Broad Integrative Fellows

Leading experts in higher education working alongside top corporations to solve today’s global business issues.

The results of corporate partnership with MSU scholars delivers incredible value. The Broad Integrative Fellows Program (BIF), designed to enhance integrative thinking among faculty, positions corporations at the forefront of the college’s classrooms, recruiting cycle and research outputs. The year-long program pairs a small group of Broad College of Business faculty, called BIF Fellows, with the chosen corporate partner to collaborate on cross-functional, real-time issues – which, in turn, provides faculty with perspectives to sharpen business curriculum and prepare students for successful careers.

BIF Information Sheet

The BIF Program

Because the Broad Integrative Fellows program is intended to expose college community members to cross-functional issues, partnerships with corporations are critical to provide faculty and students with the interdisciplinary perspective necessary to prepare students for successful careers.

The BIF program is a year-long endeavor (January to December) in which 5-6 of the Broad College’s high-performing faculty participate as “Fellows.” The foundation of the BIF program involves an intensive day field visit by the Fellows to the corporate partner campus for purposes of interviewing key corporate executives and staff members from multiple functional units (e.g., marketing, finance/accounting, strategy, HR, logistics/supply chain). Generally, Fellows interview approximately 10-15 individuals, with each interview lasting 30-60 minutes.

Prior to the field visit, we will collaborate with the corporate partner to identify a compelling, multi-faceted and cross-functional business problem, issue or dilemma that has been or is currently being addressed by the partner. The business problem will be the focus of the interviews and will provide the basis for an integrative teaching case that the Fellows will write upon completion of the interviews.

The case becomes part of our Broad Interdisciplinary Case Series, and we work with a publishing company to make the case available for business colleges worldwide, offering your company national and international visibility.

Partnership Benefits

Participating as a corporate partner in the BIF program will provide a number of positive outcomes for your organization:

Strengthens the relationship with the Broad College and creates opportunities for recruiting, class presentations and research
Positions partner as a collaborative leader in corporate innovation to business students and faculty
Influences management education and the quality of future recruits
Provides access to materials from the partnership to be used for internal management education

Confidentiality

As academics, our reputation is based upon our integrity in protecting the proprietary data of corporate partners related to our research or, in this case, in creating teaching materials. As such, we will take the necessary steps to satisfy the confidentiality concerns of our corporate partner.

Program Sequence

Phase I

Educational workshops for Broad College and Michigan State University faculty (between January and May)
Topics include integrative thinking, teaching and curriculum development
BIF directors collaborate with partner during a pre-case site visit to identify a compelling, multi-faceted and cross-functional business problem or issue

Phase II

Fellows spend two to three days ingrained in the corporate partner’s campus (taking place over the summer)
Fellows conduct 15-20 interviews to discuss issue with corporate stakeholders and staff across the partner’s functional units

Phase III

Fellows develop a teaching case focused on the corporate partner, which may include a pilot test with students
Fellows submit case for publication (with permission) for use by business colleges around the world. Publishing the case cements the success of the BIF program and enhances the collaborative and innovative reputation of the Broad College and the corporate partner.

BIF Corporate Partner Alumni

Past corporate partners have included Disney, Marriott, Amazon and the Home Depot, who have helped to positively shape the Broad College faculty and its students.

Past Cases

2017: Home Depot

Home Depot was the corporate partner for 2017. The cadre of fellows directed their attention toward an integrated strategic initiative.

Fellows

Ahmet Kirca
Associate Professor – Marketing
Email: kirca@broad.msu.edu

Hakan Yildiz
Assistant Professor – Supply Chain Management
Email: yildiz@broad.msu.edu

Jason Miller
Assistant Professor – Supply Chain Management
Email: mill2831@broad.msu.edu

Jeff Elsworth
Associate Professor – The School of Hospitality Business
Email: elsworth@broad.msu.edu

Keith Ferguson
Fixed-Term Faculty – Marketing
Email: fergu327@broad.msu.edu

Co-Directors

Jeff Beck
Associate Professor – The School of Hospitality Business
Email: beck@broad.msu.edu

Judy Whipple
Professor – Supply Chain Management
Email: whipple@broad.msu.edu
2016: Amazon

The Amazon interviews and case focused on how Amazon Marketplace sustains strategic innovation. The case revolves around Amazon’s three-year planning (3YP) process and how it is used to drive innovation. The case enables students to consider how the 3YP process would evaluate a new initiative, Merchant Fulfilled Prime Network, from a cross-functional perspective, including marketing, finance, supply chain, information systems and Amazon’s overall strategy. The interview participants included vice presidents and directors from various areas, including sales, finance, general counsel, fulfillment, customer service and seller services.

Fellows

Yemisi Bolumole
Associate Professor – Supply Chain Management
Email: bolumole@broad.msu.edu

Jeff Cohu
Assistant Professor – Management
Email: cohu@broad.msu.edu

Harrison McKnight
Professor – Information Systems
Email: mcknight@broad.msu.edu

Antoinette Tessmer
Professor of Practice – Finance
Email: tessmer@broad.msu.edu

Lu Zhang
Assistant Professor – School of Hospitality Management
Email: zhanglu@broad.msu.edu

Co-Directors

Jeff Beck
Associate Professor – The School of Hospitality Business
Email: beck@broad.msu.edu

Karen Sedatole
2015: Marriott

Marriott International and its full-service hotel brands are challenged with sustainability, specifically in the area of food waste and recycling. This case addressed food waste reduction and recycling in Marriott’s restaurants, room service and catering operations. Executives from global and North American room and food and beverage operations, finance, sustainability and vendor diversity, corporate social responsibility and engineering and facilities were interviewed for their perspective on the activities and decisions necessary to become more efficient and a leader of sustainability initiatives in the hospitality industry.

Fellows

Mi Ran Kim
Assistant Professor – The School of Hospitality Business
Email: kimmi@broad.msu.edu

Sriram Narayanan
Associate Professor – Supply Chain Management
Email: zhanglu@broad.msu.edu

Hang Nguyen
Assistant Professor – Marketing
Email: nguyenh@broad.msu.edu

Isabel Wang
Associate Professor – Accounting and Information Systems
Email: wang@broad.msu.edu

Hayong Yun
Associate Professor – Finance
Email: yunha@broad.msu.edu

Co-directors

Glenn Omura

Karen Sedatole
2014: Disney

Disney, our inaugural partner, gave the Broad Fellows and inside look at the consumer products division. The fellows interviewed consumer products division executives from product development, integrated supply chain management, finance, retail operations in North America, strategic marketing, and strategy and business development.

Fellows

Brian Jacobs
Associate Professor – Supply Chain Management
Email: jacobsb@broad.msu.edu

John Jiang
Associate Professor – Accounting and Information Systems
Email: jiangj@broad.msu.edu

Seung Hyun Kim
Associate Professor – The School of Hospitality Business
Email: kimseung@broad.msu.edu

Ayalla Ruvio
Assistant Professor – Marketing
Email: ruvio@broad.msu.edu

Brent Scott
Professor – Management
Email: scott@broad.msu.edu

Anjana Susarla
Associate Professor – Accounting and Information Systems
Email: asusarla@broad.msu.edu

Co-directors

Glenn Omura

Karen Sedatole

Become a Corporate Partner

Becoming a BIF corporate partner means your organization would join an elite group of corporate peers who have helped to positively shape the Broad College faculty and its students.

If your company is interested in becoming a corporate partner, please contact either of the co-directors, Judith Whipple or Gerry McNamara.