John Moreno, WG'05
“We did our Field Application Project (FAP) on my company, and it helped me better analyze operations and management. In that class and in other team projects, you get a chance to see how other people would handle the same situation, and you can apply the lessons learned to almost any industry.”
» Read more of this EMBA student perspective.
Your learning team is more than a study group – it's a cohesive consultancy team. In the Field Application Project (FAP), each learning team selects a real-world problem being faced by one of the team members and then works to develop the best possible solution.
As the culminating project of the core course on Management of People at Work, the FAP is an opportunity to apply the theory, concepts, and models studied in the course to a strategic business issue involving the management of people or organizational design.
As a team, you must frame the business problem, identify the central issues, and determine the most appropriate tools and concepts to provide insight into these issues. You conduct a systemic analysis, looking into second- and third-order consequences, not just immediate implications. At the end of the project, your team meets directly with company executives to present your findings and recommendations. The FAP develops a strong sense of relevance and team purpose, as well as a strategic approach to human resource issues in business.
Recent Projects
Organizations reap the benefits, too. Each year, the collective talents and focused efforts of the FAP teams generate well researched analyses and practical suggestions for their participating sponsors – from corporations like AT&T, Boeing, Bristol-Myers Squibb, GE, Intel, JetBlue, Pricewaterhouse Coopers and Sun Microsystems to hospitals, government offices, and nonprofits.
Recent team projects have examined issues such as:
- Post-acquisition integration - bridging the divide between clashing cultures to forge a common vision and strategy.
- Re-skilling the workforce to build new organizational capabilities.
- Outsourcing work and other shifts in HR practices connected with the implementation of a global business strategy.
- Incentives and motivation - redesigning compensation and career paths to retain top talent in a 'hot' company suddenly facing slow growth and lowered morale.
- Overcoming the classic start-up problems of a charismatic leader who can't delegate or let go of control.