Xiaowen He is currently working as a manager, corporate accounting and FP&A in the EnPro Industries Inc., a diversified manufacturer of proprietary engineered products used in critical applications. Her main responsibility included corporate accounting, FP&A, company budget and forecast. She obtained a B.S. in Finance at Dongbei University of Finance and Economy in China and got my MBA degree at the Technische Hochschule Nürnberg Georg Simon Ohm in Germany. Xiaowen has taken leadership roles at different companies and in different countries and has worked in finance and accounting for 15+ years. Like many mid-career professionals, she was looking for directions to advance her career and consulted with one of her close friends, Professor Xiuli He from the Belk College at UNC Charlotte. She recommended Xiaowen the newly established Doctorate of Business Administration program. Xiaowen started to do research on this program on the school website and got to know more about the program. She is particularly interested in the program as it focuses on tools with practical content. On the one hand, she wants to master an advanced level of knowledge in business theory. On the other hand, she is eager to learn advanced technologies including applying mathematical and statistical tools in business and management. In her free time, she spends a lot of time with her daughter, who is very active in different sports. Xiaowen also likes to read, watch movies and spend time with friends.
In order to expand her career path and gain further development, she would like to focus on the following fields of research.
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Management information system
A management information system is an information system used for decision-making, and for the coordination, control, analysis, and visualization of information in an organization, especially in a company. The study of management information systems examines people, processes and technology in an organizational context. In a corporate setting, the ultimate goal of the use of a management information system is to increase the value and profits of the business. During my daily working time, Xiaowen strongly feels the urge to introduce the MIS knowledge into her work field and use MIS as a tool to enhance her work quality so she can obtain a high-quality opinion to the top management for the company’s strategies.
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Business analytics
Business analytics focuses on developing new insights and understanding of business performance based on data and statistical methods. To provide accurate and timely data to the management team is a key responsibility of a finance professional. With the application of business analytics in the company operations, “the study of data through statistical and operations analysis, the formation of predictive models, application of optimization techniques“, everyone as finance professionals will be able to provide more accurate data beforehand to assist companies to make better business decisions.
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Management
As a finance professional, Xiaowen would definitely need more skills and knowledge in business strategy from a top management perspective, which will further broaden her career.