A Process for Developing Regional Business School—Business Community Relationships

ABSTRACT

The relationship between a business school and the local business community can be a mutually beneficial relationship. For the regional business school, building relationships with business executives can be a timely and difficult challenge, which can be compounded by the presence and influence of larger private and state schools. The School of Business Administration at Oakland University (Rochester, MI), faced with these challenges, devised a simple straight-forward process that overcame these challenges and successfully involved 35 local business executives in a mutually beneficial relationship with the School in a very short time. This article describes the process, which can be used by any school or college.

KEYWORDS:

• Business school
• marketing
• focus groups
• business executive involvement
• strategic plan
• business relationships
• community relations