From process improvement solutions to whitepapers
Another group of Kelley Evening MBA students consulted for the Indiana Manufactured Housing Association. They were tasked with an entirely different issue: Consider the role manufactured housing could have in solving the workforce housing shortage in Indiana.
The students crafted an economic whitepaper that focused on the housing industry and barriers that may limit certain kinds of housing across the state.
“There are not enough affordable homes in Indiana to attract and keep talent in both rural and metropolitan areas,” said Jose Mitjavila, MBA’19, a resident physician at IU Arnett. “We were tasked to analyze the housing shortage and consider if the manufactured home industry could fill that gap and help the state solve this issue.”
The Kelley Evening MBA students compiled data from across the state and spoke with city leaders and industry experts about their observations and recommendations. After analyzing the data, they condensed it to a narrative format for their whitepaper.
“Getting real-life work experience is one of the reasons that people do a part-time MBA instead of a full-time MBA. It’s the expectation that during our time in the program we will be integrated with companies around Indianapolis,” said Mitchell Turnbow, MBA’20, business development manager with RouteOne.
With any complex problem, there isn’t a single solution, the students pointed out. They learned some Indiana counties, cities and towns have regulations that impact the use of manufactured housing. The team’s main goal was to quantify data in a way that could help policy makers in forming future regulatory decisions.
“This project is an example of what the Kelley School of Business does every day. We use research and scholarship to empower students to solve problems that hold back Hoosier businesses,” said Phil Powell, associate dean of academic programs and clinical associate professor of business economics at the Kelley School on IUPUI’s campus. Powell oversaw these consulting projects.