implementation and challenges of commercial student led consultancy projects at level h background...

Implementation and challenges of commercial student led consultancy projects at level H

Background information• I have been advising final year students engaged in

Consultancy Projects since 1990- BABS,BATS,BALM,

and BARM and BAHM since 1992.

I wanted to ensure that our graduates had the requisite business and commercial skills that would make them stand out and enhance their careers.

The Consultancy Project pre dates and mirrors ‘Fusion’ in that it straddles education, research and professional practice.


• In a recent article in the Sunday Times about graduate

employment the value of courses with a vocational focus was highlighted

• ‘Companies want more than just academic qualifications. The key attributes they identify as important and in short supply are communication skills, an ability to work in a team and an understanding of business, often gained through work experience’

• There is no doubt that the sandwich year helps to prepare finalists for the Consultancy Project at level H

Key benefits of Consultancy Project

• Improves employment prospects • Improves ability to become a senior manager

Retail alumni – 10 Chief Execs/M.D’s, and 26 Directors

plus numerous Heads of Marketing, Heads of Buying, etc.• Develops leadership and team working skills• Improves consultancy skills• Enhances presentation skills• Builds personal networks


• Make sure you have selected the companies, and the key

contact well before the start of the autumn term.• It is preferable to target alumni as they are familiar with BU

and may well have engaged in a consultancy project themselves so understand the nature of the challenges faced by the finalists.

• Wherever possible select a well known company who has the resources to support the intervention and may well hire graduates later in the year

Critical success factors

• Selecting the right companies at the outset, preferably blue chip/well known companies

• Guiding the clients on the strategic nature of the projects• Compatibility of the personalities involved in each team and

ability to handle conflict• Focus on the client’s needs• Awareness of underlying problems• Regular contact with external and internal client• Expect and demand outstanding interventions• As a tutor deal with any problems and resolve them quickly

and effectively

Critical success factors

• Determination, creativity, teamwork, research skills, quantitative/qualitative analysis

• Awareness of constraints• Establishing of priorities• Awareness of the client’s intentions• Honesty in specifying what can be delivered• Encourage groups to select a strong team leader

Essential reading

• Levi, D - Group Dynamics for teams

2nd edition, Sage publications• Wickham, P.A – Management Consulting,

FT publishing

Characteristics of successful teams

Hackman’s 5 factors for successful teams• Clear direction and goals to focus efforts• Good leadership to manage internal/external relations• Projects should be complex and challenging requiring the

integrated efforts of team members• Necessary resources to perform tasks. Client/tutor• Supportive environment. Organizations must allocate

sufficient power and authority to allow team members to make and implement decisions

Characteristics of successful teamsLevi and Slem(1995) 4 factors for team success• Evaluation and rewards: teams need fair and objective criteria for

evaluation• Social relations: teams need social skills so they can resolve internal

conflicts and function smoothly• Projects should be complex and challenging requiring the integrated

efforts of team members• Task characteristics: teams need clear direction and goals, tasks that

are appropriate for teamwork, and work that is challenging and important

• Leadership: leaders need to facilitate team interactions and provide assistance when problems occur

Common features of successful teams

• Teams have clear goals that provide direction and motivation

• Team leaders structure tasks and facilitate group processes

• Their organizations provide supportive contexts for the teams to grow

• Teams are held mutually accountable for the success of their teams and rewarded for their efforts

Motivation and social loafing

• The potential of teamwork is that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts

• However, working together can cause a decrease in motivation due to social loafing, which is the reduction of individual contributions when people work in groups

• The ‘sucker effect’ (Johnson & Johnson, 1997) is when good performers slack off in teams because they do not want others to take advantage of them

• When work teams are given challenging tasks, when they are rewarded for group success yet have identifiable individual performance indicators, and when there is commitment to the team, social loafing does not occur

Motivation and social loafing

• A balance of individual and team based rewards is necessary to encourage both a commitment to the team and an incentive for individual performance. (Thompson, 2004)

• The more people value membership in the group, the more motivated they are to perform. Cohesive groups are less likely to experience social loafing (Karau & Williams, 1997)

• Highly cohesive groups have more commitment to their tasks and perform better (Wech, Mossholder, Steel, & Bennett, 1998)

Cooperation and Competition• When individuals or teams in an organization compete

against each other, changes occur that prevent the team from being successful (Tjosvold, 1995)

• A successful team has members who work together to reach a common goal. When team members compete against one another, individual goals can conflict with the team goal. Team members then distrust one another because they are uncertain of one another’s motives. Over time, internal competition reduces communication within the team.

Cooperation and Competition• Groups that work cooperatively have less tension, fewer

conflicts, and fewer verbal confrontations (Tjosvold, 1995)• Team members sometimes go along with the team leader’s

solution to avoid disagreements and conflict. This can lead to poor decisions and the formation of sub groups.

• Team members should speak up in meetings and communicate their real feelings to avoid future fragmentation.

Consultancy Projects Feedback

Finalist feedback

‘I feel that the Consultancy Project has and will prove to be the most worthwhile and important piece of work that I have undertaken this year. I believe that it is the commercial experience that this project provides which sets the Bournemouth retail degree apart from others’


Finalist feedback

‘Overall the Consultancy Project has played an invaluable part in my development this year and I believe that the experience will stand me in good stead to leave University and move into an excellent graduate position.’


Finalist feedback

‘Effectively the Consultancy Project is what separates the Retail Management degree at Bournemouth from other degrees and is highly respected amongst employers’

Consultancy Project

Group report 50%

Group presentation 50%

Consultancy Projects 2011/12

B & Q What should the B & Q customer proposition be

within the marketplace for the Shelving and Storage category to improve both its sales and margin contribution? Team to consider market position, market size, trends, customer decision tree, B & Q versus competitors for range, space, merchandising layouts/displays, attributes/characteristics, merchandising flow.


ArgosArgos wants to increase its share of the university/college

spend. Given the multi channel capabilities of Argos, what

recommendations would you suggest to increase our share

of this segment? Plan a multi channel campaign to drive

sales and market share for the start of term, 2012


Philips

How can Philips optimise the market for

LED technology products for the general

public, the public sector and small and

medium enterprises?


Poole Town Centre

A retail strategy for Poole : optimisation of

key retail centres in Poole- Dolphin

Shopping Centre, the Quay, the High Street,

and the new Central Regeneration Area.


Tesco

Tesco has a vast amount of Petrol Filling

Stations, each with small footage shops yet

large customer footfall. Do we make the

most of the range and layout of these sites

and what can we improve.

In scope : improve product ranges, retail

section store layout, space given to product

types, outdoor range, design and marketing.


Waitrose

How could CRM (customer relationship management) be used to drive personalisation within Waitrose stores?


West Quay

The impact of multi channel shopping and

mobile communications on prime Shopping

Malls and an exploration of the opportunities

it generates. For example, ‘in centre’

collection facilities, ordering on Amazon, etc.

Consultancy Projects 2011/12WHSmithIdentify what a WHSmith store in the Departures Lounge of an international airport within the UK could look like in 5 years time including, but not limited to:What products are sold, how products are merchandised and promoted, what services are offered, how customers are served, and how new technologies might improve both the customer experience and the efficiency of the business.You should aim to isolate and expand upon the changes and innovations that will make the biggest difference to the success of the business in 2016, explaining clearly how these can be implemented and what their benefits will be.

Question time

I am happy to answer any questions

implementation and challenges of commercial student led consultancy projects at level h background...

Documents

consultancy projects

consultancy skills

year slide

level h slide

commercial skills

research skills

consultancy project

strong team leader slide