THE WALLACE E. CARROLL SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT
MD240: Management Information Systems
Fall 2004
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Team Project
Team Project: DC/BC Case Study Simulation
The team project will involve a case consulting simulation led by staff from the Boston office of Deloitte Consulting (DC). Student teams will serve as MIS consultants to managers of a made-up corporation. This case study experience is based on a real consulting engagement involving issues regarding Trade Promotions Management (TPM).
The Objective:
The goal of this experience is for you to experience first-hand the life of an MIS consultant, and to go through an experience in which you must make some decisions like they make in their consultancy. Another objective is to provide you with opportunities to interact with actual MIS consultants who deal with the technologies we talk about in class on a daily basis. Many of these consultants will be BC alumni, and they are all volunteering their time to help you gain a better understanding about the MIS consulting industry, the activities in their daily jobs, and the topic of TPM.
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of this experience, you should learn the following:
(1) You'll know a lot about MIS consulting and TPM.
(2) You'll know how to present a sales pitch for IT consulting services (conversely, if you need to buy IT services in the future, you'll have a better idea of what you're being told and what you're not being told in a consulting proposal or report).
(3) You'll know how to write a response to a Request For Proposal (RFP) for IT consulting services (or other consulting services), in order to try to win a client.
(4) You’ll learn about making sales-oriented (as opposed to informational) presentations.
(5) You'll have a chance to present your solution to, be questioned by, and be judged by, Deloitte Consulting managers and partners (and, of course, your instructor).
The Prize:
The case consulting simulation is a competitive exercise. After presenting your suggested solutions, the Deloitte Consulting judges will announce the winning team. Your instructor will present a BC-branded prize to each member of the winning team on the final day of class.
Your Project Team:
You will be asked to form groups of approximately 4-5 students each. While the natural tendency when doing so is to pick (a) a group of your friends, or (b) those students sitting closest to you in class ... I suggest you not do this. You will want to make sure that your group has a mixture of people with tendencies toward project management (i.e., the "Project Manager" type), concept development and brainstorming (i.e., "Concept People"), documentation of what you accomplish (i.e., "Document Manager/Word Expert/PowerPoint Expert"), and abilities to envision how to choose and adapt technologies to create systems ("Techie Types/Techno-Geeks"). Further information about the consulting roles that individuals in your team will need to take on will be given during the first DC in-class presentation.
One person in each team MUST serve as the Project Manager for the team. This person will be the primary contact who will interact with the DC employees who will work with your team. The Project Manager will set up group meetings with the DC employees, and of course, will need to manage group members to get the project done.
Project Timeline:
Friday, September 24 (Time - 2:00-4:00 p.m., Room - Fulton 245): Staff members from DC will attend class to introduce themselves, and will present a presentation on what MIS consulting involves, what their backgrounds are, what their jobs are like, and what different personnel roles are available in MIS consulting. They will then present the case study that each of your MIS consulting teams will be asked to present a solution for. They will describe the client's problem, present each team with materials about the client problem, and outline the expected deliverables at the end of the consulting engagement.
Friday, October 1 (Time - 2:00-4:00 p.m., Room - Fulton 245): Staff members from DC will attend class and will present additional presentations on what TPM is, the various technologies involved, and so forth. They may demonstrate a few TPM software packages.
From October 1 To October 22: Each team will work on a first draft of a written report for the client. Each team will have access to a DC employee who will serve as a "Managing Partner" to help guide your team toward an appropriate solution and to make sure you don't end up way off track. These contacts with DC staff may require conference calls involving your whole team, and perhaps meetings in person.
Friday, October 22: The first draft of your written report is due to me via email today (in MS Word or PDF format).
Wednesday, October 27: You will receive critiques of your first draft from your instructor and from several Deloitte Consulting participants. You will use these as the basis for improving your written reports.
Tuesday, November 9: The final draft of your written report is due today.
Friday, November 12: A draft of your presentation (in MS PowerPoint) is due to me today.
Thursday, November 18 (12:00 noon): The final presentation (in MS PowerPoint) is due today.
Friday, November 19 (1:00-6:00): All teams from MD240 will travel downtown to the office of Deloitte Consulting to present the teams' case solutions in the DC boardroom. Each team will present their solution to a judging panel of DC managers who will evaluate the team presentations, choose the best solution, and present what was actually done as a wrap-up to the experience. Each team will need to be prepared to present a 15-20 minute overhead presentation of their suggested solution to the case. Each team member should take part in the presentation.
After the presentations are finished and a winning team has been chosen, there will be a debriefing to allow you a chance to ask questions about the real consulting engagement. There also may be time for a short social period during which you will get to further meet and get to know the DC staff involved in this case simulation experience.