Photo by Chris Meyer Jen Johnson, manager of campus relations for Target, is questioned by X204 business communication students in IUB’s Kelley School of Business. Students in the class are challenged to design a communications plan for real-world corporations. For students, designing plans for such companies as Target, Philip Morris USA and Steak-‘n-Shake can be more than a competition; sometimes there’s a road map to a job.

This past Tuesday (Dec. 9), IU undergrads made presentations to Target executives in a competition that teaches the value of team play, preparation, strategy, execution and steady nerves.

For the third consecutive semester, Business Communication X204, generally a sophomore-level class in the Kelley School of Business on the Bloomington campus, has challenged students to design a specific communications plan for a real-life corporation with real-life goals.

This semester, Target asked the nearly 500 students taking the course to write one-, five- and 10-year strategic growth plans for the company.

Eighty teams start the competition, but only the “final four” made presentations. Scholarship money, not to mention 20 percent of a final course grade, was the coveted trophy. The top team splits $2,500. The second-place team shares $1,000, and $500 goes to the third- and fourth-place teams.

“I believe this is an outstanding way to incorporate the real world into the classroom,” said Rod Haywood, coordinator of the project and a lecturer in the classroom. “This is a different generation of students which needs to make applications of what they’re learning right away. They want to have a real-world product. They want to be able to say ‘This is outstanding for me. This is what I produced.’” In previous competitions, IU students have designed internal communication strategies for Philip Morris USA Inc., said Brenda Bailey-Hughes, another lecturer for the course. For Steak-‘n-Shake, she said, they’ve created ways to improve customers’ dining experience and also have written marketing plans to appeal to a younger consumer base for the restaurant.

But this semester’s road to the final four is the strategic growth plan, which Bailey-Hughes defined.

“For a corporation, it’s a road map created to help invest financial and human resources in a focused manner that optimizes growth over a given time period. In this case it’s over one, five and ten years, ” she said.

And for students, it’s a road map to a career.

“Faculty coach students on such real-world skills as identifying a problem, working with a team, researching a problem, developing sound recommendations, writing a clear report and presenting ideas to executives. I know the experience will be a confidence booster for students when they begin their careers.”

At the beginning of the course, students received a packet of information that identified the problem Target officials wanted to tackle, the parameters of the project and information about the company. Bailey-Hughes said that the students, along with their seven instructors, have a two-hour, question-and-answer session with a Target representative one time during the semester. Students also can send questions to a Target representative throughout the semester for answers to specific questions.

Instructors guide students through learning new research methods that are more specific than they may have learned previously, and they are coached on strategic thinking and analytical skills.

“Frequently, students want to run out and start reading everything they can find on the Internet, reliable or not,” said Bailey-Hughes. “We want them to think carefully about their plans and about the issues the company has given them before they jump in and start writing. We want their proposals to be viable and creative.”

Instructors also inform their students of components necessary to their project, such as a formal report or an organizational strategy, and finally work with student to polish presentation skills, particularly presenting as a team, which, according to Bailey-Hughes, has its own unique set of challenges.

Tracy Connelly, development officer for the Kelley School of Business, is involved in locating a company to work with the students.

“We’re looking for additional corporate partners for this class,” he said. “It’s an opportunity for them to get a fresh point of view from a young audience, and also heightens their visibility and presence on campus as a future employer.”

“We’ve gotten positive anecdotal feedback from the previous companies we’ve worked with,” said Haywood. “I’m told that Steak-‘n-Shake and Philip Morris were impressed with the quality of work products they received and with the presentations. Now, we’re raising the bar for both.”