The Accelerator will continue to strive to transform the
delivery of business education at Butler University.
The Accelerator is a living laboratory in which graduate and
undergraduate students can immerse themselves in business and learn
through hands-on experience. Students work on teams with faculty
and professional consultants and solve real business problems,
providing an unparalleled educational experience for both students
and faculty. Examples of experiential learning with the
Accelerator include:
Accelerator Assisted
Students in Developing a Commercialization Plan
More Information
In Assistant Professor of Management Craig Caldwell's class,
students worked with the Brian Landis, managing director of the
Butler Business Accelerator, to develop a commercialization plan
for a startup company to understand how the functional areas of
business (marketing, accounting, organization, and finance)
integrate. Students also focused on identifying target customers.
They prioritized customers, and then developed a number one
customer to target. They compared this customer to the competition
to help decide the best strategy to win the customer's
business.
Accelerator Professionals Served as
Mentors for Real Business Experience Courses More Information
Larry O'Connor, executive director of the Accelerator, Katie
Abernathy, the Accelerator's business development manager, Melissa
Beckwith, marketing project manager for the Accelerator, and Chris
Stump, the Accelerator's CFO Services project manager, all served
as Real Business Experience Mentors for the MG201/Real Business
Experience (RBE) classes. As RBE Mentors, the professionals
facilitated student business team-work and presented initiatives
that supported the material covered by the lead instructor of the
courses. The course is designed to further the students'
understanding of a broad range of principles, concepts, and
terminology related to real-world business. The central project is
to develop a fundable business plan.
The Accelerator Helped to Reshape MBA
Operations Management Class More Information
Brian Landis, managing director of the Butler Business
Accelerator, and Chris Harlow, associate director of the
Accelerator, worked with Barry King, associate director of
operations management, to reshape the syllabus for the MBA540
Operations and Management Systems course.
Information Systems Class Built Knowledge
Repository for Accelerator More Information
Priscilla Arling, assistant professor of management information
systems, introduced a new knowledge management course in Aug. 2006
to prepare students for the technical needs of business but MS 400
Expert Systems & Knowledge Management, was not a typical
lecture. The key objective was to provide students with hands-on,
real life experience with knowledge management processes and
technologies while at the same time build the Butler Business
Accelerator's knowledge repository. Using the Microsoft SharePoint
system, the students learned maintenance and upgrading techniques
and provided a much needed service to the Accelerator.
MBA Class Developed Financial Diagnostic
Tool for Accelerator More Information
Bill Templeton, professor of finance, involved his MBA 567 MBA
Financial Theory and Cases class in a project for the Accelerator.
Competing student teams created financial diagnostic tools that
calculate ratios and other financial indicators that can be used to
help the Accelerator assess the financial situation of potential
clients.
Capstone Class Directly Linked to
Accelerator Projects More Information
Larry Lad, associate professor of management, linked his MG490
Capstone class to the Accelerator in spring 2007. The class worked
directly with consultants on projects for Urodynamics.
Students analyzed the marketplace faced by Uridynamics and with the
support of the Accelerator and the course instructor made
recommendations concerning positioning and pricing to the company's
professionals.