William E. Lowell, CMC

My teaching philosophy is all about the students.  I view “each and every student” as a “valued customer” of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.  To that end, I try to always bring “real-life,” practical, hands-on experience for students, both in the classroom and outside.

Education

• Institute of Management Consultants - Washington DC  CMC       1989
• University of Wisconsin – Whitewater    MS                                   1983
• University of Wisconsin – Whitewater    BA                                    1982

Professional History

President of Business Development Directives (BDD), a world-class, research-based, marketing and management consulting firm that provides direction and information to International Associations, Universities and Corporations.  The firm has six full-time employees who help organizations of all types and sizes position themselves for the future, fine tune growth strategies, re-invent or reposition themselves and glean vital information designed to enhance their strategic thinking, benchmark best practices, develop new products or services, improve employee productivity or simply update their marketing direction. 

BDD has over 200 clients nationwide and has conducted over 800 research studies, 1500 focus groups and 200 benchmarking studies and has prepared hundreds of marketing plans.  A sampling of studies include: "Researching the IT shortage in this Country," the largest study performed in the USA on "Bridging the Gap Between Engineering and Manufacturing," "Branding the Human Resource Function, Recruitment and Retention," "Benchmarking Best Practices in Marketing and Public Relations," "Leveraging the Link Between Employee Satisfaction on the Bottom Line Profits of an Organization" and “Benchmarking the Future of Publications.”

Bill Lowell has published more than 50 articles on Business and Marketing and is the author of the book titled, "Focus Groups Made Simple."  He has delivered more than 1500 speeches and presentations during his career.

Courses you generally teach at UW-Whitewater:

Undergraduate and Graduate Courses; Organizational Communication, Communication & Interviewing, Communication Training in Organizations, Needs Analysis (Research), Advancements in Organizational Communication, Advertising Campaigns, Small Group Communication, Communication and Public Opinion, Human Communication and Internships

Organizations you advise;  Internships you coordinate;  Travel studies supervised, etc.

• Director of Organizational and Interpersonal Communication Internships
• Supervise more than 30 interns in a given year.

Areas of Research and/or Expertise:

Business.  Internal marketing and Marketing.  Have conducted over 800 research studies and 1500 focus groups during a 20 year career.  Focus group expert.

Awards or Achievements:

Recipient of the 2008 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Academic Staff Excellence Award for Instructional Staff.  Author of the book, “Focus Groups Made Simple: A Step-by-Step Guide for Managing your own Focus Group.”  Have over 50 articles published regarding business, marketing and entrepreneurism.  Have given over 1500 presentations to national and international audiences. He recently received ISO-IEC 17024:2003 Certification in Management Consulting.

List one or two things you are most proud or professionally:

I am most proud of receiving high scores on student evaluations and serving on the board of the College of Arts and Communication.