Episode 225

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Published on:

3rd May 2023

Entrepreneurship and Outdoor Recreation at the University of Arkansas with Jason Ridge, Taryn Mead, and Matthew Myers

This week on the podcast, Matt sits down with Jason Ridge, Taryn Mead, and Matthew Myers with the Sam M. Walton College of Business. Jason is the Chair of the Department of Strategy, Entrepreneurship, and Venture Innovation (SEVI), Taryn is an Assistant Professor of Product Design, Innovation, and Management, and Matthew is the program manager for Outdoor Industries. Matt and Jason begin by discussing why the SEVI Department was developed, the various degree options, and the Micro Certificates available through the department. The conversation continues with Taryn detailing the Masters of Science in Product Innovation and its launch along with the product innovation practicum. The conversation concluded with Matthew walking through the advantages of the Masters of Science in Product Innovation as it applies to working professionals. 

Transcript
Matthew Myers:

Entrepreneurial education, that doesn't just

Matthew Myers:

mean you want to go and start your own business. It means

Matthew Myers:

you're creative, you want to be innovative, you want to be

Matthew Myers:

disruptive. So I'd say you know, those kinds of characteristics

Matthew Myers:

are going to be ideal for our students.

Matt Waller:

Excellence, professionalism, innovation, and

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collegiality. These are the values. The Sam M. Walton

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College of Business explores in education, business, and the

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lives of people we meet every day, I'm Matt Waller, Dean of

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the Walton College, and welcome to the Be Epic Podcast. I have

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with me today, Jason Ridge, who is Chair of the Department of

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Strategy, Entrepreneurship, and Venture Innovation. He's also a

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Professor of Strategy here in the Sam M. Walton College of

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Business. I have Taryn Mead, who is a an Assistant Professor of

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Product Design, Innovation, and Management. And she has

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extensive experience in the outdoor industry. And we'll talk

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about that as well. And I also have Matthew Myers, who has been

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with the university, especially in recruitment and graduate

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recruitment and now he's the program manager for Outdoor

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Recreation, Products, and Services. So thank you all for

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joining me today.

Taryn Mead:

Thank you.

Matt Waller:

Jason, I want to start with you. You know, we

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started this new department, the Department of Strategy,

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Entrepreneurship and Venture Innovation a couple of years

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ago. And it's it's an outgrowth of the Department of Management.

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And, you know, we did that because we wanted to emphasize

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entrepreneurship and strategy. And sometimes it's good to

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separate departments out so that you get that kind of a thing.

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Many years ago, back in 2011. We did that with the department of

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supply chain management, which used to be a part of the

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department of marketing. And it really made a big difference. In

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terms of the flexibility and strategic direction of the

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department. Of course, that department now was ranked number

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one in North America by Gartner. So sometimes having a little

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autonomy to focus gives you a lot of options. And I know that

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your department partners closely with our Office of

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Entrepreneurship and Innovation on campus, but would you tell

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tell us just a little bit about the department and what kind of

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offerings you have?

Jason Ridge:

Sure, yes. So the Strategy Entrepreneurship and

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Venture Innovation Department, we refer to it as SEVI, S E V I

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just because that's all a lot of words strung together in the

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name, and we offer a an undergraduate degree in

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Entrepreneurship and and or Innovation that has four

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thematic tracks is what the way we focus on it. It's a very open

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and flexible type of program because we want to provide

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students with the most opportunity to focus on what

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they're most interested in, whether it's a specific business

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idea that they have, or a specific industry that we can

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help those students really focus on the type of thing that

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they're they're most interested in. So we have a lot built a lot

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of flexibility into our undergraduate degree. Our four

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thematic tracks are Corporate Innovation, which focuses on

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product management to some degree, which also will will

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speak to what Taryn and Matthew we're gonna speak about in a

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little bit. The Social Innovation track as well, if

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students are more interested in kind of maybe maybe not

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nonprofit, but at least creating and starting an enterprise that

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is focused on creating social good in the in creating some

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type of social good rather than just economic development or

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value. Then we also have a typical Entrepreneurship

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approach or New Venture Development type of theme. This

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is for students that just want to start a typical business. And

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then the last is Small Enterprise Management for those

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students that are interested in focusing on small business or

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maybe even a family run business rather than trying to get into a

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larger organization or corporate structure. And then, just really

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quickly, I'd say that we also have recently been approved to

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start offering three micro certificates, four technically

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with the outdoor products. But again, that's a Taryn and

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Matthew's domain. But we have an Entrepreneurship Micro

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Certificate that's focused specifically on its three

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courses, focused on students and or those that are not

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necessarily students yet, but in people that have business ideas

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and the goal of this certificate is for individuals that come in

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with an idea. And we literally walked them through the process.

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And by the end, hopefully they would be at a point where they

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could start the business if they so desired. Then we also have a

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Social Innovation Micro Certificate and an

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Organizational Innovation Micro Certificate. Each of these are

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focusing on either internal, from the organization

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perspective, internal innovation or social, again, is businesses

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creating some societal good.

Matt Waller:

Excellent. And I know the the minor that you all

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created, is open to any student on campus. Is that right?

Unknown:

Yes, that's, that's a great point, I missed that the

Unknown:

we have a minor for Walton College students. First is one

Unknown:

option for those that are already in Walton. But we also

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have a unique one that is specifically tailored to

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reducing the amount of core programming in Walton College

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for students that are in other colleges in the university. So

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it allows for a lower cost of entry for the minor. In fact, we

Unknown:

took the 18 hours that used to be prerequisites, and it's

Unknown:

collapsed down into a three hour course, I believe it's only 18

Unknown:

hours total, to get the minor now rather than what what used

Unknown:

to be much more than that.

Matt Waller:

I'm so glad your department did that because, you

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know, entrepreneurs come from all areas of the university that

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come from engineering, agriculture, philosophy, any any

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area. But to your point, the barrier to entry to our minors

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was substantial, because of the amount of prerequisites as you

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pointed out. And now, it's quite easy for students across campus

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that maybe they don't have much of a business background to take

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these classes. And hopefully, that will increase the

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probability of success of these companies that are starting in

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Northwest Arkansas as a result of students that are here. So

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that was a great innovation you all had in your own department.

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And it wasn't innovation, and it wasn't easy to to get through

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the system. But you all persevered and made it happen.

Matt Waller:

So well done. Well, thank you. Yeah,

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Taryn, I know you're very involved with the

Jason Ridge:

It is a we are we're happy with the with the

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program, we feel that it can be really successful.

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Masters of Science in Product Innovation of this new program.

Jason Ridge:

Would you speak to that a little bit?

Taryn Mead:

Sure. So I came in last fall to really help launch

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this program that is largely grant funded at the moment.

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There was generally though a broad demand before the grant

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came into the picture, there's been a broad demand for the

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development of product managers and product innovation in

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Northwest Arkansas, recognizing that we have this large retail

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entity in our midst that is creating a lot of product or

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driving the creation of a lot of product, both digital and

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physical product. So the MSPI, the Masters of Science and

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Product Innovation came about as a way to meet this demand for

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local employers. You know, local employers are saying we really

Taryn Mead:

need folks who understand product to to meet the needs of

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our organization. And so we saw a real opportunity here, Sarah

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Goforth. And in OEI, the Office of Entrepreneurship and

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Innovation. She and Jon Johnson saw a real need to meet this

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request from employers. So in order to meet this demand that

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we're hearing from local employers, we're offering

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coursework and user research really looks at, which really

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looks at how to understand the relationship and engagement with

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users. We have Business Foundation for Entrepreneurs,

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which covers just a very wide array of basic business skills.

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For folks that might not come from a business background.

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We're also looking at product design and prototyping in the

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coursework, as well as product management. And one part of the

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program that I'm well two parts that I'm very excited about. One

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is the interdisciplinary, interdisciplinary nature of the

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electives that we're offering. So we have six credits of

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electives, and we're creating pathways across the university

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for participants in our program to be able to take courses from

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other departments to meet that elective requirement. Another

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thing that I'm very excited about is the product innovation

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practicum which will enable students to engage with sponsor

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organizations to help solve their business problems in a 250

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our practicum project. So those are both components that I think

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one can deliver a really highly customized high touch experience

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with students to engage in their interests, and also really

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create a lot of value for the companies in our region.

Matt Waller:

Wonderful. Matthew, I know one innovation in the

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Masters of Science in Product Innovation is really making it

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accessible for working professionals. Would you mind

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talking a little about your role, as well as the importance

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of having working professionals in this program?

Matthew Myers:

Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, working

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professionals for this program kind of came out of the demand

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that we found for it. So talking about customer discovery, we

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were getting calls from folks at Walmart and folks down in Fort

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Smith and the supply chain industry and kind of all over

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the place, but they are working professionals that were in the

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industry, that either were had the awareness of product

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management, or maybe they had their own product idea that they

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were hoping to sort of on the side develop and potentially

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start their own company with. And so that demand really drove

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us to make some changes to the program, because previously, we

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were thinking we would start with a full time program. And so

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what we've done is make the program a specific pathway for

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working professionals that will follow the format that our

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Executive MBA has had, that our Information Systems Professional

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Programs have, that our Masters of Supply Chain Program has,

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where it's a one Saturday a month, they'll come to class and

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have that face to face experience. And then the rest of

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the coursework, they'll complete over the week, virtually. And so

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it's a format that we've seen success with through these other

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programs for several years now. And so we know it works with our

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local business community. And so it's one that we wanted to

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adopt, just to make the program available to these folks,

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they're they're the ones that they're aware of what's going on

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with product and how that's changed so much. In the

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industry, Walmart is one of the biggest hirers of folks in the

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product space. And so it's it's really just something that, you

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know, is really, in demand. It's something that's new. And so

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it's something that even a lot of our undergraduate students

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may not be aware of yet. But but the working professionals are

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aware of it. So what that'll look like for them is basically

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a two year process, although take it part time, taking two

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classes a semester. So very digestible. One of the parts

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that we're excited about as well as we're going to utilize the

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collaborative space that we have up in Bentonville. And so it's

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very close to a lot of our working professionals, we are

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also working with them in the development of a new prototyping

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space that our students will have access to up there, if you

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know where Airship Coffee is, it's kind of grab your coffee

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and go behind that it's in the same warehouse building there.

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And so they'll have opportunities to very much hands

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on work in the prototyping phases of the program. And then

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also being connected to a lot of the funding sources for our

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students that are interested more in the entrepreneurial

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space of this as well. So we're really excited to see what our

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professional students come in the program and do. I think it's

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something that our GORP program that Phil's doing, has seen a

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lot of success with, almost all of his folks that have come

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through that program have been working professionals that are

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doing this on the side to develop a product. And so we

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anticipate that as well. Both, again, from the entrepreneurial

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side, as well as folks that are that are maybe in the Walmart

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universe that wants to transition or to grow within the

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product space there.

Matt Waller:

If, if someone's interested in this program, what

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would be the best way for them to find out more about the

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program?

Matthew Myers:

So our website, pretty easy to remember,

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MSPI.uark.edu. All the courses are listed there. So you can get

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a really good idea of what you'll be studying. We also have

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a breakdown of the course layout and the schedule of when those

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face to face classes are. And then there's also a form on

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there if you want to get more personal and have a conversation

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with me put your information there, I'd be happy to reach out

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and chat. One of the things that's you know, exciting about

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a new program is that they're always small, because not as

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many people know about them. And so we anticipate, you know,

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anywhere from 10 to 15 folks in this original cohort, so it's

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going to be very intimate, personal. We're going to know

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all of our students very well you're going to know us you're

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going to know your faculty. We're going to have lots of

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opportunities for job placement for you know, individual

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mentoring and counseling throughout the program. And so

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it's gonna be it's gonna be a pretty cozy program in that

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regard. So yeah, I'd say definitely don't hesitate to

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reach out and chat with us if if you're at all interested.

Matt Waller:

Great. Great. Jason, getting back to the major

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in entrepreneurship, for example, or even the minor. What

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if a student is entrepreneurial? You know, they seem to be drawn

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to entrepreneurial activity and ideas. But what if a student is

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in that category, but they want to start their career with a

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bigger company? Is studying entrepreneurship beneficial for

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them?

Jason Ridge:

Absolutely. In fact, we talk to students

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frequently that, that have interest in or a creative

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mindset or creative decision making, that they're interested

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in that but, you know, aren't ready to take the leap into a

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into their own business. And I think that that's one of the

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misconceptions about entrepreneurship, particularly

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from an educational perspective is that while while

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entrepreneurship can be starting your own business, that's one of

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the reasons why we have alternative tracks as well is

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for students that want to learn design thinking or different

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creative problem solving and approaches to decision making,

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that really create those innovative thought processes

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within organizations, large corporations are always looking

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for, and would like students that have a different

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perspective, rather than, than the simple typical disciplinary

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perspective, and that that's what this does program provides.

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So it allows for a lot of opportunity in that space beyond

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just starting your own business. In fact, if you look at the

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data, most entrepreneurs on average entrepreneurs usually

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are in their 30s, or close to, and that's because they've begun

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in the corporate world, they've learned a skill they've learned

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a trade and then they from that they've had time to, you know,

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save some funds and be able to invest in their new business.

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And so that's we're focused on those types of students as well

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of allowing them through a corporate innovation, thematic

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track, or core, or the social innovation, or even the small

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enterprise perspective is, can help those students fit into

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that corporate world. And then if they want to, in the future

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branch out into creating their own business.

Matt Waller:

Matthew, for the Masters of Science in product

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innovation, would you characterize the ideal student?

Matthew Myers:

I'd say it's pretty broad. So you know, Jason

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talked about earlier, you know, how entrepreneur education, that

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doesn't just mean you want to go and start your own business, it

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means you're creative, you want to be innovative, you want to be

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disruptive. So I'd say, you know, those kinds of

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characteristics are going to be ideal for our students, they

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could come from any major. The technical skills, obviously are

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helpful if you're trying to develop products. So if you're

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computer science or engineering, but you could be, you know, an

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English major that has an idea or you want to get into the

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space, you're very likely a business student we'll have a

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lot of those. So it's not specific to any any major, I

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would say, some experience is certainly ideal for us, you

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know, if you're coming, especially into the part time

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program, we're looking at, you know, upper 20s 30s 40s are kind

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of the range there. But we also have students coming directly

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out of undergraduate, that are interested in the program, and

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for certain students, they can be successful as well. I would

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also say that, you know, product can be a lot of different

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things. It could be, you know, internal digital products at a

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large corporation. It could be a company that's creating product,

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it could be against starting your own business. And so it's

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pretty broad. But but it should be somebody who's interested in

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creating something new and enjoys working on

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interdisciplinary teams. And, again, is ready to to create and

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disrupt and be innovative.

Matt Waller:

Taryn, would you mind speaking a little bit, you

Matt Waller:

know, we've been talking a little bit about this idea of

Matt Waller:

outdoor recreation. And what does that have to do with all of

Matt Waller:

this and and what are we trying to accomplish with that?

Taryn Mead:

In terms of the outdoor industry, Arkansas is

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now joining the ranks of a national movement of states that

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are creating offices of outdoor recreation, and really focusing

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on the economic impact that outdoor recreation and tourism

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has on their economy. So join states like Colorado and Oregon

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in the creation of these offices to really sort of create

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strategies around development of both services and products in

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the outdoor industry. So the program that we're creating

Taryn Mead:

product innovation has a large focus on outdoor industry as a

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as a product category that we really want to help develop

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here. And Matthew touched on the prototyping lab that we're

Taryn Mead:

building up in Bentonville, and part of the focus of that space

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will be on the cycling industry. We're going to focus on

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prototyping in metals in that space and how we can work with

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an entrepreneur and engineering residents there to support the

Taryn Mead:

cycling industry through the projects that we work on in our

Taryn Mead:

program. So it's an exciting time to look across the various

Taryn Mead:

opportunities in this region and really lean in to the assets

Taryn Mead:

that you have here in terms of natural resources.

Matt Waller:

On behalf of the Sam M. Walton College of

Matt Waller:

Business, I want to thank everyone for spending time with

Matt Waller:

us for another engaging conversation. You can subscribe

Matt Waller:

by going to your favorite podcast service and searching Be

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About the Podcast

Be EPIC Podcast
Welcome to the Be Epic Podcast featuring Brent Williams, interim dean of the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas. In each episode, you will hear from guests that will inspire you to be epic. As experts in their field, they will emphasize strategy, leadership, and entrepreneurship. This programming will highlight innovation and cutting-edge information that will leave you wanting more. Be sure to connect with Brent Williams on LinkedIn to join the conversation, access show notes and discover fantastic bonus content.