September 17, 2004

Star Broadband
100 Main Ave.
Urbana, IL 61801

Dear Mr. Client,

We are pleased to provide marketing and strategic consulting services to Star Broadband. This letter establishes the engagement’s terms.

Objective

The engagement’s primary objective is to assist Star Broadband in determining the feasibility of entering the local market as a provider of high-speed internet service.

Scope

We will focus the engagement’s scope on the community at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. As the engagement progresses, upon agreement of the Client and the Consultants, the scope may be expanded to the community outside the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and include the Champaign-Urbana community as a whole.

Project Approach

The following summary of our approach corresponds to aforementioned engagement objective and scope. It outlines the engagement’s procedures and associated deliverables for each phase. The project sponsor must agree upon the phases, procedures, and deliverables prior to commencement of work.

Phase 1: Develop an in-depth understanding of Star

In this phase, we will meet with the Project Sponsor to learn about Star. Before providing consulting services, we must understand the company’s history, core competencies, objectives, strategies, structure, and internal operations. From this understanding, we will be able to identify internal and external risks that could affect achieving organizational objectives. Deadline: September 19, 2004.

Phase 2: Research

In this phase we will comprehensively research the industry and markets on both a macro and micro level. First, we will address the general operating environment for internet service providers, focusing on broad risks and general trends. We will then narrow our focus to the wireless internet service industry, and the Local community as a market. We will provide detailed marketing reports on Local organizations. We will also address the respective councils for each sub-market. The objective will be to determine the service features, specifications, and cost structures that currently exist in the target market. Deadline: September 25, 2004.

Deliverables:

  • Industry, market, and sub-market level research reports
  • Hierarchical rankings of feature, specification, and cost structure preferences for each market.

Phase 3: Analysis

After collecting and compiling the market data, we will provide detailed analyses to determine the feasibility of the proposed target market. This phase will include SWOT, Risk, Porter’s Five Forces analyses and financial projections. Deadline: October 14, 2004.

Deliverables:

  • SWOT Analysis
  • Risk Analysis: Entity Level Business Model
  • Porter’s Five Forces analysis

Phase 4: Developing a Strategy

Assuming feasibility, we will align your objectives and core competencies with market opportunities to create a strategic plan for penetrating the market. We will construct a strategic coherence map to ensure that you will be able to integrate your competencies with the strategies developed to achieve strategic coherence. Additionally, we will construct a plan for strategic deployment, which will involve means of implementation. Deadline: November 16, 2004

Deliverables:

  • Strategic coherence map
  • Detailed deployment plan including the deployment timeline

Phase 5: Implementation

In this stage, we will aid Star with the market penetration and strategic implementation efforts. This will involve contacting relevant parties, scheduling and coordinating presentations, setting up meetings with key players in the market. Deadline: December 1, 2004.

Deliverables:

  • List of key market contacts
  • Detailed schedule of presentations, meetings, etc.

Phase 6: Engagement Closing

Upon completing the engagement, we will summarize key findings and accomplishments in a closing meeting presentation. We will highlight notable competitive advantages that Star may wish to exploit going forward. Finally, we will offer suggestions for future market expansion. Deadline: December 7, 2004

Constraints

Client – The client will be constrained by financial and personnel resources. Lack of these resources will prevent the Consultants from conducting a market research survey by mail.

Consultants – The Consultants will be constrained by the boundaries of the semester. Lack of time may cause the engagement to end after Phase 4.

Timing

The engagement will begin at the date that both parties agree upon and sign the letter of engagement and will commence on December 11, 2004, the date of the final presentation. The three parties; Mr. Kurtz, Mr. Client, and the team will determine interim deliverable deadlines.

Review and Collaboration

It is important that this engagement is a collaboration of efforts by the Consultants and the Client. To encourage openness and collaboration the Consultants will provide the Client with the results of all research as it is collected and formatted for reading. Also, the Consultants will seek feedback from the Client as frequently as possible. The sharing of information, the communication of ideas and feedback will occur every Wednesday at 3 p.m. at the Client’s office and at other times via email and telephone.

Non-disclosure Agreement

The engagement team agrees to maintain confidentiality by signing a non-disclosure agreement prior to the engagement’s start date.

Reimbursement of Expenses

The client agrees to reimburse the Consultants for expenses incurred as a result of this consulting engagement, as long as the expenses have been pre-approved by the client. The Consultants shall submit a detailed request for reimbursement via email for the pre-approved expenses and the Client will reimburse the Consultants immediately. If the consulting engagement should end before a reimbursement request has been submitted, the Client shall reimburse the Consultants immediately for all incurred expenses upon termination of the agreement.

Conclusion

We appreciate the opportunity to serve Star Broadband and believe that our knowledge and experience will contribute to a valuable and mutually beneficial business relationship. If you should have any questions or would like to discuss the letter in more detail, please call STUDENT at 555-1212. We are fully prepared to commence performance of work at an agreed upon time after receiving a signed copy of this engagement letter.

Sincerely,

Consultant: ______

Consultant: ______

Consultant: ______

Consultant: ______

Accepted and Agreed: Star Broadband:

By: ______

Title:______

Date:______