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In May, students in the MBA program delivered their capstone project to the leadership of eClinical Solutions. Each year, Curry’s MBA coursework culminates in a capstone project where the MBA cohort works as a team of consultants to a local organization on an applied research project. eClinical Solutions, based in Mansfield, Mass. has a mission to make clinical research data acquisition and analysis easy and intelligent to help bring new treatments to patients fast.
“Our Capstone Project, which aimed to equip eClinical Solutions with the strategies to become a ‘destination employer,’ was extremely topical in today's competitive labor market,” said Molly Murphy, MBA ’22, who was the project manager. “The research and best practices were eye-opening.”
Under the guidance of Steven Gunning, professor and director of graduate programs in business, and other faculty, the cohort of 11 students developed a recruitment strategy over 16 weeks to increase brand awareness of eClinical Solutions among prospective job candidates. They also worked on the development of specific strategies to create a pipeline of new graduates to fulfill entry-level positions, and an optimization strategy to maximize retention of employees and reduce turnover and associated costs. They then presented their findings to eClinical, including Bob Arnesen, a Curry alum from the Class of 1993, who is the president and co-founder.
"I was really impressed with the team: the research, the slides they put together, the way they organized the time, how they worked together, and how they presented the materials,” said Arnesen. “They made some great recommendations for our company. It was helpful to have a new set of eyes on an issue that the company is working on as we constantly deal with finding and hiring good talent. We are always asking how do we foster a good environment? They really nailed it.”
Murphy said it was great to work with a Curry alum and that “eClinical Solutions was the ideal client. They were actively engaged and transparent, which provided our team with valuable insights. This relationship enabled us to confidently deliver recommendations best suited to eClinical's needs.”