Parafix set MBA challenge

As part of our ongoing commitment to building and maintaining good relations with the University of Brighton, we have recently collaborated on another project, this time with the Brighton Business School.

The latest collaboration was focussed around marketing strategy and involved 13 MBA students using Parafix as a case study for one of their projects.

The students came to Parafix’s head office in Lancing, West Sussex for a presentation and Q&As on Parafix’s background, capabilities and business environment. This was followed by a tour of the factory and students were also provided with internal information and documentation. They were then split into three groups and given one of three questions relating to Parafix’s growth throughout Europe.  The questions related to opportunities uncovered during recent marketing activities and included asking students to determine country and customer specific attractiveness criteria and how to best communicate our key message to these people, in these markets. Questions were to be answered and presented back to Parafix just ten days later.

The students came from a mixture of countries, including China, Germany, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia and the UK.  They also came from a mixture of employment backgrounds including Management and Sales roles. Their combined skills, experience and international standpoint, combined with the taught marketing strategy theory, helped in their delivery of professional and impressive presentations.

Students showed great commitment and enthusiasm for their roles as ‘marketing consultants’ and they gave thorough and knowledgeable presentations.

Rachael Henderson, a BA (Hons) student from the University of Hull, who has experience as a Non-Executive Director, said of the experience: “We thoroughly enjoyed being able to spend time at Parafix and to see how a local business operates. It was a great opportunity to apply our academic learning to a real-life working environment and to then be able to present our ideas to the Senior Management team. It was such a useful exercise and the team at Parafix were incredibly supportive. It gives us confidence that our studies will equip us with the skills we will need in the working world. Many thanks.”

The project helped the students to apply their experience and theory to a real company, which is far more beneficial than studying a company from the outside. Parafix benefited from 13 ‘fresh’ pairs of eyes and we will be looking to take some recommendations on board, for example comments made about our website. 

Louise Vincent, Marketing Executive at Parafix and recent graduate from the University of Brighton commented: “It gives me great pleasure to maintain contact and work with the University and to help students experience the real life workings of a company such as Parafix. I was very pleased with the outcome of this exercise and impressed at the level of understanding shown by the students. Parafix is a complex company with varied technical capabilities, all of which can be very difficult to understand in just over a week. Well done to everyone involved!” 

Learn more about the University of Brighton’s Business School here.