of implications in work environments, not just on productivity and quality, but on morale, culture and team connection.

Real estate finance is a branch of finance that focuses on how people purchase real estate, whether that be a home, an office building or a plot of land. This area of finance involves the analysis, planning and management of financial resources related to real estate, commercial loans and properties.

In the world of sports, we honor and recognize the most valuable players. If a team wins a national championship, players take home a trophy, earn positive media coverage about their achievements and are celebrated with parades. In the world of work, not so much.

Organizations are always changing and evolving. What worked for companies a century ago likely won’t work in the present day. One example of an organizational change for the modern era is the addition of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.

The future of digital strategy belongs to those who know how to use these sophisticated tools to gain valuable marketing insights. Let's take a deep dive into data analytics in digital marketing.

Today’s world involves an enormous amount of digital data. By the end of 2021, internet users were creating 2.5 billion gigabytes of data daily. It’s estimated that by 2025, more than 200 zettabytes of data will live in the cloud.

The Benefits of Earning a Master's in Business Analytics When it comes to choosing to attend graduate school, prospective students often look for the answer to one question above all others: Is this degree worth it? Often, prospective graduate students are searching out the certifications to...

If you’re thinking about earning an MBA to advance your career, you may be wondering what your MBA specialization should be. What are the highest-paying MBA concentrations, and what type of work will you be doing in those specialized fields?

Only 36% of employees report feeling engaged with their work and workplace. Pair this with the recent trend of “quiet quitting,” and this statistic should cause some alarm for managers, leaders and business owners, as engagement has a considerable impact on morale, productivity and retention.

In the 21st century, “wicked problems” appear at every turn. Wicked problems, as defined by design theorist Horst W. J. Rittel and city planning professor Melvin M. Webber in the 1970s, are complex social or cultural problems with an unknown number of potential solutions.

If you’re thinking about earning an MBA to advance your career in business or finance, you may be wondering about the career paths available to MBA graduates and how they differ. Private equity and management consulting are two areas in which you could be highly successful upon earning your MBA, but which career path is right for you?

A Master of Accounting (MAcc) is a versatile and marketable degree that can open doors to various lucrative careers, and it’s often a requirement for high-level financial leadership positions in many industries.

Corporate finance is a branch of finance that focuses on how corporations approach capital structuring, funding sources, investments, and accounting decisions. Its primary goal is to maximize shareholder value while striking a balance between risk and profitability.

Financial statements are documents that convey a company’s business activities and financial performance. As the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) succinctly put it, “They show you where a company’s money came from, where it went, and where it is now.”

A Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree can drastically increase your earning and career potential. A quick scan through open business positions reveals that an MBA is frequently listed as an essential requirement...

There's no question that earning an MBA is challenging. The good news is that you aren’t alone when it comes to tackling the challenges of business school. Not only are your fellow students facing many of the same issues, but you also have access to a great deal of support and resources to help yo...

If you’re currently working in the financial sector, you may be looking to advance and take your career to a new level. But you don’t want to have to put your career on hold and give up your personal life to pursue an advanced degree.

Ahh, the MBA: the gold-standard credential of business expertise, offering the promise of better jobs, higher salaries and enviable careers. It holds such appeal that, according to Poets&Quants, an increasing number of graduate students are choosing to pursue the degree online “because they don’t have to give up their jobs and lose their income” while adding this feather to their caps.

What’s the best way to move ahead and continue getting ahead? While some people might quickly choose to pursue an MBA, there are many strong, professionally beneficial reasons to earn a specialized finance degree, instead.

William & Mary’s Raymond A. Mason School of Business is launching an Online Master of Accounting (MAcc) program.

As a graduate student, you’re going to be fielding a lot of advice. It starts before you enter the program—with application tips and strategies for how to craft the perfect essay—and it carries right on through to graduation. Graduate school interview preparation, in particular, is a topic prospective students sh...

Once you've completed your admissions essay for the Online MSBA, take some time to explore the technical skills and business acumen you'll build in preparation for your future as a data scientist, storyteller and strategist.

Sometimes the hardest thing an emerging and even established business professional can do is sell themselves. Whether the struggle stems from humility or self-doubt, nothing embodies this challenge greater than the resume, that one-page summary of your years of life lessons and work experience. Be...

Graduating from a master’s program is always an impressive and praise-worthy feat. But the class of 2022 reached a particularly momentous milestone as their numbers included the 500th recipient of an MSBA degree from William & Mary’s Raymond A. Mason School of Business.

Meet Ted Hallum, MSBA ’20. This U.S. Army veteran and Senior Defense Machine Learning Engineer for Octo Consulting Group hosts The Data Canteen—a podcast that grew out of the Veterans in Data Science & Machine Learning (VDSML) community, which he founded.

Meet Cherise M. Newsome, MBA ‘23 Candidate. Named one of the “Top Forty Under 40” by the Virginia Pilot in October 2021, she’s Vice President for Communications and Marketing at Hampton Roads Community Foundation.

In recent years, business schools have seen increased interest in specialized master’s degree programs, even as applications and enrollments in full-time MBA programs have declined somewhat. One of the four most popular business master’s degrees offered today by business schools attempting to meet this shifting demand is a master’s in marketing.

You’ve made up your mind: To launch yourself on the path to a fulfilling career in one of the most dynamic and creatively invigorating areas of the business landscape, you’ve decided that you’re going to pursue a master of science in marketing. Congratulations!

It can be a mixed blessing to have multiple interests and talents: You face the opportunity—and responsibility—of making complex, interesting choices. In looking for a graduate program that best fits your unique combination of skill, curiosity and achievement, you owe it to yourself to get a clear picture of what each program offers and how it can shape your future.

The pursuit of a graduate degree requires enormous determination and persistence. By the time you’re considering which MBA program to choose, you’ve already become an academic achiever and, very likely, a successful professional. It would be dreadful if the financial costs of a quality MBA program derailed your advancement and success. They don’t have to.

The Online MBA program at William & Mary's Raymond A. Mason School of Business has earned the No. 11 ranking in the Poets & Quants Best Online MBA Programs of 2022, rising eight spots from last year's ranking.

Designed for students aspiring to advance into positions of management, entrepreneurship or executive leadership, Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs typically take an analytical approach to management.

These days, the quantity of data that humans collect is so vast that it would be impossible to sort through it manually. To help us make sense of all the information available, data scientists have developed powerful data mining software that effortlessly sorts facts using a variety of complex methods.

You enjoy working with numbers and conquering complex challenges, and you’re interested in pursuing a high-level career in finance … but you have a full-time job, and the thought of adding graduate school to your schedule is daunting.

What are your principles? What constitutes, as Merriam-Webster defines it, the “comprehensive and fundamental law, doctrine, or assumption” or the “rule or code of conduct” by which you choose to live and interact with other people?

Anyone thinking about earning a master’s degree has a lot of decisions to make. One of the first questions you need to answer is what type of degree you plan to earn.

In a global business economy, marketing offers some of the most diverse career opportunities available. It’s a rapidly growing industry, with companies all over the world seeking top marketing talent to help sell products and services to key audiences.

Professional aspirations and the drive to achieve are powerful motivators when you choose to pursue an online master’s degree in marketing. As you weigh the many factors that influence your choice of program, tuition will surely be an element to consider.

We live in a world with seemingly endless amounts of data: demographics, socioeconomic information, buying patterns and preferences, social media interactions and more. With all of that information churning around, businesses must be able to derive meaning from it and use it to move forward strategically.

When you think of pursuing an MBA, there are many criteria to take into account. You need to find a program offering the degree that fits your goals, delivering the quality you expect, in the format and on the schedule that works with the rest of your time commitments.

It can be hard to find the right MBA program. In a world full of them, each one strives to earn the confidence—and tuition dollars—of new applicants. It’s often a challenge to see past the promotional materials to the details of each program’s unique traits.

Accreditation by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) is an elite honor bestowed upon fewer than 5% of business schools worldwide. Choosing an AACSB-accredited online MBA program ensures that you'll study at a premium-quality institution where you’ll be taught by world-class faculty.

You have excelled in your education and may be some years into your career. Graduate school beckons as the next right step in your advancement, but how do you know which degree to pursue? What’s the difference between a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and all the other master’s degrees out there?

The choice to pursue an MBA is one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make. Earning your degree will require rigorous effort and could yield lifelong rewards. An MBA program helps you build business leadership skills and a professional network. It can prepare you for an executive career in business, finance, marketing, data science and a range of other fields.

With the rapid rise in data availability over the past decade, the amount of data processed by modern businesses has far surpassed the resources offered by traditional databases. With the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, complex data parsing and analysis are now common functions of modern businesses.

Gone are the days of sifting through alphabetized folders in clunky filing cabinets looking for a missing document. Modern businesses process thousands of gigabytes of data every day, and doing so in a way that maximizes the data’s value requires computerized analysis with lightning-fast organizational systems.

As more leaders prioritize technologies such as machine learning (ML) and big data, they increasingly turn to predictive analytics for decision-making. By developing predictions, organizations are better able to gain a competitive advantage and use resources effectively.

The average starting salary for MBA grads is more than $20,000 higher than those with a bachelor’s degree.1 MBAs have long been known to not only improve earning potential but help boost professionals’ business acumen—an...

Management skills are a principal focus of any MBA program.¹ An MBA is designed to enhance your professional development and prepare you to be a C-level executive. However, as you acquire management skills, you also learn many other har...

Greg Roland, a real estate consultant who had been considering a pivot into marketing for some time, knew he needed to find a master’s degree program that could equip him with the leading-edge digital marketing skills tha...

Among the numerous prerequisites to applying for your MBA, work experience can be one of the most challenging to define. Whereas GMAT scores are easily quantifiable and your undergraduate GPA is likely...

Corporate leaders once could say with confidence that they relied on “gut feeling” or their own past experience to make decisions. But those pronouncements won’t fly in most boardrooms today. Organizations of all kinds now depend on data analytics—and on the analysts who use data to provide key in...

Some events in life are truly life changing. Marriage. Children. Purchasing your first home. Starting your own business. But getting an MBA can be just as transformative—and might even help you achieve some of your other life-changing goals. While we can’t predict the future, we can pinpoint 10 wa...

As business evolves to rely ever more heavily on the abundant data generated by our digital world, statistician roles are becoming increasingly important—and increasingly in demand. U.S. News and World Report ranks statistician as the No. 1 Best Business Job for its impressive combination of a hig...

For Cheryl Ngo and Jamar Jenkins, earning an Online Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) has been about much more than the code—though they’ve both walked away with strong programming skill sets that include R, Python, SQL and Tableau. Their time in William & Mary’s Online MSBA program...

Applying to business school can be a daunting undertaking. With the host of great options that are available and the subtle but crucial differences between them, it’s easy to be apprehensive about whether you’re making the right choice for you and your career. We’re here to help ease your anxiety...

While the requirements for MBA program admission may vary from university to university, some standards are quite common. An MBA is a serious undertaking, and most top-tier universities want to assess how prepared their potential students are for the rigors of the coursework, whether they will be...

While it can be hard to find a moment to unwind as you’re pursuing your MBA, podcasts offer a great opportunity for you to relax and stimulate your mind at the same time. But with so many outstanding options out there, it can be difficult to find the right kind of podcast that is just as relevant...

At the Raymond A. Mason School of Business, we've long known the value of the revolutionary business education we offer to working professionals through our Online MBA program. And now, we're thrilled to report that some of the most valued adjudicators of business education are starting to take...

Don’t let the name fool you: Python programming isn’t something to be feared. It’s a powerful tool that propels data-driven businesses today, and adding it to your skill set can help launch you on a lucrative new career path. We’ve put together this primer on Python to help you learn exactly wha...

Did you know William & Mary is the second-oldest institution for higher education in the United States? The same values that propelled innovation at W&M all the way back at the time of our founding in 1693 drive our Online MBA program today. Our Online MBA program is a perfect example of marryin...

In 2019, it is fairly uncontroversial to argue that one of a company’s most significant assets is its data. Whether this refers to data collected from market research, through internal reporting, directly from consumers or via any other means, the strength, reliability and security of data is vita...

The Raymond A. Mason School of Business at William & Mary takes great pride in offering an Online MBA education that is truly unique. Rooted in centuries of tradition but looking forward toward the future of business, this program makes use of the specific capabilities and conveniences of online edu...

Conflict in the workplace can arise from many sources, from philosophically grounded differences of opinion regarding business strategy to simple clashes between strong personalities. Conflict itself is not always a bad thing: Important business decisions are often made as a result of competing id...

No matter what industry you work in or what level you're at in your career, you could benefit from the guidance of a professional mentor. Mentorship is a calling for a certain kind of talented business veteran who understands that passing down the lessons they have learned through years of experience...

Over the past decade, social media use has become increasingly ubiquitous, with 72 percent of Americans indicating that they are active on at least one social media platform.1 In this connected environment—and particularly since the rise of smartphones has placed these platforms literally at our...

It has been two decades since the publication of the first paper cataloged in the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) digital library to use the term "big data," and it feels as though the future of data analytics has been positioned since at least that time as the driving force behind the f...

No matter how far you may climb up the corporate ladder, meetings will continue to be a part of your professional life, and a keen sense of meeting etiquette will continue to be a crucial element of your interpersonal skill set. While some of the same rules that guide your behavior in meetings at...

In late May 2019, Amazon posted the first job openings for positions at its new Northern Virginia offices. The company expects to staff up to as many as 400 jobs by the end of 2019 in the region that will soon be home to its "HQ2," and its initial hires are expected to help them staff that new fac...

Business school accreditation is a valuable benchmark for determining the quality of your graduate business education. One of the key factors to consider when evaluating your business school options is the specific organization responsible for conferring accreditation on your program or institutio...

Getting an MBA is a significant investment on several levels. Aside from the obvious cost of MBA tuition, pursuing an advanced degree also requires serious investments of time and personal energy. These investments become even more challenging to make if you plan to continue working full time whil...

It should be no surprise that jobs for MBA graduates abound. In fact, 85 percent of U.S. companies indicate they plan to hire MBA graduates in the near term, as do 96 percent of Fortune Global 100 companies. Getting an MBA can be your pathway to a number of lucrative and rewarding roles, in a vari...

To get the most out of an MBA, it helps to choose a top business school with a great reputation and connections.1 The best schools want bright, dedicated students with a history of working hard. A high GPA (especially in business-related classes) is one indication that you've got what it takes t...

Getting your MBA isn’t just about networking. It’s a holistic experience that will prepare you for a rewarding future in business, and you should take steps to ensure your academic success. Follow these tips to make sure that you complete your MBA experience with a strong sense of your strengths, a...

The workplace has been changing over time. This generational change—along with evolving job markets—has brought new faces to different fields, most noticeably in analytics jobs. The relatively recent push for women to join historically male-dominated STEM fields...

If you aspire to earn a business leadership role, whether in general management or data analytics, choosing William & Mary’s Raymond A. Mason School of Business for your Online MBA or Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) is a wise first step. At William & Mary, you’ll receive world-c...

Business analytics can be defined as the use of analytics to guide business actions or business decisions; it is an action-driven approach to a well-defined problem that results in a decision to be made based on analytics-derived data. But that is not en...

Imagine as a new Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) student, you have had a semester or less of preparatory classes as a primer for one of the most diverse and growing fields in business: data analytics. This may have been the only exposure you’ve had to...

No matter your role in business, it’s important to have a strong grasp of accounting principles to help you better understand how your work impacts your company’s bottom line. Whether you want to own your own business, aspire to join the C-suite at a Fortune 500 company, or are just looking to g...

WILLIAMSBURG - William & Mary’s Raymond A. Mason School of Business is launching a new Center for Online Learning to grow its portfolio of online graduate business degree programs and to build on its tradition of delivering high-engagement and...

As a relatively new term, “data science” encapsulates an abundance of job functions. For this reason, data science careers are often misunderstood or simply unknown. However, as more businesses begin to recognize the vast landscape of data and statistics available to the...

We live in an era of boundless data. Availability is no longer a concern—the nearly unlimited information gathered about users online is a marketer's dream. Powerful software tools enable mathematically minded experts to comb through this information and analyze trends, and organizations in numer...

With 90% of American adults online and more than 77% of adults owning smartphones, it's no wonder that universities are eager to take advantage of new educational opportunities in this connected world. Online MBA programs are just one example of this trend.

When you’re deciding whether to continue your education, cost is usually one of the biggest factors to consider. The good news is that many employers—maybe even yours—could be open to the possibility of tuition reimbursement, or paying for a portion of your online business program’s tuition. Keep in...

A Simple Guide to Landing the Job The proliferation of job-finding and career-building tools available to professionals today has made applying for a job thousands of miles away as easy as clicking a button—literally. In fact, there are too many websites and apps to count. Say you’re growing bo...

A Brief How-To Guide For those seeking professional roles that require concrete skills and a dynamic understanding of how to leverage and apply them, a strong portfolio is an absolute must. It can mean the difference between receiving an invitation to interview versus having your application left...

Artificial intelligence and the computer automation it can enable are driving powerful changes in business. From fraud detection and social media filters to wearable health sensors and personalized shopping recommendations, artificial intelligence is transforming everyday life and business from the...

Imagining a New World for Growing Data The challenges of mining and cataloging data are not new. In 1944, Fremont Rider, a librarian at Wesleyan University, noted that American university libraries seemed to double in size every year. Based on this observation, Rider estimated that by 2040, Yale...

Welcome to the Smart City Revolution Just as data and data analytics can be leveraged to improve business performance, the same tools can also be used to improve livability, workability and sustainability in cities around the globe. In many ways, the future of smart cities is likely what you’d e...

There is no doubt that earning an MBA is beneficial to your career. But if you are like many professionals, you'd love to go back to school, although you aren't sure that you have enough time. Balancing a full-time career with your family and personal responsibilities keeps you plenty busy as it i...

All too often, when the cost of a graduate education is discussed, it's in terms of the literal cost of the program: how much students have to pay to earn their degrees. While there's no denying that cost is important and that student debt should be carefully considered before entering into, there...

Every team has a leader, whether appointed, assigned or unspoken. Within an organization or group setting, someone is responsible for supporting a team by removing any workflow barriers, harnessing the collective effort and effectively communicating to their team in a way that inspires and empowers....

When it comes to succeeding in business these days, having friends in high places across many industries can go a long way in increasing your odds of finding a new career or job. In fact, recent surveys show nearly 85 percent of career positi...

Like any business professional knows, planning ahead and being prepared are key factors that contribute to whether or not a graduate student’s application is strong enough to potentially earn them a space in a rigorous and respectable program. You’re not an undergraduate student anymore, and putti...

The ways in which the world is different today than it was, say, thirty years ago are wide sweeping. Time, technology, innovation and globalization have affected all segments of our lives. From the culture of coffee to the way we hold meetings, ev...

When it comes to studying online, some prospective students admit to worrying about how to make friends or business connections in a distance learning program. But when it comes to William & Mary's Online MBA, networking with your classmates an...

Although an MBA is a Master of Business Administration degree, it is not limited to professionals in traditional business roles or to those with a business background or undergraduate degree. It is immensely helpful to a great variety of emerging an...

Because online master’s programs allow professionals to study from wherever they currently reside, they often feature a more diverse student cohort than on-campus programs, which typically attract students predominantly from the surrounding areas...

For professionals, earning a Master of Business Administration degree can make a huge impact in their long-term business potential, but working professionals often have busy schedules, making it difficult to carve away time for classes and studyi...

Many professionals don’t realize a Master of Business Administration degree can be particularly useful to their careers, even if they don’t have an undergraduate business background. For current William & Mary Online MBA student Hillary Davis, dec...

Current William & Mary Online MBA student Leyla Hopkins needed the flexibility of an online program to balance her current career, her family and her personal life with pursuing a rigorous MBA degree, but the stigma of an online degree had made...

When Heather Pierce first wanted to return to school for her MBA, she considered many different online programs, but she found “they were either atrociously expensive or from schools I had maybe never even heard of before.” Then, she discovered...

In 1976, 18-year-old Mark Dieterle joined William & Mary for the first time, earning his bachelor’s degree in 1980. Over the 30 years that followed, he started numerous Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree programs but was never abl...

While pursuing his Online MBA from William & Mary, class of 2017 graduate Jondell Stephens realized the easiest way to solving a problem rarely actually solves the problem. The W&M Online MBA program challenges students to recognize the true root of their “wicked problems” and to rethink their a...

No matter how you look at it, making the decision to talk to your boss about a raise can be a little nerve-wracking. Unfortunately, this type of conversation is often a necessary step of moving up the corporate ladder, especially when you believe the strength of your performance merits the reward in...

Even as a full-time student, balancing your school work with your personal responsibilities can be challenging. Now, add a full-time job with semi-frequent travel into the mix, and things can seem nearly impossible. Thankfully, we’ve put together a few tips that can help you stay on top of your...

Leadership is rarely something that happens overnight or by completing a list of clearly outlined steps. For many, leadership is something that's earned over years of experience, successes, failures and a number of unknown circumstances that shape who they are as individuals. That's why William &...

Our students are men and women who bring a multitude of different backgrounds, disciplines and cultures to each cohort of the William & Mary Online MBA. We offer an unrivaled online learning experience with an innovative curriculum that's applicable in your current or future roles beyond the class...

In the 21st century, both the tools we use to work and the work itself have drastically changed. The information boom brought on by the internet and advancements in digital technology have allowed us to work more intelligently. It has also demanded that we, as professionals, stretch the limits of ou...

Army Captain Jamar Jenkins was looking for tactics to further his success, along with the success of the 400 soldiers in his company. In William & Mary’s Online MBA program, he found a college that is both military friendly and academically acclaimed. In the program, he’s learned what it mean...

Encouraging creativity at work is one of the most important aspects for a successful business. According to an IBM study, 60 percent of CEOs polled identified creativity as the single most important leadership quality for success in business. Innovation and growth in the workplace thrive on new id...

Enrolling in an online MBA program can be an important, life-changing decision. The top two reasons we hear that students choose to enroll in an online MBA program is for career advancement and for personal sense of accomplishment so it’s important you select the right program for you.

For many people considering an online graduate program, concern over the credibility of a degree earned online often weighs heavily in their minds. They may fear that their education is considered less valid in the eyes of their peers and employers than those who earned their degrees on campus.

An MBA is often referred to as a terminal degree, or the highest educational level one can reach in any particular field. Generally, people go back to school to get their MBA for one of two reasons: They are looking to earn more money in their chosen profession, or advance to a higher level that is...