MBA class sheds light on wine industry

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A. Sue Weisler | photographer

How do marketing strategies differ between a $10 bottle of wine and a $30 bottle? It’s among the questions Ashok Robin is exploring in his Wine Management class.

Sipping a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon does more than complement a hearty steak dinner. It also helps fuel the American economy to the tune of $162 billion annually, according to a recent impact study by Napa Valley’s MKF Research LLC on the wine, grape and grape-products industries. How that translates to our region’s economy is the catalyst for a new MBA-level class in the E. Philip Saunders College of Business.

Wine Management, offered this quarter as a special-topics class, examines the unique characteristics of the wine industry, including cultural issues surrounding wine consumption. Ashok Robin, professor of finance in the Saunders College, created Wine Management and serves as one of the instructors.

In addition to his personal interest in wine, Robin says upstate New York’s growing prominence within the industry is among the motivating factors for introducing the course. “A lot of people in town are interested in this,” he states. “The Finger Lakes are emerging as an important center for wine production and tourism, as evidenced through RIT’s investment in the New York Wine and Culinary Center, which opened last year in Canandaigua.” Robin also points to the success of Constellation Brands Inc., the largest company of its kind in the world based on volume of wine produced. The Fairport-based firm has yearly net sales of more than $5 billion.

Donna Scheid ’86, ’05 (business administration, executive MBA), a manager at Hewlett-Packard, joins Robin as co-instructor. To provide students a broad focus of the wine industry, the pair integrates functions related to operations management, finance and marketing into the curriculum. Topics include evaluating the financial profile of various entities within the industry, managing a supply chain, and determining the marketing mix, particularly as it relates to promotion and pricing.

There are also opportunities for students to sample various wines throughout the quarter. “Students should come away with a good understanding of an industry affecting our region,” explains Robin. “In addition, they’ll explore why people have cared about wine for the last 5,000 years and why it remains a huge agricultural product today.” Karen Brugler, who is among two-dozen graduate students taking part in the inaugural Wine Management class, says the course provides value beyond its thorough analysis of the wine industry. “I believe that knowledge of wines is an integral social skill for any professional to have,” she states. An amateur wine maker, Brugler considers transferring lessons she’s learning from class into her own industry venture. “Someday I hope to fulfill my dream of starting a winery, developing my own hybrid of grape and perfecting the process of wine making.”