Contact: Maridith Geuder
Measuring customer satisfaction at a North Mississippi veterinary hospital, evaluating resource allocation at a Gulf Coast business and analyzing a computer inventory system for a regional telecommunications company are among some summer assignments given a group of Mississippi State students.
In a final-semester field study class required for a master of business administration degree, the university students act as consultants to solve real issues faced by real businesses.
More than two dozen students were involved during June in the College of Business and Industry program. While the consultations are provided free to the companies, the students are able to hone some very valuable professional skills.
"Since we redesigned the field study program in 1996, MSU student teams have worked with nearly 100 companies," said Barbara Spencer, MSU director of graduate studies in business. BellSouth of Birmingham, Ala., Plymouth Tube of Eupora, Rolls Royce of Pascagoula, Synergetics of Starkville, and Saltillo Veterinary Hospital are among the most recent to utilize the MBA students, she added.
"After meeting with company representatives to learn about the business, they must define the project and focus their efforts," Spencer explained. "The more specific they are, the more successful they can be at achieving objectives."
Under faculty direction, student teams have been involved in everything from technology improvements to production design to market research and customer service.
May graduate Theresa Winstead of Brandon said a spring-semester project she completed with Columbus-based Jubilations Cheesecakes gave her experience "far beyond sitting in a classroom.
"We actually acted as management consultants in a project that developed e-mail and telephone surveys for the company," she said.
After a semester of work, Winstead and other members of her team prepared a required final report to their teachers before doing a formal presentation for company representatives.
Jubilations vice president George Purnell said "students were able to do quality analysis and form clear opinions about what our customers think about Jubilations. We take the results of the study very seriously."
Purnell said the company is responding to survey results by "emphasizing more strongly some elements of our strategy. We also are making several changes to our web site in response to the research."
The company is so pleased with the quality of the work that they're requesting a follow-up student study on another aspect of their business, Purnell said.
Spencer termed the professional interaction between students and businesses as "an asset for all involved."
For more information about the MBA field study program, contact Spencer at (662) 325-1891.