Faculty Advisor: Assistant Professor, NYU Stern School of Business

Research Practicum Introduction

Not since The Great Depression of the 1930’s has the world experienced so many business failures. Governments have ordered businesses to close. Extraordinary sickness and rising death tolls have cast a dark shadow on commerce. Employees are performing their necessary tasks from their bedrooms or dining room tables instead of offices. Schools, from kindergarten through post-graduate, are conducted via zoom.

Hopefully, the pandemic will soon be over. What changes will be required in the conduct of business? How will businesses adjust and conform to the new realities? What steps must businesses take to assure success and avoid failures?

This program will focus on strategies and tactics for the post-pandemic era. Students will also learn general and subject-specific research and academic writing methods used in universities and scholarly publications. Students will focus on individual topics and generate their own work products upon completion of the program.

Project Topic

Each student will create a company to produce and market a product or service. Each of the sessions will involve an element of the student’s business plan, detailing the development and strategies earmarked for success and eschewing failure.

Prior to each session, students will receive a case study article that discusses a real specific business crisis (examples: Tylenol, Volkswagen, BP, Uber, Facebook). Sessions will focus on these and other crises, detailing what went wrong and what steps might have been taken to mitigate or lessen the problem.

By the end of this program, students will have a better understanding of the new business realities and will be prepared to tackle plans and strategies that will avoid the crises that have plagued so many companies. 

Final deliverables

• Business plan for your product or service including all of the elements covered during the program; 

• Addendum that explains strategies for ensuring success and avoiding failure.

Program Detail

• Cohort Size: 3-5 students

• Duration: 12 weeks

• Workload: Around 4 hours per week (including class time and homework time)

• Target Students: 9-12th grade students interested in Business, Public Relations, Communications and Entrepreneurship. This project is best for students with genuine curiosity in the subject, diligence, and initiative.

• Schedule: TBD. Meetings will take place for around one hour per week, with a weekly meeting day and time to be determined a few weeks prior to the class start date.