[Template of draft scope of work from faculty advisor to client]

[date]

[name and address of Primary Co. Rep as identified in application]

[second representative who will be working with team, if appropriate]

Dear [names, either first or more formal, as appropriate to your relationship with client]

On behalf of our Global Business Project team, I am pleased to send you this draft Scope of Work letter as a follow up to the initial engagement email that [Country Leader], GBP Country Leader for [Country], sent to you earlier. I am sending this letter electronically, for you to review and make suggested edits to me before the GBP Kick-off Weekend 11- 13 March, 2011. At the Scope of Work meeting on Saturday, March 12th, the team and I will finalize the draft with you, provide you with a signed copy to take back with you. Also, included with this letter is a draft of the Confidentiality Agreement that the team and I will sign and give you during the Kick-off Weekend. If you see anything that differs with your expectations in either document, please email me back with your questions or suggested edits.

The GBP team [client], consisting of MBAs [MBA team member names] and guided by[country] language mentor [language mentor] and myself are prepared to assist you in [client business challenge]

This Scope of Work letter summarizes my understanding of the project requirements that you outlined in your application, and a suggested approach. It is organized as follows:

  • Understanding of the Issues
  • Proposed Statement of Work
  • Process and Timing
  • Project Support
  • Fees, Terms & Conditions

Understanding of the Issues

[This is simply here to show you what was written for another company– taken almost verbatim from their GBP application]JW Jones Lumber Co/Mackeys Ferry Sawmill (JWJ/MF) manufactures southern yellow pine lumber and hardwoods in eastern North Carolina. Currently, the company’s export strategy is confined to utilizing U.S. - based exporters. The company would like to develop a more vertically integrated exporting model, beginning with China.

The leadership at JW Jones/Mackeys Ferry has requested that the GBP team analyze the Chinese market to determine the optimal regions/cities for direct roll-out of their product through business to business sales and to identify potential customers in China. After a thorough exploration for the ideal region(s) and customer(s), the team will facilitate the initial meetings between the senior management at JWJ/MF and senior management of prospective customers in China.

Proposed Statement of Work

[Again- this is an example…create your own, using the application and conversations with the country leader].After thorough research and analysis of the European market for promotional products, the team will recommend specific countries, regions, and segments that are an appropriate fit with Lynka and provide you with a recommended plan to address those markets over the next two years.

The project will be executed between January 10th and May 27th, 2011 (Brazil, China, Japan) / February 1st and May 27th, 2011 (Vietnam, Thailand). The team will divide its work into four phases, each phase beginning and ending with a real-time meeting with you and any other company representatives you designate. The first phase and meeting will be during the Kick-off weekend from March 11th – 13th, which is described in more detail below, under “Approach and Project Schedule”. The primary tasks the team will undertake in each phase are provided below, with an approximate date and mode of meeting (i.e. in person, over Centra group meeting via the Internet, or “a combination.”) While all of the tasks will require your oversight and assistance, especially in the form of data and direction, the items in bold are those that I will ask you to take the lead on while meeting.

Kick-off Meeting (in person, Saturday, March 12th)

[rewrite this part, drawing from the company applicationand your conversations with the country leader]

  • Overview of Your Industry and Business, including typical customers and sales volume in US and abroad, and your key personnel and their contact information for your team
  • Overview of current exports – strategy, customers, sales volume
  • Review of what you know now about your market, sources of your data, leads and contacts you have already developed
  • Selection of a project manager/team leader who will be primary liaison between the team, myself, and [client]
  • Establishment of – and comfort with -- modes of communication between you and the team,
  • Reviewing expectations for the team’s work for Phase Two (March 14th – April 3rd).
  • Setting a timeline for real-time meetings at the end of Phase Two (on or around April 3rd), at the end of Phase Three
  • (in or around May 2nd), and at the end the project (on or around May

27th);

Kick-off Weekend): Frame and Organize

  • Finalize Scope of Work,
  • Set expectations for client/team communication and meetings
  • Sign Scope of Work letter and Non-disclosure agreement(NDA)

Phases OneTwo(March 14 – April 3): Frame, Organize, and (begin to Collect)

[again, rewrite as appropriate]

  • Review capabilities and assess strengths and weaknesses relative to

Chinese Market

  • Assess Chinese Market and Build Market Model
  • Identify Primary Customer Options, and Opportunities and Threats Inherent in Each Option

Client Meeting # 2 – Preliminary Findings (Virtual meeting, using Centra, on or about April 3 – 1 to 2 hours)

  • Review data gathered by team

Phase Three (April 4 – May 2) Collect, Begin to Understand and Synthesize, plan in-country portion of project

[rewrite bullets below, based on project scope]

  • Prepare a short list of probably customers, with justification for each
  • Develop a template for initial contact with top 1 – 3 prospects
  • Select Approach(es) for identifying, contacting, screening, and visiting prospective customers
  • Map out plan for developing China itinerary

Client Meeting # 3-Preliminary Story/Plans for In-country Portion (Virtual meeting, using Centra, on or about May 1st– 1 hour) Presentation of Work in Phase Three

  • Finalize action items for on-the-ground work
  • Establish a way to touch base and recalibrate with faculty advisor and full team as appropriate.

Phase Four – Understand & Synthesize (May 16th – 27th)

  • Execute on-the-ground project plan, refining as needed
  • Prepare a detailed report of what was learned throughout the project, including a section on implications for future action

Final Project Presentation (on or about May 27th, in person or via Centra, or both)

  • Present a thorough summary of findings and a detailed implementation strategy for next 12 months
  • Collect client evaluation of team

The end product of the team’s work will be a written report with executive summary, plus a CD with all PowerPoint presentations made to you by the team, plus all relevant gathered data and developed models and instruments related to the project.

Our Approach and Project Schedule

Successful execution of this GBP project requires close collaboration with you and others on your senior management team. This collaboration is focused on four meetings where active participation of key client personnel is required. These four meetings – their objectives, dates and expected attendees -- are summarized in the table below. In addition to these meetings, you are expected to work with the team via email and by phone as needed during the virtual portion of the project (March 15 – May 2) as well as during the on-the-ground portion May 16 – May 27th. Please anticipate spending about 2 – 3 hours/ week in the virtual portion and 8 – 10 hours per week in the on-the-ground portion.

Table 1: Mandatory Meetings with GBP team and [client]

Date / Meeting / Key Objectives / Mode of Attendance
March 11 / Kickoff/Begin Phase One / Receive a company and project overview from client; confirm objectives & approach, establish Meeting dates and times / In person
TBD –
on or about
April 4 / Client Meeting # 2 / Review hypotheses and relevant data and preliminary analysis / By Centra
TBD
on or about
May 1 / Client Meeting # 3 / Continue review of data and analysis to date; finalize/ agree to Action Plan for on-the –ground project work / By Centra
TBD On or about May 27 / Final Presentation / Review of project process and Outcome/Recommendation
For client; turn in evaluation / In person/ or By Centra

Our Management & Staff

The [client] GBP project team includes these MBAs – take from the letter that went out from country leader and/or zipped file of your project and team

Their resumes are attached. During the first day of the Kick-Off Weekend, the team will identify an individual to serve as the project leader – the primary contact for you and for me. As their faculty advisor, my primary role will be to monitor the team’s progress, to offer suggestions on their processes and approach, and to open doors to additional resources.

Assisting the team in their written and oral communication in language is [language mentor name], who will evaluate each of your team member’s progress in learning [language]. Throughout the project, [language mentor] will also work with your team to ensure appropriate written and oral communication with customers, government officials, or others within [country] with whom the team will interact.

Fees, Terms & Conditions

This project is conducted by a consortium of Centers of International Business Education & Research (CIBERs) as part of their educational programs. There is no charge for student or faculty time. Although there is no fee for the team’s work, you have agreed to pay for the meals, accommodations, and project-related expenses such as taxis and other internal travel expenses incurred by the team during the in-country portion of the project – May 16ththrough May 27th. If you wish to have our GBP program office at University of North Carolina bill you for all or part of the in-country portion of the project, in order for that office to provide students with advances and reimbursements, please let me know, or contact GBP program manager Debbie Williams directly at . Unless one of us hears from you otherwise by the kick-off weekend, we will assume that you will absorb these costs on your own, reimbursing the team directly when appropriate.

In addition to the financial resources described in the previous paragraph, you have agreed in your GBP application to provide access for your student team to data and personnel necessary to perform the tasks. In terms of data, you will be expected to supply or make available, to the best of your ability, the following

[get this from their application as well as from your own knowledge of what you think the team will need to effectively conduct the project] :

-Reports: internal, market, analyst, and industry association reports

-People of interest within client organization

-Customers: past, present, repeat, and rebound customers

-Access to industry experts and present/past customers

-Assessment to date of the [ ] market and options for entry, and opportunities and threats already identified

We will rely on you to make sure that you others that you deem appropriate participate in the client meetings as specified above and join the team in[country], if appropriate.

This work is to be conducted under the terms of the attached Non-disclosure Agreement [NDA] that governs protection of the client’s proprietary material. The agreement also outlines restrictions in the use of the student reports by the Universities.

This project is conducted on a best efforts basis by the student team in accordance with the project plan. The Universities involved in the consortium offer no warranty of the quality of the student product, nor bear responsibility for the consequences of actions resulting from execution of the project recommendations by the client.

------

Thank you for giving your GBP team the opportunity to support your company through this project. We appreciate your commitment to this project and your willingness to help the team understand your issues and develop their approach. Our intent is that they gain experience applying their academic skills to a real-world problem for the benefit of your organization. We expect them to learn how you and your management team approach the many leadership challenges inherent to this project at the same time bringing their best analytical skills, talents and access to resources to add value to your enterprise.

If your understanding of the scope and process of the project is different from what is presented above, please email me suggested changes to me prior to the start of the Kick-off Weekend, Friday, March 11, 2011.

Sincerely,

______

[name] - Faculty Advisor Date

Agreed:

______

[name of Client Rep 1] Date

______

[name of client rep 2] Date

CC: [name of country leader(s)]; Dr. Lynne Gerber, GBP Program Director; Ms. Debbie Williams, GBP Program manager, [name of language mentor]; team members

GBP member institutions: UNC-Chapel Hill, Columbia, Connecticut, Duke, George Washington, Maryland, Miami, Pittsburgh, Purdue, San Diego State University, Temple, University of Connecticut, University of Hawaii, University of Wisconsin

The course is sponsored by the Centers for International Business Education and Research (CIBERs) at the member institutions, funded in part by the US Department of Education.