UCLA Anderson School of Management Blog

UCLA Anderson Field Study Team Applies Global Purview to a Compelling Business Case

Team members met with female business leaders in Jamaica, which reports the highest percentage of women in business and management globally. Left to right: MBA student David Poli; Eva Lewis, corporate and investment banking head of Citi Jamaica; Cathrine Kennedy, group chief officer of GraceKennedy Limited; Marjory Kennedy, director of administration of Jamaica Fruit & Shipping; Mariame McIntosh Robinson, president and CEO of First Global Bank; Lisa Lewis, founder/CEO of Great People Solutions; Patricia Francis, chairman of the Trade Facilitation Task Force for the Government of Jamaica; MBA student Jessica Lin.

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UCLA Anderson MBA students conduct Applied Management Research projects in lieu of a thesis. The nation’s first business school field study program, AMR partners students with top organizations to solve a key strategic problem. The Center for Global Management sponsored one UCLA Anderson Class of 2018 team to work the International Labour Organization, which brings together governments, employers and workers of 187 member states to set labor standards, develop policies and devise programs promoting decent work for all women and men. The project focused specifically on engaging leaders in the business community through a new ILO publication on women in business and management.

UCLA Anderson Class of 2018 AMR students make their final presentations on March 9.

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By Katie Donovan (’18), Anna Goldberg (’18), Jessica Lin (’18), David Poli (’18) and Jennifer Yoohanna (’18)

Over the past four months, our team of five full-time MBA students has had the privilege of working with the International Labour Organization Bureau of Employers’ Activities (ILO-ACT/EMP). Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the ILO-ACT/EMP is a specialized unit of the United Nations (UN) that supports employers’ organizations (EOs), such as chambers of commerce and industry associations, to inform their members on topics related to job creation and employee well-being.

In 2019, the ILO-ACT/EMP will publish a new global report focusing on Women in Business and Management (WIBM) and our team worked closely with our client counterpart, Anderson alumna Jae-hee Chang (Ph.D. ’08), to research and ultimately make recommendations on how to increase business leaders' engagement with this new publication.

Student Consultants Find that African Cocoa Is Key to Increasing Nigeria’s Non-Oil Exports to the U.S.

Cocoa beans are processed for export at Bole Wole Enterprises, Lagos, Nigeria

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UCLA Anderson MBA students conduct Applied Management Research projects in lieu of a thesis. The nation’s first business school field study program, AMR partners students with top organizations to solve a key strategic problem. In honor of Anderson’s 2017 Impact Week, the theme of which was Purpose + Profit, we’re highlighting stories of AMRs supported by the Center for Global Management that took UCLA Anderson Class of 2017 teams overseas to collaborate with NGOs whose mission-driven work includes such global challenges as health care delivery, international labor standards and environmental conservation.

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By Chigozie Muoto, Jessica Thompson, Rebecca Hilton, Petro Kit and Lucia Ehimika
Winners of the 2017 Deloitte Consulting Award for Management Consulting Achievement

Since the 1970s, Nigeria has been heavily reliant on oil, with over 90 percent of the country’s export value currently coming from crude oil and crude oil products. With the global decline in oil prices, Nigeria needs to diversify its export products and attract foreign investments. The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has a long-term goal to achieve zero-oil exports from Nigeria, and our Applied Management Research team’s project was to devise a strategy to increase export of an agricultural product to the United States.

NEPC is the government agency in Nigeria that is responsible for the regulation, promotion, recording and monitoring of export trade, administered by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment. Our proposal for broadening Nigeria’s non-oil export activity takes maximum advantage of the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA), a United States trade act that enhances market access to the U.S. for qualifying Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries.

After seven weeks of secondary research and prep work, our entire team made the two-day trip from Los Angeles to Abuja, Nigeria, with the goal to:

1. Meet the client and better understand Nigeria’s resources, capabilities and limitations
2. Evaluate the supply capacities of cocoa, cotton, palm oil and hibiscus in Nigeria
3. Explore the current opportunities and challenges of exporters and businesses in Nigeria

MBA Consultants Research Southeast Asia “Fragile Zones” for Greater Foreign Investment

UCLA Anderson MBA students conduct Applied Management Research projects in lieu of a thesis. The nation’s first business school field study program, AMR partners students with top organizations to solve a key strategic problem. During Impact Week (April 17–21, 2017), whose theme is Purpose + Profit, we’re highlighting stories of AMRs supported by UCLA Anderson’s Center for Global Management that took UCLA Anderson Class of 2017 teams overseas to collaborate with NGOs whose mission-driven work includes such global challenges as health care delivery, international labor standards and environmental conservation.

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By Margaux LaPointe (’17)

From the start, our team — comprising Riccardo Cestarelli (’17), Margaux LaPointe (’17), Yoko Morishita (’17), Tyler Smith (’17), Adam Supernant (’17) — was thrilled to be matched with a prosocial international AMR project. Our client is the International Labour Organization (ILO), an agency of the UN that develops labor standards, policies and programs to promote access to decent work.

We are researching how to promote foreign investment in conflict-affected zones in Southeast Asia, focusing on Thailand, the Philippines and Myanmar. Over the winter break, we were lucky to visit all three countries and also attend the ILO’s annual conference in Bali to conduct primary research. On our trip, we interviewed business membership organizations (BMO) such as chambers of commerce and employers’ organizations, as well as multinational companies.

Globe-Trotting Avatars Just Got This UCLA Anderson XPRIZE Visioneer a Step Closer to $20 Million in Funding

Illustration: PC

By Ioan Istrate (’17)

I had the opportunity to work with the XPRIZE Foundation, laying groundwork for a new technological concept involving avatars. The project demanded the networking skills I gained at UCLA Anderson, my pre-MBA business acumen and a wealth of entrepreneurial skills gained during my six months with XPRIZE, the nonprofit that makes radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity by encouraging technological and social development through a high-profile, public competition model.

How I got there

Since I was in high school I’d been following the world-changing impact of XPRIZE. I was fascinated by their ecosystem that connects science, entrepreneurial vision and financial capital to develop new industries and social change.

Once I moved from Bucharest, Romania, to L.A., I tried to connect with several organizations I admired, including XPRIZE, reaching out to team members through LinkedIn and social media and attending as many events as I could. My network, as well as the efforts of UCLA Anderson’s Price Center to connect Anderson to XPRIZE, helped me secure an invitation to participate in the inaugural Visioneers program.

South Africa Global Immersion Makes Social Entrepreneurship Standard Curriculum

In South Africa, UCLA Anderson students toured the entrepreneurial development Philippi Village, where repurposed shipping containers provide space for shopkeepers’ stores, from hair salons to appliance sales. Back row, left to right: Lisa Tang (FEMBA ’18), Mark Reidy (FEMBA ’17), Milan Karunarante (FEMBA ’18), Bradley McGough (FEMBA ’18), Justin Vu (FEMBA ’18), Alex Lieu (FEMBA ’17), a local entrepreneur, Adrian Colesberry (EMBA ’17), Frank Mikel (EMBA ’17), Mike Levine (EMBA ’17). Front row, left to right: Graham Pulliam (FEMBA ’17), Jonathan Chow (FEMBA ’17), Rachel Luskin (FEMBA ’18), Nikki Strenk (FEMBA ’18), Stephanie Celotto (FEMBA ’18), Tae Macias (EMBA ’18).

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By Carolyn Gray Anderson

In September 2016, 40 UCLA Anderson students traveled to South Africa for a global immersion course titled Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Led by UCLA Anderson lecturer Gayle Northrop (’96), president of Northrop Nonprofit Consulting, the course focused on how “pro-social” businesses succeed in an age of waning corporate philanthropy. Northrop, who also serves as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business and co-founded Cape Town’s Spark Health, says students may gravitate to immersion courses because of the international destinations, but her hope is that global examples of social and corporate responsibility will infuse b-school curriculum generally.

UCLA Anderson’s global immersion courses originated in 2008 within the Fully Employed MBA program. Since then, they have expanded to include students in the full-time, executive and UCLA-NUS Global Executive MBA programs. In 2014, the global immersion courses transitioned to the Center for Global Management to enhance the portfolio of global offerings to students across all MBA programs.

“This experience opened my eyes to the amazing work being done by social impact organizations around the world and inspired me to get involved in the field,” said Milan Karunaratne (FEMBA ’18), who joined the South Africa immersion. “I would never have had such an authentic and enriched experience if I had visited South Africa as a tourist.”

A Leisurely Commute at the Speed of Sound: We’re Closer than You Thought

“Transportation is broken, and it’s affecting the lives of people.”

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By Cheechee Lin

Bibop Gresta, COO of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, solemnly condemned the state of today’s commute when he strode on stage for CES® at Anderson.

We all have to deal with bad transportation: those of us navigating Los Angeles spend many hours stuck in what was supposed to be a 20-minute drive to work that drags into hours. In some worst-case-scenarios around the world (I’m looking at you, China), people have been stuck in a bumper-to-bumper scenario for over 24 hours. Wouldn’t it be cool if there were a way to solve this?

Enter Hyperloop.

Conceptualized by Elon Musk of Tesla Motors and SpaceX fame, Hyperloop is a completely automated technology that promises to revolutionize continental travel. In 2013, Musk published a white paper proposing a mode of travel that could move at speeds of 1,200 km/h. (To put this into perspective, current high speed rails move at a pace of 320 km/h, and planes fly at 965 km/h.) Three years later, this concept is coming to fruition, with plans to begin construction across the globe for Hyperloop in 2016. This could in effect shorten a five- to six-hour commute from Los Angeles to San Francisco to only 35 minutes, using a path constructed along the I-5 freeway.

"The technical term for an object going faster than the speed of sound is Badass." -Bibop Gresta, COO @HyperloopTech #AndersonCES #CES2016

— Alycia Beutler (@AlyciaBeutler) January 14, 2016

How is this possible? Inside a tube supported above the ground via pylons, capsules holding around 28 passengers each will depart in small intervals. The air is sucked out from the nose of the capsule and pushed on the back, thus eliminating most resistance inside the tube. The closed-off elevation above the ground makes the system virtually resistant to most weather conditions that plague current transportation systems.

Banking on Days on the Job, from New York to San Francisco

By Nitesh Mehta (’17)

 

UCLA Anderson students storm New York's Times Square

Anderson has been keeping us busy: between on-campus company presentations, homework assignments, midterms and our upcoming finals we had to squeeze in a week for days on the job (DOJ). For the uninitiated, DOJ week is when all first-years take a week off school to visit various companies we are interested in working for. A lot of folks travel all across the country to visit potential employers, and some even travel to international locations such as Hong Kong, Singapore and London.

My trip began in New York on Monday when I flew in with six other Anderson students. We had a few hours to get settled in before our early start the next day so we made sure to visit the very famous Halal Guys food truck for a late-night dinner.

During the trip we were graciously hosted by several New York banks, the likes of which included Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Merill Lynch, Citigroup and many more. We spent our days shuttling on the subway between one bank to the next while sneaking in lunches and taking in all that New York had to offer. In two days, we covered 15 banks and we were tired and exhausted — but that didn't stop any of us from sending out our thank you notes to everyone we met. On the final leg of our New York trip, we got a special invite for an alumni mixer at the Yale Club, where we reconnected with some of the alumni who took the time to meet with us.

Anderson Wine Club Competes in Bordeaux, Embracing French Culture and Non-Traditional Career Paths

By Michael Peck

Left to right: Anderson Wine Club members Margot Bloch, Rex White, Brooke Matthias, Michael Peck and Meredith Roman in Bordeaux, France, in June

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On January 27, 2015, the Anderson Wine Club team took first place in the New York regional trials of the Left Bank Bordeaux Cup, the prestigious amateur wine tasting competition. Poets & Quants covered their victory over teams from NYU, Columbia, Wharton, Stanford and other b-schools, which qualified them to move on in June to the final competition at Château Lafite Rothschild in the Bordeaux region of France.

AWC team member Michael Peck (’15) reported back that, although Anderson did not take home a trophy from France (that distinction went to the all-Hong Kong team from Imperial College London), he and his teammates greatly expanded their wine education, made new connections and cemented their personal and professional bonds with each other.

Peck caught us up on all that has happened in the lives of AWC teammates Margot Bloch (’15), Brooke Matthias (’15), Meredith Roman (’16) and Rex White (’15) since their trip abroad.

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The Left Bank Bordeaux Cup was a defining experience of our time at UCLA Anderson. We’ll never forget the time we spent together both in France and leading up to the final competition.

In Bordeaux, we took in the wine culture of the region, learned in depth about climate and geology from the local experts, and experienced French hospitality from numerous châteaux owners. It was fascinating to compare the different winemaking and business philosophies we were exposed to, and we came away with a myriad perspectives on the industry.

Anderson Admit Knuckles Down to Prepare for B-School — and Photographs His Favorite Musician along the Way

Matthew Becker detoured to the UK on his way to Anderson to photograph music legend Bryan Ferry.

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“I decided to get my MBA because I wanted to make a career change to management consulting, and a city change to Los Angeles,” says Matthew Becker (’17). He adds, “Growing up in North Dakota gave me enough cold weather to last a lifetime.”

The former Capitol Hill communications director said his acceptance call from Anderson is a blur because he was so excited to get it. Once he regained his focus and understood he’d really been accepted, he began building a list of business books to read between then and his arrival at UCLA.

But he would have another major reality check right after A-Days when he flew to London to photograph his favorite musician.

“Concert photography has been my side passion for the last six years, and through a combination of luck and networking I ended up as Bryan Ferry’s tour photographer for 16 shows throughout the U.K. I had to pinch myself — a lot.”

After the tour ended, Ferry asked Becker to stay another month at his countryside estate outside of London and edit his career retrospective photo book.

Has he managed any of that b-school prep he planned? “The quiet countryside has proven to be a highly productive place for getting the all-important summer reading done,” he blogged. “I started with general business and lifestyle books like Capital in the 21st Century and The Power of Habit, and as school gets closer I'm moving into more specific reading like Case Studies and Cocktails and Case in Point.”

Read more about Matthew Becker in Anderson’s MBA Student Voice.

Why an Urban Educator on the Road to Law School Chose B-School

Anderson admit Yu Chen says he's growing his hair out "from East Coast-teacher crew cut into luxurious locks of West Coast sunshine."

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When a temporary teaching stint derailed Yu Chen’s (’17) plans to take the LSAT and become a “hotshot lawyer,” he embraced the unexpected opportunity. “After graduating from Penn in 2010, I taught/tutored as part of a service program called MATCH Corps. It was only supposed to be a one-year gap in my master plan…but urban education grew on me and ultimately became a calling. I've spent the past four years teaching a motley crew of subjects and coaching sports at an alternative school called Phoenix Charter Academy.”

Boston-based Chen, who was born in China and moved to the U.S. with his family at the age of five, says he’s trekking out to California to find out how business school can help him make urban education in particular a more sustainable, viable career path. “What,” he’s asking, “can Anderson teach me about keeping teachers happy, balanced, and coming back to the classrooms?”

Learn more about Chen in Anderson’s MBA Student Voice.