Why MBA: Villanova School of Business 4/1/10 By Sunny Li Advanced qualifications aren’t de rigeur in the construction industry, which values experience above all else. However when project manager Jourdan Trice noticed how few construction professionals had earned MBA degrees, he decided it might give him an edge. “I realized doing a MBA would be a great opportunity to differentiate myself in the marketplace and add value to my firm,” the 31-year-old says. Phoenix, AZ native Trice is responsible for estimating and purchasing at L.F. Driscoll Co., the largest local construction firm in Philadelphia area. He earned his first degree in construction management at Northern Arizona University and has been in the business almost a decade. Trice, who holds a LEED certification provided by the U.S Green Building Council, is passionate about environmentally-friendly solutions in the construction world. The LEED qualification accredits construction professionals’ knowledge of energysaving, water efficiency, carbon emissions reduction and indoor environmental quality improvement. But in order to share his vision more effectively with fellow professionals, Trice felt he needed more leadership skills: “I want to embed these principles in construction when it comes to leadership,” he says. When his wife decided to pursue a PhD at the University of Pennsylvania last year, Trice thought the time was right to earn an MBA degree before starting a family. However he didn’t want to study full time: “I wanted to take the main principles learnt in classroom and apply them to work straightaway, and in a full-time MBA you can’t do it,” he explains.
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2010 Media Report Villanova School of Business