So you may have heard the phrase “I took GMSC” by a Goizueta student or alumni, and wondered, what exactly is this “GMSC”.  Well, I am here to help clear the air, and explain a bit about the wonderful adventure (ahem) which is the Goizueta Marketing Strategy Consultancy Case Competition, aptly termed “GMSC”.  Now, for my part, I only have a small amount of knowledge to share at this stage in the semester, so I will be happy to take you through this journey as I venture through it.

GMSC is a unique course in which teams of 5 to 6 students are paired with companies (such as Coca-Cola, GE, and Solvay) to pursue a semester-long consulting project.  The projects are typically focused in the marketing discipline, with variations including work in strategy, supply chain, operations, and finance.  The focus of the course is to give exposure to consulting challenges, deal with client relationships, and pursue various data analysis techniques in order to solve a problem relevant to the client company.  This may seem like more than one can feasibly do in a semester, and it may well be, but the course is designed to account for about 10 to 20 hours of work by the student teams per week.

Sound scary?  Well, so far, it is not so much as scary but rather as a unique way to deal with interesting client issues, in a course setting.  My project, which has just begun a few short days ago, is in the scoping stage, where my team and our client company is beginning to determine and narrow down the issues to analyze during the semester.  As a consultant in my previous occupation, this is not new to me; it is however an interesting take on “MBA group work”.  We all bring different expertise and experiences to the table, yet have never worked together.

GMSC is different than other classes, in that the learning you do is in the form of composing deliverables to the client and course instructors, during which time you figure out how to apply all that stuff you learned in Marketing, Decision Analysis, Strategy, and even (dare I say it) Finance.  What is great is learning how to use the vast resources we have at Emory to help us along the way, in the form of expert professors, consultants, business librarians, and even the client company, and how to keep it all within our budget.  At the end of the semester, the results from each team are presented on a much anticipated “Presentation Day”, where the teams are judged by industry representatives, and awarded on the basis of their merits.

So far, GMSC is just beginning for me, and it has been an interesting couple of weeks so far.  I am looking forward to what this semester entails; granted I may not have a lot of free time, but I feel like I am getting to exercise my experience from my consulting days, while also learning a lot about a new client, project management with my team, and above all time management on the home front.  I guess for now I can leave you with a fully-loaded “Stay Tuned…”, as you join me along for this GMSC ride!

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