business.wfu.edu Masters in ManagementPrivate: Summer Session 2020 Graduate Consulting Project 1

Graduate Consulting Project 1

What you’ll learn:

How do you make decisions when you purchase groceries at your local supermarket? Are your decisions based on price, brand, flavor or the design of the display? During the summer Graduate Consulting Project, students will have the chance to analyze data from McCormick’s and Lowe’s Foods in order to make recommendations on how to increase sales in a specific Consumer Product Goods (CPG) categories.

The summer Graduate Consulting Project is a partnership between the Wake Forest University Retail Innovation Lab and the Master’s in Management program. Students will spend 5 weeks learning the various steps of a consulting project from how to develop the project scope, ask the right questions, create a hypothesis, and analyze data to make recommendations. The project combines elements from all three of the summer courses giving students the chance to work closely with Dr. Montague (Financial Accounting), Chris Smith (Analytics), and Bren Varner (Problem Solving Mindset) on specific questions in the project.

Who you’ll learn from:

Summer Faculty: Dr. Norma Montague, Dr. Bren Varner, Dr. Chris Smith

Kaitlyn Cooper, MBA
Senior Associate Director, Experiential Learning
MS in Management Program

“I am the project manager, team coach, and instructor for the various graduate consulting projects that you’ll tackle throughout the program. I believe in the power of “learning by doing” and help students take what they’re learning in class and apply it to business problems from regional to national companies. When I’m not in class or working with teams I’m out talking to companies about their business needs and how they can be a sponsor of a student project.

Business problems are often messy problems; there’s no one right answer and there are lots of opinions and competing priorities. I’ll work with your team to think about how to structure your team, your plan, and your ongoing methods so you get the best possible results to present to your project client.”

How you’ll learn:

  • Each week you’ll learn a new aspect of the project through synchronous lectures and asynchronous resources
  • You’ll work in teams of 3-4 students
  • There will be an assignment from each class that tackles an aspect of the project