Management In Action Project
- Connects teams of Masters in Management (MSM) students with companies to solve real business problems - Students become micro-consultants to identify central problems, research, analyze and recommend solutions to address true business challenges that companies face.
- Businesses can support student growth and development while receiving tangible business benefits- High-quality project consulting, coached by industry-expert faculty members.
- Provides students with practical real-world experience during this MSM program studies to apply theoretical learning - Experiential learning to draw from for applying and interviewing for positions post graduation
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2020 marked 100 years of Business Education at SMU
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Ranked #6 in the U.S. by The Economist
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90% of our recent MSM grads received their job offers within 3-months of graduation
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Benefits to Students and Companies
Benefits to Students
- Practice concepts learned in MNO 6228 (Complex Decision Making in Teams – Consulting Methods class)
- Develop professional consulting skills through multi-source feedback, including client sponsor, instructor, and peers
- Gain real world business experience to increase marketability as a future job applicant
- Practice problem solving and hone business acumen to explore and address business challenges
Benefits to Companies- Address current business challenges or pressing issues that shape the future success of the company
- Receive targeted solutions at no/minimal cost for the high caliber consulting
- Up to 200-hours of free consulting resource with a fresh perspective
- Connect and grow a network of talent that may lead to prospective future employees or loyal customers
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Projects
Brand Positioning: Advertising agency wanted to understand if their business reputation could allow them to launch into a new market. They desired a review of their current market sector to establish brand awareness and perceptions of the agency.
Students provided unexpected insights in strengths and weaknesses of the agency and proposed a “way forward” to leverage it’s current competencies.
Strategy: A major charity aimed to develop and implement a strategy to generate income from Social Enterprise activity through the sale of their knowledge capital. They were interested in understanding current talent attitudes about SE and an approach to build buy in.
Students conducted qualitative research to identify barriers in structure, processes, and communication. They then applied organizational change management models to propose a strategy for achieving employee and stakeholder buy-in.
Online Communication: FMCG company was eager to understand how new media (social networking and mobile marketing) could integrate with current processes for planning and managing campaigns.
Students evaluated a wide range of case studies and interviewed leading agencies to compare new media and make recommendations on the key benefits of the various new media tools.
Marketing Strategy: Ice hockey club desired recommendations for improving match attendance and increasing the conversion of match attendees to loyal season ticket holders.
Students conducted qualitative research (focus groups) as well as quantitative research to arrive at recommendations for a new approach to customer relationship management, targeted communication, and the introduction to new marketing technology.