Thursday, June 19, 2008

Day 8. June 13, 2008


Day 8. June 13, 2008

We begin week 2 with a 7:00 AM where Accelerator teams get a briefing from their coaches about today’s launch of Project 4: Bridgestone. Teams select their team leader for this round of projects. Kerri Glennon will lead Team 1, Brittany Gowers will lead Team 2, Lindsey Bodenstab will lead Team 3, Samantha Webb will lead Team 4, Aubrey Hammond will lead Team 5, Tori Richard will lead Team 6, Chris Harris will lead Team 7, and Eric Jones will lead Team 8.

Professor Cherrie Clark then ran a 1-hour studio beginning at 8:00 AM on various tools consultants use to assist clients in understand data and making recommendations. The Bridgestone team arrived about 8:30 AM to set up the launch of their Project.

At 9:00 AM, the Accelerator teams moved to the Vanderbilt Law School auditorium to meet the Bridgestone / Firestone executive team and to learn about Bridgestone’s challenge to Accelerator. The firm has invested significantly in environmentally friendly initiatives and processes – yet consumer knowledge of their work in this area is very limited. The team has asked the Accelerator teams to evaluate their target demographic market in the following way:
As "going green" becomes more and more prevalent and mainstream, questions emerge for Bridgestone based on the firm’s unique position and past environmental accomplishments. The company has made significant investments in an effort to establish an identity as an environmentally friendly firm, but these efforts have not resonated with the consumer to the degree that the company had hoped. Bridgestone has asked the Accelerator teams to complete an analysis and determination of Bridgestone Firestone’s position within this strategic landscape. Who is the target “green” audience (general public, first-time buyers, "true blue" green consumers)? What green aspects of the Bridgestone business would resonate with the target audience? Each team will be expected to develop specific recommendations for furthering employee and customer awareness of environmental aspects of the company that will positively impact its reputation and respect. What existing and/or new programs will be most effective going forward and how should the company implement or grow the right efforts that have real impact?

The Bridgestone team stayed for lunch with the Accelerator participants and then visited each of the teams in their “war rooms” for Q&A.
At 3:30 PM, we switched gears and teams focused for the rest of the afternoon on their deliverables for American Airlines – a product for the SME market.

Dinner arrived at 6:00 PM. Following dinner, the Accelerator teams spent the rest of the evening working on their initiatives for Caterpillar Financial. We cleared the building about 10 PM. Our teams clocked 14 hours today in their quest for total Acceleration….

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