COLLEGE OF MANAGEMENT, U-Mass Boston
Proposed: Spring Semester, 2014
MGT 697 – Special Topics
BUSINESS GROWTH CONSULTING
Prof. Benyamin
Lichtenstein, PhD.
With Tom Kuhn
class time
Location
Prof. Benyamin’s Office: McCormack Hall, 5/214
Email: [email protected]
Office Hours
Office Phone: 617/287-7887
Home Office: 617/923-3092
Monday and Wednesday afternoons, and by appointment
Course Materials:
Peter Block. 2011. Flawless Consulting (3rd edition). Jossey-Bass; Pfeiffer
Tom Kuhn. 2014. Prosper. Qnity materials.
Course Description:
One of the most powerful methods for attaining high outcomes in business is called ‘scaling’ –
the process whereby a successful business prototype is replicated in other areas with high
demand, thus rapidly growing the size and scope of the business. Such scaled growth is at the
heart of entrepreneurial success, and is the core of franchising as well. However, it is not as
easy as it might seem. In this course students will learn about the basics of business growth
and scaling, focusing on topics including multi-site operations (finance, inventory management),
social marketing and brand management, HR and personnel management, and regional
expansion (locations, demographics etc.)
At the core of the course is a professional consulting project that MBA student teams will be
pursuing in collaboration with the 2 to 10 Project and its founder Tom Kuhn. From the 50+
multi-site companies in his organization, Tom will identify five or six with specific needs these
companies face, that students could work in, including projects around research, operations,
finance, marketing, and analysis of his comprehensive data base of current-year company
figures. These will be enacted in concert with the 2 to 10 Conference being hosted by UMass
Boston in mid-April. Thus, students will end the course with a completed high-profile consulting
project for your resume, and the 2 to 10 Project companies will have a received a valuable
contribution as well.
Skill Development – Learning Objectives:

Understand how to do Flawless Consulting, and enact that level of quality throughout a
consulting project.
Apply the 2 to 10 Project framework for _________ (Business Growth) to a specific
case.
Solve an issue or pursue a project to completion, to the satisfaction of a professional
client.


Prerequisites - Application

Students must be in good standing at the College of Management, with a chosen
specialization and having completed MGT 650.
Students must apply to the course, through the professor. A current resume and brief
cover letter highlighting your relevant experience should be emailed to
[email protected]. An interview with me or David McFarlane will also occur.

Course Format and Expectations:
For the first half of the course or more we will meet together each week in class. Every student
is expected to be on time to each meeting of the course. Once projects are underway, some
sessions may take place on-line, via course software.
As these are professional (but unpaid) consulting projects, our expectation is that you will be
display great professionalism throughout, including through your communications with the client
and me, and in the quality of your creative thinking and action. It goes without saying that
your business writin, grammer and spelling should be excellent.
(other?)
Evaluation and Grading:
Item
Date Due
Consulting Project Contract
Grade Weight
10%
Consulting Report and Presentation
Client Evaluation
Professor Evaluation
60%
Course Exercises/Papers
Professionalism
15%
Throughout
15%
Consulting Contract
Completed contract, signed by client, on my desk by the due date.
Grade will reflect your use of the Flawless Consulting framework to specify your work
and basis for evaluation.
Consulting Report and Presentation
The bulk of the semester will be spent in MBA project teams, pursuing (a) an expertise
in one of the five themes (e.g. Finance; H.R.) that goes into the Annual Report, and (b)
a task for a specific client (company of a 2 to 10 Board member) that will be based in
that same theme. Tom Kuhn will also identify a mentor for each time – an
executive/founder to provide oversite and consulting help to the teams. The project
will be challenging but doable; support to insure consulting projects that make useful
contributions will come from Sean Maney, Frank Zona, Tom McDermott, and David
McFarlane.
Projects will be completed for the conference April 13th-14th at UMass Boston. Students
will play a visible role at the event, which will culminate in each team’s presentation to
the participants at the 2 to 10 Leadership Conference.
Each client will evaluate their team’s project, through a 1-page response and short
survey. The professors will also evaluate the project and presentation.
Professionalism
Quality of your professionalism within the classroom and throughout the course.
Includes much more than attendance; basis is your ability to stay current with me (e.g.
for absences, lateness, other issues), and how easy it is to interact with you. Everyone
should get an A here, so mainly I’m in charge of noting when you’ve slipped in some
way.
OTHER IMPORTANT COURSE ISSUES:
Blackboard:
We will be using the newly updated Blackboard Learn, with the goal of putting as much of the course online as possible. When our site is available I will give you the url and password.
Academic Honesty:
Students are expected to follow regulations and procedures regarding Academic Standards, Cheating,
Plagiarism, and the Documentation of Written Work
http://www.umb.edu/administration/student_affairs/dean/judicial/csc.html.
Students caught cheating or plagiarizing will, at the discretion of the instructor, flunk either the
assignment in question or the course and will have a description of the incident attached to his or her
academic records.
Disabilities:
If you have a disability and feel you will need accommodations in order to complete course requirements,
please contact the Ross Center for Disability Services (M-1-401) at (617) 287-7430. For more information
see: http://www.rosscenter.umb.edu/
CM Writing Guide:
For the CM writing guide and other useful information please see:
http://www.mgmt.umb.edu/academicres.html
Library Resources for Management Students:
The library has available for us several very useful management databases, including Business Source
Premier and Lexus/Nexus. These resources, specifically targeted to Management will allow you get more
information and more accessible information than just doing a Google search. They are available over
the internet, on or off-campus (with your umb ID) 24 hours a day. YOU WILL USE THESE DATABASES
FOR YOUR GROUP PROJECT RESEARCH AND FOR YOUR INDUSTRY ANALYSIS.
.http://www.lib.umb.edu/databases/db_browse_subject.cfm
Missed Duedates; Incompletes
Papers may be submitted late only with permission received from me before the due date. A final grade
of “Incomplete” will be granted only rarely. To receive an “Incomplete” you must formally request this
grade from me, providing substantial justification. I will then evaluate your request and make a decision.
If the request is granted, guidelines for completing the work will be arranged in a mutually agreeable
plan.
OUTLINE FOR COURSE
Professor Benyamin reserves the right to change and modify
Week
READ FOR
CLASS:
Topics for Class Session
ASSIGNMENTS / PROJECTS
Flawless Consulting: Insuring your
success with a professional client
1
Jan. 27th
2
Flawless
Consulting,
chap. 1-3
Choose teams, consulting projects. Draft
contract and metrics.
3
Flawless
Consulting,
chap. 4-6
Learning processes; effectuation and
bricolage. Formalize performance metrics,
review projects
4
Tom Kuhn ebook, chap. 1
Introduce 4 core themes.
Theme 1: Renew Focus
5
Tom Kuhn ebook, chap. 2
Theme 2: Measures and Metrics
6
Tom Kuhn ebook, chap. 3
Theme 3: Engaging Clients & Customers
Consulting contract DUE in
my box
Exercise 1: Apply Module 1 to
your project
Social Media, Branding, In-Bound
Marketing
7
Tom Kuhn ebook, chap. 4
Theme 4: Prosperous Operations
8
Multi-Site Operations: Personnel
Management; Licensing
9
Expansion: New Store Location, Market
Demographics
10
Further Themes and Contributions
11
Presentations in Class, with feedback
Presentation draft,
Consulting Report
Attend Conference Sunday/Monday.
Present for clients
Presentation DUE
12
April 13-14
CONFERENCE
13
Franchising: Protytping, Selling
14
Sustainable growth and harvest
Exercise 2: Apply key insight
from Modules to project
PROSPER:
The Simple and Visual Way to Greater Cash Flow, Unified
Culture and a Competitive Edge in the Age of TOO
For Individual and Multi-Site Success
by Tom Kuhn, Founder/CEO
Qnity / 2to10 Project
LESSON PLAN
FOCUS
Conference Theme: HR/EDUCATION
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Going from KNOWING to DOING
Beginning a period of renewed FOCUS and greater CLARITY
Making space for what’s next by getting CLOSURE and STOP DOING lists
Taking action with greater CONFIDENCE
Learning how to avoid PLANNING PITFALLS
Setting SIMPLIFED goals with realist ACTION STEPS
Using VISUAL TOOLS to turn visions into reality
Getting more CLIENTS/CUSTOMERS and increasing the AVERAGE PRICE
Understanding the difference between GOALS, OBJECTIVES & ACTION STEPS
MEASURE
Conference Theme: FINANCE
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Avoiding common measuring TRAPS and dispeling number-related MYTHS
Using the 2 NUMBER GROWTH™ model to connect the boardroom with the backroom
TRACKING performance in a simple, visual and quick way
TARGETING realistic but significant increases in performance, introducing the 17% factor
DRIVING performance: keys to success
CONNECTING daily activities to performance
Learning the three best ways to increase CUSTOMER/CLIENT COUNT
Learning the three best ways to increase AVERAGE PRICE
Increasing CUSTOMER/CLIENT COUNT by ’REBOOKING’
Increasing the AVERAGE PRICE with a mix of PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
ENGAGE
Conference theme: MARKETING
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Understanding CUSTOMER/CLIENT ENGAGEMENT and why it’s critical to success
Winning the HEARTS & MINDS of customers/clients
Applying the NEW RULES OF ENGAGEMENT to strengthen customer/client relationships
SELLING authentically
WOWING customers/clients with PREPARATION and FOLLOW-UP
Establishing a PERSONAL CONNECTION with customers/clients
Practicing the LOST ART of writing notecards
ACCE customers/clients: appreciate, care, challenge & encourage to create an emotional connection with
customers/clients
Increase customer/client RETENTION & ADD-ONS
Being an ENGAGED leader
Understanding why customer/client count and average price are the best MEASUREMENTS of CUSTOMER/CLIENT
ENGAGEMENT
PROSPER
Conference Theme: OPERATIONS
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Managing the ATM (Attention, Time & Money) of individuals and teams
A NEW LOOK AT ROI based on the three currencies every individual and organization has
The IT FACTOR: what is it and how to bring it out of teams
TIME: teaching organizational skills and team productivity
MONEY: teaching teams where to invest, save & spend their resources
Establish a new rhythm of execution with the 8 SEASONS™ of business calendar
Why CALENDARS are the key to execution
REFERRALS: why word of mouth is still the best and most profitable way to gain new customers/clients
Adopting a successful PRICING strategy
What PROSPERITY is and why it’s not just about money
Tying together the FOCUS, MEASURE & ENGAGE modules
©2013 Qnity, Inc. All Rights Reserved. www.qnityinc.com
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