The MBA Student Voice

Anderson Exchange is back

In anticipation of my first Thanksgiving in the United States, I would like to write about leadership, initiative and team work at Anderson.

A bunch of my classmates have just started the project "Anderson Exchange" -they put together the first issue of the school's own newspaper. 

 

Actually, the history of this newspaper stretches back to 1970s, but it has been out of sight recently. I was wondering, how this idea of relaunching was born and I asked my friend and editor-in-chief Michael Hirshman about it.

Guest Post - Marketing Association

Today's guest post comes from Craig Rosenkranz, First Year Director of Admissions for the Marketing Association (MA). The MA, with over 150 members, provides networking and professional development opportunities for students interested in marketing careers.  Read on for highlights from one of these recent events with General Mills!

 

Aside from all of my classmates and me studying like crazy for our first 2 midterms, last week was a pretty eventful and exciting week here for members of the Marketing Association (MA) at UCLA Anderson.

To start things off, representatives from General Mills came to campus and held informal “coffee chats” with small groups of first year students. We had the chance to sit down with two UCLA Anderson alums and talk candidly about their career experiences and what life is really like working as a Brand Manager at General Mills.

That afternoon, the MA kicked-off a series of lunch time marketing workshops led by General Mills reps Doug and Brad. The first one entitled “Putting Marketing into Real-World Practice” was led by marketing guru and UCLA Anderson alum, Doug Martin. We took a look at some current marketing campaigns and broke down what we think they’re doing well and what we think they could be doing better. This Smart ad really stood out (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0dkjtQdJzI) and was a crowd favorite.

Brad led the next workshop, entitled “Marketing in a Connected World” which focused on how brands can connect and provide value to their consumers beyond simple needs like good taste. Brad ran through a real life General Mills example of the rebranding of the classic kids cereal, Kix. It was great to get an insight into how Brand Managers approached a problem and turned around a brand.  

Both workshops were super engaging and highly interactive. I can’t wait to see what the rest of first quarter brings!

To learn more about the MA, visit their website.

Guest Speakers at UCLA Anderson

If you've read up on UCLA Anderson, you've probably found mention of it's fantastic Network. Just how far does it reach? For a better idea of its breadth, just take a look at the outstanding leadership who's spoken on campus in the Fall Quarter.

From left: Larry Fink (MBA '76), Chairman and and CEO of BlackRock Inc.; Robert A. Iger, Chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company; Sandra Day O'Conner, Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice

Every day at Anderson you can find world-renonwned social, political and business leaders engaging the MBA community in thought-provoking, cutting-edge conversations. These alumni and friends of Anderson present big ideas that stretch the gambit of the business world and embody our "Think In the Next" credo. Below are three more exceptional individuals who've recently held engagements on campus and show just how deep and diverse is the Anderson community.

 

Rupert Scofield, President and CEO of FINCA International:  Rupert Scofield is an entrepreneur, humanitarian and agricultural economist who has led FINCA International to become a leader in microfinance that provides a socially-responsible investment partnership for marginalized communities in Africa, Latin America, Eurasia, the Middle East and South Asia. Mr. Scofield visited UCLA Anderson through the Center for Global Management Lecture Series and spoke to students and faculty about the evolution of FINCA International and the tangible, life-changing effects of increasing the flow of capital towards social good.

 

Sajjad Jaffer, Managing Partner of Two Six Capital: Much like Billy Beane changed the rules of success in Major League Baseball through "Moneyball" statistics, Sajjad Jaffer is using high-level analytics to make big changes in private equity. Mr. Jaffer came to campus in partnership with the Price Center for Entrepreneurial Studies to share how predictive unit economics and customer lifetime value are being used to more effectively invest in small and medium enterprises.

 

Theodore Garcia, Senior Vice President of FilmTrack: Ted Garcia knows a lot about digital content. He has 20+ years of experience within media and entertainment and currently helms a leading firm in content and rights management. In collaboration with the Anderson Entertainment Management Association, Mr. Garcia gave us a close look at the current state of digital distribution - from digital content creation to monetization across exhibition channels.

 

Who do you want to see speak at UCLA Anderson? Leave a comment and let us know!

 

Daniel Genter, MBA '15 - Follow UCLA Anderson on Twitter.

Life after Business School - AKA "Back to Reality"

This will most likely be my final post on the UCLA Anderson blog.  What prompted (possessed?) me to write this blog post is that I happened to run across today for the second time the late David Foster Wallace's speech, "This is Water."  It was a commencement speech given to a graduating class of undergrads back in 2005.

 

I won't bore you with the details, but it really is a worthwhile video to watch when you have ten minutes to spare.  At first glance, the immediate thought that came to mind was, "Wow, that's a bit cheesy,"  which makes sense given that it's a commencement speech addressed to a room full of starry-eyed (or open-mouthed) 22-year olds.  But then, as the video kept playing, and as the late author's voice kept reverberating throughout in that quasi-didactic yet oddly-magnetic way, I began to get pulled into the deeper message lying behind the fancy graphics and pretty typefaces.  

It really is so easy to get lost in the shuffle of each of our so-called "busy lives."  It really is so easy to get pulled in so many directions that we just want to shut down and get ourselves off the grid.  It really is so easy to forget that basic human compassion and kindness go such a long way in making someone's day go from terrible to bad to good to great to awesome.  And this basic notion of being "aware" and "conscious" of others around us is so important.  We are each the center of our own universe--that goes without saying--but we must understand that we, as students and graduates who have had the privilage of attending great undergrad colleges as well as a great business school, really hit the jackpot and have it so much better than many will ever experience in their lifetimes.

I wasn't intending for this post to become as philosophic as it now has, but I'm in a weirdly nostalgic and pensive mood so you guys will have to bear with me.  Since graduating back in June of this year, I've become gainfully employed again (thank goodness!) and started working in a career path that I pursued in business school.  I've also recently moved to San Francisco, which I love, and have met many new, amazing people who continue to help me grow in all aspects of my life.  Is my life easy-ish, as it had been in bschool?  Heck no!  A meaningful career path will never be easy.  It's not merely a job; it's a career.  It'll take a whole bunch of adjusting before I feel comfortable enough to say that I'm comfortable in my job, and then it'll be up to me to keep myself engaged--to keep trekking and to keep learning.

So this is my advice to those still in school or thinking about going to school (wow, sorry it took so long to get to the punch line.  This is why I could never be a writer by vocation)--life after bschool will be a challenge.  A graduate degree will not be a silver bullet to end all tedium and boredom in life.  Ennui is going to set in and people will career-hop and city-hop looking for the next best thing.  But during this shuffle that we call life after business school, I hope that most of us will be able to take the time to appreciate all that we have, to appreciate those around us, and to keep forging ahead and keep growing--both in our selves as well as in our careers.

--Connie Kim, c/o 2013

[email protected]

Life as a 2nd Year

It's official - now I understand why I didn't see that many posts from 2nd year students on this blog last year. Upon returning from summer, 2nd years have been doing any number of the following things: 

- Taking a full load of electives for the first time

- Working on their Applied Management Research (AMR), Business Creation Option (BCO), or a special project that in effect serves as a master's thesis

- Diving back into the recruiting cycle

- Maximizing what could be their last year in Los Angeles by hiking, going to the beach, or enjoying the wide variety of multi-cultural options available in the city

Given how quickly a schedule can fill up, it's extremely easy to look down one minute... and look up the next and realize the quarter is almost over!

I'm going to focus on two aspects of the fall quarter so far - my AMR project and the additional schedule freedom you have as a 2nd year to take advantage of Los Angeles. 

Applied Management Research Project

As a quick overview, AMR is a requirement for 2nd year students. As mentioned above, there are 3 options for students to fulfill the requirement. They can choose Business Creation Option and help start a business; they can choose a special project (lots of options exist here); or they can go the route that the majority of students do, and participate in the AMR Field Study. For more info about AMR in general, check out the AMR website. 

My team is doing the AMR Field Study option. 

Here's everyone! From left to right, our team consists of Bo Pulito, Lindsay Todd, Devin Scott, Briana Kelly, and myself. 

Midterm point crossed

Hello, dear readers!

I can't believe it is November already! I would have never imagined how fast school goes and how many interesting things going on at UCLA Anderson! Last week was the last week of midterms and we survived! As one of my classmates mentioned, after the midterms we can again do 10 things instead of 11:)

Recruiting season has started for everyone, especially for those folks going into Investment management, but everyone is busy doing informational interviews, applying for days on the job and attending various informational sessions on campus.

As for academics, I particularly enjoy our marketing core class which requires a lot of work to do every weekend, but it is very interesting! This weekend every team started to do the field project, which requires visiting several areas in LA, researching the businesses there and making a marketing plan for our own enterprise. This task is time consuming, but I find it particularly useful as we are learning by doing and this is the reason I have chosen UCLA Anderson!

Apart of academics and recruiting, there are a lot of social events going on at school. For instance, our ASA launched a project named Dinners for 8. The idea is to bring together international and domestic students for a dinner where everyone will be able to interact, make friends and know each other better. I have visited 2 of these dinners and found out that we have wonderful cooks in our class!

 I also wanted to add, we have wonderful collaborative community here at Anderson. So, if you are applying or considering to apply, try to come and sit on our classes. We have guests every week and from what I saw, they are very impressed by the school!

Anderson Travels to 2013 Net Impact Conference

A few weeks ago, 20 students from UCLA Anderson’s chapter of Net Impact traveled to San Jose to attend the 2013 Net Impact Conference. This year, the conference attracted 2,500 students and professionals from around the world, all of whom have one thing in common: a desire to use their business skills to create positive social and environmental change.  UCLA Anderson had a proud showing among business schools, reflective of our recent efforts to increase student engagement.  

The conference kicked off with keynote speaker Denise Morrison, President and CEO of Campbell Soup Company. She talked about the company’s efforts to fight obesity, a cause she considers Campbell’s responsibility, and her goal of becoming famous for creating shared value for shareholders around the world. We also heard from Caryl M. Stern, President and CEO of U.S. Fund for UNICEF, who spoke about her mission to battle hunger, poverty, and disease across the globe, and shared excerpts from her moving new book, I Believe in Zero. The energy throughout the opening reception was exhilarating; it is amazing the conversations that take place when 2,500 do-gooders come together in the same room.