The winners of the Applied Management Research Program, a hands-on field research project where student teams act as consultants to different companies, were presented with an award last night at the Anderson School of Management.
The winning team, DDx Consulting, conducted a study of patient flow in the L.A. County medical system, looking at hospitals with excess capacity.
The students came up with a referral program helping hospitals deal with their patient load, said Joshua Zimmerman, one of the team members.
“We tried to focus on the benefits of the outcome for the patients, which kept us motivated and made the experience particularly rewarding,” Zimmerman said.
George Abe, faculty director of the program, said in an e-mailed statement, “They pointed out problems the employees themselves did not know in some cases and made recommendations to reduce patient wait time for surgical appointments and coordinate patient records.”
The team, comprised of five students, was awarded $5,000 at Tuesday’s ceremony.
Each team in the program is paired with a different company and conducts an in-depth study of a specific issue within the business. The team is then required to produce a 25-40 page report featuring primary research and in-depth analysis.
They then give a presentation on their final recommendation.
“Tasks vary according to the type of company,” said Priya Mohan, associate director of the AMR program. “Some examples of previous projects involve trying to help the company find more sources of revenue or trying to improve marketing strategy.”
This year, 120 teams competed for the best project, presentation and recommendation. The winners were selected by Deloitte, a group of financial services firms, after presenting to them on May 15.
Sponsor companies have included major companies such as Trader Joe’s and Twentieth Century Fox, Mohan said.
“The project is mutually beneficial, as participating in our program is not nearly as expensive for the company as it would be to hire an external consulting company,” Mohan said.
She added that what she believes to be the main benefit is the program’s focus on experiential learning.
“I learned a lot about client relationships, time management and problem solving,” Zimmerman said.