A Taste of Consulting with a Flavor of Google (by Rob Jiang)

“Experience is the best teacher.” Typically, courses are taught from a high-level theory perspective, this is especially true in the realm of economics. Don’t misunderstand, academic learning is fantastic – understanding business concepts, learning to solve case questions, and following historical progressions, But there is one caveat.

Often I find myself wondering how I can apply what I have learned to what I would be doing in the real world. A consistent, slight distaste seems to linger with me: having diligently studied and paid attention all semester, I leave final exam rooms often without the notion of how I can use those learnings in my future.

Rob Jiang and Jay Trewn present about their client GamerFront

The Consulting Capstone course taught by Professor Robert Ridlon of the Business Economics department embodies a drastic, but refreshing, approach to conventional undergraduate learning. Students are thrown into a real world consulting project that spans the entirety of a semester.

From day one, students sought out various clients that they could provide their analytical, creative, and problem-solving skills by means of Google’s AdWords program. The clients came from a broad range industries that included non-profit child development, online job market, online gaming, restaurant, health and spa, and investment management.

Professor Ridlon provided several debriefing lectures and offered assistance throughout the semester, but the seven teams worked autonomously for the overwhelming majority: engaging the clients with proposals, interacting with the proper client personnel, developing a business strategy limited by a 250 dollar Google allocated budget, execution of that strategy, and ultimately providing a business recommendation that clients can actually use. Students got the opportunity to receive a comprehensive taste of consulting from start to finish.

As a business economics and public policy senior in my final semester, the experience was great in many ways. First, the project applied much of the course work that I have previously taken. Game theory, managerial economics, technology in business, and many more classes played a large role in the teams’ development of strategy and economic analysis that led to business recommendations. The capstone nicely ties together Kelley curriculum, especially classes within the BEPP department.

Additionally, understanding the process of client engagement has been invaluable. During client meetings, we quickly learned that the client is not always entirely certain of their own needs. In fact, we found a primary reason for hiring a consulting group is to help them identify goals. We eventually understood that to be successful, it is essential to be significantly patient, intentionally questioning, and consistently flexible in order to tailor a unique strategy to unique business requirements. I highly doubt a cookie-cutter approach would have been sufficient for any of the clients.

Our client, like many others, truly appreciated the work that these Kelley students were doing, and they certainly expressed that sentiment. “This project has provided us with very valuable business intelligence that we would have otherwise needed to pay to receive,” said Chris Barr of GamerFront. At the completion of the various Google advertising campaigns, a final satisfaction derived from the clients and all their positive feedback. These organizations were particularly elated to have actual, usable business intelligence at the conclusion. The free Google advertising and consulting time was just icing on the cake.