U of I M.B.A. students consult with Iowa businesses to help them grow

Photo by Tim Schoon.

University of Iowa M.B.A. students will provide consulting services this spring that help several businesses across Iowa to grow and become stronger.

The Tippie Business Solutions Center is a spring semester course required of all first-year students in the Tippie School of Management’s full-time M.B.A. program that offers those students an opportunity to gain experience by working with real-life clients on real-life business challenges.

“These are real projects with real clients solving real problems, so it gives our Tippie M.B.A. students on-the-job experience in a protected atmosphere that allows them to learn,” says Mark Winkler, the Business Solutions Center director and a former vice president of Bridgestone/Firestone operations in Muscatine and Des Moines.

The experience also helps businesses across the state address challenges and better position themselves for growth.

“These projects also serve as a valuable outreach program for the Tippie College of Business and the University of Iowa, as well as an economic development tool for the state,” Winkler says. “The center will provide an affordable resource of talented and energetic M.B.A. students and expert faculty to help Iowa businesses grow and prosper.” (full article...)

BY TOM SNEE, Iowa Now, February 18, 2015