UPEI business students provide strategic advice to local brewery
Each year, UPEI's Business 391: Strategic Management course provides its students with the opportunity to analyze a real company and to develop a strategic plan for the company's future.
This year, Dr. Juergen Krause, associate professor and director of UPEI's Centre for Health and Biotech Management Research, approached the Gahan House Brewery, a local brewery with big plans to internationalize.
'The fortunate scenario that our students can once again work for a business sponsor from PEI, like the Gahan House Brewery, provides them with the opportunity to apply their learned knowledge in a practical setting,' said Krause. 'It also aims to support local businesses, thereby demonstrating the connectedness of the UPEI school of business with our community.'
Three teams were selected from the class to present their projects to the client on November 30. Chosen based on their scores on a previous class case, 'Horizon 20/20 Consultants,' 'Inspired Solutions,' and 'Infinite Discoveries' delivered their plan to the Gahan House Brewery's brewmaster, Trent Hayes, and brewer, Bryan Carver.
Hayes and Carver were impressed by the work put into each group's final projects. 'Giving the business students an opportunity to examine the future possibilities of a rapidly growing brewery has been a great experience,' said Carver. 'The students witnessed the highly competitive industry we work in and we gained insight from their perspective on how we can establish our brand in new markets.'
After a difficult deliberation, the judges dubbed 'Inspired Solutions' the winners and the Gahan House Brewery presented them with a $1,000 cash prize. Team members Conrad MacDonald, Brady McCloskey, Alana McKie, and Jackie Skinner focused on the New England states for the Gahan expansion. The team came up with a catchy tagline for Gahan's new Lager: 'Not just an Island beer, but an Island experience' and also came up with innovative ways to market the new product, including a QR code and a humorous bus advertisement.
"Working with a real company like the Gahan Brewery is such a privilege and we were excited to do it,' said team member, Jackie Skinner. 'We spent many hours working on this project and we were so pleased to see that our efforts translated into the win.'
