UCLA Anderson School of Management Blog

UCLA Anderson Grad Starts 13th Season as Los Angeles Lakers GM

Today marks opening day for the 2013–14 NBA season, the league’s 68^th. The Los Angeles Lakers open their season—minus Kobe Bryant who is still nursing an Achilles tendon injury—facing the Los Angeles Clippers.

One of UCLA Anderson’s Inspirational 100 alumni, Mitch Kupchak (’87) will watch that game with a different eye than most fans. As general manager of the Los Angeles Lakers, he’ll be thinking about how this season can translate into the fifth title for the Lakers under his tenure.

The regular season ends on April 16, 2014, and the Lakers’ playoff hopes will launch on April 19—if Kupchak has his way.

Learn about Kupchak’s good luck rituals and how he manages superstars in the Assets Digital Q&A here. Read his 100 Inspiration Alumni profile here. Read more stories of Anderson alumni doing remarkable things at Assets Digital online.

Student Profile: Ari Zandman-Zeman ('14)

Ari Zandman-Zeman, a former college basketball player, had some difficulty finding ways to stay in shape while in the Peace Corps in Guatemala. So, he decided to try to simulate his old gym routine and spent his three years in Latin America developing and refining a workout regimen using rubber bands.

After leaving the Peace Corps, he founded Rubberbanditz to manufacture and market his resistance bands. Today, Ari still owns and operates Rubberbanditz as a for-profit company, while channeling proceeds from the company into community development projects for underserved communities around the globe. “It is what drives me and is the backbone of the company,” he says. “We are fundamentally a quadruple bottom line company focused on people, planet, profit and power.”

Having finished his first year at UCLA Anderson, Ari spent this past summer at Patagonia, the outdoor clothing company, where he designed an “all-in-one” dashboard that enables Patagonia’s COO to monitor Patagonia’s factories so that they can improve in necessary areas. “I built a vendor scorecard tool to extract and quantify Patagonia's finished goods factory performance around metrics that covered cost, quality, production, lead-time and social and environmental impacts,” he says.

After graduation, he wants to use his MBA skills to enhance his altruistic impulses and create lasting impact. Says Ari, “I aspire to leverage the power of for-profit enterprise to address some of today's most pressing social and environmental issues.”

Head to Linkedin for more on Ari.

UCLA Anderson Forecast Economist Says Fire Obama and the GOP

David Shulman, senior economist at the UCLA Anderson Forecast and editorialist for U.S. News & World Report, used that platform this week to advocate for new management. “If our country were run as business, both political parties would be fired,” Shulman wrote.

He wrote the “stunning management failures” of congressional Republicans and President Obama have damaged our economy and international standing while causing yet-unforeseen long-term consequences in the global marketplace.

“As a result of putting default on the table, not once, but twice, we are now in the process of losing our monopoly status as the world's reserve currency. As a result, the dollar will be weaker and interest rates will be higher; not necessarily today, but gradually, as global portfolios adjust to reflect the loss of our international credibility,” he wrote.

While the government shutdown received the lion’s share of his commentary, the well-publicized failures with the Affordable Care Act website and President Obama’s handling of the ongoing drama also received a negative review.

“The administration has had two and a half years to develop a website and all of the necessary back-end systems to enable Americans to purchase health insurance on a government run exchange. After all of that time and hundreds of millions of dollars, the system crashed on its first day, and it continues to fail,” he wrote.

Read Shulman’s blog here and get more on the UCLA Anderson Forecast here.

Sabbaticals and the Bottom Line: Double Benefit for People and Business

As the days get shorter and we commute to the office in the dark, thoughts naturally turn to longer days in exotic locales. Turns out that a little R&R might be just the thing to recharge the batteries and create value for your business.

Margaret Shih, professor in management and organizations at UCLA Anderson, points to a 2010 study from the Journal of Applied Psychology that shows how seeking diverse cultural connections during international sabbaticals can increase creativity, making for more successful entrepreneurs. "They come back revitalized and rejuvenated, and their experience within a different culture allowed them to look at their work in a different way,” she says.

Professor Kevin McCardle, who used his time away from Anderson last year to learn from other educational institutions here and abroad, stresses the value that came from acting as a kind of exchange student between countries and institutions. "I think the going away part is important," he says. "You go and you see how other places and other people do things. I came back with new ideas, new ways of working."

Entrepreneur James Green ('88) knows the value of a sabbatical. After selling his latest venture, he also sold the family house and nearly all their belongings and bought the Ondine, a 55-foot catamaran. For the next year, with his wife, their 10-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son as his crew, Green sailed down to the Caribbean, across the Atlantic and throughout the Aegean Sea. When he flew back to the United States for job interviews, worried that his time away would be a ding to his resume, he found the opposite was true. "Everyone wanted to meet me, and getting meetings and trying to get new work was easier than it'd ever been," he says. "This made what I had done before look much more successful. It repositioned me."

Check out the Assets Digital story “Seven Year Itch” for more on the value of a good sabbatical.

UCLA Anderson Releases Livable Communities Report at Mayoral Summit

UCLA Anderson's 2013 Livable Communities Report: A Call to Action study commissioned by the Los Angeles Business Council was released today at the LABC's Mayoral Transportation, Housing and Jobs Summit.

The report applies a new Livable Community Opportunity Index to identify areas with the greatest market potential for development near transit stations that would serve to ease the acute shortage of housing that middle-income earners can afford. The Index ranks 104 station areas and is based on six key demographic and market indicators - population, housing density, income, employment, transit ridership and land values - to evaluate whether a given market can support the type of mixed-use, mixed-income and higher-density development that comprises livable communities.

"Identifying the hottest areas of the region for workforce housing is important, but it's only part of the equation," said UCLA Anderson School of Management Lecturer Paul Habibi, the study's principal author, as well as a multi-family apartment developer.  "Meaningful public-sector incentives are still required to attract investment and make these new livable communities financially feasible, especially given the demise of redevelopment agencies that traditionally led these efforts."

Richard Ziman, who established and endowed the Richard S. Ziman Center for Real Estate at UCLA Anderson in partnership with UCLA School of Law, introduced Congresswoman Maxine Waters and the "Building Healthy and Sustainable Communities Along Transit Corridors" panel.

See the full report here and read the press release on the UCLA Anderson news page. More on the Ziman Center for Real Estate can be found at their homepage.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month Holds Extra Significance for UCLA Anderson’s Tony Hung (MD/MBA '13)

As we pass October’s halfway point and begin to look toward Halloween celebrations, it’s important to remember this month also marks National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. A collaboration of public service organizations, medical associations and government agencies, NBCAM seeks to promote awareness, share information and provide greater access to services.

Tony Hung (MD/MBA '13) knows firsthand what the disease looks like—his mother succumbed to it while he was still a UCLA undergrad. Motivated by this experience, he wants to put his dual degree to use serving patients and their families in the battle against this killer. He plans on creating cancer treatment centers with integrated approaches and affordable care. "This is a one-stop-shop for cancer patients," Hung says. "They'll get the support that they need in this very difficult time in their lives."

Patients and their families will have access to the best cancer diagnostics and therapy and a spectrum of services from preventative care, to nutrition and exercise consultations, to yoga and Tai Chi classes, psychiatric support, pain management and Eastern medicine treatment.

NBCAM might be on now, but the group seeks to promote education year-round. “Today, we remain dedicated to educating and empowering women to take charge of their own breast health,” reads the group mission. Hung foresees a lifetime of medical service as well in his new career as a doctor and entrepreneur.

Find out more about NBCAM at their website. Read more about Tony Hung at UCLA Anderson’s Assets Digital magazine.

UCLA Anderson Grads Know How to Work It

As the days get shorter, your office might begin to feel more constricting. Creating ideal working conditions becomes ever more important than in the heady times of summer’s long days. Thankfully, the era of rows and rows of office cubes is drawing to a close, and we can all benefit from the new wave of office-space design emerging in its wake.

Several UCLA Anderson alumni are on the forefront of creative designs and redesigns of our workspaces. Diane Hoskins ('87) is co-CEO at Gensler, one of the largest architecture and design firms in the United States. James Phelan ('02) is chief financial officer of The Ratkovich Company, a development firm that’s transforming worn-down spaces into offices built for creativity and productivity. Blake Thomas (’12) is a commercial brokerage associate with global real estate group Jones Lang LaSalle, which specializes in creative office spaces.

Together, they work to make our work more enjoyable, productive and inspiring. As Thomas says, "A type of work environment where you don't entirely separate work from play is attractive.”

Head to Assets Digital—your source for UCLA Anderson news—for more on creating a work environment that’s right for you.

UCLA Anderson Grads Celebrate 25 years with NSHMBA

When Maggie Peña ('85),
Richard Rey ('86),
Chris Arrangaga ('85)
and Henry Hernandez ('85) helped found the National Society of Hispanic MBAs in 1988, they didn’t expect it to last. "I was literally running the organization out of my bedroom," Peña says. "People would call my house and think we had a full staff. Nobody knew. It was a great marketing ploy."

NSHMBA’s mission is to build and advance Hispanic leadership “through graduate management education and professional development.” And, 25 years later, the group has more than 25,000 members with chapters across the country and sponsors two scholarships. It also has partnerships with more than 70 colleges and universities in the United States to support qualified Hispanic students in earning their MBA degree.

NSHMBA is currently holding its 25^th-anniversary Conference and Career Expo in San Antonio. The event runs through October 12^th.

For more on NSHMBA head to their website.

Larry Fink, BlackRock, and Bill Gross, PIMCO, Agree: U.S. Will Not Default on Debts; Pair of UCLA Anderson Alumni Discuss That And More With CNBC's Brian Sullivan

 

(UCLA Anderson Dean Judy Olian on stage with CNBC's Brian Sullivan, BlackRock's Larry Fink and PIMCO's Bill Gross. Photo by Aaron Schasse.)

Don’t believe the hype.

Instead, believe Larry Fink (’76), founder, chairman and CEO of BlackRock, and Bill Gross (’71), founder and co-chief investment officer of PIMCO, who believe – despite rumblings to the contrary – that the U.S. will not default on its debts.

The two UCLA Anderson alumni and titans of the financial industry made the claim in a conversational summit dubbed “A Meeting of Extraordinary Minds” held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel tonight. Their discussion was moderated by Brian Sullivan of CNBC.

“The United States is the standard bearer of the world,” Fink said. “People look to the United States as a country that lives by principles, and just the notion and just the conversation of a potential default is just unacceptable."

“This narrative should not be part of our consciousness,” Fink said. “Every country in the world looks up to this country, and because of the position we were in, we were allowed to borrow and everyone believed our work was our bond. The conversation (regarding the possibility of a U.S. default) will have a psychological change in how (other countries) look at the United States. When I travel and meet with leaders from other countries, I hear a profound sadness."

Gross agreed.

“Really, there’s no possibility of debt default,” Gross said. “The conversation, it’s political. It’s not a realistic message and (default) is not a possibility whatsoever.”

The conversation covered a wide range of topics, including the pair’s bullish enthusiasm for investment in Mexico and the nation’s education crisis. Fink discussed the “death of long-termism." Gross concurred, also commenting on the impact of low interest rates.

“We live in a world with artificially depressed interest rates that lead to artificially depressed returns [on investment]. CEOs don’t want to invest for the long term,” Gross said.

To view the entire conversation, please click here.

Follow the converation on Twitter at @UCLAAnderson, #finkgross

When Fink and Gross Talk…

…people should listen, to paraphrase the old EF Hutton commercial.

A talk by one authority of the financial services world would be great, but a conversation with two financial icons is required listening. UCLA Anderson alumni Larry Fink (‘76), leader of the world's largest asset management firm, and Bill Gross (‘71), manager of the world's largest bond fund, will sit down with CNBC’s Brian Sullivan, Thursday, October 3^rd, to discuss financial markets at this UCLA Anderson event streamed online by the network.

Gross, PIMCO’s co-founder and its co-Chief Investment Officer, currently manages its Total Return Fund and is widely acknowledged as “Bond King.” Barron’s has named Fink, chairman and CEO of BlackRock, one of the world’s top-30 CEOs for seven consecutive years. Both men have ranked near the top of Forbes’ most powerful people list for years.

The event begins promptly at 5:00 p.m. at The Beverly Hilton, Beverly Hills Ballroom and is open to all Anderson alumni and students. A cocktail reception will follow.

Live webcasts for UCLA Anderson alumni will take place in NYC and San Francisco.