Chris Markulic is a current MBA student specializing in Strategy, Innovation, and Leadership. He also works as an Associate Director for US Commercial Standard Performance Reporting at Organon, a pharmaceutical company focusing on women’s health. Supporting the company’s Business Intelligence unit, Chris and his team develop dashboards and reports to help Organon’s partners measure key sales and marketing metrics and leverage data for more efficient organizational decision making.
A New Jersey native from Warren County, Chris is currently working on his second degree from TCNJ! He earned his Bachelor’s of Science in Marketing with Minors in Statistics and International Business in 2013. Chris was able to leverage connections made at TCNJ to enter into the pharmaceutical industry. He spent his early career cycling through varied roles and functions as part of AstraZeneca’s Operations & IT Global Graduate Associate Programme. This included positions in R&D Procurement, Commercial IT, and Global Supply Chain Analytics and a rotation at AstraZeneca’s United Kingdom campus. After a decade spent developing his IT and Analytics skill sets, Chris knew he wanted to branch out of corporate IT and pursue opportunities with greater focus on team development and management. This led him to his current role at Organon, where he’s been working since March 2023.
While he was getting started at Organon, Chris began researching graduate programs that would help him develop the higher level strategic thinking skills that would empower him to grow as a leader and thrive in his new position. The TCNJ MBA specialization in Strategy, Innovation, and Leadership clearly aligned with his development goals. As a husband, father, full-time professional, and avid runner, Chris was also drawn to the flexible hybrid structure of TCNJ’s program. Like many working professionals, Chris shared that, “there wasn’t going to be a perfect time,” to start his graduate career. He’s eager to build on his education and credentials, and has coordinated closely with TCNJ staff and faculty to customize his degree plan and shape his course load around his personal and professional priorities.
The innovative concepts Chris has engaged with as an MBA student have helped him to develop and implement a change mindset at work. He’s taken a more strategic approach to his team interactions, exploring the motivations behind key tasks and collaborating with partners to implement creative new solutions. In particular, the Innovation class taken in Chris’s first semester of graduate study has helped him gain familiarity with emerging technologies, and he’s now bringing that expertise to Organon’s US Commercial AI council along with multiple AI initiatives in Business Intelligence.
For new and aspirant graduate students, Chris emphasizes the importance of “being present and keeping an open mind”. He’s found that some courses that did not initially seem relevant to his career have proven incredibly valuable and encourages his peers to stay alert for growth opportunities across the MBA curriculum.
You can connect with Chris on LinkedIn to network and learn more about his journey: