2022 Consulting Project Reflection

As the MBA academic year in Italy comes to a close, the full-time MBA class found themselves delivering the final consulting presentations to their client companies. After months of research, data collection, interviews, analyzes, and dedicated hard work, it was riveting to see each team complete their real-world experience and showcase skills developed throughout the year. We asked each of the MBA teams to reflect on their consulting project experience:

Our consulting project with Silca was an important learning experience for all of us. Most interestingly, the project had a captivating frame of opportunity: untapped potential in a digital transformation; to maintain its industry-leading position and capture market value, effective data usage would be the strategic next step for this company. We found it challenging to be dropped into the deep end of the organization, to gather data and information, understand needs, take suggestions from two different continents, and then to reprocess it all with the help of the CIMBA network. The key to our effectiveness was the ability to coordinate work and envision the structure of our deliverables in advance so that we could best concentrate our efforts: in a nutshell, learning to work smart.

‍- Agostino Ventura, Payton Moore, Trevor Smith, and Cooper Trusdale

We worked with Out Of to assist in developing the company's journey toward recognized sustainability. The company, based in Brescia, was interested in pursuing a B-Corp Certification, which measures and evaluates a business's socially and environmentally sustainable behavior. They were also interested in exploring different marketing communication strategies for sharing their sustainability achievements and goals with customers, suppliers, and others. Each team member specialized in a different area of ​​the B-Corp Certification: Environment, Governance, Workers, Community and Customers. We each performed specific research on our assigned area of ​​focus, becoming experts in the area while working back and forth with the client to implement policies, practices, and procedures. Early in the project, we had the opportunity to visit the company's facilities. We found the staff to be inspired and committed to the journey, each specializing in an area of ​​the B-Corp Certification alongside us. In the end, a marketing strategy was also developed, allowing the client to exploit and maximize the efficiency of its communication channels to both B2B and B2C customers. In late May, we presented the results of this amazing collaboration to the principals of Out Of. It was both exciting and rewarding to see their positive response. We are all appreciative of the opportunity CIMBA and Out Of gave us to undertake this important project. allowing the client to exploit and maximize the efficiency of its communication channels to both B2B and B2C customers. In late May, we presented the results of this amazing collaboration to the principals of Out Of. It was both exciting and rewarding to see their positive response. We are all appreciative of the opportunity CIMBA and Out Of gave us to undertake this important project. allowing the client to exploit and maximize the efficiency of its communication channels to both B2B and B2C customers. In late May, we presented the results of this amazing collaboration to the principals of Out Of. It was both exciting and rewarding to see their positive response. We are all appreciative of the opportunity CIMBA and Out Of gave us to undertake this important project.

- Sara Sparling, Evan Gonzalez, Letizia Gallo, and Luca Franceschetto

Working with Forgital to develop a productivity dashboard in Excel proved to be both a challenge and a magnificent learning experience for all of us on the team. Through countless hours of research working together with Forgital, outside experts within the CIMBA Network, and others, we immersed ourselves into all things related to productivity in the company, and then developed a user-friendly, Excel-based dashboard where the relevant productivity data and information could be gathered, sorted, analyzed, and presented. Using the design thinking process, the dashboard went through multiple phases of development, ultimately leading to a viable and dependable analysis tool the company will use for many years to come. We learned the importance of asking questions, seeking expert assistance, and maintaining focus on the project objectives; productivity means output over input, and we can certainly relate that to our collaborative team experience. We are confident that this journey and what we learned along the way both individually and as a team will be valuable to us for a lifetime.

- Marcella Williams, Daniele Rossi, Gavin Magee, and Alex Ruben

The HighBar consulting project was a journey filled with learning, creative thinking, and personal insights. It provided us with a remarkable inside view of the challenges faced by a startup that has clearly developed a product with the potential to take the market by storm. As a product to be supplied to some of the most important players throughout the entire range of the industry, it provided a unique opportunity to understand the importance of identifying those key important players, understanding their particular needs, and determining the best ways to approach them . Throughout the project, our ideas evolved and ultimately led to the extraordinary result we delivered to our client. The consulting experience is one of the most rewarding CIMBA MBA experiences. It gave us the unique opportunity to work with a real client who had objectives and expectations for us to deliver in a timely fashion. We have all gained valuable experience and a deeper understanding of the consulting world because of this project, and we are excited to take skills like teamwork and project management into our future careers."

- Brandon De Pinto, Genna Foster, Zac Stockton, and Uriel Martinez