Thank you to Avis Easteal, #Luxasia Regional Head of Consumer. Avis joined our University at Buffalo, Singapore, Entrepreneurship students to talk about marketing on Friday, November 9, 2018.
My wife and I met Mrs. Easteal by chance over the weekend. We learned how she and her company market based on data analysis and delivering superior customer experiences. Her talk with the class brought what my students had been studying had been studying to life. The sample perfumes she handed out brightened up the room.
This Entrepreneurship class incorporates Project-Based Learning (PBL). During the first week of the semester, the students form teams and decide on a business idea they want to develop. Throughout the semester, we intersperse readings and lectures on business processes, especially as they relate to startups. The students apply what they are learning to the creation of a business plan that includes financial, operations, and marketing plans. They create an investor pitch that the teams deliver in the final week of class.
Many students commented in their weekly journal entries that Mrs. Easteal's discussion of delivering customer experiences, and of gathering and using customer data effectively, applied to their projects, giving them new ideas. Mrs. Easteal also took time to meet with each of the teams to review their business ideas and to give them feedback. The weekly journal entries that week indicated that many of the teams benefited from her feedback.
Is a guest lecture or presentation experiential learning? The evidence from this activity indicates that when the students can connect the presentation content to their projects, what they learn from the presentation enhances their learning from the projects.

This is an example of Project-Based Learning.

The strategic management students are working on final presentations of their three-year strategic plan outcomes within a global strategy simulation in an athletic shoe industry. This is a semester-long project, culminating in the final presentation of the analysis of the strategic plan outcomes.

The teacher (i.e., me) ceases to be the "sage on the stage" and becomes a consultant. The teacher visits the student teams, and the students come for advice and consultation.

Both strategy classes this semester have been fully engaged, and their results within the simulation have been outstanding.

Entrepreneur and educator Indra Wijaya visited my University at Buffalo Entrepreneurship & Small Business class in Singapore this morning. He talked about the business he has started, and he worked with some of the project teams.
The students have grouped into their course-long working teams. Each team has a leader who wishes to develop a business plan for a new business.