Three Ways to Engage with the Brierley Institute
Our students take on real-world business challenges and develop recommendations designed to strengthen customer loyalty and improve bottom-line performance. Whether an engagement is integrated into the MBA curriculum or developed as an extracurricular project, the Institute works with each partner to define its scope, objectives, deliverables, and timing. Students are selected based on project needs and collaborate with partner teams throughout the process, providing progress updates and presenting final recommendations.
Professor Venky Shankar, Academic Director of the Brierley Institute and Harold M. Brierley Endowed Professor, provides academic leadership and oversight. Brad Harraman, Director of the Brierley Institute and an experienced practitioner in customer engagement and loyalty program management, brings applied industry expertise to help ensure each project is practical, relevant, and aligned with partner objectives.
The Brierley Institute offers three types of projects, with the flexibility to customize or combine aspects of each. Across these engagement models, partnerships may also include internship opportunities that allow students to deepen their experience while contributing to ongoing organizational priorities. SMU Cox encourages corporate engagement and strategic partnerships in the classroom and beyond. We invite you to connect with us and explore how the Institute can collaborate with your organization.
Listening to the Customer
Students design research studies and surveys, collect and analyze primary data, and develop customer insights. Projects can be customized around a sponsoring organization’s business questions and may include interviews with its stakeholders. Students present their findings and recommendations in a final presentation to the business they’re studying.
Customer Engagement Program Design
Students either evaluate and redesign an existing customer engagement program or develop a preliminary concept for launching a new one. Considering both the company’s and the customer’s perspectives, they define program goals and desired changes in customer behavior, identify customer segments offering the greatest profit potential, and evaluate the competitive landscape. They then develop a strawman program design and test it through qualitative and quantitative research to measure customer receptivity, quantify the financial impact, and build a business case for implementing the proposed program design or enhancement.
Big-Data Analytics
Students gain hands-on experience analyzing real-time customer data provided by a corporate sponsor using regression analysis, descriptive analytics, AI-assisted analytical tools, and data visualization. Projects may include calculating customer lifetime value, developing customer segmentation strategies, and exploring other business questions. Students interpret their results and present insights and recommendations to the sponsoring organization.
