IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Westcliff University is proud to announce the launch of its MBA consulting capstone program – Strategic Management of Applied Research and Technology (SMART). The SMART program is designed for final-semester MBA students to apply the latest graduate-level theories of business management to helping local, national and global enterprises facing complex real-world business challenges. Together the teams work to overcome key obstacles via eight- and sixteen-week professional management consulting arrangements.
In the first cohort of the SMART program, global powerhouses and independent startups trusted small groups of up to five graduating Westcliff University MBA students with their most complex challenges. Both students with years of professional real-world experience and others just starting out were similarly eager to apply their advanced learnings to the most pressing business concerns and strategically challenging problems facing these businesses.
Participating businesses benefited from the unique perspectives and creative capabilities of Westcliff’s diverse and international student population. Students benefited from the opportunity to apply their skills to serving as professional consultants, readying them to take on careers in consulting, entrepreneurship and more. With small class sizes and one-on-one mentorship from professors across the university, students were well-supported on their journey and also enjoyed the opportunity to build their network by working closely with peers and business professionals.
“Our diverse and highly educated MBA students offered businesses the fresh outside perspective needed to tackle their business challenges – bringing them solid, evidence-based solutions,” stated College of Business Associate Dean Diana Siganoff, Ed.D, who spearheads the SMART capstone program for Westcliff University. “These teams delivered a lasting, positive impression for the businesses they worked with and received a world-class experiential journey through business management processes along the way.”
This year’s teams were paired with companies including Champs Charter High School, BrightQuery and OmniPrint International among others, and were able to take on unique challenges and find sustainable solutions for each. Immersed into the reality of commerce, the students integrated themselves into participating businesses and applied the latest MBA-level skills, thinking and strategy to produce innovative solutions. Students probed one client’s database to identify current trends regarding the impact of COVID-19 on industries that mattered to its future; they built a multi-faceted and well-researched automated warehousing system for another; and used deep data insights to formulate an outreach strategy for connecting with a backlog of 15 years of connections for still another – reviving relationships and achieving a stellar 62 percent response rate.
“The SMART program offers an opportunity for students to do more than just satisfy their capstone requirement,” added Westcliff University’s Director of Strategy and Business Development David Zhou. “It is a chance for them to engage with real companies and create real impact, adding the applied experience of management research, strategic counsel and overall professional conduct to their resumes, and leaving them with powerful case studies and the confidence to take their seat at the table in any boardroom.”
Westcliff University is currently assessing applications from businesses seeking consulting services in 2021. To learn more about the Strategic Management of Applied Research and Technology (SMART) program and how you can apply as a student or business, please visit https://www.westcliff.edu/resources/mba-consulting/.
About Westcliff University: Westcliff University is an innovative global higher education institution with its finger on the pulse of the global business landscape and the needs of today’s employers. Founded in 1993 and based in Irvine, Calif., it offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees spanning 21 areas of study including business, education, STEM – and most recently law – after its acquisition of Western State College of Law. As the oldest law school in Orange County, Calif., Western State College of Law at Westcliff University is an established institution with a 50-year track record of success and a reputation for producing both successful trial lawyers and more than 150 graduates that have been elevated to the bench. Westcliff is a California Public Benefit Corporation which certifies its dedication to operating in the best interests of its students and the surrounding community. Its programs focus on both the hard and soft skills needed to secure quality jobs in high-growth industries; it offers community and business engagement opportunities for the hands-on experience today’s students require; and it provides innovative and affordable programs live online and in classrooms across the globe. Visit www.westcliff.edu and www.wsulaw.edu to learn more; and follow Westcliff on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Editor’s Note: Media interested in speaking to expert staff, faculty and leadership of Westcliff University should email westcliff@beyondfifteen.com to facilitate interviews.
