Students in the Weatherhead School of Management’s Executive MBA (EMBA) Program received an opportunity to help a local company develop a solution to a supply chain dilemma during the 2022 EMBA Experiential Learning Day this year.
EMBA students spent the day at the Great Lakes Cheese Co. (GLC) on Feb. 9 to meaningfully connect with company leaders and understand how the theories learned in the classroom are actually applied. In the EMBA program, students learn not only about business functional areas, but also about how to further develop their leadership skills, moving from theory to practical application. The EMBA Experiential Learning Day is a continuation of working with students to understand academic theories and how they are applied in the business world.
During the day, student teams learned about the operations of GLC and analyzed a supply chain case study, presenting their findings on the study to company leaders.
“The diverse teams were able to provide insightful and thorough analyses, providing us with an unbiased, independent view on the case,” said Davis Shumaker, supply chain planning manager for GLC. “That level of active feedback is hard to achieve in normal business, and it provides us with different perspectives to help us view the situation with multiple lenses.”
The students also spent time meeting with company leaders to discuss their solutions and engage in dialogues about company leadership.
“The questions that the Great Lakes executive team asked us were very engaging and eye opening,” said Krishna Neelakanta, first-year EMBA student. “The case apart, interacting with their management provided a feel for the employee ownership culture at this very successful company.”
In turn, GLC benefited from the Experiential Learning Day by gathering feedback and gaining a new perspective from a group of up and coming executive leaders. Suresh Babu (MGT ’06), vice president of procurement and supply chain and IT at GLC, said the day was a, “great opportunity for the GLC team to have a really open discussion on a business challenge and explore out of the box solutions, while engaging with a great group of business leaders and executive MBA students.”
Each EMBA Experiential Learning Day is customized to maximize the benefit to both the company and the students. If your company is interested in partnering with Weatherhead School for a future EMBA Experiential Learning Day, please contact Elizabeth Beldon, EMBA program manager, at elizabeth.beldon@case.edu.
Read more about Weatherhead School’s EMBA Program.
Article Date
March 14, 2022