MBA Real-Time Decisions class
Timeline
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January 4, 2025Experience start
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January 7, 2025Kickoff meeting
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January 14, 2025Q&A session
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January 28, 2025Interim report due
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February 4, 2025First meeting with the industry partner
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February 25, 2025Second meeting with industry partner
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April 22, 2025Experience end
Timeline
-
January 4, 2025Experience start
-
January 7, 2025Kickoff meeting
We introduce the partnering firms and give a high-level overview of the projects.
The class is Monday 6pm
-
January 14, 2025Q&A session
In depth Q&A session with partnering firms. At this point all the student teams are formed
-
January 28, 2025Interim report due
Students write a 3-5 page interim report explaining what they have learned so far, what they still need to figure out to complete the project, and any surprises or hurdles that they have discovered or cleared in the project
-
February 4, 2025First meeting with the industry partner
They will answer student questions and point teams to relevant information sources about the organization, its competition, and the industry at large
-
February 25, 2025Second meeting with industry partner
Students present their initial analyses, including observations about stakeholders, the internal and general environment, industry, and competitors.
The industry partner will comment on the students’ collected data and analyses, as well as answer their new questions
-
March 11, 2025Third meeting with the industry partner
A Q&A and feedback session. Students present their potential strategic recommendations and discuss their rationale.
The session continues with a discussion of student ideas, and the industry partner provides feedback on improving student analyses and strategic recommendations. Around this time, reports and presentations should be almost finalized
-
April 8, 2025Final presentations
April 7 and 14
-
April 19, 2025Final Report due
-
April 22, 2025Experience end
Categories
Market research Operations Competitive analysis Sales strategy Product managementSkills
planning marketing operations management student development master of business administration (mba) strategic management consultingStudents complete this course in the first year of the MBA program. They come from diverse backgrounds with a wide variety of concentrations including Consulting, HR, Strategic Management, Marketing, Operations Management, Engineering and more. Most students have 5 years of work experience and can produce tangible outputs.
This MBA course is a project-based class is a group project in which develop students’ real-world skills through analyzing an active decision being made by a partnering firm, making recommendations, and planning for implementation. All students work on their firm’s real-time decisions, in groups of 6 as consulting teams. They interact with representatives from the partnering firm on several occasions and will receive instruction from the instructor and guest speakers in workshops spread through the project period.
Student teams will deliver a 20-minute group presentation on their findings, examining your organization, identifying emerging threats and opportunities, developing a rigorous analysis, and propose recommendations. They will also submit an 8-to-10-page report covering substantively the same topic as their presentation. You and other members of your organization are welcome to attend the presentation session.
Project timeline
-
January 4, 2025Experience start
-
January 7, 2025Kickoff meeting
-
January 14, 2025Q&A session
-
January 28, 2025Interim report due
-
February 4, 2025First meeting with the industry partner
-
February 25, 2025Second meeting with industry partner
-
April 22, 2025Experience end
Timeline
-
January 4, 2025Experience start
-
January 7, 2025Kickoff meeting
We introduce the partnering firms and give a high-level overview of the projects.
The class is Monday 6pm
-
January 14, 2025Q&A session
In depth Q&A session with partnering firms. At this point all the student teams are formed
-
January 28, 2025Interim report due
Students write a 3-5 page interim report explaining what they have learned so far, what they still need to figure out to complete the project, and any surprises or hurdles that they have discovered or cleared in the project
-
February 4, 2025First meeting with the industry partner
They will answer student questions and point teams to relevant information sources about the organization, its competition, and the industry at large
-
February 25, 2025Second meeting with industry partner
Students present their initial analyses, including observations about stakeholders, the internal and general environment, industry, and competitors.
The industry partner will comment on the students’ collected data and analyses, as well as answer their new questions
-
March 11, 2025Third meeting with the industry partner
A Q&A and feedback session. Students present their potential strategic recommendations and discuss their rationale.
The session continues with a discussion of student ideas, and the industry partner provides feedback on improving student analyses and strategic recommendations. Around this time, reports and presentations should be almost finalized
-
April 8, 2025Final presentations
April 7 and 14
-
April 19, 2025Final Report due
-
April 22, 2025Experience end
Project Examples
We partner with organizations that have strategic, marketing, analytic, or operational decisions on which they would like help or advice. Typically we lay out a mix of outward- and inward-facing projects. An outward-facing project might be a particular market analysis; an inward-facing one might be surveying best practices for employee retention.
Deliverables for many of these projects would include a survey of market size & trends, some preliminary financial projections, and a go-to-market strategy. In the last two years, we have partnered with FinDev Canada (in 2023) and Dialogue (in 2022). In all such cases, we sign agreements with the clients that any material shared or knowledge generated will only be shared with the clients.
Examples:
External Focus
Client mapping: Map a list of possible new business clients that fall within our pre-defined criteria. This can be geographically broad (a sector, say) or focused (cross-market in a geography).
Mobilization-partner mapping: As above, but with respect to potential mobilization partners that we can try to target.
Stakeholder mapping: We want to revisit our present mapping, particularly in the Canadian landscape. We want to compare our original vision against present realities.
Internal Focus
Talent acquisition & onboarding: As we prepare to increase our workforce by almost 50% in 2023, we need to develop strategies to identify and source the right talent, and optimize our onboarding practices to maximize our absorptive capacity. What are best practices for onboarding, especially in a hybrid work environment?
Return to office: With growth of the organization, we need to rethink our RTO approach and what our hybrid workforce looks like going forward. What trends are developing in our peers? This will inform the kind of office space we need, as well as what we consider “purpose driven activities” that warrant in-person participation.
Corporate culture: FinDev Canada has quickly evolved from a start-up to comprise nearly 80 employees in less than five years. How do we ensure that we continue to build and promote a corporate culture founded on values of collaboration, innovation, and respect? How do we avoid building silos, and instead build cross-functional links through trust?
Timeline
-
January 4, 2025Experience start
-
January 7, 2025Kickoff meeting
-
January 14, 2025Q&A session
-
January 28, 2025Interim report due
-
February 4, 2025First meeting with the industry partner
-
February 25, 2025Second meeting with industry partner
-
April 22, 2025Experience end
Timeline
-
January 4, 2025Experience start
-
January 7, 2025Kickoff meeting
We introduce the partnering firms and give a high-level overview of the projects.
The class is Monday 6pm
-
January 14, 2025Q&A session
In depth Q&A session with partnering firms. At this point all the student teams are formed
-
January 28, 2025Interim report due
Students write a 3-5 page interim report explaining what they have learned so far, what they still need to figure out to complete the project, and any surprises or hurdles that they have discovered or cleared in the project
-
February 4, 2025First meeting with the industry partner
They will answer student questions and point teams to relevant information sources about the organization, its competition, and the industry at large
-
February 25, 2025Second meeting with industry partner
Students present their initial analyses, including observations about stakeholders, the internal and general environment, industry, and competitors.
The industry partner will comment on the students’ collected data and analyses, as well as answer their new questions
-
March 11, 2025Third meeting with the industry partner
A Q&A and feedback session. Students present their potential strategic recommendations and discuss their rationale.
The session continues with a discussion of student ideas, and the industry partner provides feedback on improving student analyses and strategic recommendations. Around this time, reports and presentations should be almost finalized
-
April 8, 2025Final presentations
April 7 and 14
-
April 19, 2025Final Report due
-
April 22, 2025Experience end