As the job market gets tighter and
more people return to school, some
universities are offering MBA consulting programs as a way to bridge the gap
between school and the business world.
Some schools, including San Diego State
University, offer programs that team students with local businesses to work
together on projects that businesses otherwise might not have the time or resources
to tackle.
“The MBA consulting program is the
capstone experience for an MBA student
before they graduate,” says Chris Graham,
executive director for Specialized Programs and External Affairs at San Diego
State University. “Teams of three or four
students get together and do a consulting
project for a corporation that is usually a
partner with the school. It could be anything from developing a business plan,
marketing plan, feasibility study or maybe
a new financial model.”
Smart Business asked Graham about
the benefits MBA consulting provides to
the students as well as the corporations.
How does the consulting program work?
The MBA consulting program is the culminating experience for most graduate
students in the College of Business
Administration. The program is a great
opportunity for a student to demonstrate
a mastery of the skills and theories taught
throughout the program.
Students (in teams of three or four) are
led by two faculty advisors and typically
spend between 500 and 600 hours on these
projects over the course of the semester.
They take on the projects that companies
either don’t have the expertise or manpower internally to handle. We’ve worked
with companies like General Atomics,
which has done 44 of these projects with
us over the last 12 years, and a slew of different types of companies: Fortune 500
companies, not-for-profits and start-ups.
What’s the difference between these MBA
consulting groups and an internship?
The MBA consulting projects are much
larger in scope than a traditional internship. Ideally, we will have four MBA students with varying backgrounds. This
allows them to take an integrated
approach when providing business solutions. If a company is looking for a business plan or is considering entering a new
market and wants a feasibility conducted,
they will want to hire an MBA consulting
team. These consulting projects also offer
the additional input by SDSU business faculty, which is not a feature of internships.
The timing of these two programs differs
since the MBA consulting runs on a semester basis whereas the internships can be
conducted anytime throughout the year.
Also, consulting projects are done in lieu
of a thesis, so where you might have master’s students who would do a thesis in
other departments, for an MBA they
would do an actual consultancy. The MBA
program is their capstone experience, so
when they turn in their last document,
they have essentially graduated.
Is this program exclusive to SDSU?
It’s becoming very popular among business schools because it provides value to the companies and also strengthens the
school’s relationships with its corporate
partners. Companies realize the benefits
of the program and are often repeat
clients. We always have more applications
than we have students to fulfill requests.
The program is also popular with graduating MBAs because it gives them a
chance to apply the skills and theories
they have acquired through the program
to a real-world business situation.
How important is the connection between
the consultants and the businesses?
It is tremendously important because it
is another way to deepen the partnership
between the College of Business Administration and the external community.
Whether that’s through consultancy,
internships, companies hiring our students, bringing executives back to deliver
classroom presentations or even getting
someone involved on a board, what we’re
trying to do is build that bridge.
What might lead someone to go back in an
executive MBA setting?
Maybe someone has a strong technical
background and is looking to get into a
more overall managerial or VP position.
That person needs a broader view of the
business world; not necessarily his or her
specialty area, but business as a whole.
That might be the ability to read a financial statement or forecast out or understand market implications.
Who might require an executive MBA?
If you’re looking to make it to the ‘C’
level or those senior level positions that
require a grasp of many different facets of
business, the executive MBA teaches
leadership in management. We have seen
an increase in the number of applications
for both types over the last three years as
people look to take that next big step.
CHRIS GRAHAM is executive director for Specialized Programs and External Affairs in the College of Business Administration at San Diego State University. Reach him at (619) 594-2899 or [email protected].