The MBA Student Voice

Jim Stengel Special Visit: Marketing Guru of P&G and Anderson Prof

Hey future-CEO-type readers,

Jim Stengel recently returned from the Microsoft-hosted CEO summit with the likes of Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos and Arianna Huffington and today he arrived at Anderson to speak to a room full of Anderson students.

Anderson is lucky to count Stengel amongst its illustrious adjunct professors. Stengel teaches an annual course for which he teaches an ideals-based approach to marketing, brings in his incredible award-winning industry experience and application and presents high-profile speakers to share insider insights.

Today,  Stengal us gave an overview and valuable business lessons about how to make a difference for your business, as second year students near graduation and first year students head to their MBA summer internships.

1) Purpose: If you have a brand that means something, take care of it.
There is nothing more valuable. Work with a purpose, an ideal and a mission. How it comes to life, how you activate and how it infiltrates your company is key. Corporations are focusing more and more on EQ rather than IQ.

2) Measurement: The importance and power of outputs is immense.
For example, Clay Christenson talks about three types of innovations: disruptive, sustainability, and efficiency. We focus on efficiency because it is easy to measure in the outcome, but how can we measure less quantitative tangible outputs that can equally add value that will help us think long term.

3) Critical Thinking: Checks and balances create knowledge and stronger value.
For example the CEO of PIMCO not only has an executive counsel, but then also has a secondary internal counsel committee, an external counsel committee and a group of MBAs scrutinize their thinking and ultimately mobilize better outputs.

We students were also lucky enough to hear Warren Buffet's top four insights, Bill Gates' top three challenges facing the world today and Steve Ballmer's three key factors to building a successful business from Stengel. If you want to hear those for yourself and tap into the wealth of speakers that come to Anderson's campus, then I encourage you too to pursue an MBA at UCLA Anderson.

xo from Anderson,
Ashley

Ashley Mallinson, @AshleyMal

TED at UCLA Anderson!

 

 

Hello everyone. Last week we had a very exciting event at UCLA Anderson, the second annual TED Live Streaming! TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) is an annual set of global conferences about "ideas worth spreading". The topic can be anything as long as it is an innovative idea and they last at most 18 minutes so it is a fast and fun way to learn something very interesting. For example I got to listen to a talk about how music should be free and another about how the best experiences and products are those that stimulate more than one of your five senses. 

UCLA Anderson has an agreement to live stream these conferences at the campus and they designed an amazing room so students could sit and enjoy the talks. Take a look here:

 

 

Doesn't it look awesome? Those bean bag chairs were very comfy! If you want to see how they set it all up you can see that in a video here. It looks much better there; my pictures don't do it justice. 

After the live stream three or four panelist comprised of alumni, students, faculty, and industry specialists would go up on stage and discuss the TED talk to provide more insight on the subject and allow guests to ask questions. 

 

Second year Ana Peña (on the left) was moderating the panel I attended.

 

There was also a campfire at the end of the event on the third day where students and faculty would go and present their own TED inspired talks. I was not able to attend but fellow blogger Ashley Mallison did and here is what she had to say:

 

 

"The campfire was a great event. The photo is of Bhavna from our year who gave an inspiring talk about changing the way we design our cities to inside healthier lifestyles! It was a fabulous event that spoke to the power of TED and the UCLA Anderson community with great drinks and food, and black light chalk wall for people to write “What would you name your own TED Talk” and truly inspiring presentations from students and professors!"

I hope this inspires you to attend the TED Live Streaming event at UCLA Anderson next year and if you are planning to visit campus make sure to ask a current student if there are going to be any events on the dates of your visit. There is always something interesting going on at UCLA Anderson! 

 

-Alejandra Rodriguez '14
Follow UCLA Anderson at @UCLAMBA

The First Day of Winter Quarter...what lies ahead?

Hi Dear Readers,

Now we Anderson students are heading back for our first day of classes today! Many of you potential applicants have reached out with questions about what life at Anderson life is like. The answer is generally... fantastic! But to go into more depth as the semester continues, we will keep you posted on

    -recruiting: applications, resume drops and interviews are in full swing in Winter Quarter now

    -classes: now we are through our first quarter (whew! we made it!) each of us is taking Operations and Communication in our sections, as well as either finance or marketing and electives

    -social events: Anderson will be attending the MBA Vegas Poker tournament in January on MLK weekend, Anderson Afternoons formerly known as Beer Bust will resume every Thursday afternoon, we have been planning paintballing, visiting theme parks, skiing, surfing and more!

    -charity work: Anderson is soon participating in Chalenge 4 Charity, and we are already making headway raising money and volunteering for Junior Acheivement and the speacial Olympics

    -And more! We wouldn't be MBA students if we didn't try to do it all... and a little more.

Stay tuned for more news from Winter Quarter.

xoxo from Anderson,

Ashley

@AshleyMal, Ashley Mallinson, UCLA Anderson MBA 2014 Candidate and cheese enthusiast

 

Silicon Valley Tech Trek

Over 100 Anderson students in Anderson's High Tech Business Association headed to Silicon Valley to check out companies including Google, Pandora, Shutterfly, EventBrite and dozens of othere. Students and alumni met for a mixer in Palo Alto and while on the trip meet representatives from Facebook, LinkedIn, SalesForce.com and many other San Francisco and Bay Area established tech companies and start-ups.

See snippets from students who attended by checking out twitter and searching @htbaanderson and hashtag #HTBATechTrek

Anderween: Happy Halloween From UCLA Anderson

Anderson Student Association puts on a Halloween party for students to kick back, dress up and enjoy being halfway through Fall quarter.

Our section (section E!) got together to take a photo in the photobooth to wish you all a Happy Anderween:

10 Reasons Anderson Orientation Rocked!

Top 10 things from UCLA Anderson Orientation

1. Game Day & Skits (Section Competitions)

2. Scavenger Hunt

3. Luau

4. Club outings & Social Hours

5. Prestigious speakers

 

Jim Morris, Chairman & CEO of Pacific Life

 

6. Extra curricular activities i.e. surfing

7. Leadership Foundations Rope course

8. 1st Official UCLA Anderson Football Tailgate

 

9. 80's Party Finale

10. Welcomes from Dean Judy Olean, Regina Regazzi & Parker Career Center and our distinguished professors!

 

Dean Judy Olean welcomes Class of 2014

 

 

UCLA Anderson 1st Football Game, 1st Tailgate, or "What happens when Anderson MBAs combine forces to have a great time!?"

Hi All,

Last Saturday, UCLA had an epic win over the rather *ahem* "eager" CornHuskers. We won both inside the Rose Bowl on the football field and on the golfcourse outside the football field beforehand at our first unofficial UCLA Anderson tailgate attempt. The stadium was full of red, but it was the team in gold and blue that won the day, stole the show and is now ranked number 22 in the country!

 

Anderson 1st years 1st tailgate- showing our UCLA love!

 

Not only did we win the game, we would have won any tailgaiting comparision by far. There was a great deal of chatter about tailgaiting amongst us incoming 1st year Anderson students before the game, so being the A-type MBA students we are, and me the sound Southern tailgater I am... we decided to combine forces with our future Anderson classmates to put an epic gathering of MBAs ready to have a great time at our first home game to usher in of a new era of GREAT Bruin Football.

We Anderson students got together to pool our resources and spend a great day getting to know each other on the golfcourse at the gorgoues RoseBowl all day in preparation for the game.

Here's what fun looks like:

 

Showing off our UCLA tattoos for the game

Getting the grill ready for our first anderson tailgate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Rose Bowl- Gorgeous! Especially when UCLA beats Nebraska!

 

 

Class of ‘14 insider summer scoop - PART 7 - "Start of an era"

This will be oue last collective summer post! We’re all here, orientation starts today, we’ve met a bunch of classmates, socialized and found out as much as we possibly could about what’s going to be happening to us for the next two years. We all have different first impressions but here is how we are seeing things today.

(source)

Kyle Forrest: This is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made personally. When I first began thinking about an MBA, I originally thought part-time would be the way to go - let’s face it, as Dwight said in the previous group post, not having a salary is a big change, and the two year MBA experience can be quite expensive. However, in the 6 weeks I’ve spent in Los Angeles before orientation started, I’ve been able to get to know my classmates in a way that I never would have been able to do in a part-time program. The relationships are already more meaningful, and I can’t wait to see how things turn out after the next two years with everyone!

Gregory Paige: Pressing the pause button on a career is a significant risk for most people. I certainly fit into that group. But here we are at the start of Orientation, and I can already tell that Anderson will prove to be one of the best decisions of my life. You’ve heard it before, and I’ll say it again: It’s all about the people. My classmates have arrived from all over the country and across the globe. From every industry imaginable. And with all types of personal and career aspirations. I feel privileged to have access to such a variety of minds and experiences. Ultimately I’m not hitting pause on my career, I’m upgrading from DVD to Blu-ray!

Ashley Mallinson: I have been incredibly impressed with my future classmates, Anderson and Los Angeles. I knew that business school was the right decision for me personally and fell in love with Anderson  as early as my first campus visit, and so far the experience has surpassed my expectations in every way. I truly could not have imagined being this happy with all the dramatic changes that have taken place in my life over the last two weeks. Based on my experience so far, it is truly the people at Anderson that make the school exceptional and set the entire experience apart. It is incredible to be surrounded by such a friendly, intelligent, open-minded group of people who are each individually outstanding in unique ways. I am beyond excited to see what we, as a collaborative group, are capable of. I feel confident that I am starting a new chapter of my life with new allies, realistic goals and no limits!

Alejandra Rodriguez: It has been as awesome as I thought it would be! I had the opportunity to talk with a lot of my classmates before even coming to Los Angeles so I already knew the kind of fantastic people I was going to share my next two years with and let me tell you I was not disappointed! It has also been surprisingly easy for me to adapt to living in a new country and I believe it is because my new friends have been keeping company and helping me every step of the way. Anderson has one of the best communities you will ever find and I am delighted to be a part of it! I am very much looking forward to the first day of orientation, which also happens to be my birthday, so expect a post about it soon!  

Dwight Asuncion: Happy birthday Alejandra! How auspicious! I’m excited to start school again, but I also have butterflies in my stomach. It’s the first day of school all over again. I’m sure I’ll be a little nervous again before classes actually begin. Today I’ll meet everyone in my section and start to build meaningful relationships with them. That’s what I like about Anderson. Everyone’s in it together and willing to help each other. We’re at the start of a two-year journey that hopefully be full of personal and professional growth, and I couldn’t be happier that I’m at Anderson.

Kate Edwards: The others bloggers are correct - it is all about the people! Having spent the past two weeks spending quality funemployment time with my future classmates, I could not be more impressed with how diverse, ambitious, and thoughtful everyone is. We have organized trips to the beach, explored Los Angeles, and even attended our first UCLA football game en masse (Go Bruins!). School hasn’t started yet, but we are all so eager to get to know each other; I know these will be lasting friendships. Getting to know these people reminds me that Anderson was the right choice, and I can honestly say I am just incredibly happy to wake up every day in Los Angeles knowing I have such an adventure ahead of me.

Ann Ching: Every time I have started a new school, whether it was junior high, college, or law school, I’ve always worried whether I’d end up eating lunch alone on the first day. Sounds weird, but I think that’s where I channel my “real” anxieties about new people and a new environment. Well, this is the first time I’m not worried about that, because I already have so many new friends at Anderson. Whether through Forte Foundation, organized mixers, or informal events, I have met a lot of my classmates and they are truly exceptional. I heard that what makes Anderson unique is the incredible sense of community among students and alumni, and so far I have not been disappointed. I’m starting orientation ready to take on a new challenge (and have fun at the same time!).

Chris Varin: I just got back from sunset on the Santa Monica beach with 8 of my other new classmates and I had this moment of existential angst as I briefly contemplated what these next two years would bring. I've had a lot of great experiences up till now and while I don't really believe in fatality it all kinf of lead to this new beginning - I guess I did somewhat engineer it. After three weeks of meeting up with classmates before things start I'm completely at ease and looking forward to take the next step. These next two years are going to be special and I'm incredibly fortunate to be here.

Ayushman Jain: Having spent my first fortnight in beautiful LA and the awesome company of my Anderson classmates, I can truly say that the pre-MBA experience has taken my expectations to a much higher level, and I’m pretty sure I’m still underestimating how brilliant the next two years are gonna be. The social events and even the international students’ orientation were great opportunities to meet a large number of classmates with such diverse backgrounds. The best thing is that we blend in very well together, irrespective of geographical or linguistic boundaries. Everyone has been immensely helpful even before the program starts and I can already see the collegial culture building up amongst ourselves. I’ve also got the chance to interact with people from the Student Affairs Office, Parker CMC as well as the Financial Aid office and they have been unbelievably courteous and encouraging. Thats why, even though I know the next 3 months are gonna hit us like a ton of bricks with all the coursework and job search, I’m totally looking forwarding to starting the next chapter of my life - the MBA!

-Anderson 14' bloggers

Follow UCLA on Twitter @UCLAMBA

Class of ‘14 insider summer scoop - PART 6 - "Biggest adjustment"

We're all basically settled in now. We still haven't officially started the school year yet, but Orientation is in a week. Here's what we expect our biggest adjustments to being a student again will be.

The biggest (initial) adjustment... (Source)

Ashley Mallinson: Moving from New York to California, I was somewhat wary of Los Angeles as I had heard many nay-sayers doubting the authenticity of the Angelos, harping on the traffic and hating on the "LA attitude". I was prepared to make a huge adjustment, however as a classmate recently announced, I have already “become one with Los Angles”. I love it after only one week! While it is inherently a pesky process to navigate a new city, settle into a new lifestyle, discover the layout and character of new neighborhoods, learn traffic patterns after years of jumping in NYC taxicabs, find the most fun nightlife and social scenes and, of course, balance beach and study time, it has been an exciting adventure so far and I'm loving every minute of it!

Dwight Asuncion: There are a number of things I’ll have to adjust to, but the biggest adjustment I can see is not having a salary. It’s not just not having a salary; it’s basically having a negative salary since I have to pay tuition, living expenses, etc. I’ve been in a couple stores and I’ve had to refrain from purchasing something or had to purchase the cheaper option to save some money. I have to think twice. I can’t spend with impunity. A couple other adjustments I’ll have to make are dealing with the LA traffic, being in sunny SoCal (won’t complain about that).

Kyle Forrest: I’d say my biggest adjustment is going to be getting back into the swing of studying. We’ve had a couple of pre-orientation assignments to do over the summer, one of which, the accounting case, has helped to a degree, but since my undergraduate experience was on a semester schedule vs. quarters I’ve been told to be prepared for a very high pace of learning.

Chris Varin: I must admit that no salary is definitely on the top of the list although I’ve been living on a bidget for the past year while travelling so I feel I’m somewhat used to that already. I guess I’m going to have to get better at time management. Working in investment banking, my days at the office all looked alike and I was basically there constantly. Now I’m going to have to work in club activities with socializing, classes, recruiting, administrative stuff and a whole lot more. While London was big, the public transport system was excellent so I didn’t need to worry or plan before going out of my bubble, here it's a whole new ball park but I'm enjoying the discovery so far. There are plenty of others adjustments I’ll have to make like wearing sunscreen, playing sports regularly and meeting new and interesting people all the time - it's going to be a hard life!

Ann Ching: For me, going back to grad school means an identity shift. For many years, my response to “What do you do?” has been, “I’m a lawyer.” For better or worse, people automatically associate certain characteristics with lawyers - authority, prestige, frivolous lawsuits - so it’s a convenient label. In the past few weeks, I’ve been adjusting to my new identity as “business school student,” which generates less predictable reactions. I’m pretty excited about student discounts, though! The commute to school will also be a big adjustment. According to a recent report, Honolulu (where I moved from) has worse traffic than Los Angeles, but that hasn’t been my experience so far.

Alejandra Rodriguez: The greatest adjustment for me has been transportation. I have been driving everywhere since 2008 and now I find myself without a car in a city that does not have efficient public transportation. To make matters worse I have no experience using buses and I gave up on trying to learn on my own so I bought an iPhone and use the map application to tell me what busses to take. I am loving the map application, it is the most useful thing ever!  I have also been walking a lot and my legs are not used to it so I feel very tired at the end of the day. If you are planning to go to an MBA, you are not very athletic, and you won’t have a car then consider walking in a park every day to train your body. Additionally I have been getting suntanned from walking in the sun so I recommend putting sunblock on frequently if you want to avoid tanning. Despite all this I adore Los Angeles, it is a beautiful city and walking long distances and riding busses is totally worth it!

-Anderson 14' bloggers

Follow UCLA on Twitter @UCLAMBA

Class of 14' insider summer scoop - PART 5 - "I gotta feelin’..."

“...that this year’s gonna be a good year” - Ok so let’s be honest, many of us are looking forward to more than just going to class during b-school.  We all come in with high expectations academically and we are here to plan for our futures, but there is so much to experience socially with our classmates as well. So here’s what we’re looking forward to...

(Above: The UCLA Bruin Theatre at Westwood Village)

Kyle Forrest: In no particular order... learning to surf, hiking, camping, my first (of many?) triathlons... and on the non-outdoors side of things, Anderson Afternoons (beer and snacks every Thursday afternoon, sign me up!), all the Anderson related parties I’ve heard about (Casino Night, Anderson Prom, etc.), road trips to Vegas!!, and of course, exploring the LA nightlife. Also, crossing Coachella off my list.

Chris Varin: Playing soccer again. I tried to keep it going while in London and in South America but it will be nice to be on a full sized pitch again! I’m generally looking forward to being in an academic environment again where there are so many types of different interactions in different settings. Club-wise there are just so many activities to choose from that the decision might be harder than I anticipated. Vegas is definitely on the cards as is a PCH trip. An alumni also mentioned to me nights spent going out in Hollywood which sounded like a lot of fun (his stories weren’t entirely PG rated).

Ann Ching: The alumni I’ve spoken to all encourage getting involved in the Anderson social scene, especially Anderson Afternoons! I also want to participate in Challenge for Charity (C4C). As for LA, I can’t wait to hike in Griffith Park, visit the Getty Museum & Huntington Library, and perhaps sneak into a movie premiere at Westwood Village.

Ashley Mallinson: There are far too many things for one post. It is the people who make Anderson awesome, so I’m most excited to meet my classmates. I’m excited for Anderson Afternoons on Thursdays, Sundowners and Lit Club, a uniquely Anderson student-run event basically have a great comedy hour hosted by the “librarians” hilarious students who roast their classmates and host sketches the event. Learning to surf is high on my list. I definitely want to participate in Challenge for Charity! A few of us from New York have talked about starting a “Brunch Club” since LA seems to be quite lacking in that NYC sport, so stay tuned on that!

Kate Edwards: I’m waiting in serious anticipation for Lit Club, because I can’t wait to see how I get roasted! I’m also really looking forward to getting involved in lots of clubs and activities, and just diving into the Anderson community. Outside of school, I’m eager to doing many of the outdoorsy activities I’ve been missing out on in New York - hiking, biking, swimming, beach volleyball, and yes, like everyone else I do think I’ll have to learn to surf. I’m not, however, anticipating I’ll be very good!

Ayushman Jain: My calendar has literally spelled Monday, Tuesday, …WTF (hoping you get the pun) since the last 12 months or so. While on the one hand I know its not gonna be any better once classes start, I’m also kinda overwhelmed with the number of social activities that are already lining up on my calendar. Getting to know all my classmates eating, drinking, and orientation-ing is gonna take the major chunk of the social time. However, I’m so excited by the fact that I’m gonna be in Hollywood so catching a movie premier and some live performances is surely on the must-do list. I’ve always wanted to live close to the sea, so now that I’ve got a chance to, I’d make the most of it by swimming and learning to surf. Although I’m sure the year ahead is gonna be chock-full of social activities such as Anderson Afternoons, my locked-in plans for September feature trips to Disneyland, Seaworld and Universal Studios as well as the plethora of activities part of the True Bruin Welcome, an annual UCLA tradition. I’m so lucky to be part of the outgoing and fun-loving Bruin family!!

Alejandra Rodriguez: I am very much looking forward to hanging out with my new classmates and friends!  It’s all about who you are with, not where! I also want to join UCLA’s tennis club, I haven’t been able to play tennis since college and I miss it a lot. Los Angeles has awesome weather for any sport that does not require snow or ice. Additionally, I am dying to go to Disneyland again, after all it’s the second happiest place on earth (UCLA is the first one of course). Last, but not least, I am very excited about all the shopping I “need” to do. Moving to a new country is the perfect excuse for a little shopping spree…or two!

-Anderson 14' bloggers

Follow UCLA on Twitter @UCLAMBA