Below are some examples of current or recent projects and challenges. To view the full list, please login.
Market Research for Eco-housing Venture
Type: Consult Project, Market Research
Organization Description:
Eco-House Hamburg is a brand new sustainability-focused venture founded by a US-based German engineer and entrepreneur to bring an eco-friendly housing concept to the U.S. market. We want to help revolutionize the housing market by promoting sustainable housing systems, which are currently in use in many European countries, in the U.S. market.
Project Description:
The goal of the project is to conduct a preliminary market analysis of the local and national U.S. housing and eco-friendly housing market, including market sizing, an analysis of the market characteristics and trends, and an investigation of the value chain and potential sales channels.
Global Benchmarking of Consumer Goods Manufacturers
Type: Consult Project, Strategy
Organization Description:
Catalyst is an internal think-tank residing within Mars Inc., makers of products such as M&Ms, Snickers, Skittles, Pedigree dog food and Whiskas cat food. The goal of the Catalyst team is to provide strategic business insights to the company, and we do so by connecting the business to a network of academics and analysts from diverse backgrounds.
Project Description:
We are interested in generating insight into regional differences in supplier practices by benchmarking practices for fast-moving consumer goods companies in various countries and geographical regions. Our goal is to identify differences in traditional supply chain relationships and terms across regions which contribute to varying cash flows in those regions.
Development of Expansion Plan
Type: Consult Project, Strategy
Organization Description:
The Parivartan Project is a movement to increase the capacity of humanitarian organizations in Asia and Africa. Pari’s vision is for the professionalization of the NGO sector; to achieve this, we provide an array of fund raising, marketing and organizational development services. Pari’s unique approach to social entrepreneurship ensures that our services improve each client organization’s transparency, accountability and efficiency.
Project Description:
Pari is looking to expand and scale its current operations, which are based in Cambodia. As such, we are in need of a full-analysis on current operations, and a strategic plan for expansion and scalability. The goal of the project is to create a document that effectively communicates with stakeholders what Pari does and hopes to achieve, while acting as a living framework for the expansion of the business.
Develop Online Marketing Strategy
Type: Consult Project, Marketing
Organization Description:
The Sustain Tomorrow Initiative (STI) is an international nonprofit dedicated to supporting and promoting the growth of sustainability-focused ventures around the world which are working to improve the sustainability of how we live & consume.
Project Description:
We have recently launched a web platform at www.sustaintomorrow.org and would like to develop a strategy for effectively creating awareness about our organization and the web platform. We would like the students to evaluate alternative marketing strategies (primarily online strategies) and develop a strategy which will provide us with maximum awareness created for minimum expense.
Viral Marketing Plan for Healthy Customized Cereal
Type: Challenge, Marketing
Organization Description:
Custom Choice Cereal enables people to create their own healthy, gluten-free cereal from natural and organic ingredients and have it delivered directly to them. We provide a much-needed alternative for people with gluten intolerance which is far better-tasting and diverse than the limited gluten-free offering found in most stores. We also work to provide a community which promotes a healthy lifestyle and the health benefits of gluten-free foods.
Project Description:
We are looking for support in developing a comprehensive (viral) marketing plan to spread the word about our unique offering as well as to facilitate more customer interaction on our social media platforms. The plan should consider the most appropriate approaches for the respective gluten-free target segments, including various channels such as social media, blogs, email marketing, and traditional PR. Above all, this challenge requires your creativity! We are not looking for a theoretical paper but a practical, hands-on approach to making Custom Choice Cereal better known within our various customer groups.
Optimizing Strategies for GoCar Network
Type: Consult, Operations
Organization Description:
GoCar is a pioneer in GPS tourism experiences and is based in San Francisco, CA. The company was founded in April 2004 with 8 cars and one store and now has 54 cars and 3 stores in San Francisco, and a global network of cities in USA & EU. There is a total of 6 cities in the network, with over 140 GoCARs delivering a unique perspective to the cities in which they tour. We empower the tourist to take a tour at their own pace and on their own schedule, not that of the tour bus.
Project Description:
Our project is to analyze our network of global locations, using common metrics of financial and operating performance for each city, to ascertain and deduce the optimal operating strategy for each location and for the corporate management who support and develop the network as a whole. Using financial models, the project will demonstrate what action steps are required of each location and of the corporate HQ, to increase operating performance at each location.
Business Planning for Eco-friendly Agribusiness Innovation
Type: Consult Project, Business Planning
Organization Description:
Many important crops require soil sterilization prior to planting to kill unwanted pests and plants. Soil fumigation using Methyl Bromide (MB) has been the sterilization method of choice for these crops for decades. MB has been under phaseout due to its negative environmental impact, but it continues to be used due to the challenges in finding a suitable replacement. GreenWave Sciences (GWS), a new startup, is developing an environmentally friendly sterilization alternative that is fundamentally safe, universally effective, and cost effective.
Project Description:
We want to gain as much information as possible on the market for this innovation to help us develop the business plan. The particular things we need are a market sizing estimate, information on the value chain of soil sterilization, and any other background information which will be helpful in developing an effective business plan for this innovation.
Funding Strategy for Healthy Food Startup
Type: Consult Project, Finance
Organization Description:
MyLu Foods is a social venture that is seeking to create more equitable access to healthy foods for low-income communities. Our first product is focused around kids' lunches. Specifically, we are looking to make a fun, convenient, healthy, and affordable lunch product to help busy parents feed their kids.
Project Description:
We are looking for students to create a funding strategy based on research into alternative access to capital. Specifically, we would like students to research the applicability of federal funds/grants, low-interest loans, and impact investments for our financing needs and make recommendations on a strategy to follow.
Growing Social Media Community
Type: Consult Project, Social Media
Organization Description:
31Projects is an online platform for student consulting projects for social organizations and businesses. We work with organizations to help them define their needs and then connect them to students interested in working with them on short-term projects.
Project Description:
31Projects is a service which offers a strong value proposition to both students and organizations. To help us spread the word and grow our community of both students and sponsors, we're looking for a student who has a passion for social media to help us build our community through the social networks.