LIFT PhD helps makes evidence based decisions a reality through matching companies with unique business challenges to business school professors who can help with advice, education and consulting.

1. Improving Decisions Through
Knowledge & Perspective
It’s possible, it’s necessary and it’s an
advantage.

2. State of Corporate Decision Making
Only 28% of corporate executives think that good decisions
happen regularly in their organization*
*. D. Lovallo and Olivier Sibony, McKinsey Quarterly, “The Case for Behavioral Strategy”
http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/ strategy/the_case_for_behavioral_strategy
Missing
Knowledge
Capabilities
Shortfall
Poor
Problem
Definition
Internal
Biases

3. Different Decisions Require Different Knowledge
Primary
Knowledge
Practical Experience
Tactical Methods
Solution providers & Implementers
What Should it be?
Research / Evidence
Problem Framing
Perspective
What can it be?
Experience
Best Practices
Industry Knowledge
What will it be?
Experience
Tactical Methods
Solution Knowledge
Industry experts
Researchers
SalesForce,
SatMetrix,
Accenture,
Oracle, IBM
McKinsey,
Accenture,
IBM, GLG

4. What is LIFT PhD
LIFT PhD is a network that matches companies that have unique challenges,
decisions and issues to business school professors who can provide deep
functional expertise – for advice, consulting or executive education.
Penn State, USC, UCLA, NCSU, Yale, Temple, Alabama, Michigan, Columbia……

5. How to Think of Using LIFT PhD
Outside perspective
Understand options
Access cutting edge thinking
Conduct sophisticated research
Get advanced analyses
Gain new market insights
Think through a difficult challenge
Optimize a decision
Understand best practices
Improve staff capabilities
Pricing
Innovation
Sales
Service
Strategy
Branding
Channels
Digital Marketing
Promotions
Social Media
HOW TO USE WHERE TO USE

6. A Success Story
20052005
20082008
3.5 Million
2 Million
• Georgia Aquarium saw declining, then flat attendance
• They were unsure how to improve attendance
• The aquarium hired professors to unpack the problem
• The professors helped discover the most profitable
customers
• And they created a media optimization model
• A $700k increase in spending helped the aquarium to
exceed revenue targets by $8mm (a 12‐fold ROI)
Attendance
10%
Revenue
12%
See full HBR article here ‐ https://hbr.org/2015/01/boosting‐demand‐in‐the‐experience‐economy

7. When to Engage a Professor
When you need…
• Functional experts
• Problem solvers
• People developers
• Unbiased perspective
• Reasonable pricing
When you need…
• Deep industry expertise
• A big team
• Aggressive time frame

8. What LIFT Professors Offer
Brief, Focused Insights Extended, Deeper Insights
 Conversations
 Review &
Feedback
 Custom Webinar
 Research & Analysis
 Training &
Workshops
 Custom Consulting
 Important
 Ongoing
 Now
 Critical
 Substantial
 Future
Information Needs

9. Help Comes in Many Forms – Some Brief
• A CONVERSATION is a call of sixty minutes or less with a professor on a topic
defined by the client. The call is intended to assist the client in short bursts –
learning, testing hypotheses, getting feedback, or simply seeking outside
perspective and guidance.
• REVIEW & FEEDBACK offers a company the opportunity to have a professor review
internal documents such as a marketing plan and provide feedback, questions, and
recommendations based on deep domain expertise.
• A CUSTOM WEBINAR is created based on cutting edge knowledge to meet a client
team’s specific topic objectives. It is designed and delivered remotely by a
professor and is typically between sixty and ninety minutes in length.
Brief, Focused Insights

10. Help Comes in Many Forms – Some Deeper
• RESEARCH & ANALYSIS assistance offered by professors can range from basic
research design to execution of interviews, surveys, & experiments to
sophisticated integration and analyses of data sets using techniques ranging from
frequencies and t‐tests to conjoint analysis and econometric modeling.
• TRAINING & WORKSHOPS of varying lengths are structured events to emphasize
some combination of concept understanding, skill development, and decision‐
making by one or more client teams.
• CUSTOM CONSULTING is any assistance of an extended duration provided by a
professor to address a defined client objective such as how to price a new product,
define a market strategy, enhance R&D creativity, or improve the customer
experience.
Extended, Deeper Insights

11. Why Connect via LIFT PhD
• Pre‐qualified professors on expertise & experience
• No hassle identifying an interested professor
• Easy to find right expert for your challenge
• Small and big project possibilities
• No cost to evaluate professor options
• Great value for exceptional expertise
• Service & support focus of LIFT PhD

12. Contact Information
Email: Info@LIFTPhD.com
Tel. 844‐LIFTPhD
Twitter: @LIFTPhD
www.LIFTPhD.com
Info.LIFTPhD.com/blog