Applied Learning

Few business schools can match the range and depth of real-world experience we offer students.

At both the undergraduate and graduate level, our students gain hands-on
experience through extensive applied projects, case competitions and internships with a wide range of companies.

Applied Projects

Last year, Wisconsin students participated in scores of applied learning projects with leading corporations. A sampling:

  • Students in the Nicholas Center for Applied Corporate Finance program worked on consulting engagements throughout the year. Recent projects included working with:
    • Kraft Foods to evaluate pricing trends, hedging opportunities and competitor practices in the pork belly industry.
    • Deutsche Bank to examine statistical relationships between P/E multiples and a company’s return on common equity.
    • JC Flowers II LP, a new $4 billion private equity fund, to analyze financial service industry trends.
  • Students in the Center for Brand and Product Management learned from nationally recognized marketing leaders through the Applied Learning Curriculum. Recent speakers:
    • Doug Raftery, vice president of customer business development for Procter & Gamble shared his selling techniques and business expertise.
    • Terry Koritz, vice president —worldwide franchise marketing at Johnson & Johnson’s Vistakon division, took Center students through the launch of Vistakon’s 1-Day ACUVUE Disposable Contact Lenses.
  • A.C. Nielsen Center for Marketing Research students partnered with dmr, a consulting firm that specializes in direct marketing strategies and tactics for radio stations, to understand the impact that Arbitron’s adoption of the Portable People Meter will have on the radio industry.
  • Students in the Hawk Center for Applied Security Analysis are placed in one of three portfolio teams: equities, fixed income or REITs. Over the past year, the fixed income group had the additional responsibility of managing $40 million of intermediate term, corporate, government and mortgage-backed securities for the University of Wisconsin System and meet the needs of their “client” —the UW System Board of Regents.
  • Students in the Weinert Center for Entrepreneurship developed business plans for their own start-ups and consulted with local growth companies, such as TomoTherapy, a Madison-based cancer treatment company, on commercializing new technologies. They worked with the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) evaluating the potential of nanotechnology applications in the medical field developed by UW-Madison researchers.


Student Competitions

In case competitions that require students to put what they’ve learned
into practice in a tight time frame, Wisconsin students continue to excel against the very best.

1st place

CIBER MBA International Business Case Competition (2005)
Competitors:
Bocconi University, Italy; Chulalongkorn University, Thailand; Copenhagen Business School; Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; Ohio State; Connecticut; Illinois and University of Washington

1st place

U.S. Undergraduate National Real Estate Case Competition (2006)
Competitors:
USC, Colorado, Michigan, University of British Columbia and Texas

2nd place

Pac-10/Big Ten Case Competition (2006)
Competitors:
MBA students at Big Ten and Pac-10 schools. Third consecutive year Wisconsin has
represented the Big Ten in the finals of the “Rose Bowl” of business case competitions.

2nd place

U.S. State Department’s National Case Study Competition (2006)
Competitors:
Teams of undergraduate and MBA students from around the United States.

Executives Share Their Experience

Dozens of executives from leading firms shared their expertise with students this past year, by speaking in classes, working with student organizations, judging case competitions, providing site visits of their firms and many other interactions.

The John J. Oros MBA Speaker Series brings prominent business leaders from around the country to campus to share real-world experience with Wisconsin MBA students.

2005-2006 Speakers

  • John Morgridge, Chairman of the Board, Cisco Systems
  • Tom Falk, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Kimberly–Clark Corporation
  • Jerry Shereshewsky, Ambassador Plenipotentiary to Madison Ave., Yahoo!
  • Barry Alvarez, Athletic Director, University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • G. Steven Burrill, CEO, Burrill & Company
  • Mary Burke, Secretary of Commerce, State of Wisconsin
  • Paul Leff, Co-Founder and CIO, Perry Partners Ltd.
  • Jeff Diermeier, President and CEO, CFA Institute

Looking Ahead

More ways to incorporate real-world learning will be
a priority at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.