Project/Company Six Sigma Winery, LLC (Project 1)

Project/Company
Six Sigma Winery, LLC (Project 1)

Established in 1999, Six Sigma Ranch and Vineyard is set on 4,300 acres in Northern California. The first vineyard (Else’s Vineyard) was planted in 2001 with the first harvest of wine grapes in 2004. Six Sigma Winery was established 2005, with wine production beginning that year. The first release was in 2006, and production for both vineyards and the winery continues to grow yearly.

Define Six Sigma Winery’s most promising social marketing avenues for 2008, including, but not limited to: online television, social networking sites, blogs, and podcasts.

• 
  Advertising Analysis of Social Marketing Avenues
  
• 
  Targeted Marketing Plan
  

No

Project/Company

Six Sigma Winery, LLC (Project 2)

See Above

Perform segmentation, targeting, and positioning analysis for Six Sigma’s potential customer base, focusing on finding the “Voice of the Customer”. Who are Six Sigma’s primary target customers, and how does customer preference vary by market segment?

• 
  STP Analysis
  

No

Project/Company

Training the Street, Inc.

Training the Street (TTS) offers state-of-the-art, instructor-led courses in financial modeling and corporate valuation to finance professionals. Founded in 1999, TTS is the world’s leading financial learning services company offering targeted and customized training courses to corporate and educational clients. Through the use of highly effective and intuitive teaching methods in an interactive and multimedia setting, the company’s mission is to teach everyday valuation techniques and financial modeling skills that experienced professionals use at work. In short, through a mix of hands-on instruction, practical illustrations, group projects, computer exercises, visual presentations, and mini-lectures, the company teaches real-world applications of finance theory in a way that brings corporate valuation and financial modeling to life.

TTS is looking for a clarified marketing strategy for the company, including (but not limited to):

• 
  Utilizing effective online and/or print media advertising outlets
  
• 
  Identification of opportunities to capture more revenue from repeat business
  
• 
  Overall brand and image management
  

• 
  Comprehensive marketing strategy recommendation and proposal
  

No

Project/Company

The Arial Foundation

The Arial Foundation is a non-profit, 501.c3, private charitable foundation. The Foundation’s major endeavor is The Arial Home Initative. The goal is to be the driving force behind the construction of one million new, pre-fabricated homes in the next 10 years. By comparison, Habitat for Humanity has built 200,000 homes in the last 30 years, so this goal is ambitious.

The Arial Foundation has TS numerous project opportunities including (but not limited to):

• 
  Independent review of entire project plan
  
• 
  Fundraising strategy and proposal
  
• 
  Strategy and proposal for a business model applicable to the poorest regions of the world
  
• 
  Strategy and proposal for establishing the “micro-manufacturing” concept world-wide
  
• 
  Coordination (possibly with McCormick) to establish the optimum housing design
  

• 
  Depends upon project direction
  

Possible

Project/Company
ShoreBank

ShoreBank is the Chicago-based bank owned by ShoreBank Corporation, which is the first and leading community development and environmental bank holding company in the US. With assets in excess of $2 billion and a 34 year track record, ShoreBank Corporation provides financial resources and information that foster new opportunities to transform underserved communities and reinvigorate people’s lives. Headquartered in Chicago, ShoreBank Corporation has banks and affiliated nonprofits in Chicago; Cleveland, Detroit; northern Michigan and Wisconsin; Seattle and Ilwaco, Washington; and Portland, Oregan; and provides consulting services around the world.

ShoreBank launched an online High Yield Savings Account (HYSA) in the fall of 2007. This product, which is functionally similar to ING Direct, is believed to be the first online account that supports economic development and environmental sustainability. Through it, ShoreBank has a unique opportunity to bridge two fast growing trends: socially responsible investing and the HYSA. Much of the original research on this product was conducted by a LEAP team in 2005.

• 
  Sizing the market
  
• 
  Assessing the competitive situation
  
• 
  Developing the value proposition
  
• 
  Creating a basic proposal for a follow-on product (if needed)
  
• 
  Creating specific marketing tactics
  
• 
  Determining the basic economics
  

• 
  A summary presentation outlining the business case and specific marketing tactics needed to grow this segment. The emphasis is on creating an economically viable and actionable plan that could be implemented upon completion of the M-Lab project.
  

No

Project/Company

Solid Waste Solutions Corp. (SWS)

Solid Waste Solutions Corp. (SWS) is a nationally recognized environmental consulting firm that works with both private and public sector clients. SWS has developed a niche in the environmental consulting arena and is often viewed as a groundbreaking leader in segmented areas of this industry and across various industries looking to truly improve their environmental record and not just “Greenwash” for a press release. For the past two years SWS has experienced a “green wave” as environmental awareness has dramatically increased among public and private sector clients.

SWS is looking for a Kellogg team to provide an interdisciplinary roadmap to assist and guide us in growth. We have a tremendous need to understand any and all options available to us as we grow, concerning finance, human resources, marketing and other likely disciplines. Our concern is that we are vulnerable to be inundated by one or more projects that overwhelm our resources.

• 
  Strategic roadmap to grow revenue from $1.25M to $10M+ over the next few years
  

No

Project/Company

United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Chicago

The organization wishes to initiate a national program to improve access to durable medical equipment, such as wheelchairs, canes, and walkers. The focus of this program is on recycling and reusing equipment. Issues of supply chain management for this project need to be researched, opportunities for partnerships between social services agencies and socially conscious national corporate logistical partners as well as national B2B and B2C marketing and educational campaigns to be considered. A more exhaustive project explanation can be found at here.

• 
  Business Plan
  

No

Project/Company

Sears Holdings (Project 1)

Sears Holdings Corporation, the publicly traded (NASDAQ: SHLD) parent of Kmart and Sears, Roebuck and Co., is the nation's fourth largest broad-line retailer with over $50 billion in annual revenues and approximately 3,800 full-line and specialty retail stores in the United States and Canada.

Sears Holdings is requesting analysis of the supply chain for their on-line retailing operations. Students would work directly with retail and supply chain management to perform a cost-benefit analysis of supply chain and order fulfillment options, and develop a strategy for maximizing the efficacy of these operations in terms of cost, order fulfillment, and customer satisfaction.

Exact deliverables to be determined by group

Likely (depends upon project direction)

Project/Company
Sears Holdings (Project 2)

See Above

Sears Holdings is requesting analysis of the impact on inventory policy from their rain-check and lay-away functions. Every year a significant number of lay-away customers do not return to claim their product, resulting in inventory holding costs and lost sales. Likewise, the impact of rain-check policy on sales and inventory is substantial. Students would work directly with retail and supply chain management to perform this analysis.

Exact deliverables to be determined by group

Likely (depends upon project direction)

Project/Company
Atlantic Investment Associates, LLC

Atlantic Investment Associates (“Company”) is a Baltimore-based real estate and small business investment and consulting group that evaluates and executes on small, private opportunities. Since 2005, Atlantic Investment Associates has been dedicated to bringing together talented individuals, technology, and capital in order to enhance investment returns. Our goal is to bring Wall Street to Main Street by compiling a diverse, highly skilled group of business experts to evaluate and execute private investments utilizing comprehensive research and quantitative analysis.

Working in conjunction with the CFO, COO and Managing Principal of the Company, the M-Lab group will coordinate a marketable pitch package for potential investors. The purpose of the package is to raise capital to fund current and new initiatives and contribute to the growth of the organization in the pursuit of real estate, small business, and fund management opportunities.

1. Simplified financial model for opening pitch to investors

2. PowerPoint presentation for delivery to investors

3. Audio file & transcription: Q&A on the Company and its goals

4. Written Business case and Executive Summary for investor presentation
Qualified for MMM Integration?

No

Project/Company

Tiz Media Foundation

Tiz Media Foundation was founded in 2001 in Evanston, Illinois. It is a 501.C.3 nonprofit organization dedicated to creating engaging, culturally specific multimedia educational applications. Tiz Media’s primary multimedia application is MindRap, an educational program that encourages students to achieve in math and science by combining interactive teaching applications with hip-hop music.

Through the program, students translate math and science lessons into interactive rap and hip hop movies, which they produce and share with other students. In this way, MindRap harnesses the power of hip-hop culture and the students’ creativity to energize the learning process and encourage an interest in math and science.

See Website: http://www.tizmedia.org


Project Description

The Motorola Foundation, through its Innovative Generation Grant Program, has awarded funds to Tiz Media Foundation and the Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO) to sponsor Speech and the Cell Phone, a summer science program for high school students and college science majors. MindRap, Tiz Media’s multimedia hip hop education program will take the high school students on a communications journey that begins with the talking drums in Africa and ends with sound waves traveling through the cell phone network.

1. 
   Analysis of the NBI report
   
2. 
   Prioritization of action
   
3. 
   Specific recommendations as to how we can leverage the above project to meet those recommendations.
   

No

Project/Company

Family Institute

The FI is an independent not-for-profit (501c3) affiliated with Northwestern University. Founded in 1968, the FI is one of the oldest and largest institutions in the country devoted to strengthening and healing families through clinical service, professional education and clinical research. Annually FI therapists conduct over 50,000 therapy sessions through the Staff Practice and Family and Child Clinic. The Institute has almost 100 full time graduate students in the two Masters Programs it runs through and for Northwestern University (in Marriage and Family Therapy and in Counseling Psychology). The FI conducts research: 1) to track and feedback change data in family, couple and individual therapy; and 2) to improve the treatment of couples/families in which one person is depressed and/or anxious.

The PCP staff have developed a scientifically valid client questionnaire for studying client change during therapy called the Systemic Therapy Inventory of Change (STIC®) and an internet based (website) feedback system for the STIC® called sticfeedback.com. Both are trademarked and copyrighted. Currently the STIC® and the feedback system are being used by therapists at the FI.

• 
  Business Plan, including answers to the following questions:
  

1. 
   Are there markets with sufficient interest to warrant extensive further development of the STIC ®and ITSR internet based feedback systems?
   
2. 
   What financial models would work best for the FI-PCP and the various markets mentioned above?
   
3. 
   What is the best way to maximize the business and intellectual/scientific potential of the PCP and its products?
   
4. 
   What business infrastructure (personnel, organization, etc.) would the FI need to market the STIC®, the ITSR and the feedback systems?
   

No