UCLA Anderson School of Management Blog

Faculty Profile: Daniel Oppenheimer

When your father and uncle are academics, you get a bird’s eye view of the profession. “You get to think about whatever you find interesting, then talk to the smartest people on the planet about those things. That’s kind of hard to beat,” says Professor Danny Oppenheimer.

With his bachelor of arts from Rice and a Ph.D. from Stanford, Oppenheimer landed his first job at Princeton, which he held for eight years. While he acknowledges that the job was fabulous, he admits that New Jersey never felt like home.

“The offer at Anderson allowed me to return to a place with a higher quality of living, while maintaining an excellent career trajectory,” he says. “Plus, Diddy Reese is pretty close...”

His love of teaching is extensive. “I really enjoy the challenge of taking a complex topic and figuring out a way to present and explain it so that it makes sense to students who haven't seen it before,” he says.  “There is nothing quite so rewarding as when a lesson plan you've developed works the way you'd envisioned, and you get to observe the students master the material.”

Oppenheimer also found that a key to enjoying teaching (and being successful) is blurring the lines that separate the classroom and the real world.

“You don't teach a student, you teach a person. And, when you get to know those people, you realize that they're fun and interesting and generally people you look forward to getting to interact with,” he explains. “Each class is different — the students have different backgrounds, interests and personalities. So, no matter how many times you teach the same material, it always feels new, and it's always a novel challenge.”

Oppenheimer’s primary study is cognition — how people think and how that affects their behavior. He focuses on judgment and decision making, but also dabbles in memory, language, reasoning, categorization and social perception.

“I don't know exactly why I stumbled into decision making as a topic. I guess when I first started learning about it, there was so much that was counterintuitive which piqued my interest.

“A lot of my research has addressed metacognition — how we think about thinking,” he says. “How do we respond when something feels hard to understand or easy to understand?  While on the surface this seems like a small question, it turns out that this feeling of fluency or disfluency affects nearly everything we do. And, since all tasks can be thought of on a difficult to easy continuum, this experience of metacognitive fluency or disfluency is ubiquitous. From picking stocks, to being honest with our doctors, to evaluating job candidates, to effectively studying for exams, fluency affects so much of our lives, and it largely does so outside of our awareness.

Oppenheimer reveals that some of his closest friends are former students, but none yet have been able to beat him at racquetball or Dance Dance Revolution — and there’s the challenge.

For more on Danny and his research, head to his Anderson webpage.

Alumna and YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki ('98) to Deliver UCLA Anderson Commencement Speech

Fortune includes her on its list of the 50 most important leaders in the world after previously naming her one of the "50 Most Powerful Women in Business."

Adweek once called her the "the most important person in advertising."

Forbes included her among "the 100 most powerful women in the world."

To us, she's "Susan" -- Susan Wojcicki ('98), the newly appointed CEO of YouTube and member of our Board of Visitors. We are honored that Susan will be our 2014 Commencement Speaker.

UCLA Anderson Spring Break Trip Teaches ‘Doing Business in Brazil’

by Gregory Paige (’14)

In the southern hemisphere, approximately 45 Anderson students joined Professor Leonardo Bursztyn and FEMBA International Programs Office managers Patty Johnson and Manuel Burgos for a week in Rio de Janeiro to gain firsthand exposure to business practices in Brazil. The “Doing Business in Brazil” global immersion elective course aimed to explore the opportunities and challenges involved with starting or expanding a business in the nation’s high-potential yet complex economic environment.

Throughout the week, guest speakers from startups, small businesses and government agencies complemented company visits to large organizations like Cisco and Petrobras. “I appreciated the candor of the speakers,” said Wei-Shine Chien (FEMBA ’14). “It gave me an idea of what it takes to even consider doing business in Brazil.”

Outside of business hours, however, the class managed to find its fair share of fun (plus some). Tourist activities included a fútbol game at Maracanã stadium and ascents to Christ the Redeemer and Sugarloaf Mountain. Among other highlights were Caipirinhas and Samba dancing in the renowned Lapa neighborhood, as well as group shopping sprees at Havaianas for flip-flops. Ultimately the group returned home a bit tanner and a lot more knowledgeable about doing business in Brazil. “The companies were great,” said Adel Hajrasuliha (FEMBA ’14), “and the professor being a local made a huge impact.”

Learn more about the global immersion programs, head to Anderson's Center for Global Management's webpage.

C4C Defines Anderson Culture of Community and Giving

by Kit Swain (’15)

As I was visiting business schools and trying to decide where to enroll just over a year ago, one of the things that struck me about Anderson was the community of the student body. I couldn’t put my finger on what made it different — things like culture and community within organizations are so hard to define. Now, as my first year at Anderson draws to a close, I understand what the Anderson culture is for me, and I believe that it is embodied in Challenge for Charity (C4C).

With more than 300 Anderson students in attendance at Stanford Weekend for C4C (on a weekend that competed with Coachella!), I was proud to be wearing True Blue. As an MBA, school spirit can be complicated because many people still pledge allegiance to their undergraduate school. What made Stanford Weekend so special was that we were all Bruins first. We had a lot to be proud of too, as Anderson students raised more than $75,000 and volunteered more than 4,600 hours to charity in just six months time.

The weekend opened on Friday as I played in the men’s basketball tournament. I had no idea what to expect from the competition, but I was excited to be playing (semi)-organized basketball again. In the early rounds, we were able to handle University of Washington (Foster), Berkley (Haas) and Stanford GSB without much trouble. Advancing to the final, we were pitted against crosstown rival, USC Marshall. Whether it was nerves or impenetrable defense, some ugly basketball was played for the students in attendance with a halftime score of 13-3 (no typo). In this clash of the titans, we were able to hold on to win, and our fans rushed the court to celebrate the victory that helped kick off the weekend.

On Saturday, I didn’t even compete in any sports and the day was awesome. The sun was shining. I walked from flag football to volleyball to the cheer competition, drank some beer and high-fived everyone I could find who was sporting UCLA gear. The day was perfect, and when all was said and done, UCLA won 13 of the 20 sporting events — and my hand still hurts from all the high-fives.

Find out more about Anderson C4C at their club page.

Mike Hirshman ('15) Elected UCLA GSA President

(Mike Hirshman, left, with Zubin Davar ('15), managing editor of The Exchange. Photo by Aaron Schasse.)

UCLA Anderson first-year student Mike Hirshman ('15) was elected president of UCLA's Graduate Student Association. The GSA represents all of the graduate students on the UCLA campus, including those at the professional schools. Hirshman's selection came in the first contested election since 2011. It's believed he is the first UCLA Anderson student to lead the association since Nurit Katz ('08), who is currently the campuses Chief Sustainability Officer. The Daily Bruin provided coverage:

GSA unanimously approved this year’s election results. Mike Hirshman, a UCLA Anderson School of Management student, was elected president with a vote of 963-510. Andrés Schneider, a member of the Moving Forward slate and a former GSA discretionary funding director, was elected vice president of external affairs with a vote of 922-450. Hope McCoy, the current GSA vice president of external affairs, and Ivy Onyeader, a psychology student, both ran uncontested. McCoy was elected GSA vice president of internal affairs, and Onyeader was elected vice president of academic affairs.

Hirshman is currently editor of The Exchange, UCLA Anderson's student newspaper, which he resurrected after a several year hiatus. 

The UCLA Anderson Blog spoke to Mike yesterday.

Why did you decide to run for GSA president?

I've always been interested in campus life and was involved in a number of UCSD committees when I was an undergraduate. I thought I was uniquely positioned to get involved as an Anderson student, given mye experience with the UC system. I also love the arts and other areas of study on campus and this gives me purview into those endeavors.

What are your goals as GSA president?

There are a lot of resources on campus and the more we can do to bring together the commuity the better. We're lucky to have so many top scholars and the more we can to get together and know each other the more we can get done. For example, I want to put entrepreneurs at Anderson together with law students, not only to socialize, but also to start companies together.

All of us appreciate that the success of our programs is linked to the success of a great university. 

Poets & Quants Has Further Coverage of UCLA Anderson Dean Judy Olian @ White House Workforce Summit

(Photo from Dean Judy Olian's twitter feed - @DeanOlian)

John Byrne over at Poets & Quants has continuing coverage of UCLA Anderson Dean Judy Olian's visit to the White House to discuss business school best practices.

The deans of 14 prominent business schools gathered in the White House yesterday (April 16) to discuss a rather thorny issue: the pay gap between male and female MBA graduates.

The deans met with President Obama’s economic advisors around a long mahogany table in the Roosevelt Room to help the administration create an agenda for a June summit on working families. Besides the gender pay gap, the meeting examined leadership, retention rates, business school culture, and the timing of business school in the lifecycle.

It was a high-powered group which included Nitin Nohria of Harvard Business School, Sally Blount of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School, Richard Lyons of UC-Berkeley’s Haas School, Ted Snyder of Yale’s School of Management, and Judy Olian of UCLA’s Anderson School, among others.

Bryne continued:

Anderson Dean Olian said she wants to beef up alumni career support to help graduates transition back into the workforce after taking time off for children. She also told The Wall Street Journal she wants to increase outreach to young women in high school so they consider business more seriously as a career option.

As noted in this post, the Wall Street Journal also covered the event. Check out their coverage here.

Annual Woo Conference Launches With Call for Cross-Border Economic Understanding

California State Controller John Chiang

The annual Wilbur K. Woo Greater China Business Conference kicked off at 1pm today. The 2014 event, “Success Stories of U.S.-China Investment,” will continue until 8 p.m. with talks by several influential investors and successful business leaders with expertise in cross-border investments, as well as a networking session to round out the evening.

The day opened with the late Wilbur Woo’s son, Michael, addressing the packed Korn Convocation Hall. Michael, dean of the College of Environmental Design at Cal Poly Pomona and the first Asian American elected to the Los Angeles City Council, said his family was proud of the conference and the legacy his father had created. “This conference is a tremendous success, and it helps to realize the dream my father had of endowing this conference and teaching others about doing business with, and in, China,” he said.

Dean Judy Olian followed with remarks on the importance of a global worldview and China’s crucial role in that mindset. “This conference is a centerpiece of the school’s global strategy,” she said. Olian spoke of last week’s visit by former Korean Finance Minister and UCLA Anderson alumni Dr. Il SaKong and his insights into the Asian marketplace. “Asian economies will continue their central role supporting global growth,” she relayed from her talk with Dr. SaKong.

Olian then introduced California State Controller John Chiang. Chiang, a frequent speaker at UCLA Anderson, said events such as the Woo Conference are of critical importance in the current economic climate. “History has seen different regions rise economically in different periods. But we need to discover how both East and West can rise simultaneously,” he said. “It'll take work, but California is a great example of different people and different cultures coming together to create great success.”

The rest of the event includes plenary sessions on corporate social responsibility and cross-border investment in film and entertainment, panel discussions focused around "inbound" investment and panel discussions focused around "outbound" investment.

Head to the conference page for more information on the day’s remaining schedule.

UCLA Anderson Team Gets Primal at Agricultural Innovation Contest

Paul Greive (FEMBA ’15) and his brothers Jeff and Rob will soon take on a case competition pitch that has extra meaning—it’s their family farm. The brothers will head to the University of Wisconsin, Madison, to compete for the Agricultural Innovation contest and the chance for a $100,000 grand prize.

The team has already made it through to the top 30, and will present in Madison against teams from MIT, Stanford, Duke, Harvard, USC, UW-Madison and more. In addition to the in-person presentation at the end of this month, there is also a nationwide social media contest element to the competition. “I think we have a really good chance to win the competition,” says Paul, “which would be amazing to put UCLA's agricultural community on display.”

Their Temescula, Calif.-based farm, Primal Pastures, raises pastured chickens for meat and eggs and grass-fed lamb, as well as offering grass-fed beef through a local affiliate farm. Launched in 2012, the brothers, along with their dad, Tom, produces “food that is grown responsibly, sustainably and according to nature's brilliant design.”

To support the team’s social media efforts, head to Facebook to vote for them. For more on Primal Pastures, head to their website.

The Asian Economy and the U.S.: Challenges and Opportunities

by Shelby Grasser

On Tuesday, April 8^th, Dr. Il SaKong (MBA ’66, Ph.D. ’69), chairman and CEO of the Institute for Global Economics and the former finance minister of the Republic of Korea, visited UCLA Anderson with his expectations for the direction of the Asian economy. SaKong presented to a full house, focusing on Korea, China, Japan and the global economic phenomenon known as the “pivot to Asia.” Though Asia is encountering numerous challenges, the general trend is upward, and SaKong predicted an even brighter future.

Dr. SaKong reminisced that when he attended UCLA the annual income for Korean families was US $100. Their main exports included fabric, clothing and other rough goods. But over the past few decades, and especially after the Asian economic crisis of 1997, the Korean market has fortified itself by shifting to a knowledge-based economy. Now, any Samsung smart phone, LG electronic device or Hyundai or Kia car comes from South Korea. The economy is capable of weathering a global crisis, but the government hopes to develop policies to increase the lower-than-average female employment percentage.

SaKong also spoke about China’s growth over the past three and a half decades; though, it has substantially decreased since 2011 due to the current credit squeeze. China must establish a solid foundation for sustainable growth, strengthen the value of the RMB, minimize environmental degradation and improve citizens’ quality of life through health care and public education.

Unlike China’s economic prosperity, Japan is currently suffering through a prolonged deflation and SaKong suggested that this might be a result of poor leadership and energy costs from the Fukishima nuclear disaster. Prime Minister Abe has started a new economic agenda known as “Abenomics” (short term policy goals and a long-term sustainability plan) in late 2012, though SaKong is doubtful that substantial change will occur anytime soon under Abe.

Dr. SaKong’s optimistic vision promised a more robust future economy for Asia and their trading partners in the west, as long as the Asian countries practice due diligence and carry out the necessary reforms. It was fascinating to hear firsthand how far these nations, which only a few decades prior were poverty-stricken and war-torn, have come. Asia is now budding as a global leader and an economic powerhouse, and, with good trade and friendship, the United States can increase economically along with Asia. He concluded on a light note, encouraging students that, “The Asian economy will play a continuously important role as it grows faster than the rest of the world. I am optimistic about the future of Asia, so please invest in Asia.”

C4C Recap: We're No. 1

by Kyle Forrest ('14)

I want to talk about one of my favorite weekends at Anderson — the Challenge 4 Charity Sports Weekend. I wrote a post about it last year, but as a quick refresher, Challenge 4 Charity is a nonprofit organization that nine West Coast business schools participate in. Over the course of the year, students volunteer and fundraise for charities to earn points. Said points make you eligible to participate in the final event of the year, sports weekend at Stanford.

Last year due Stanford needing to change the date of the sports weekend for logistical reasons, the group of 200+ Anderson students in attendance were primarily first-year students (my class). This year we brought 302(?!) people to Stanford, as our C4C co-presidents, David Ketelsen and Karri VanMeetren, did a phenomenal job getting the class of 2015 hyped to attend. 

Combining the athletic talents of two classes of Anderson students resulted in the following out of 20 total sports: 13 teams in 1st place; six teams in 2nd place; and one team in 4th place; and overall place — No. 1 in sports!

All in all, it was yet another incredible Anderson experience, one that I definitely won't forget. It was incredible to see what the combined powers of two classes could bring to the sports field.

Read the rest of Kyle's post at the MBA Student Voice and find out more about C4C at their club page.