Skip to main content

Solving complex problems through management consulting

Our purpose-driven Master of Business Administration (MBA) students at Telfer are prepared to tackle complex business challenges. The experiential learning-based MBA Management Consulting course (MBA 6269) enables you to go beyond case studies and lectures by consulting for local business clients. Our students support local organizations by identifying challenges and proposing solutions rooted in expertise gained in the MBA program. Professor Murray Kronick helps our MBA students solve real-world problems creatively and apply their business knowledge to better individuals, communities and businesses in Canada and around the globe.

This is how Telfer MBA students Niloofar Abdehagh and Ali Ibrahim knew they were ready to tackle the latest challenge faced by an Ottawa-based coffee business: waste production.

In the coffee production process, up to 97% of a coffee cherry is typically thrown away, resulting in significant waste. Happy Goat Coffee Co., a coffee roaster based in Ottawa with 14 coffee shops throughout the city, generates a substantial amount of fresh coffee grounds. It faces the challenge of managing the waste produced from the pulp and outer layers of coffee cherries. The Happy Goat team was looking for solutions to use this waste effectively, in support of its Zero Waste Coffee Project.

Recognizing the challenge faced by the Happy Goat, Abdehagh and Ibrahim worked together to research and apply their knowledge and find a way to protect our environment. They proposed a sustainable solution to reduce waste and repurpose it as energy. The expelled coffee grounds are now processed at a plant using an anaerobic digestion process, which converts waste into biogas fuel. This not only offers an eco-friendly alternative to fossil fuels, but also produces a gas used like natural gas in homes.

Dr. Hans-Jürgen Langenbahn, owner and head roaster, embraced this solution as a greener business approach. Now, the Happy Goat can confidently say it not only serves delicious coffee to customers but also helps create renewable resources.

Learn more about the MBA Management Consulting Project.

Looking for a solution to a business challenge you’re facing in your organization? Find out how you can work with our MBA students.

Better Experience – Better Business – Better Canada Thank you for taking the time to watch this video.

To find out more about the Telfer School of Management, visit our website.