Contact: Pam Losefsky, 512/471-3998
ANDERSEN CONSULTING, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS-AUSTIN LAUNCH CENTER FOR CUSTOMER INSIGHT First-ever MBA Curriculum in Customer Insight Will Prepare Business Leaders for Revolution in Marketplace Relationships
AUSTIN, TX, October 16, 1997--Andersen Consulting and the Graduate School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin tomorrow will officially launch the Center for Customer Insightæa first-of-its-kind education and research initiative combining the world's first MBA curriculum in customer insight and a forum for top business executives to master the latest tools, techniques and ideas for building and maintaining profitable customer relationships.
"One of the most profound catalysts for change in the marketplace today is the shift in the balance of power in favor of the customer. Customers expect ever-increasing levels of responsiveness and personal service from the companies they patronize, and the penalties are harsh for those that fail to meet those expectations," observed Tim Admonius, partner, Andersen Consulting. "Businesses need leaders who understand these trends and know how to find the profitable customers and keep them satisfied. The Center for Customer Insight's mission is to develop these leaders. They'll have an advantageæand so will the companies that hire them."
Admonius cited findings of a soon-to-be-published study by Andersen Consulting and the Economist Intelligence Unit on major corporations' customer relationship strategies, which shows that the proportion of companies reorganizing themselves by customer type æas opposed to product line or geographyæwill jump over the next five years from under 20 percent to almost 50 percent. The study also uncovered plans for substantial new investment by the surveyed companies in the key customer relationship management technologies, such as data warehouses, call centers and websites offering customer service capabilities. For example, the proportion of companies using computer-based channels like e-mail and the internet will jump from 4% today to 22% in 5 years.
"For our partners in the business world, identifying, building and maintaining profitable customer relationships are such critical challenges that we felt compelled to create this program," said Dr. Rajendra K. Srivastava, Senior Associate Dean, College and Graduate School of Business, the University of Texas at Austin. "We saw a clear need to go beyond traditional academic responses to this issue and devote a full MBA concentration to it. As one of the world's preeminent authorities on customer relationship management, Andersen Consulting is the right partner for us on this journey. With their founding sponsorship of the Center for Customer Insight and our own intellectual resources, we are confident that we can offer the best in education, research and collaboration with business."
In focusing on how rapidly emerging technologies have dramatically changed the way businesses relate to their customers, the Center for Customer Insight's curriculum and research program will depart from traditional classroom settings by providing ongoing interaction among students, professors, researchers and business executives from Andersen Consulting and other corporations which become co-sponsors of the Center. By deploying the latest collaborative technologies, the Center will connect students with guest lecturers from all over the world via satellite and computer.
Classwork will begin immediately with the launching of five courses. Internships with Andersen Consulting and other sponsor corporations that choose to co-sponsor the Center will be a key component of the program. The curriculum will be fully developed for the 1998-99 academic year, when the University is scheduled to graduate its first class of MBA students specializing in Customer Insight.
Although Andersen Consulting will be the founding sponsor of the Center for Customer Insight and will retain a leadership role with the Graduate School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin, there will be opportunity for other businesses to get involved. 3M Corporation has already signed on as a co-sponsor, in keeping with current plans offering corporations different levels of involvement from which to choose, ranging from pure in-kind support to cash contributions. Andersen Consulting, as the founding sponsor, is providing a combination of financial and in-kind support.
"Collaborations such as this new partnership with Andersen Consulting are a hallmark of the College and provide extraordinary opportunities to enrich educational and research programs through interaction between faculty, students and business professionals," added Dr. Robert G. May, dean of the Graduate School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.
The University of Texas at Austin is a premier public university with more than 1,200 graduate and 4,600 undergraduate students enrolled in the Texas Business School. With 58,000 graduates over 75 years, the Texas Business School is consistently ranked among the top 20 in the United States in graduate programs (top 10 for undergraduate). It is regarded as offering one of the most innovative curricula and as providing one of the highest economic values in business education. You can visit its home page at http://www.bus.utexas.edu/.
Andersen Consulting is a $5.3 billion global management and technology consulting organization whose mission is to help its clients change to be more successful. The organization works with clients from a wide range of industries to link their people, processes and technologies to their strategies. Andersen Consulting has approximately 49,000 people in 47 countries. Its home page address is http://www.ac.com. # # #
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