Business students craft market research for Dunkirk elementary school

It was a classic win-win for seniors on the cusp of receiving degrees in Business Administration: Management at Fredonia and for Northern Chautauqua Catholic School (NCCS) seeking valuable market research.

Two teams of students, Alliance Consulting and Creative Consulting, compiled detailed reports for the Dunkirk school in their senior capstone course (BUAD 499 Strategic Management). Each semester, students gain valuable experience by developing strategic plans that address specific needs of eight to 10 local organizations and businesses, explained School of Business Associate Professor Susan McNamara.

The two reports were prepared by Hannah Johnson, Stephanie Rawa, Ben Welker, David Totaro, Jennifer Barron, Casey Cullen, Samantha Taddio, Clay Troia, Charity Jewell, Ben Logan, Tanya Eggleston and Kaylei Russell.

“Students learn, but more importantly, a local organization benefits from the creative minds of our students,” Dr. McNamara explained. “Students learn experientially through community engagement and applying what they learned in the classroom to real strategic opportunities which helps them prepare for success in their next chapter of professional life.

The Alliance team identified ways to retain current students and recruit new ones and learned what NCCS means to families and why parents choose to enroll their children at the pre-K-8 school. The Creative group facilitated collection of information from alumni to suggest ways the school can better position itself in the local market.

“I think the students did a fantastic job,” said Paul Wallenhorst, a management consultant assisting NCCS and principal of Wallenhorst Associates, Ltd. He described the reports as “robust and quite comprehensive” and pegged their retail price – had they been written by a consulting firm – around $10,000 each.

Students deployed widely-accepted analysis tools – PESTEL (Political, Economic, Social, Technology, Environmental and Legal), SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) and competitor and competitive positioning grids ­– to present their case. Survey questions were comprehensive, Wallenhorst noted, recommendations well-conceived.

“All the components that you’d expect to have in a good, professional report were there,” Wallenhorst said, beginning with the firms’ student-designed logos placed on front covers. “The look and feel of the reports was high class. It was very professional.”

Alliance Consulting focused on parents and explored their motivation for enrolling their child at NCCS. “It took a look at how current parents evaluate the school with respect to their children, the benefits it provides, while simultaneously learning what parents assign as high priorities relative to the education of their children,” Wallenhorst explained.

Wallenhorst was particularly impressed with the acronym FAMILY (Faith and Academics Makes Intelligent Leaders of our Youth) developed to drive brand awareness.

Creative Consulting’s concentration on alumni delved into how graduates rate the value of their entire school experience, including academics, extra-curricular and social activities and spiritual aspect, and proposed ways the school can better market itself to parents of prospective students. The report also reaffirmed the value of alumni testimonials to motivate parents to consider enrolling their children at NCCS. “It strongly recommended a major emphasis in building stronger alumni relationships,” Wallenhorst said.

Students conducted a client entry meeting, performed research, gathered preliminary data, interacted with school representatives and Wallenhorst and prepared and presented the final report.

The school’s board of trustees was “absolutely delighted” by the findings, Wallenhorst reported, and noted that recommendations will be incorporated into brand development, marketing and advertising campaigns, “but the absolute most important use is to better serve students and the families of those students; that’s the real payoff.”