The Babson Consulting Alliance Program (BCAP)
Key Features at a Glance:
- Students conduct an industry analysis of the BCAP company’s industry
- One-semester consulting project starting at the beginning of the spring semester
- First-year MBA teams of four to six students
- Faculty or Executive in Residence assigned as a project adviser
In the BCAP Program, groups of four to six first-year MBA candidates are
matched with companies from industries in which they have
expressed a career interest. The students' relationships with these
organizations begin in November and last through the remainder of the
first year. Guided by an adviser, BCAP teams work directly with company
representatives to complete a spring consulting project.
In the fall, students analyze the company’s industry and conduct a
benchmark of either the BCAP company and a top competitor (if the BCAP
company has publicly available financial information), or of two top
competitors (both of which have publicly available financial information).
The team draws upon the analytic techniques and skills taught in Modules I
and II of their MBA classes to prepare a comparative investigation of the
benchmark companies (as identified above). The exercise is designed to provide
students with background information that will establish a comprehensive
understanding of the BCAP company’s industry prior to the spring
project. Teams conclude this exercise with a written report and
presentation to a faculty panel. There is no time commitment from the
sponsor company during the fall exercise.
The students first will be introduced to their BCAP company and sponsor in
November and will begin initial discussion around the spring project at that
time. The spring project is typically a consulting project that addresses a
current issue of the company's choice. The project is designed to address
specific alliance company needs and generally address the tactical aspect of
strategy implementation rather than strategy formulation. Past projects have
focused on topics such as market segmentation, organizational design,
performance measurement, activity analysis, and costing skills that are
developed in Modules III and IV of the MBA curriculum. The project concludes
with a written report and presentation of the findings and recommendations
to company executives.
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