Modified Form of “The Apprentice” Television Show Recognizes MBA
Students
A local version of the “The Apprentice” reality television show came
to the Raj Soin College of Business this spring when Leib Lurie, CEO of
MyTeam1, challenged 55 MBA students in two advanced classes to
jump-start several new offerings for automated phone tree services from
the Troy-based company.
“We got interested in the Donald Trump show and decided to use a similar
format for this activity to help our company and the students,”
explained Leib Lurie, CEO of MyTeam1. The winning teams received cash
prizes totaling $1,100 at the June i-Zone meeting.
Scott
Williams, Ph.D., a WSU assistant professor of management guided the
students in preparing several business plans that dealt with bringing
one of four products from the conception stage to the market. The plans
covered market analysis, a marketing plan, competitor analysis, fit of
the plan to the corporation’s mission and financial analysis. The
students worked with real prospects and clients rather than doing a
“paper exercise”.
“Students with the best plans were also offered a sales or marketing
role to execute their plans,” added Lurie. “The four new products can
each generate $250,000 or more as compensation for these young managers.
Unlike ‘The Apprentice’ that offered one $250,000 job, these four
product directors might collectively earn $1 million next year.”
If you would like to benefit from faculty-guided students projects for
your company, contact Michael Bodey, Director, Small Business
Development Center, Raj Soin College of Business 775-3487 michael.bodey@wright.edu.
The top teams who were recognized by MyTeam1 included:
1st Place One Call Work – Jenny Apple, Mindy Homan, Kristin Scherer
This team offered outstanding back-up data and primary research for a
solution that helps compensate for upwards of 17% of staff costs to
replace employees who call in sick, are late or are unavailable. The
team’s research investigated hospital and fast food markets and outlined
a $6 million plan.
1st Place OneCall Family – Connie Henninger, Laura Lambert, Panos
Linardos This team delivered sound market analysis based on hours of
interviews with real prospects for a solution that allows a family to
call friends, neighbors and other family members with updates on the
patient, new mom or funeral announcements. This “womb to tomb” service
resulted in a $6.8 million plan.
2nd Place OneCall Fundraiser - Matt Gibson, Jason Sav, Ashleigh Whitt
This $787,000 plan for Prepaid Calling Cards for non-profit groups was
based on great research and solid market assessment.
2nd Place OneCall Buddy Lists - Jennifer Johnson, James McCutcheon,
Bala Sankaran This team delivered a totally new idea for growing this
solution virally. The solution plays kids’ recorded messages on buddy’s
phones
with $911,000 in revenue projected in the students’ 5-year plan.
3rd Place OneCall Metro - Amy Balsamo, Shauna Holbrook, Danna Lawhorn
Students on this team projected $300,000 in revenue per city sold for an
emergency calling service to citizens from police and fire departments
and came up with the theme of “OneCall Metro Truly Cares about People”
to market the service.
3rd Place Flash Funds - Joe Dapore, Dan Freeman, Katie Rasmussen
Students on this team outlined a solid business plan for fund raising
pre-paid calling cards with a potential of $297,000 over three years.