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Objective
Provides the students the opportunity to apply skills and knowledge learned during the course to real-life management setting where they can act as action consultants.
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Units
Action Consultancy as a course is equivalent to 2 units.
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Requirement
AC is a requirement to graduate.
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Action Consultancy Output
Among the outputs of the Action Consultancy Project are the following:
- Project Report
- Consultancy Experience or lessons learned from the AC experience.
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Action Consultancy Input
Among the student’s inputs to the Action Consultancy Project are the following:
- Skills and knowledge learned during the First Year
- Student Resources
- Company Resources
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Tasks
Among the projects that are allowed in the AC are:
- Crafting a strategy for a functional area
- Undertaking a management audit
- Establishing the viability of a project
- Formulating a program plan
- Reviewing/recommending changes to corporate policies
- Evaluating systems and procedures
- Innovating, planning, and implementing a project
NO CLERICAL WORK PLEASE!
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Procedure
1. Generating interested companies and tasks list:
- Send letter of invitation to companies.
- AC Coordinator to approve companies and tasks list.
- Post list of approved companies and corresponding tasks
- Students to select companies
- Fax names and resumes of students to companies
- Companies to short list students
2. Selection and interview
- Selected students go to companies for interview
- Selected student give company the student-company assignment form
- Companies send/fax filled up student-company assignment form signifying a student is chosen.
- Student and company creates a mutually agreed upon Terms of Reference. The TOR is a binding document. Students are not allowed to transfer to another company after the TOR has been signed. Doing so is considered DYSFUNCTIONAL BEHAVIOR.
- Student selects faculty mentor.
3. AC Proper
- Weekly progress report to be submitted to the mentor.
- Presentation to the company with the Faculty Mentor after the AC
- Submission of final report to company and faculty mentor
4. AC Evaluation
- Send evaluation forms to the companies
- Companies send back filled up evaluation forms
- AC grade includes company and faculty mentor evaluation. If company does not submit an evaluation, the faculty mentor provides the grade.
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Documents
The following documents will be used:
- Invitation letter to the company
- Company reply slip (indicating task on hand)
- Student introduction letter (if necessary)
- Student-company assignment form
- Student certification (for some cases)
- Terms of Reference (TOR)
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Decisions
The following are allowed:
- Students can look for their own companies provided the tasks on hand are approved by the AC Coordinator and/or their respective mentors.
- Students select their faculty mentor provided the faculty member agrees to be their mentor.
- Agreement on the compensation package in TOR is between the student/s and company.
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Reports
The following reports are required:
1. Weekly progress reports (one-pager) to be submitted to the batch Program Assistant/Secretary. Deadlines for these reports are set at Monday, 5:00 PM of the week following the week to be reported on.
2. Final report is divided into two parts. Part I includes the following:
- Issue, problem or opportunity raised by the AC partner.
- Background of why the issue, problem or opportunity must be addressed.
- Context of the issue, problem or opportunity.
- Approach in solving or addressing the issue, problem or opportunity.
- Analysis of issue, problem or opportunity.
- Generation of alternative course of action.
- Resolution of issue or problem, determination of opportunity
- Synthesis and recommendation
Part II should highlight learnings from the AC Project. Deadline for the Final Report is not later than 5:00 PM of July 11, 2008.
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Action Consultancy for Venture MRR
In lieu of Action Consultancy, students pursuing venture MRRs should go into Venture Apprenticeship. This track has three components. The first is “experiential”. The student goes through field immersion in various aspects of the venture such as: learning the technology and production process by entering a do-it course; applying as an apprentice in a similar venture under the tutelage of an entrepreneur to learn the operational ropes; and, “getting wet” in the “wet market” or other such marketing immersions.
The second is “evaluational”. The student studies the micro market. He or she analyzes the customer profile, characteristics and traits. The student determines the target clients and figures out the appropriate product or service that would meet the needs of the chosen customer. The student also looks at various production or service delivery schemes and evaluates their appropriateness for the venture. Financing practices are likewise analyzed. Various organizational modes of running the venture are considered based on field observations.
The third is “experimental”. The student designs the product or service and tests it out in the market place.
The Venture Apprentice must prepare a Program of Action for the two-month period, clearly stating the objectives; properly describing the process and highlighting the intended results of learnings from each of the three venture apprenticeship components. The program of action must be approved by the faculty assigned to advise all venture MRRs. These are composed of the MRR coordinator, the DE professors and faculty doing research on entrepreneurship. The format should more or less follow the Action Consultancy except when not appropriate.
The Venture Apprenticeship must produce three outputs for submission to the Venture MRR Faculty. One is the activity and learning log in the experiential component. Two is the micro market study and initial findings on the production, financing and organizational aspects of the venture or the write up on the evaluational component. Three is the technical assessment of the experimental component.
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Grading
Student’s grade is based on the following:
Student’s professionalism while doing the AC (to be assessed by the faculty mentor and company supervisor).
Competence in the functional area or field of study demonstrated by the student in the report and presentation.
Acceptability of student’s output to the company.
Manifestation of student’s professional growth.
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Duration
The duration for the AC project is from May 5 to June 27, 2008. Minimum project duration is ONE MONTH. |
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