Kaizen in London - A CSR Initiative

It was a warm September afternoon as I drove home after a long day of classes. My mind was wandering as I thought about the practical implications of what I had just learned in Professor Wilson’s Decision Making with Analytics class. He had used a simple milk carton exercise to highlight how the application of analytics could solve basic inventory problems such as how much milk to stock, based on historical demand, so that the seller could optimize her use of shelf space while simultaneously maximizing profitability. As I continued down Western Road, I began to wonder how many of the small, single entity businesses around me employed any sort of management science techniques in determining their product mix. Were any of their inventory replenishment processes based in scientific methodology, or did the owners simply employ a more rudimentary, back-of-the-envelope approach? I wasn’t sure, but the more my synapses fired, the more convinced I became that analytic techniques could have profound adaptations for all sorts of businesses, be they large multinational corporations or your standard convenience stores. Surely, large MNCs such as Starbucks would have a contingent of analysts dedicated to the systemic analysis of data, but what about small mom-and-pop shops… would they have the requisite know-how to improve the ability of their businesses to compete in the increasingly competitive landscape? Some probably would, but most likely would not.

What if we could help them as part of a corporate social responsibility initiative? Ivey students could leverage the tools they had learned and developed to provide free consultative services to solve small business problems for individual businesses. Not only would students have the opportunity to attain practical experience – particularly useful for those with no business experience on their resumes – but they could more importantly contribute to incrementally improving the businesses, and quality of life, for those who permanently reside in a city that is a temporary home for most of us. This proposal, which is currently being considered by Ivey’s CSR group – Ivey Connects – could potentially prove to be among the most ambitious and practical CSR initiatives run by the student body of any Canadian B-School; one certainly befitting of Canada’s most prestigious business academy. Stay tuned!