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Consulting Enterprise

Strategy. Business planning. Financial management. Organizational design. Supply chain and operations. Imagine you just facilitated a constructive client debate around several growth strategies your team suggested. Imagine seeing a new product in the market and knowing that your research and recommendations were used to launch it. You don't have to imagine anymore. In the Carlson Consulting Enterprise you will gain real world experiences like these while working with clients; resulting in a positive impact on their business and your career development.

The Carlson Consulting Enterprise (CCE) is part class part work experience. Itâ€™s a 2-2.5 semester course in which student-led teams are assigned to work on a live client project for a local company. Project work is supplemented and enhanced by a weekly class that teaches structured thinking and project management skills that will be crucial in any career path.

In short, the CCE:

Provides real-world business solutions for Fortune 500 companies, mid-size corporations, and non-profit organizations.
Teaches an approach to business problems in a consultative fashion
Gives you the direct coaching, mentoring, client interaction, and direct feedback you'd normally only get by having a job.
Helps you to recognize how to exceed expectations, not merely meet them.

Program Experience

The Carlson Consulting Enterprise (CCE) is a 2.5 semester class in which students work on projects for paying clients to provide solutions to real business issues. The CCE gives you the opportunity to learn how to think like a consultant whether or not you choose to pursue a consulting career. You will develop the critical skill-set of identifying, analyzing and solving complex problems. You will also have the opportunity to participate in projects with premier companies, develop relationships with recognized business leaders, and differentiate yourself from other job candidates from competing top-ranked schools.

The client project work is supplemented by a weekly course which teaches methods for problem identification, issue tree mapping, work plan development, project execution, stakeholder management, and presentation construction. This, coupled with traditional business coursework, creates a more skilled graduate and differentiates Carlson School Enterprise graduates from those of other business schools.

Case Studies

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Best Buy

Reverse logistics best practices in the entertainment industry.

Objective

Best Buy pays for all aspects of moving returns in the entertainment category from the store to the vendor in order to receive credit for the item. The objective for the project was to document the current return process, including physical flow, systems flow, and the costs incurred.

Approach

Collect primary and secondary data
Develop the as-is reverse logistics process
Develop gap analysis between current situation and best practices

Outcome

Defined recommendations for strategy development and process improvements

Medtronic CRM Division

Supply chain safety stock analysis.

Objective

The CCE was challenged to come up with an innovative solution to address the bullwhip phenomenon between facilities within their CRM supply chain.

Approach

Develop a Smart Pull Process that would account and compensate for the monthly, quarterly, and year end spikes that occur in the medical device industry
Perform an inventory sensitivity analysis that compared the current safety stock equation versus the recommended CCE equation
Redefine key performance metrics
Develop an implementation roadmap

Outcome

12.2% savings in inventory investment and 23% improvement in service levels for the vertical suppliers
Improved visibility, communication and organizational alignment, which allows the change from reactive to proactive management

Northwest Airlines Cargo

Route profitability assessment.

Objective

To investigate the profitability of routes for which there was anecdotal evidence of unprofitability. While the client understood profit at the station level, gaining insight into cost at the shipment level remained a challenge.

Approach

Develop a methodology to allocate cost on an individual shipment basis
Apply methodology to individual shipments on a number of suspect routes
Develop an Excel-based model to provide the client with an effective pricing tool

Outcome

Discovered opportunities for improving client profitability by:
- Improving pricing based on shipment type and routing
- Maximizing flow through lower cost lanes
- Identifying unprofitable customers
- Optimizing network planning

Polaris

Pricing strategy for ATV business.

Objective

To develop an in-house pricing capability for six segments of the ATV business.

Approach

Scan the ATV industry using a four-pronged assessment: consumer, company, competitors, and channels
Conduct primary research with consumers to quantify three key unknowns: brand premiums by segment, consumer demand curves for each competitor, and price elasticity for each brand in each segment

Outcome

Client was given a generic pricing tool kit that can be used for future applications for both current segments and new undeveloped projects
Team offered pricing recommendations on each of the six segments
Finally, our scenario analyses and elasticity calculations offered fact-based explanations into some things the firm was already seeing develop in the marketplace