From the classroom to the boardroom
The immersive, real-world project experience that serves as the foundation of Accelerator sets it apart from other undergraduate business programs. Students assume the role of consultants and are challenged to deliver the best solutions possible for the participating organizations. You’ll find yourself interacting directly with the key decision-makers, often dealing with upper-level managers, including CEOs, whom you might never meet in internships or even in entry-level positions.
Learning Business by Doing Business
With over 100 hours of “grab it and go” classroom learning at the Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management, you can immediately apply this practical instruction and successfully immerse yourself in each project. In partnering with some of the world’s leading companies and organizations as well as a diverse mix of local and regional businesses, Accelerator opens doors to an array of networking opportunities for participants. Most project launches take the students on-site to company headquarters, providing unparalleled access and exposure to resources. Organizations that have partnered with the Accelerator program include:
- American Airlines
- Burgundy Group Advertising
- Caterpillar Financial
- Echomusic
- FedEx
- Delek U.S. Holdings (MAPCO)
- Dodge
- Habitat for Humanity
- Hands on Nashville
- Haverty's Furniture
- Hospital Corporation of America
- Hot Yoga
- Humana
- Gomez Photography
- Gresham, Smith & Partners
- Griffin Technologies
- Lexus
- Music City Motorplex
- Nashville Predators Hockey Club
- Nashville Sounds Baseball Club
- National City Bank
- National Civil Rights Museum
- O’Charley’s
- PassAlong Networks
- Plumgood Foods
- Ronald McDonald House
- Stoney River Legendary Steaks
- Strategic Financial Partners
- Tennessee Performing Arts Center
- Velocity Sports Performance
- Whirlpool
- William Morris Agency
A rewarding experience
The competitive drive for each consulting project is also fueled by the highly attractive reward for each project’s winning team. American Airlines, for example, flew the entire 2007 winning project team to Texas to present their ideas, including innovative online opportunities to attract new business, to the head of the firm’s global marketing team. For the winning team of the 2007 FedEx project, the company hosted a dinner at their corporate headquarters in Memphis and provided an opportunity for the students to strap themselves into its renowned flight simulator.
"Grab it and go" learning
With over 100 hours of “grab it and go” classroom learning at the Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management, you can immediately apply this practical instruction and successfully immerse yourself in each project. The Accelerator program was designed by Owen faculty in tandem with companies that hire college graduates to provide you with the key skills that you will need to be successful early in your career.
Strategy: How does a business create and sustain a competitive advantage?
- Seven S analysis
- SWOT analysis
- Five Forces
- Value Chain
- Balanced Scorecard
Financial Accounting: How does a business measure and monitor its financial performance?
- The balance sheet
- The income statement
- The statement of cash flows
- Pro forma financial statements
- Profitability, risk and liquidity analysis
- Financial reporting and statement analysis
Managerial Economics: What are the basic market and industry forces impacting a business?
- Consumer demand and pricing
- Supply and demand
- Industry structure
Marketing: How does a business decide what the customers are for its product or service and how to best reach those customers?
- Segmentation, targeting and positioning
- The Four Ps
- Consumer Behavior
- Marketing Mix
- The Five Cs
Finance: How does a business raise money to finance its goals and objectives?
- Discounting cash flows
- Valuing stocks and bonds
- Capital budgeting
- Valuing companies and acquisitions
- Cash flow forecasting
Operations: What are the methods and systems businesses use to provide customers with products and services?
- People and manufacturing processes
- Supply chain
- Inventory management
HR/Organizational Behavior: How does a business find, attract, train, reward and retain the right people?
- Sourcing
- Recruiting
- Training
- Compensation and incentives
Problem Solving: How do you break down complex business problems to drive improvement?
- Problem structuring
- Killer analysis
- Building and using Excel spreadsheets and data modeling
- Hypothesis data gathering
- Targeted recommendations
Communication: How do you deliver your ideas for real impact?
- Active listening
- Elevator ride verbal pitches
- One-page executive writing
- Using PowerPoint to tell an effective story
- Group/team presentations
Teamwork: How do you work in collaborative business teams?
- Facilitation
- Project management & prioritization
- Constructive feedback and criticism
- Negotiation and conflict resolution
- Knowledge management
- Interpersonal impact and effectiveness
Career Planning: How do you market yourself to get the job you really want?
- Resume preparation and critique
- Mock interviews with recruiters
- Career decision-making
