Tuesday, May 15, 2018

URSP Student Christian Malias Researches the Relationship between Leaders Who Embrace Altruistic Behavior/FACCT and Organizational Performance

This semester I have been given the opportunity to participate in the OSCAR undergraduate research program at George Mason. As a business management major, I have spent a lot of time learning about the effects managers can have on an organization. I first heard about this opportunity through my Organizational Development and Consulting professor Dr. Olivia Oneill last semester. You don’t typically hear of business students participating in research programs, so I thought this could be an excellent opportunity to differentiate myself, keeping in mind that I would be a graduating senior looking to start a career in consulting.

My project titled “What is the relationship between a leader who embraces altruistic behavior and “FACCT” (fondness, affection, caring, compassion, and tenderness) and organizational performance, particularly in high results-oriented industries?” Having this experience and bringing it to a employer has been the biggest advantage this opportunity has given me. I have been able to collaborate and rely on my professor for guidance and advice while also being able to work independently and research an answer to this complex problem. I mainly work with a program called RapidMiner trying to find correlations between large sets of data. It has been a challenging and rewarding experience.

If you have any interest in learning more about the program, I would suggest you get in contact with a professor and ask as many questions as you can before applying.