Business Strategy Development

Our team has noticed that our product development and operational processes are not as efficient as they have the potential to be. We want to simplify these processes to make them more “lean” in order to make them less costly and more adaptable to customer feedback at a fast pace. In this project, students will focus on evaluating our operations and identifying internal issues that are causing processes to be too timely or costly. Mapping out operational processes using Business Process Model Notation and notation (BPMN), and evaluating each step and the resources it consumes. Identifying bottlenecks in our operational processes. Researching solutions to each unique problem identified in the mapping process. Creating a proposal with recommendations for improvements and an implementation plan for how we would incorporate the solutions. Creating a second BPMN model of operational processes with the proposed solution(s).

Digital Marketing

Our company advertises thousands of products online. We have developed a set of marketing strategies, but it has been challenging to implement them. We would like to collaborate with students to review and post content promoting our company. This will involve several different steps for the students, including: Familiarizing themselves with our target market, products and services. Reviewing marketing content in the form of posts, emails, brochures, etc. Deploying content according to our social media calendar to increase website traffic. Overseeing our channels and keeping them up-to-date. Bonus steps in the process would also include: Recommending search engine optimization (SEO) strategies so our materials are easily accessible.

Accessibility Testing

Our company advertises thousands of products online. The main problem we are trying to solve is to garner more user feedback on our interface’s accessibility. We would like to collaborate with students to conduct accessibility tests on our website with pre-identified customers. This will involve several different steps for the students, including: Conducting background research on disabilities and methods of evaluating accessibility. Reaching out to customers and scheduling interviews. Familiarizing themselves with the test tasks that should be administered. Conducting accessibility tests remotely and following up with customers to thank them for their participation. Analyzing and reporting the metrics / results of the tests. Bonus steps in the process would also include: Recommending website improvements based on findings.

Financial Risk Analysis

As a growing company, we are interested in understanding the state of the market we are in, and our organization’s level of risk. In this project, students will assess our company’s risk by building a financial risk model to determine our best course of action. Students will perform a sensitivity analysis to help us eliminate some of the uncertainties we face and determine the reliability of risk estimates. This may involve: Using mathematical and statistical tools to analyze private and public data. Evaluating metrics associated with the risk level of our company such as volatility, correlations for returns, forward/futures contracts, cash flows, variance, and economic states. Building a financial risk model including sensitivity analysis to determine the reliability of the model’s findings. Creating a report to present the results and recommendations from various forms of analysis to be presented to the project manager.