TO: Academic Resource Center

FROM: Community-Business Alliance Grant Foundation

RE:  Presentation

DATE:  26 April 2001

The Community-Business Alliance Grant Committee is pleased to announce that you have been awarded a $1 million start-up grant for your proposed business, the Academic Resource Center.  We were extremely impressed by your sound business plans, your attention to the larger community – especially students, your employees, and your polished presentation.

We were especially pleased that you had done so much research to ensure the viability of your business.  It was a good move to show us the need for your business by using the example of L216 textbooks and explaining how little money a student would get back from T.I.S. if he or she decided to sell back the books.  We were so convinced that your business was a good idea that many of us thought we would patronize such a business if you ever actually tried to get one off the ground.

We liked your varied approach to advertising and your efforts to show how you had thought carefully about the business side of the project.  For example, you not only thought about how you would go about charging people for each of your services, but you also projected your profits based on hard numbers.  This was an excellent move.  One committee member wrote: “Impressive numbers and costs; makes it more interesting.”  Another wrote: “Excellently thought out; shows the figures for a 5,000 person example.”  Should you ever be in a position to do such a presentation again – whether for a class or in the “real world,” be sure to use some of these techniques again, for they were so very effective for you.

Your attention to the social and community conscience category in your presentation was good as well.  One committee member noticed, “They show a real concern for consumers/students.  Donations, internships and scholarships are all helpful.”  Another wrote: “ They thought of people’s safety (by making an office available for the trading of textbooks).”  We also liked how you plan to return 10% of your profits to scholarships and especially how you would personally interview your applicants to avoid the traditional mechanical procedure of test score (numbers), G.P.A.’s (more numbers), and written documents (no personal contact).  Your links to other student help programs, workshops, and  student services was a good idea too, and we liked very much how you made explicit your commitment to Bloomington only (to avoid growing too large and having to become rationalized to keep up with your size).

On the other hand, your business drew some criticism from a few members of the committee regarding this category (social/community conscience).  One committee member felt s/he was unable to give you a score for “concern for employees” because, s/he wrote, “[it was] not really covered.”  Another wrote, “Didn’t talk much about anyone but the tutors.”  Not all members of the committee felt this way about your presentation.  Nonetheless, you may wish to think about this aspect of your business a little more as you prepare your written grant application (= your final reflective paper).

Another concern of the committee was the danger of McDonaldization.  One member wrote, “[It] seems somewhat impersonal but will help students out a lot.”  Another wrote, “How are you going to avoid McDonaldization?”  These comments suggest that you  should give these issues some more thought as you prepare your final papers.  Because of the structure of your business and your heavy use of computerized technology, your business will be “naturally” prone toward McDonaldization.  You may need to think of ways to personalize your business even more than you already do and avoid the excesses of rationalization (remember? -- efficiency, calculability, predictability, control).  By this we are NOT saying that you should strive to be inefficient or unpredictable!  But we are saying you should think of ways to keep it human and allow for creativity in your business.

Finally, your presentation was fabulously done!  We were bowled over by your power point slides, your loose documents, and especially the web page that you prepared.  One committee member wrote, “It is obvious they spent a lot of time on the presentation, especially developing the website and researching the statistics.”  Another wrote, “Wonderful web site.”  A third, “Great idea!”  A fourth, “Nice to have visual aids in addition to Power Point (poster with book costs, etc. good to have).