Monsanto Practicum Offers MBAs a Challenging Applied-Learning Experience
Roundup herbicide competes in a highly dynamic market in which the primary competition is from Chinese producers. Since China is still largely a centrally managed economy, costs and competing uses of raw materials within the economy have a significant impact on the export price of Chinese glyphosate (the primary ingredient in Roundup).During the spring 2009 mini B Financial Assessment Practicum, a team of Olin MBA students assisted Monsanto in identifying trends that influence the price of Chinese glyphosate. The objective was to broaden Monsanto’s existing correlation analysis to identify any commodities (e.g., energy, grain) or indexes whose prices are correlated with the price of the product. During this applied-learning consulting project, students drew upon their classroom learning experiences to create a model that explained China's glyphosate acid prices through price changes and the indexes.
Student team member John Fering, MBA '10, says the most beneficial aspect of this project was the degree of difficulty the problem posed. “The company wanted a recommendation that was really on the frontier of knowledge and provided little guidance in what means we used to achieve that goal,” says Fering. “Because we couldn’t look to anyone but ourselves to develop a solution, we were forced to learn new skills and apply the lessons we’ve learned from the MBA program in new and novel ways.”
Glenn MacDonald, John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics and Strategy and director of the Center for Research in Economics and Strategy (CRES), served as the student team’s faculty adviser. “This project was a very difficult one, well beyond what would be typical of a company project," says MacDonald. “The team did an outstanding job of learning and applying advanced methods and ultimately produced a project that far exceeded the client’s expectations.”
Anna Culhane, MBA '10, adds: “This practicum was a good experience for me because it forced me to learn new things and I had a great group, faculty adviser and client to work with. It expanded my knowledge of statistics and opened my eyes to how statistics and economics are used in everyday business decisions.”
