From Classroom to Client:
Consulting Project Case Study in Asia
CLIENT:
ASSIGNMENT:
Semester-long Consulting Project with an international component traveling to Singapore and Vietnam | January 13th - April 10thth, 2025
11 Full-Time MBA students + 2 faculty members - Students divided into 3 groups
CLIENT BRIEF:
This Consulting Project provided students with the opportunity to collaborate closely with a client company on a real-world sustainability and ESG challenge. Through a combination of remote project work and in-person engagement in Asia, students worked directly with company representatives over the course of a semester to analyze business practices, refine strategic focus and develop tailored recommendations. The project fostered international exposure while strengthening key professional skills, including teamwork, stakeholder communication, strategic thinking and presentation delivery.
Our Approach:
For this Project, students worked on a team through a blend of remote collaboration and in-person engagement. The process began with an online kickoff to align expectations and scope, followed by several weeks of research and analysis.
The Project included an on-site business immersion in Asia, where students met with company representatives and delivered a mid-point presentation. Teams then refined their recommendations remotely, concluding with a final presentation of tailored insights and solutions to company stakeholders and faculty.
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When delivering a Consulting Project, it is essential to establish early contact between students and company representatives. This initial connection helps ensure clear communication and alignment of expectations, particularly in longer-term projects.
Given the extended duration of this project, the student team collaborated online for six weeks. During this period, they conducted comprehensive research, analyzed collected data and reviewed their findings to develop initial solution ideas for the company. This first phase concluded with the preparation of a mid-point presentation, which was scheduled to be delivered upon the team’s arrival in Vietnam.
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The international experience began in late February with the cohort’s arrival in Singapore, where they spent four days exploring the regional business landscape through company visits and engagements with local professionals. The journey continued in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where five full days were dedicated to additional business visits, with a particular focus on meeting the client company the student team was consulting for.
During this in-person meeting, the team delivered their mid-point presentation, sharing project progress, outlining next steps and presenting initial solution ideas. Company representatives provided direct feedback, leading to a refinement of the project scope.
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After returning from Asia, the team continued working remotely, incorporating feedback and narrowing their focus to a single sustainability area. With four weeks remaining, the team refined their analysis and solution, and midway through this phase held an additional online check-in with company representatives to confirm alignment and direction.
The Project concluded with a final online presentation organized by the ISP Program Manager. Company representatives and the professor joined the full cohort to review the team’s finalized, tailored recommendations. The session closed with final feedback from both the company and faculty, marking the completion of the collaboration.
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The Project resulted in targeted ESG recommendations, including strategies to better communicate sustainability value, convert certifications into financial and market advantages and assess opportunities for carbon-neutral and PCR/PIR certifications. The team also identified additional internal ESG initiatives and provided guidance on leveraging existing standards, such as ISO 14001, GRS 4.0, SMETA, HACCP, and FSSC 22000, to strengthen the company’s overall positioning.
Please note that this example is drawn from our portfolio to illustrate our capabilities. Every program and project we deliver is fully customized, with each element tailored to align with your unique goals and objectives.
“I think the consulting projects are invaluable. Um, to today’s student. Because no matter where they go, they are going to deal with international situations. So they’ll either be working with people in other countries remotely or even working here in the United States with people from other countries. So, you know, having that real life experience is invaluable. ”
Want to see what a Consulting Project could look like for you?
Feel free to get in touch via the form below or shoot our Consulting Project specialist, Nikola Sohajova, an email - we’d be happy to arrange a short call to discuss your ideal Project!
