Transcript
Speaker: Each year, one lucky middle market company benefits from participating in the Fisher Invitational Case Competition, where MBA students from across the Big Ten spend 24 hours working on recommendations for a real business issue. Join us today for a discussion about the 2019 case featuring Columbus retailer Amich.
Speaker: Welcome to The Market That Moves America, a podcast from the National Center for the Middle Market, which will educate you about the challenges facing mid -sized companies and help you take advantage of new opportunities.
Speaker: Hi, my name's Doug Farin, Managing Director of the National Center for the Middle Market. Joining me today on the market that moves America is Dr. Deborah Mitchell, Clinical Associate Professor of Marketing in the Marketing and Logistics Department here at Fisher College of Business. Deb, welcome to the podcast. Thanks, it's great to be here.
Speaker: So today we wanted to spend a little bit of time talking about the 2019 Fisher Invitational Case. Every year we have the chance to host a mid -sized company and really take a look at some real business issues that they're facing. And so we'll talk a little bit about that, but before we do, can you just tell us a little bit about your background and some of the research and areas that you focus on?
Speaker: Sure, absolutely. So my training was in marketing and behavioral science at the University of Chicago. And I started out as a researcher in what many would probably call consumer psychology. But very quickly, I kind of moved toward studying more about decision making among not just consumers, but also managers. And ultimately, I became fascinated with and focused my research on how people make decisions among managers, senior leaders, organizations.
Speaker: And today, my teaching and my research focuses very much on decision -making and strategy, and also given what we know about how people make decisions and how organizations can thrive or not, how we can develop leaders for tomorrow that will really be able to leverage what we know.
Speaker: Excellent. So you engage with companies I would imagine of all sizes. Yes. Any specific industry sectors like specialties that stand out to you or areas that you've spent more time in?
Speaker: Right. Early in my career, I decided that I didn't want to specialize in a particular industry. So I have consciously made an effort to try and work with a lot of different kinds of organizations in different sectors, for -profit and non -for -profit, even social enterprise or hybrids that are a mix of for -profit and not -for -profit.
Speaker: I would say that among those that I've worked with, including government, large government agencies, those that are most interesting are those that are hungry to grow and
Speaker: are facing challenges, but also very bold and eager to address those challenges and achieve growth. So that can be anywhere. And I've seen it even in government and in the nonprofit space and in the for -profit space. Sure. Yeah. And we see it a lot with mid -size companies. Absolutely. Which is what we're here talking about. So you had the chance to collaborate with the center this year on the Fisher Invitational Case.
Speaker: We worked with a local retailer here in Columbus called Omage. Right. So can you tell us a little bit just about at a high level the general focus of the case, the issue?
Speaker: The case was really exciting. I was excited to be involved as the faculty member or subject matter expert coming from the faculty, but the students were very excited too. And that was for a lot of reasons. This case focused on a question that so many organizations, particularly middle market, must address today, which is how can we achieve growth
Speaker: and particularly organic growth, not looking to grow through acquisition, not looking for big cash infusions from outside. How can we really grow while we stay true to our brand, our culture, and really achieve organically what we seek?
Speaker: And so for the Amich case, that was really the focus. It was, and particularly in a sector that is extremely competitive and is going through all kinds of creative disruption, all kinds of change, retail. You know, how can we achieve organic, successful growth while staying true to our brand, staying true to our culture, and really leveraging our strengths? Right. So Amich had never really done anything like this before. Can you tell us what it was like working with their team?
Speaker: And maybe some of the things that surprise you as you learn more about their business and just some of their opportunities. Absolutely. So in a really large organization, often there are many layers of management and a lot of gates to go through to be able to connect with the C -suite and with the key people on the line also who are really involved with interacting with customers on a day -to -day basis. One of the great things about Amage was, first of all, they were very open and
Speaker: very welcoming, transparent, very clear about their understanding of their strengths and also their challenges. But also we had access to the C -suite, we had access to the workers who really support the retail operation in the back who don't really interact with customers. We had a 360 degree view of everybody and we had access to everybody.
Speaker: So how do you think a company like Amage or really any mid -sized company could benefit from an experience like this at a case? I think one of the great things about something like the Fisher Invitational is that first of all,
Speaker: As with hiring outside consultants or anyone who would come in with fresh eyes, you get that new perspective. You get that fresh perspective. But with the students, something that's unique about them is they work in teams. The teams are typically cross -functional, which is also a great benefit. And they, they're so fresh. And in the case of homage, many of them.
Speaker: We're actually members of target segments for homage So you're getting kind of a combination of the the customer perspective as well as this more expert business perspective And just the the fresh eager energy that was applied to this
Speaker: They're doing it for competitiveness. They want to win the competition, but also for the love of it. They're not being paid to do this. And the energy and the commitment was just really remarkable. So I think for any middle marketer, any organization that would participate in something like this,
Speaker: they would gain fresh perspectives, great recommendations, strategic recommendations that could be implemented immediately. In fact, one of the things that really differentiated the top teams in this competition was they offered recommendations that could be implemented from Amaj's point of view immediately in the field now. So that's a great thing. So let's stay on that topic for a minute, but maybe switch the perspective. What do you think the students get out of this type of experience? That's a great question.
Speaker: In MBA culture, it's over the years become kind of typical to have case competitions of various types throughout the year. And it's not unusual to see them offered. I think a case competition like this with an actual real working company, an exciting one in an exciting space where students from all across the nation could come together in teams and compete is really unique.
Speaker: They get to practice making decisions under pressure, working as a team under pressure, working cross -functionally under pressure. But they also get exposed to real -world companies that you don't always read about or experience in your MBA classwork.
Speaker: So yeah you just answered my next question which is why is the case like this better than something that typically you'll see cases that are just off the shelf right they're written about a large company or studied in the classroom but yeah our experience has been these live cases are really interesting because you are able to address kind of real -time issues and hopefully the teams provide a lot of recommendations that are able to be implemented. Absolutely.
Speaker: So what other resources do you think mid -sized companies can use? I mean, obviously we can't do case competitions with every company out there, but are there resources out there that you think mid -sized companies should be looking at or utilizing to help them overcome some of these growth challenges?
Speaker: Right. Well, first, if one is not already a member of one's trade association or professional association, definitely networking and connecting with others is always a great platform for learning. Different associations have different strengths. But I know here in Columbus, we have something called CBUS Retail, which is a new organization that really is all about networking retailers. So for a company like Amage, that could be very valuable.
Speaker: So that's one area, is building out one's network among others. Also, one's local university can be a great resource. In this case, the Fisher Invitational Case Competition was an amazing opportunity, but even
Speaker: For myself and many of my colleagues, we teach classes that are involving projects, or I teach a class with undergraduates called Marketing Projects. It's sort of a consulting type situation. There's no fee for firms to participate. And for middle market companies, and I know my students have on occasion worked with such companies,
Speaker: Again, it can be a great resource to have several teams of students work on a challenge for a semester and, again, offer recommendations, fresh eyes, fresh perspectives. So it's a way to get the equivalent of some consulting, admittedly from students, but supervised by a professor. And, you know, at a low cost, other than investment of time, it can be a great resource for more ideas and more perspectives.
Speaker: Great. So assuming we get a chance to work together again next year, 2020 case, is there anything you would change or do differently or things you'd like to see? I don't know. You think would make it even more successful.
Speaker: I think that the only thing would be to encourage even more teams from even more schools to come because it's a great opportunity. I believe for anyone out there who has an organization, particularly middle market organizations, that might be considering, gee, would this be valuable for us? I would consider and encourage you to reach out and investigate and throw your hat in the ring because it really is a great intersection between the needs of middle market companies and what
Speaker: the university and in particular our MBA students can offer. Anything else you'd like to share about the case or the company?
Speaker: The company is amazing. Whether it's the women in the World Cup or the coming Buckeye season or any other organization, sports related or otherwise, show your membership in the community. Consider homage in all that they offer and the ways you can communicate your identity. And this is a free plug. I'm only saying this because in participating in this case competition, I learned a lot about this organization. It's really great what they offer. The other thing is,
Speaker: It is, there's a special energy and a special gift from interacting with young people who are furthering their education and business. So I would encourage everyone any way you can reach out and connect with business students to do so.
Speaker: Great. Well, thanks, Deb. I'd like to thank her for joining me today and for her collaboration with us on the case this year. As I mentioned, we hope to do this again in the coming year. For more information about this year's case competition, as well as other center content and research, please feel free to visit our website at www .middlemarketcenter .org. In addition, subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, and anywhere where podcasts can be found. See you next time.
