A national online car retailer comes to you wanting to increase their sales and share of the online marketplace. How do you make that happen?
This was the live business project that national car retailer cinch posed to Hull University Business School students who rose to the challenge, completing the task as part of their degree.
The project is just one example of the range of practical business opportunities that Business School students get to experience, thanks to our unique approach to teaching called Authentic Business Learning (ABL).
Hull University Business School
Dr Fiona Walkley, Senior Lecturer in Marketing at Hull University Business School, explains:
“We treat students like professionals from day one, giving them experiences to apply the theories that they’re learning to real business situations. Through our established relationships with a range of national and regional organisations, our students get to learn business through placements, internships, live projects, and a variety of networking activities – all included as part of their degree.
“The live assignment that our students completed for cinch, the big online brand that’s disrupting the car industry, is one example of ABL in action. Our students were tasked with the challenge of how the company could attract more online sales. Investigating marketing analytics to find those opportunities to inform that strategy.”
Dr Fiona Walkley
Senior Lecturer in Marketing
Selected students presented the results of their analysis directly to five managers from within the business – outlining the insights they’d uncovered into how cinch could grow their online sales.
Charlotte Morgan was one of the students that delivered a presentation to the cinch managers.
Charlotte said:
“Projects like this benefit students as it helps prepare us for our future careers. We get the real-life experience that you would in the workplace. So instead of just writing a report then forgetting about it, you get to pursue something that you might actually do in the future.”
Students in the Business Lounge
Hull University Business School graduate Ella Goddard – who now works at cinch as a Talent Acquisition Specialist – was instrumental in creating the collaboration between the University and cinch, having experienced the benefits of working on live business projects during her time as a student.
Ella said:
“I was keen to create opportunities for Business School students to collaborate on real business assignments as part of my role here at cinch. I know firsthand how valuable it is to have the chance to work on live business projects as a student. I benefitted so much from the ones I worked on as part of my degree, developing key business skills and gaining great experiences to put on my CV.
“The students delivered phenomenal presentations, my colleagues and I were really impressed. They definitely cinched it!”
Fiona added:
“Opportunities such as this are an important part of the Business School’s approach – helping our students to grow their confidence as graduates and giving them authentic business experiences that prepare them for future careers. Live projects are great experiences that students can put on their CV that help develop essential business skills. For example, there’s a real skills gap in industry at the moment, where there’s not enough graduates with skills in data analysis. So the students who have completed the cinch business challenge have learnt these skills, practised them and brought them to life by presenting them back to the company in a real business situation. It’s so beneficial for students and is a really engaging way to learn business.”
At Hull, we equip managers and business professionals to succeed in a fast-changing and interconnected world. Find out more about studying Business Management here.