Hello out there, this is your host Parul, here to deliver another installment of “What the heck is GMSC?”…
When I last wrote about GMSC, our team was in the discovery phase of our GMSC project. The timeline for the class is designed for us to systematically go through this process, by doing an industry and competitor analysis, and conducting secondary research to begin the process. When we have defined the problem, then we begin the process of developing our survey for quantitative analysis. The survey is designed to collect data about your specific topic from users or relevant parties; ours is along the lines of usage patterns for data analytics. This survey can be internal to the client company or external, which has given many GMSC, groups the extra experience of working with email list brokers. The survey is reviewed and re-reviewed, by GMSC academics as well as industry experts, and can be a really intensive learning process…if you thought the simple days of check boxes were still around, you have another thing coming! Needless to say, when our team finally crafted our survey and sent it out, I was thinking… “Houston, we have landed”!
Our team is currently collecting survey data, a bit behind the “schedule” as it is laid out, but actually finding that our initial thoughts are very concurrent with the responses so far. The main challenges, as can be seen in any consulting-type deliverable, are ensuring that the work keeps going, that the client in involved in the process, and that everything we do will help us get closer to presentation day. If I had not mentioned it before, Presentation Day is one where each team competes in a competition (Case Competition to be exact) in front of several judges, both academic and from industry. The end result is a prize for best presentation, and best team…with a monetary reward. Anyone in GMSC will attest though, the glory is more attractive!
The coolest things for me so far with regards to GMSC are:
1. Interacting with a client I have never worked with (did I mention I consulted before B-school)
2. Working on the preliminary phases of a yet unexplored project
3. Interfacing with my awesome team
4. Working with faculty, and other students within GBS, who are experts in a certain area
5. Developing something which will potentially become a full-scale project at a very cool company, and
6. Competing with other teams, to produce the best quality product for our clients, and gain the glory of winning GMSC!
For the next month, our team will be working on some analytical data crunching, and presentation development. We have a long way to go, but we are beginning to really feel like there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Stay tuned for the results in May!
Read the full article: What the heck is GMSC? (Part 2)