Client Roles & Time Commitment

The project must have an executive-level champion. The champion may assign another individual, often a direct report, to be the contact person with the students. This contact person should have sufficient 'clout' to open doors to other knowledge centers inside and outside the organization. The client's contact person should not be a clerical or administrative staff member. A backup contact person should be identified to prevent continuity loss should the primary contact leave the project for any reason (transfer, reassignment, extended travel, etc).
The primary contact person in the client organization should be available to commit one to two hours per week assisting the student team during the course of the project. This will normally take the form of meeting attendance, phone, and e-mail communication. Student access to this person is vital to the project success; therefore they should be assigned or designated with availability in mind.

The executive champion and relevant peers should expect to spend an hour or so with the team and faculty advisor at an initial meeting confirming project scope and expectations. Subsequent meetings at the executive level will be limited to a mid-project progress report and final oral presentation at the end of the semester. Total senior management commitment time rarely exceeds five to six hours over the 14-week project term.

PROJECT SELECTION & FEES

Each year Smith selects a limited number of MBA consulting projects for this program. Projects generally run in the fall semester. The client organization agrees to cover any project expenses.