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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.

Spartan Statue with a blue sky in the background.

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.

Broad Integrative Fellows Co-Director

Any questions regarding the Broad Integrative Fellows program can be directed to the BIF co-director.

profile photo of Gerry McNamara

Gerry McNamara

  • John H. McConnell Professor in Business Administration
    Management