Completed Projects

Beloware samples of a few field study projects completed at the Marriott School:

Black and Decker (Strategy, New Product Development)

Advisor: Dr. Paul Godfrey.

Marriott School students examined the viability of BDK entering a large new market. The first task of the team was to become thoroughly familiar with all of the various product lines. To accomplish this, the team visited distributors, end users, secondary literature, manufacturers, and trade shows to understand the various product lines, margins, current and potential market size, and the value proposition for BDK. The team then examined various companiesý product lines versus BDK strategic interests. Several product lines were eliminated as being too small or outside of BDK core competencies. They then honed in on three product lines in which BDK could enter. They completed the project by recommending two entry strategies into the market---one product line through acquisition and a second through partnership.

Microsoft (OB/HR)

Advisor: Dr. Dave Jennings

This team worked with an HR department at Microsoft. At the time, Microsoft was combining two areas as part of a restructuring. The team recommended the best method to accomplish the restructuring, starting with a team assessment report, a strategy, a high level time line, and a roadmap for their path to organizational change. They interviewed members of the two areas that were combining and discovered potential difficulties that needed to be addressed. The teamýs recommended proposals were approved by Microsoftýs CEO, Steve Ballmer.

State of Utah (Public Sector/Economic Development)

Faculty Advisor: Paul Godfrey

The Economic Development Division of the State of Utah requested a study to help a certain business sector within Utah expand internationally. The team outlined the strengths of companies within this sector in Utah and matched those strengths against the competition and market needs in four countries.

Federal Express Freight (Benchmark for Field Marketing Study)

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Dave Alcorn

Field marketing is a new technique that many large corporations are beginning to use. By having marketing representatives in the field with the sales force, they are better able to assess local market needs, test new products, and help the sales force. This team did a study to benchmark best practices and make recommendations for instigating field marketing at FedEx Freight.

Dell Computers (Marketing Research)

Advisor: Tamara Masters

The question the team addressed was how Dell printers could break into the HP printer market. The survey results compared customer preferences with HP and Dell product features and determined the best marketing strategy to penetrate the printer market.

Pepsico (Supply Chain)

Advisor: Dr. William Sawaya;

This team configured a very complex database for transportation throughout the 48 contiguous states for various Pepsico subsidiaries. The database is robust enough to anticipate complex varieties of products, state laws, and fees regarding trucking. It also is built to anticipate expansion of use. The goal of the study was to find ways of saving transportation costs by increasing utilization of space in trucking.

Corda (Pricing and Positioning)

Advisor: Dr. David Whitlark

This team provided a survey to help determine pricing for a new executive dashboard reporting system used by Fortune 500 companies. The new version of their dashboard was launched based on the student recommendations.