Applied Strategy is a full-time MBA core curriculum course each of our first-year students participates in during their second quarter. This is a hands-on, consulting-type applied learning experience where teams of MBAs drive and deliver creative solutions to a critical business challenge proposed by a company.
At Foster, we prioritize learning-by-doing and offer Applied Strategy as a way for our MBAs to:
- Expand industry knowledge and skills
- Grow leadership capabilities and executive presence
- Network and receive mentoring from industry and business experts
Foster partners with businesses of interest to our students – as you can see in the long list below – to engage in projects they propose for teams of MBAs to address their current and relevant needs.
| Adobe Alaska Airlines Alliance of Angels Apptio Avvo Amazon Boeing Boys & Girls Club CDK Digital Marketing Code Fellows Concur Costco Dell EMC Disney Dolby Dry Soda Co. Eddie Bauer Egencia, an Expedia Company Evolent Health Expeditors International F5 Networks Foss Maritime Getty Images GM Nameplate Groundspeak Group Health Cooperative Holland America Line Intel Isernio’s Sausage K2 Corporation Landesa La Panzanella |
Marchex Medamonitor/LEVL Microsoft National Park Service Nike Outdoor Research PACCAR Philips Planetary Power Providence Health & Services Puget Sound Energy REI Saltchuk Seattle Children’s Hospital Seattle Opera SightLife Skanska Starbucks Ste. Michelle Wine Estates Talking Rain T-Mobile Vulcan Volt Athletics Wells Fargo Bank West Monroe Partners Weyerhaeuser Wunderman Xbox YMCA |
How it works
You get to select the projects you’re interested in…
MBA Students will be given the list of project companies and scope descriptions to identify the projects that align with their careers interests and select those their top choices to apply. Project teams and assignments will be announced before the winter break so students can be introduced and start driving their projects as soon as the winter quarter begins!
You’ll focus time on driving your project while receiving the support you need…
Rather than a regularly scheduled set of class sessions, students will meet directly with their client sponsors to drive the project while receiving targeted team support for our Foster Faculty Advisor, Professor Russell Walker.
Students draw from their prior work experience and new MBA skillsets, bringing an outside perspective and immediate value to the sponsoring organizations.
Select Quotes from our Winter 2022 MBA Student Experience…
Strategy
- New business and product assessment, including design, packaging, and distribution channels
- Customer/user experience journey mapping
- Identifying socially responsible and sustainable business solutions
- Cost benefit analysis of strategic initiatives
Finance/Business Planning
- Pricing optimization
- Industry payment terms benchmarking for policy and practice optimization
- Asset lifetime value optimization
- Landscape assessment and recommendations for increased profitability
- Strategic growth plan for international expansion
- Cash flow management optimization
- Carbon offset program identification and emissions stabilization strategy with carbon-neutral growth
Market Research / Marketing Strategy
- Market research and new product positioning
- Optimized target customer segmentation and market-sizing
- New Product or service channel optimization
- Competitor marketing analysis and messaging recommendations
- Strategic launch, including e-commerce and store openings
- Customer lifetime value (CLV) analysis and recommendations for growth
- Communications and marketing plans for strategic initiatives
Operations & Supply Chain
- Cost optimization for supply chain delivery services
- Production efficiency and efficacy assessment with recommendations for improvement
- Outsourcing optimization assessment
Organization Governance/HR
- Employee satisfaction and long-term part-time employee retention optimizations
- Succession planning guide and employee training plan
- Performance metrics scorecard/dashboard toolkit
- Organization structure assessment