Management and human resources students in Cal Poly’s Orfalea College of Business are currently working on their Learn by Doing senior projects, some of which involve consulting and researching for local businesses. Students leading these projects will be working with three local wineries as well as the Morro Bay Chamber of Commerce as they collect and analyze data, develop new programs, and evaluate business strategies in an effort to help each organization achieve their unique goals.
A team of students will be working with the Morro Bay Chamber of Commerce, which focuses on advocating for healthy, vibrant commerce as well as considering the needs, perspectives and priorities of its community businesses. The students’ project is focused around planning and executing a “Business Walk” where teams of three to four people visit 10-12 businesses an hour to collect data through a four-question survey. The students’ aim to survey 85 percent of the businesses in Morro Bay, conducting more than 300 interviews over the course of the project. The team will also update databases of the websites, create map logistics for a proposed event, identify the media contacts to ultimately discuss the results of the business walk, and create the survey to be used.
Another Cal Poly team will advise Herman Story, a small, successful, winery in Paso Robles that produces nearly 10,000 cases of wine each year. Herman Story’s goal is to create a more refined and mature brand identity that appeals to higher end customers frequenting the region. To achieve this goal, the students will conduct market research on the current client base, a survey on its sales and distribution model, and interviews with current customers to provide analysis on new opportunities for the business.
Desperada, a small winery in Paso Robles that produces about 3,000 cases a year, is partnering with Cal Poly students as it attempts to reach a wider audience and increase profits. The student team will evaluate the current sales model and market strategies at the winery and suggest a plan to reach a wider audience directly. The team will help the business initiate a market shift to focus on “wine geeks,” who are immersed in the complexity and detail of wine and who can sustain the business as loyal customers going forward.
Last but not least, Cal Poly management students will be consulting Baker and Brain, boutique winery on the Central Coast. It was founded in 2009 and produces about 1,400 cases of wine annually. The team will create a plan to help the winery increase their direct sales to the clients. They will start with research on current consumers and create a report of social media and marketing strategy; a simulation of looking at numbers to calculating potential profits and setting goals for the future; a calendar of marketing actions for the upcoming year.
These projects are the ultimate opportunity for management and human resources students to Learn by Doing, with real data and real clients. After making final presentations to each business, Cal Poly’s students can see the effects of their recommendations take hold.
To connect with the Management and Human Resources Area so your business can work with Cal Poly students, contact Jean-Francois Coget at jcoget@calpoly.edu.
Faculty Spotlight: Jim Burleson
Jim Burleson, assistant professor of management
Specialties: information systems and social media
What attracted you to Cal Poly?
Cal Poly offers a unique environment that promotes excellence in both teaching and research. I wanted to find a university that places a priority on education while offering the resources necessary to explore new ideas.
What industry positions have you held?
I worked as a business analyst for the global consulting firm CapGemini. My primary responsibility was to work with organizations to identify how technology could solve their business problems.
How has your subject changed in the last five years?
Information systems used to exist solely for the “nerds.” But today, we’re all nerds. Everyone uses technology. Facebook counts its users by the billions. It is no longer necessary to discuss why technology is valuable. Our goal is to show students how technology can be used to impact the world.
What are your favorite parts about teaching at Cal Poly?
My favorite part of teaching at Cal Poly is walking into a classroom full of students that sincerely want to learn. The students here are highly motivated and always up to a new challenge. The palm tree outside of my window isn’t bad, either.
How have you Learned by Doing personally?
One of my primary research interests is how organizations use social media to interact with the outside world. Through this research, I have had the opportunity to speak with managers from a variety of organizations and work with interesting software tools, which enable new forms of data analytics.
How have you challenged your students?
BUS 394: Systems Analysis & Design teaches students how to analyze and design the solution to a business problem using technology. This often involves a high degree of interpersonal interaction. To promote learning in this area, I have students work with local organizations to identify a business problem and gather the information needed to design a solution. The project forces students to step outside the comforts of the classroom and gain some real world, hands-on experience.
What’s been the biggest challenge in your career?
Because our field is constantly evolving, most of the teaching materials we create and examples we offer in class become outdated very rapidly. The challenge for the faculty is to stay current on new trends in technology and how it is being used in organizations. The “new” technologies of today will be ancient history in about five minutes.
Who is your go-to for faculty collaboration at Cal Poly?
I work closely with most of the information systems faculty. Dr. Leida Chen and I started at Cal Poly together, and we share an interest in data analytics. Though I only recently began working here at Cal Poly, I have already had the opportunity to interact with a wide assortment of outstanding faculty members. It’s an honor to be part of this group.
How have your students changed in the last five years?
Students today seem more motivated than ever to plan for life after graduation. I have more conversations about internships and potential occupations than ever before.
What has been your favorite moment from this last year of teaching?
A local alumnus working for a software company asked for some ideas related to the re-design of one of its mobile apps. He tasked the Systems Analysis & Design class to identify opportunities to improve the user interface of the application. It was so much fun watching the students solve a real-world business problem and seek to improve a tangible product in a meaningful way.
What is your hidden talent or hobby?
I have a not-so-secret love of dancing, specifically swing dancing and contra dancing. I moved to California from South Carolina, where I learned most everything I know. It has been a blast to find opportunities to dance out here on the West Coast.
What’s your favorite thing about San Luis Obispo?
Driving anywhere in the area when the sun begins to set. It really is breathtaking here.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
One of the easiest traps to fall into is second-guessing your decisions. My father has the best advice for eliminating the temptation to second-guess yourself: “Make the best decision you can with the information at your disposal, and never look back.”
Faculty Spotlight: Taryn Stanko
Taryn Stanko, assistant professor of management
Specialties: negotiations
What attracted you to Cal Poly and San Luis Obispo?
Too many things to list! I love the friendliness of the community within the Orfalea College of Business and was very struck by the level of collegiality within my own area. I also was very drawn to the Learn by Doing emphasis that permeates Cal Poly’s culture because I feel it aligns with my own teaching style and approach. These factors combined with the natural beauty of San Luis Obispo meant I was sold after my first visit!
What industry positions have you held?
I have worked for two companies at opposite ends of the size spectrum: Paramount Pictures and a startup called Berland Technologies. In both jobs I developed customized business solution software, among other things, and learned a great deal about the differences between working for a large corporation vs. a small startup.
How has your subject changed in the last five years?
Some organizations are moving more toward self-managed teams (see Zappos’ evolution in becoming a “holocracy”) and more entrepreneurial self-starting cultures. This puts greater responsibility on each employee to lead, motivate, and otherwise deeply understand organizational behavior and negotiation to be successful.
What are your favorite parts about teaching at Cal Poly?
My favorite part about teaching at Cal Poly is the emphasis on Learn by Doing and the enthusiasm.
How have you Learned by Doing personally?
I tackled computer programming by learning on the job.
How have you challenged your students?
I do a number of simulations that put students in high-pressure competitive situations to challenge their ability to think on their feet and make decisions in the context of ambiguous information. In doing so, I try to push students outside their comfort zone so that they can better understand what their strengths and limitations are and thus help them grow.
What’s been the biggest challenge in your career?
The biggest challenge I continually face is striving for balance. Life is a balancing act in dividing my time between the different parts of my job: working on research projects, going through the publication process, teaching in the classroom, and working with students on projects outside the classroom. This juggling act amounts to what I refer to as a high-class problem – too many things that I enjoy doing and always wishing there was a little more time available for each!
Who is your go-to for faculty collaboration at Cal Poly?
Over the last few months, I’ve been enjoying working with Professor Jim Sena on new research projects exploring employee attitudes toward information technology use in organizations.
How have your students changed in the last five years?
Students have become more technologically savvy in the last five years and have become increasingly skilled at harnessing online resources as part of their daily life at work and school.
What has been your favorite moment from this last year of teaching?
I’ve had students say that they asked for things in the context of a salary/job offer negotiation that they might not have had the courage or the foresight to ask for before taking the negotiations course. Obviously messages like that are the sort that make my job very meaningful.
What is your hidden talent or hobby?
Over the years I’ve actually taken quite a few classes in an effort to learn Spanish and would like to lead a group of students on a Spanish study abroad and do a sabbatical in Spain in the future.
What’s your favorite thing about San Luis Obispo?
My favorite thing about San Luis Obispo so far is its amazing natural beauty. Every day as I drive to and from work, I admire the breathtaking and dramatic views of the coastline and am reminded just how lucky I am to live here.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
When I was working on my Ph.D. I was told by a senior professor to break down any large task, like a dissertation, into its smallest component. If you take challenges that seem insurmountable one day (or one piece) at a time, you can make it through almost anything.
Management Student Set to Explore Indonesia
Eddy Trang, a senior concentrating in management and minoring in history and Asian studies, will travel to Indonesia this summer on a Critical Language Scholarship from the U.S. Department of State. For two months, he will live in Indonesia with a host family and take immersive language lessons to become fluent in the dialect and learn firsthand about the culture of the region.
Trang says his love for other cultures was inspired by a class trip he took as a sophomore. Accounting Professor Chris Carr took his BUS 304: Establishing International Supply Chains class to Shanghai, China, to study international supply chains. After a life-changing experience, Trang took time to study abroad in Turino, Italy, and picked up several minors in addition to his business administration major. He also served as a student ambassador for Cal Poly’s International Center, helping students from other countries adapt to life on campus.
After studying in Indonesia, Trang says he plans to study in Shanghai for a year and travel throughout Asia. After that, he intends to earn a master’s degree and go into international consulting or law.
Executives in Residence Visit Management Classrooms
Cal Poly’s Orfalea College of Business has recently launched its Executives in Residence program to bring industry experts and successful Cal Poly alumni back to campus to work with students for a day.
This year, management students have enjoyed time with several executives, including Shari Moore (B.S., Business Administration, 1989), NetApp’s vice president of human resources for product delivery organizations worldwide. She discussed the challenges of managing a global HR department in a fast-paced industry with strong competition for human capital.
Steve Giusto (B.S., Business Administration, 1985) also lectured in organizational behavior classes regarding his experience as CEO of Purposely Inc. He talked about managing teams during expansive growth phases, like the one he experienced as president of Apollo Education Group.
“Students benefit from hearing candid accounts of industry challenges and making valuable connections to some of the industry’s biggest leaders,” said Orfalea College of Business Dean Scott Dawson. For more information on the Executive in Residence program, visit