Baylor MBA Students to Share Product Study With 3M Execs

by Alan Hunt

A new high-tech product with the name "Volition Cabling System" has led to a close, working relationship between executives of the internationally known 3M and students enrolled in the master of business administration degree program at Baylor University.
The Volition brand fiber optic cabling system, designed for high speed computer networking, is an innovation of 3M Telecom Systems Division, which is headquartered in Austin. The company asked Baylor's MBA students to analyze the cabling system and to offer ideas for the future of the project. The students will present their in-depth study to a group of 3M executives at 11 a.m. April 16 in Room 303 at the Cashion Academic Center, adjoining the Hankamer School of Business. Other 3M executives will listen to the presentation via videoconferencing.
"In turn, the 3M executives will give feedback on the project to the students," said Dr. Linda Livingstone, associate dean for graduate programs at Baylor's Hankamer School of Business. She explained that the relationship between the students and 3M executives is the result of the Baylor MBA "Focus Firm" project.
"Each semester a company is selected and analyzed across core MBA classes, giving students the chance to solve real-world business problems from several aspects at once, just as they will on the job," she said. "Baylor's MBA Focus Firms open themselves for intensive investigation."
In addition to 3M, the MBA students have worked with Dell Computer Corp., Briggs and Stratton, and VTEL Corp., a manufacturer of videoconferencing equipment.
Livingstone said the 3M executives will speak to the students about "Business in the 21st Century" after a lunch program in the Graduate Lounge of Hankamer. For more information about the program, contact Livingstone at (254) 710-3718.