Dr. Kevin Krieger, Professor, Accounting and Finance

In which online program(s) do you teach?

MBA General, MBA with an emphasis in Finance

Which classes do you teach online?

QMB 6305: Quantitative Methods for Business

What do you want students learn in your classes? What is the expected outcome?

Statistics are tools that can help us better understand almost any situation, whether fantastic or mundane. If we know which tools are appropriate and correctly execute their use, the world is easier to understand, and we can make better decisions.

Why did you start teaching?

There's no better way to help other people than to guide them toward how to understand and utilize something new. And it pays the bills!

What's the best advice that you have ever received?

When you tell someone you're going to do something by a certain time, DO IT! Dependability is much rarer among people, and employees, than you would ever imagine! Also, ask many questions, and ask them of many different people. Learn whom to believe on different matters, and take a boost from their experience and talents.

What's the best advice you could give to online students?

Manage your time wisely, and know yourself. If you can trust yourself to attack larger volumes of material in smaller bursts, that's fine. If you need to spend 45 minutes a day on material, seven days a week, that's fine too. But be honest with yourself about how you can most efficiently learn...and if you get poor results from your approach, change your attack!

What qualities make someone particularly successful in business?

Empathy with your contacts (superiors, co-workers, customers, vendors, etc.) is very important. If you can listen to people and quickly understand what they value most, and you can find a way to deliver it in order to make their lives easier, then you'll go far. I'd also encourage students to learn to write flawlessly (have I made any typos in these responses yet?). Nothing impresses a new colleague or boss more than clear, easy-to-read communication. Nothing tips you off faster as careless or sloppy than poor writing. I make judgments almost immediately about a new student's (or employee’s) intelligence and utility almost immediately when I read their first email to me (maybe I shouldn't, but I do!).

What do you think is the biggest challenge that people in business face today?

Companies and employee roles are always changing, and they're changing faster than ever. It's really important to be able to read what's coming next so that you can act fast to deliver upon it. Problem-solvers add value to their organizations. If you make others' lives easier, you'll advance quickly!

Tell us something interesting about yourself that your students may not know about you.

I was a UF undergraduate but went to graduate school at FSU. Sports loyalties usually follow your undergraduate school, and the time I was at FSU was actually the most successful Gator athletic period imaginable...a few of us UF alumni felt like a successful, underground resistance!