Strategic Profitability Improvement—Marriott

To identify opportunities to improve utilization/profitability of hotel rooms, food service and conference facilities at the nearby Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, a team of students worked to determine how to better engage with University of Iowa students, staff, faculty, parents, and families. Students gathered and analyzed customer data and recommended a set of actionable recommendations and next steps.

Scope of Work: Development of a profit improvement strategy for a relatively new property. This property is located in an established university town, is very upscale, and has a very significant banquet/conference capacity.

Outcome: The team developed a market penetration strategy which addressed multiple market segments and associated product offerings. Very specific near-term action items were identified, providing management with actions and market contact information that provided immediate impact.

Market Opportunity Assessment—Zurich North America

Zurich has incorporated a process referred to as Market Opportunity Assessment (MOA) as a means to evaluate current and potential markets and market segments (“market baskets”). Students conducted an analysis of the MOA with the intent of providing recommendations for improvement and refinement. The team also determined which of existing potential market baskets would benefit most from the MOA process.

Scope of Work: In support of corporate growth objectives, the company has developed a “Market Opportunity Assessment (MOA)” process for evaluating the business potential for new markets/products and services. The team was charged with applying the MOA process to a specific market and subsequently evaluating the effectiveness of the MOA process.

Outcome: The team identified the characteristics and potential of a market for a specific insurance product. This provided the basis for the company to enter that market with a new product. In addition, the team suggested a number of process and culture improvements/changes related to the MOA process.

Investment Choice Education Analysis—TIAA-CREF and The University of Iowa

Full-time MBA students present their findings to representatives of TIAA-CREF via teleconference. Pictured are MBA students Abbie Dombrock, Christine Eichinger, Malini Ratan, and Chuck Mersch with TIAA-CREF employee Brock Noel.

To determine the cause of below-average participation by University of Iowa employees in a supplemental retirement plan, team members analyzed the profiles of plan participants and non-participants. They also conducted one-on-one interviews and administered a large-scale survey. Armed with this analysis, the team made recommendations for participation rate improvement.

Scope of Work: The University of Iowa is a major client of this firm and has a lower participation rate in the Supplemental (versus mandatory) Retirement Plan (SRP) than other universities of like size and location. The team performed a demographic analysis of University of Iowa participants/non-participants in the SRP as well as a University-wide survey to gather insight on the reasons employees participate or do not participate.

Outcome: This insight provided management with the data to focus/revise marketing strategies to increase participation in the SRP. In addition, data was gathered which provided input on communication vehicles to employees, plan name options, and characteristics of high likelihood plan participants.

Segment Growth Analysis—AdTrack

AdTrack, a company which provides sales lead management and related services, enlisted a team of University of Iowa Tippie MBA students to review its business model and make recommendations for achieving profitable growth. After defining and assessing the size of each market segment, students identified go-to-market and pricing strategies for each. Students also identified potential new markets for the existing bundle of services.

Scope of Work: The company provides services in support of various segments of the customer relationship management function. They can provide marketing call center support, Internet-based lead response, material/brochure warehousing and distribution, and decision support/business intelligence analysis of lead activity. The business issue to be addressed was related to defining and prioritizing market expansion opportunities.

Outcome: The team identified characteristics of clients/markets in which the company has been successful in the past and identified industries, companies, and distributions channels which are high success probability opportunities. In addition, alternative business models were identified which more closely aligned company revenues with client value creation.

Schafer Systems Inc., Division of Owner Revolution

Clients at Schafer Systems Incorporated (SSI), the foremost supplier of plastic instant ticket dispensers and point-of-purchase displays, charged students with investigating new sales opportunities outside their core market, the worldwide lottery industry. Students analyzed SSI competencies for ideas to drive new product development. The team identified “outside the lottery box” opportunities and put together a proposal for a business plan and new product offerings.

Scope of Work: The company holds an 80% global market share in the point-of-sale product display cases they manufacture. The business issue is to identify additional market segments that the company is adequately skilled to enter with similar products.

Outcome: The team identified two specific markets which are candidates for products using the same or similar materials, manufacturing methods, and quality standards. Market size, characteristics, and penetration strategies were identified.

Broker Dealer Financial Services

Mike Sherzan of BDFS discusses his company's project with students.

Students working with Broker Dealer Financial Services (BDFS) analyzed selected Midwestern target companies overlooked by major Wall Street firms and their research analysts. The project deliverable was a collection of unbiased investment research reports, called the Booneville Road Reports. The reports will be distributed nationally to the public and the Wall Street community. During the project, students gained practical experience meeting with senior management, collecting data, analyzing financial and non-financial public information, and preparing a professional research report reflecting a variety of public firms.

Scope of Work: The team was asked to develop and apply a methodology for evaluating the investment worthiness of Iowa-based publicly traded companies for the purpose of potentially developing an “Iowa Fund” consisting of investments in firms headquartered in or around Iowa.

Outcome: The team applied an approach/methodology intended for small- to mid-sized companies to two Iowa-based firms. This approach included meeting with the CFO of each client to obtain the perspective of the management team. This approach can now be replicated in the future.