Market Research Class Completes Service Learning Project to Benefit Local Business

For the past several years, the Market Research class at Bay State College has been choosing a local business each semester to focus their research on.  This semester, the class has chosen Samurai Express on the first floor of our 31 Saint James Avenue building.

The class has worked with Andy, the owner of Samurai Express to put together a market analysis survey that is distributed to those around the College and to other local residents and businesses. The questions range from food selection, to customer service, to ambiance.  Once the survey results are in, the class then completes a deep dive into the business’ marketing strategy and ultimately comes up with suggestions for improvement.

“In the past, businesses have really enjoyed the students’ input and have even implemented some of the ideas that have come out of the project,” says Professor William Vasbinder.

Bay State College has really embraced this type of experiential learning referred to as Service Learning. The idea behind service learning is that students are going on into the community and identifying organizations that would benefit from their help, and then they develop and apply academic and critical thinking skills to not only help, but bring their experience back to the classroom.

This semester’s project has not yet been completed, but we look forward to seeing some of the recommendations they have for Samurai Express.