Enlist a Winning Team! Join Us in ENHANCE

~Connecting Texas MBA Teams & Opportunities for Winning Results~

The University of Texas Longhorns have a long history of success on the field...find out how you can enlist one of our Texas MBA ENHANCE consulting teams for a project with your company!

Interested in a team of top MBA consulting talent to attack a pressing business issue for your organization, at no charge?  Then join us in ENHANCE.

The ENHANCE program provides your organization with a consulting team of 4–7 McCombs School Working Professional MBA students to tackle an extended-length project that you define.

Many students entering the Professional MBA programs are looking to gain exposure to functional business areas that are new to them professionally.  Classes for these students run continuously for 22 months (33 months for the Texas Evening MBA), without a three-month summer break.  Therefore,

students are unable to participate in traditional internships.  The ENHANCE program helps fill this void in the MBA experience.

The success of Texas MBA students greatly depends on connections to opportunities to help them explore, connect, lead, and take action in the direction of their professional and career development interests. Your organization is key to these opportunities.  ENHANCE invites you to join us!

For more information, contact Steven Burton in Career Services, MBA Programs for Working Professionals at 512-232-3788, or at steven.burton@mccombs.utexas.edu.

ENHANCE  Projects

An ENHANCE project is an 8+-week consulting arrangement during the summer session, generally starting early June, and concluding by mid August.

Companies provide a project description to ENHANCE based on an existing business issue/challenge within their organization.  Student teams select projects that best match their professional aspirations and expect to spend at least 80–90 hours on the project during the eight-week project period.  Progress will be reviewed by McCombs Executive Education staff midway through the period to ensure the teams are on track. Advice and direction will be provided by McCombs Executive Education staff to help ensure that companies’ expectations are met with the project’s final deliverables.  Students will continue to manage their normal summer session class workload while involved in the project.

Your time commitment is relatively low to take advantage of an ENHANCE project, with 2-4 hours of planning time with the students prior to the project period.  This time is used to define and refine the scope of the project and agree upon the deliverables to be produced.  During the project period, expect approximately 3-6 hours of briefing, discussion, and presentation preparation time with the ENHANCE team.

Becoming a Client is Easy

Really, it is easy. First, draft a brief description for each project you would like to propose (see the Sample Project Description on the next page).  Then, e-mail the description to Steven Burton by Friday, April 18, 2008, at steven.burton @mccombs.utexas.edu.   There is a possibility that more project opportunities will be submitted than there are student teams, so we encourage early submissions to maximize the likelihood of being matched with a team.  You will be notified by Friday, May 16, regarding the status of your project(s).

The sample project description on the next page includes all the required information to submit a project.  To maximize the benefit from the project, please observe the following guidelines.

1. Project should be part of a very specific, tangible, immediate, and relevant business issue your
   organization is facing
   
   
2. Project scope should be feasible for a team of 4-7 MBAs to complete within 80-90 hours (equivalent to two work weeks worth of effort) across eight weeks during the summer session
3. Final deliverables, and the audience for the final presentation, should be identified in the project description
4. Commitment is needed from a contact within your organization who is closest to the business issue to:  

a. Refine the scope of the project with the team prior to the eight-week project period
b. Provide access to information and resources as necessary
c. Spend 3-6 hours working with the team during the eight-week period d. Schedule the final presentation for Friday, August 22 (or earlier), and invite key members of your organization to attend
e. Respond to a post-project feedback survey shortly after the project’s conclusion

What type of projects are MBA teams more likely to select?

Because your project will compete for the MBAs’ attention with other projects, prepare your project proposal

with the MBAs’ interests in mind.  Contact Steven if you would like some help with this.

An MBA team is more likely to select a project that:

Has a clearly-defined scope which is manageable within 80-90 hours across eight weeks

Has clear needs, expectations, and goals related to a current business issue

Allows MBAs to apply advanced business skills to a real-world problem

Provides a sense of legitimate business value the effort may have on the client’s organization

Clearly indicates the availability of your project contact to support the MBA team

Creates networking opportunities within your organization and/or with your clients

What commitments (time, resources, and expenses) are involved with an ENHANCE Project?

• Time:  Prior to the project, you will need to spend 2-4 hours with the team, clarifying and planning the project.  During the eight-week project period, plan on at least 3-6 hours for briefings and discussions.  For example, you could have a kickoff meeting, mid-project Q&A, and a presentation for the final project results

• Resources:  Each client will assign at least one main contact to work directly with the MBA team. This contact should be able to: ¾ Review and negotiate the scope of the project with the team in advance of the ENHANCE Project ¾ Facilitate access to the necessary resources, materials, and data, both before and during the project ¾ Interact with the team during the eight-week project period for 3-6 hours

• Expenses: There is no fee for an MBA ENHANCE project team to work with your organization.  Likewise, projects should be designed to minimize costs to your organization.  If a project requires expenditures, your organization should arrange to cover those expenses with the team.

Next Steps

You will be notified and introduced if an MBA team selects your project.  They will arrange for a mutually convenient project launch meeting.

We hope you will join us to connect UT’s Working Professional MBAs with opportunities at your company.  If you have any questions, comments, or ideas, contact Steven Burton at steven.burton@mccombs.utexas.edu, or 512-232-3788.

Sample Project Description

Please e-mail your project description(s) to steven.burton@mccombs.utexas.edu to receive maximum exposure to students.

MicroTech Systems – Midwest Bioscience Development Study

Organization Name: MicroTech Systems, Inc.  Sub - Division / Operating Group: Corporate Business Development – Planning & Analysis Location: Nashville, TN 5-7 Word Description of Issue: Midwest Bioscience Development Study Country / Region of Focus: USA

Client Contact(s)

Main Liaison: Carol Smith, VP – Finance at Carol.Smith@microtech.com, 615-555-1234 Project Contact (to interact with MBA Team): John Doe, Business Development Manager at John.Doe@microtech.com, 615-555­5432, Project Contact (to interact with MBA Team): Jane Smith, Midwest Business Development Specialist at Jane.Smith@microtech.com, 615-555-2345

Company / Division / Operating Group Description

MicroTech Systems is a leader in delivering manufacturing control and optimization software solutions across a slate of production-oriented industries. Our software products focus on the production management needs of global companies like Nestlé, BP, International Paper, and Cemex. More than 350 top companies worldwide rely on MicroTech Systems’ performance optimization software and services to create millions of dollars in value every day. We help them make high quality products less expensively through better management of their production systems. MicroTech Systems’ model-based technology allows decision-makers throughout the enterprise to tie action to strategy, creating a more prosperous company with every decision.

Established in 1990 and headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, MicroTech Systems is a privately held, employee-owned corporation with offices in the U.S., China, Japan, and India. 

Business Issue to be Addressed [and networking incentives for the MBA team members]

Potential clients based in the Midwest are quickly gaining influence in the biosciences market through domestic and international acquisitions and capacity development. This trend in the marketplace presents challenges and opportunities for MicroTech Systems as we grow sales and seek to deliver software solutions to this new market for us.

The project team will work with our Planning & Analysis group in Corporate Business Development. Along with other responsibilities, this group develops value propositions for extensions and new products and services.  Their audience is often the CEO and other executive suite officers.  My team and I will work with the ENHANCE Project team closely throughout the project.

Specific Scope for this McCombs ENHANCE Project [and networking incentives for the MBA team members]

The Team will research and recommend acceptable methods for selling and deploying high-end production management solutions to bioscience manufacturers in the Midwest.  The project should include at least some of the following: 1. Identification of industry norms and taboos, 2. How technology purchasing decisions are made in this market, 3. Negotiation techniques, 4. Industry organizational structure, 5. Vendor relationships / Sales channels, and 6. Governmental influence over the biosciences industry.  Specific scope will be refined with the project team.

In the course of this project, the ENHANCE Team will learn a great deal about leading players, production management, and biosciences industries.  They will also have exposure to key executives within MicroTech.  Depending on the outcome of this project, additional projects or opportunities may become available.

Special Team Member Characteristics/Skills (if any)

	Necessary (any 1 team member) – Manufacturing experience
	Helpful (any 1 team member) – Some familiarity with the Biomedical, Pharmaceutical, or Bioscience sectors
	Helpful (any 1 team member) – Knowledge of enterprise software solutions
	Helpful (any 1 team member) – Marketing planning and forecasting experience

Company URL – www.microtechsystems.com 

Examples of Summer 2007 MBA ENHANCE projects are listed below:

Adobe Systems – International business plan/marketing plan for products in higher education Air Liquide/Photovoltaic – Market analysis and business plan for Photovoltaic Air Liqude/Dry Ice – Feasibility study and business development plan for dry ice market American Airlines – Analysis to capture market for small- to mid-size business customers Austin Stock Research – Equity research project for industry segment Austin Technology Incubator/iTaggit – Develop business framework for category of web-based info system CIC Partners, LP – Research on private equity deal flow constituents ConocoPhillips – Long-range price forecasting for natural gas liquids Countrywide Financial – Develop metrics to evaluate effectiveness in recruiting & performance The Dallas Foundation/TRIAD – Identify unmet needs of military service men/women/families Dieste Harmel & Partners – Market research study targeting Hispanic women The Dow Chemical Company – Identify potential sources of added value in alternative fuels El Paso Corporation – Develop fuel hedging strategy Fayez Sarofim & Co. – Research factors that predict stock performance Focus Strategies – Investment banking project developing book based upon historical/projected data FX Hedging Project – Conduct benchmark analysis of corporate hedging programs in tech industry General Mills – Issues of expansion into premium frozen pizza market Gulf Capital Partners, Inc./ Remicalm – Market analysis of medical screening/diagnostic devices Hester Capital Management – Detailed research of REIT industry Hewlett-Packard – Recommend growth strategies for expansion into Chinese training market Hewlett-Packard – Develop business case for network security technology partner evaluation Hewlett-Packard – Provide business ROI framework to evaluate investments in IT service management Hewlett-Packard – Develop business model to optimize cost for spare parts in supply chain i2Technologies – Market analysis and business requirements for new product IBM Corporation – Market research on business opportunities with Open-Source

J.O.Y. Foods – Manage financial risk to ensure business continuity JPMorgan Chase – Business plan for commercial real estate lending to benefit Native American Tribes Lone Star Overnight – Operation productivity analysis and metrics update Luther King Capital Management/BTWW Retail – Feasibility study for SOX compliance Minute Maid Business Unit/Coca-Cola North America – Market analysis for “mainstreaming of natural foods” Murphree Venture Partners – Industry analysis to support venture capital investment strategy Pickering Energy Partners – Evaluate and identify differentiators for 40 oil service companies PricewaterhouseCoopers – Identify leading-edge practices in consulting skills QUALCOMM – Develop strategy for new growth opportunity in wireless telecom services Radar Tours – Raising venture capital for early-stage company St. Arnold Brewing Company – Issues introducing new line of premium beer Target – Logistics efficiency study Texas Film Commission – Conduct economic impact study for Texas’ commercial film production industry Texas Instruments – New market opportunity analysis and related strategic options Trinity Industries/Windtower Business Unit – Business analysis and market study Whole Foods Market – “Green” packaging study