Consulting Projects Provide Exceptional Experiences

Some of the most important skills in the business world cannot be learned by reading a book or listening to a lecture. That’s why students gain so much from BA 8600, the MBA Consulting Project course.

“Classroom teaching and collaboration with businesses fosters student success in a special way,” said Gregg Martin, adjunct assistant professor of management. “Outside experiences with practitioners are a cornerstone of the Crosby MBA Program.”

BA 8600 is the second of a series of two-credit-hour team-consulting courses. Each student is assigned to a team that analyzes a situation associated with a client organization throughout the semester. Teams coordinate their own meetings with their clients, a faculty coordinator and other team members.

“We have to take charge of the project as the consultant,” said MBA student Robert McAllister. “We meet with the client, draft a proposal, schedule follow-up meetings and present findings in both a written report and a final presentation.”

Some projects for the Fall 2004 Semester include:

• A telecommunication system that monitors calling patterns of departments within the University Hospital system.
  
• The market potential for GarageTek, a company that helps people organize their garages into something more.
  
• The strengths and weaknesses of care after departure from University Hospital.
  
• Miller’s Professional Imaging’s statistical procedures to monitor its process quality.
  
• The demographics and housing competition of the East Campus area of Columbia for Junk Architects, a firm that is considering a housing project in that location.