UCLA CIBER Global Blog

Team UCLA Anderson School of Management at the Sofaer International Case Competition in Tel Aviv, Israel

2011-05-24T12:37:00.000-07:00

A Blog Entry from Team UCLA Anderson School of Management at the Sofaer International Case Competition in Tel Aviv, Israel:

"After four days of intense strategic analysis, we finally presented our recommendations on the company IncrediMail. As a team, we worked through various levels of solutions, both from a strategic as well as financial feasibility perspective. We had been tasked with figuring out how to take a company that was generating about $30 million in revenue and growing it to $100 million by 2014. This was a daunting task and required significant out of the box thinking. As a team, we finally came up with solutions focused around increasing search capacity for this email client and monetizing significant amounts of dollars via advertising.
We had a very strong response after our presentation, but ultimately fell short of the grand prize. The prize was actually split between two Israeli teams – Ben Gurion University and Tel Aviv University. It was hard fought battle, but we felt very good for having participated and coming up with some truly unique solutions to the problem at hand. While we fell short of the goal as a team, we all felt like winners for having worked as hard as we did and participating.
Once the competition was over, we had a cocktail and food event where we were fed (incredibly well again!) for a few hours and were able to really network with everyone who had been involved in the competition. As a team, we made connections with all the visiting universities. We also were able to express our gratitude to the organizers of the competition, and it seems we will be invited again next year to compete as well. Overall, we found this competition as a phenomenal opportunity to learn about an international company operating in a global market and believe it to be an opportunity that was really positive for everyone involved.
To wrap up the week, the organizers arranged for all of the teams to take a trip to Jerusalem and tour the city the next day. We were able to walk through all parts of the Old City, starting in the Muslim Quarter, then proceeding through the Christian Quarter, followed by the Armenian Quarter and ending in the Jewish Quarter. We saw such amazing sites as the Dome of the Rock, the Wailing Wall, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was eye opening to see such a historic place that was so impactful across three of the world’s major religions and get a perspective from the people who lived and interacted there every day. This final day was a favorite of everybody – a fitting end to an amazing trip!
On the whole, our team would like to thank the organizers of the Sofaer International Case Competition, Tel Aviv University for hosting the competition, and CIBER for sponsoring us and making this trip become a reality. IT was an amazing and touching experience, and we hope that future Anderson students are able to benefit from the experience of this competition just as we have."

Team UCLA Anderson School of Management at the Sofaer International Case Competition in Tel Aviv, Israel

2011-05-19T12:55:00.000-07:00

A blog entry from Team UCLA Anderson School of Management at the Sofaer International Case Competition in Tel Aviv, Israel:

"We arrived together as a team in Israel Saturday, May 14th at noon. We were greeted kindly at the airport and brought to our hotel, located on Dizengoff Street directly in the center of Tel Aviv. It was Shabbat at the time – the day of rest. Shops were mainly closed, save for certain coffee shops and restaurants.
Sunday morning we as a team were brought to Tel Aviv University for orientation and introduction to the case. We joined a set of 13 international teams (with Colombia Business School being the sole other United States representative). China, Korea, Turkey, Colombia, England, Canada and Israel were also represented. After a morning work session in which the teams were given breakout rooms within the business school to begin case preparation, we were taken to lunch at the local cafeteria, followed by a visit and open Q&A session with the company that was the subject of the case, IncrediMail.
IncrediMail is an internet content and media company that designs and markets a suite of downloadable consumer products that are simple, safe and useful and bring a new level of fun, personality and convenience to email, desktop and screen saver applications. The office was covered in crazy cartoon animations, all that are specifically identifiable with the company and its motto of “fun and easy”. The Q&A was intense! Students were firing questions left and right, with the company’s COO sparring back with answers, or shooting down questions that delved a little too far beyond the privacy boundaries of the company.
After the visit, we returned to the hotel to follow up with some work on the case, and then a open bar/dinner at restaurant called Gordo outdoors on the beach. Plate after plate of meat and other dishes came out (and tower after tower of beer was drunk by all!) It was a lovely evening – we were joined by another group of students who had traveled to Tel Aviv for an Entrepreneurs rotation and company multi-week meet and greet. The best part was the opportunity to network with the students and faculty of all these international universities while surrounded by the beauty of the Mediterranean.

On the second day of the competition, we were picked up early in a bus to do a cultural tour of parts of Israel. We traveled to Haifa first, the 3rd largest city in Israel after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, and learned much about the Baha’i religion which originated there. We then traveled to the city of Akko, a town that was important during the time of the Crusades and showcased a peaceful mix of both Arabs and Israelis living together. We tasted some of the best Hummus any of us team members had here at the open market! We were able to also view such things as the fortified walls of the city, which held back an onslaught by Napolean Bonaparte back in the 1700’s, and the port of Akko, an important Mediterranean trading port.
Through these travels, we were able to get a good sense of Israel outside of just Tel Aviv. It is an amazing country and we have had an incredible experience. Even in a land of limited natural resources, the Israelis have exhibited an amazing entrepreneurial and creative spirit to do such things as irrigate land, turning parts of the dessert into viable farmland, and making significant strides in Green efficiency. Technology companies abound here, as we passed offices of Google, Microsoft, IBM, Intel and Sisqo, to name a small handful. And of course, we have been eating non-stop – the food alone is worth the travel!
We look forward to the subsequent days of the case competition and are working diligently towards winning one for UCLA..."

UCLA CIBER Receives Gratitude From the U.S. Department of Commerce

2011-05-10T12:58:00.000-07:00

From Francisco J. Sanchez, The Under Secretary for International Trade:

"Thank you for the support that UCLA and the Anderson School of Business have provided to the Department of Commerce, our local U.S. Export Assistance Centers and our collective efforts to create jobs through exports."

South East European Film Festival Business Conference

2011-05-10T12:50:00.000-07:00

SEE Fest held a Business Conference sponsored by UCLA Center for European and Eurasian Studies, and UCLA CIBER, and co-sponsored by Women in Film International Committee. Hollywood producers Ron Yerxa and Andrew Pfeffer were joined by Patricia Mayer, entertainment attorney, and Nesim Hason, producer and distributor with ties to the region.

China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know

2011-04-20T14:10:00.000-07:00

In this illustrated presentation, historian and blogger Jeffrey Wasserstrom will expand upon some of the arguments in his latest book, China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford University Press, 2010), and also try to place things that have happened during the eventful year since its completion into historical and comparative perspective. He will also reflect on the challenges for the US of dealing with China's resurgence. What is most familiar and what is most novel about recent developments in China's relations with other countries? How do the latest batch of high-profile books on the PRC, such as When China Rules the World, carry forward or diverge from longstanding patterns in Western thinking about Chinese themes? Can looking back to Chinese protest movements of the last century help us make sense of present-day outbursts of unrest? How can placing China and India side-by-side aid or hinder making sense of contemporary Chinese phenomena? These are the kinds of questions he'll explore.

WHEN: Wednesday, April 20, 2011 5:00 pm
WHERE: UCLA Anderson, Collins Center, A-201

America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy

2011-04-20T14:08:00.000-07:00

Join us for the Arnold C. Harberger Distinguished Lecture Series delivered by Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Laureate & Professor of Economics, Columbia University.

WHEN: Thursday, April 21, 2011 4:00 PM
WHERE: Korn Convocation Hall, UCLA Anderson School of Management

THIS EVENT IS NOW SOLD OUT. THERE WILL BE A STAND-BY LINE ON THE DAY OF THE EVENT AND WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO COME. YOUR ADMITTANCE IS NOT GUARANTEED BUT VERY LIKELY.

Africa Growth Conference

2011-04-20T14:03:00.000-07:00

Join the UCLA Anderson School of Management in welcoming top corporate and intellectual leaders as they share the exciting potential of Africa in the 1st Annual UCLA Anderson Africa Growth Conference.

Home to the world's fastest growing markets in the areas of capital investment and mobile communications, Africa offers unique and unparalleled opportunities for companies across the globe.

This conference is for business professionals, alumni and students who want to enhance their knowledge of the key drivers moving Africa forward and to position themselves to take advantage of these emerging opportunities.

The conference will also provide the chance for professionals and students to gain access to the minds of industry trailblazers, who will share their perspectives and feedback on what it takes to do business successfully on the continent.

WHERE: UCLA Anderson School of Management
WHEN: Thursday | April 21, 2011

Unhinged: Surviving Jo'burg w/ commentary from Dr. John Luiz, Wits Business School, South Africa

2011-04-05T13:20:00.000-07:00

UCLA CIBER & UCLA African Studies Center Present: A Social Issues in International Business Film Series Event and Guest Lecture.

Unhinged: Surviving Jo'burg is a documentary about Johannesburg, South Africa's biggest city and the world's gateway to southern Africa.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011
UCLA Anderson, Cornell Hall, D-307, 5:00 pm

National CIBER Centers Recognized By Bloomberg Businessweek

2011-03-09T12:09:00.000-08:00

Last week, CIBER centers across the nation were recognized by Bloomberg Businessweek. In Bloomberg's annual ranking of "The Best Undergraduate B-Schools," the article highlights the importance of an undergraduate global business program, giving students exposure and real-life experience with global markets. Urging for the need for an undergraduate degree for the 21st century, San Diego State University CIBER Director, Mark Ballam, believes "today's students understand that we now live in this global economy...it's sexy to them."

UCLA CIBER is one of 33 CIBER centers located at top-ranked US universities and funded by the Title VI programs of the US Department of Education.

To read the article, please visit:
http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/mar2011/bs2011031_642605.htm

MBA Student's Journey to Kawolo Hospital: Kawolo, Uganda

2011-03-04T12:16:00.000-08:00

December 7th, 2010: Journey to Kawolo Hospital; Kawolo, Uganda
Nadia Abuzaineh and Adam Wolf

After spending several days exploring the wide landscape of urban hospitals in Kampala, Uganda, we journeyed out to Kawolo Hospital, a truly rural 100 bed hospital about 45 kilometers outside of the city center in Kawolo. The drive in and of itself was quite a journey as we quickly realized that a drive that would normally take about 20 minutes, would instead take over two hours due to the extremely poor road conditions.
Upon arriving at the hospital, which was situated directly off of the main road into Kampala, we found a collection of buildings which appeared to be abandoned. There was no one in any of the administrative offices and all we heard was the heart-wrenching scream of what appeared to be a young child in extreme pain. We were shortly approached by a young woman who helped us locate the one doctor on call.
We then met Dr. Julius Kizito who, after training at Markere University in Kampala, returned to his hometown to work as one of the three doctors at Kawolo. Despite having over 100 beds, serving over 300 patients a day, and performing over 15 major surgeries daily, the hospital only had 3 doctors, an astonishingly low number for the medical needs of the area. We also learned that one doctor had been offsite on training for over a month, leaving just 2 doctors to cover the immense medical and surgical load. When asked what drove him to return to Kawolo, Dr. Kizito simply said, “this is my hometown; I always knew I would come back.”
In an effort to learn a little more about the types of needs at Kawolo, we learned that roadside and vehicle related injuries and fatalities were by far the predominate medical issue treated at Kawolo. After hearing this and experiencing the driving conditions first hand, one can’t help to wonder if the burden on the medical field could be reduced to a great extent by simply installing more stoplights and putting a greater emphasis on vehicle safety.
As we turned our discussion to some of the preliminary suggestions we had developed to increase the surgical capacity in rural areas, Dr. Kizito was excited to hear about a substitute surgeon program we had been developing. Although in the past surgeons in Kampala were mandated to serve in rural areas for several weeks a year, this program had been cut due to a lack of funding. As a result, when one of the three doctors was away for training or family matters at Kawolo, the entire burden feel on the remaining doctors. With a program where a substitute surgeon could be sent to handle the duties of the missing doctor, Dr. Kizito was optimistic that this would increase the quality of care not only by increasing capacity, but also by reducing the fatigue of the doctors who remained at Kawolo.
After our 2 hour journey back to Kampala, although we were certainly impacted by the extremely poor conditions at Kawolo, we were excited to hear that one of the recommendations we had been working on, the substitute surgeon program, would be of great benefit to a hospital like Kawolo. It was then off to sleep before an early morning flight to Nairobi, Kenya.

MBA Student's Journey To Tanzania

2011-03-02T11:34:00.000-08:00

Day 1 – Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania (Adam Wolf)

This was the first day of interviews in Tanzania for Nadia and myself and we weren’t quite sure what to expect. We had arranged an office visit with Andy Wilson, who manages the Abbott Fund operations and programs in Tanzania. After what was to become our staple breakfast of omelets and toast, we were picked up by Andy at 9am sharp and taken through the maze of traffic to the Abbott Fund offices in downtown.
Our hour long meeting with Andy turned out to be one of the most productive and insightful ones of the entire trip. The Abbott Fund seems to have really gotten the grasp of “impactful-aid”. While a number of other international NGOs and charitable foundations seem to blindly give away their dollars, the Abbott Fund has a strong understanding of the major needs of the country and where foreign dollars could be the most impactful.
The Abbott Fund, focuses on three main areas:
- Nutrition
- Access to Healthcare (mainly healthcare systems)
- HIV/AIDS (ex. PMTCT,treatment, infrastructure, pediatric AIDS)

Major Programs in place:
• Building fully functional laboratories in all 23 regions in Tanzania. By March 2011, all labs are expected to be up and running. Prior to this, lab testing for diseases such as TB and malaria was not possible, making treatment even more challenging. This was eye opening for me since international focus seems to be on alleviating disease without consideration to the major issue of actually being able to identify or diagnose a disease condition. The Abbott Fund also realizes the importance of equipment maintenance in creating a sustainable model of care and is also in the process of training local technicians in each region in the basics of lab equipment maintenance.
• Building and supplying the first emergency department in a public institution in the whole country (traction for this initiative was achieved by establishing a partnership with the ministry of health)
The Emergency Department at Muhimbili Hospital
The emergency department facility was built by the Abbott Fund and is staffed by Muhimbili. In my eyes, it’s the perfect example of how supplies, infrastructure and workforce are all essential in building a truly successful capacity building program. Prior to this, 7-8 people would die a day as a result of trauma. After the introduction of the ER, 5 of these lives is being saved on a daily basis.
The fund is also responsible for instituting the first ever national ER curriculum for doctors and nurses. The initiative is being spearheaded by Dr. Alwyn Mziray, a Tanzanian local who was trained in the US. This further adds to the value of the program as he is able to pull best practices of the American medical school curriculum into Muhimbili training. In addition, he often uses his network to invite doctors and residents to the Mihimbili ER, further adding to the quality of the training experience.
Our experience at Muhimbili is a testament to the fact that you should never make assumptions and leave any avenue unexplored. What we expected to be a short visit to talk through lab facilities turned into a truly memorable and insightful experience. We thank Andy Wilson and his whole team for their hospitality and for their eagerness in sharing their experiences.

The State Department's Role in U.S. Foreign Economic Policy: A Conversation with Under Secretary Robert Hormats

2011-02-25T11:28:00.000-08:00

Friday February 25, 2011, 3:00 pm
Entrepreneurs hall, Room C-315

Under Secretary Robert D. Hormats will speak on U.S. foreign economic policy, discussing issues from trade and agriculture, to bilateral relations with America's economic partners. With the growing role of emerging markets like China, India, Brazil and other smaller nations, the U.S. has enormous export and investment opportunities, along with prospects for major new partnerships.

MBA Students' Journey to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (Black Lion and Fistula Hospital)

2011-02-23T12:28:00.000-08:00

The following is written by Ben Mirtes and Lianna Kong MBA 2011 for their Applied Management Research Project:

In researching leading practices in surgical capacity building in sub-Saharan Africa, we identified Ethiopia as one of the countries that has had success in several programs it has implemented and continues to build upon its efforts through aggressive healthcare capacity building initiatives. On our second day in Ethiopia, we visited the Black Lion Hospital or Tikur Anbesa (in Amharic, Ethiopia’s national language). Black Lion is the largest public hospital in Ethiopia serving the residents of the nation’s capital, Addis Ababa, and anyone who can access the hospital from surrounding areas. Unfortunately, the hospital does not have the capacity to meet the demand for its services. Hundreds of people patiently wait in an outdoor courtyard, which serves as a waiting room before seeing a doctor.
Black Lion one of the largest teaching hospitals in the country affiliated with Addis Ababa University. In addition to its medical school, Black Lion has a very robust training program for surgical residents. The surgical department strives to increase their capacity in not just the number of cases they see, but also increase the number of faculty and expand their training programs to include more sub-specialties.
We were very fortunate to have the opportunity to conduct interviews with members of the administration and teaching faculty – this including the Dean of the Hospital, the Director of Surgery, and 2 senior surgeons. One of their many recommendations for improving surgical capacity included partnering with teaching hospitals affiliated with universities in India. The benefits of such collaborations are that the pathology is similar to Africa’s making the training very relevant to the needs of Ethiopia and residents/faculty can do hands-on learning, which they are unable to do here in the U.S. due to insurance reasons. Training in India also allows surgeons to both climb the learning curve faster – as they attend to more cases in India due to the high volume and efficiency in the number of cases that are seen in a day – and learn new surgical techniques because they see a large variety of cases. Additionally, given that surgical training requires a significant amount of capital, they need funding for new equipment and as well as training to use this equipment. While the hospital itself could use additional structure and process design, the human capital they have is very impressive.

MBA Student's Journey To Mexico With The World Child Project

2011-02-18T11:05:00.000-08:00

The following is written by Hannah Ko MBA 2011 for her Applied Management Research Project:

"Our trip to Tijuana started in style: at 7 AM on a Greyhound bus in Compton. We met our client, Johnny Duda, and other members from his organization, the World Child Project (WCP). Their organization seeks to aggregate volunteers from all walks of life to put an end to child poverty through health, education and direct care services. Our AMR team was brought to WCP to focus on how to improve their operations in Mexico. Joining us on the trip were friends of the staff, professional documentarians, and volunteers from a local software company. During the ride, we met our fellow travellers, enjoyed some amazing breakfast burritos and learned more about the orphanages we would be visiting.

During the first day, we stopped at two orphanages, Casa Hogar and Estado 29. Given the stigma of orphanages we were accustomed to, we prepared for the worst. But what we saw was very different from what we expected: shouts of laughter, cozy living areas and kids eager to give you a hug. One of the common trends we heard across both orphanage directors was the need for a more sustainable approach to giving. It is a huge help to receive money and clothes every once in a while, but that type of lending creates a dependency. Building a business model for these orphanages that is self-sustaining gives these kids a much brighter future. Later that night, we discussed possibilities for what this model might look like as we ate at a delicious authentic Mexican restaurant overlooking the Pacific.

We awoke to the sound of the ocean and met at the buffet downstairs. Ebenezer-AC was our last visit before heading home. What was different about this orphanage was the kids they took in. They were each victims of unspeakable exploitation; some abandoned, some sexually abused, some sold for drug money. What struck us was just how well-adjusted these kids were, despite their terrible past. Their shinning demeanors were a testament to the work of Freddy and Eva, the orphanage’s co-founders. They gave up a happy life in Southern California because “God spoke to us and told us to go to Mexico”. They treated each child as if they were their own, and in doing so, created a family. However, the very thing that brought them Mexico was also their biggest pitfall. When we asked about their budgeting process, Eva simply responded “God will provide for us”. So yet another question we’re forced to ponder: how do you help those that don’t understand that they need your help?"

Part VII: MBA Student's Research Financial Access At Birth

2011-02-16T11:06:00.000-08:00

The following is written by Brent Peterson MBA 2011 for his Applied Management Research Project:

December 24, 2010

Christmas Eve 2010 in Mumbai, India. We finished three interviews today. We spoke with two people at ICICI bank. I am really glad that we stayed and talked to them. It was in a pretty nice part of Mumbai. Just business parks, almost like Irvine, California. We only had the two bank meetings but then we also met Praveen for lunch at the Cricket club, which was pretty fancy. We got some great audio recorded. In the afternoon we went downtown to meet with State Bank of India. We were a half hour late because we stayed and talked to Praveen for too long, but SBI seemed to not mind. SBI was in a great part of downtown, but I was surprised by their operation. It was quite different than ICICI. As it was Christmas Eve we were looking for something to do. Avi was sick so we didn’t go to his white Christmas party he was planning. We were in the catholic portion of the city so I considered finding a Catholic Mass to attend. The night before we went to Olive, a chic club in Mumbai, and stayed there way too late. I think we got home at 3:00 am. I’m not going to lie, it was much more fun than I expected. Lena is taking off tonight to go to the airport and I leave tomorrow night. Our journey is coming to an end.

Part VI: MBA Student's Research Financial Access At Birth

2011-02-14T11:57:00.000-08:00

The following is written by Brent Peterson MBA 2011 for his Applied Management Research Project:

December 23, 2010
We had an interview with FINO. Unfortunately I missed the ‘record’ button so we missed a lot of the information that we got. Bummer. However, we took notes and discussed it and reconstructed our conversation in the taxi ride home. On the ride back our taxi driver hit another car. The other driver came out of his car and started hitting our driver. It was a really uncomfortable experience. We didn’t really know what we were supposed to do. After he hit him a couple of times he just walked away. We then went to some Italian restaurant where they kicked us out yesterday. They were about to kick us out again because it was after 3:00, but when they saw that we were the same people that they kicked out yesterday they served us. It was the first time I had beef in a while. Priya had to leave to meet some of her family in India so our trio was down to two.
We flew to Bombay. We almost missed our flight when it got moved up, but after some hurrying and some stress we ended up making it with plenty of time… only to find out the plane was delayed anyway! I thought Lena’s traveling curse might be to blame.
We met with the BCG team working with UIDAI and some of the other UID folks on Tuesday night. We had a great two hour discussion and asked them what they thought the benefit of FAB would be. Viral _____ of UIDAI had some really interesting points. We have it all recorded. Half way through the discussion one of them said something like, “This is off the record, right?” They were surprised we were recording the whole thing. We assured them that it was for internal use only and they would have absolute editing power in the end. I think that assuaged their fears. We met with EKO earlier and had a great meeting with them. They have an interesting model where all the banking is done through mobile phones. Monday we met with Ashok ____ and we met with Panjab National Bank. Our meetings were very productive.

Part V: MBA Student's Research Financial Access At Birth

2011-02-11T11:17:00.000-08:00

The following is written by Brent Peterson MBA 2011 for his Applied Management Research Project:

December 20, 2010
We came back from Jharkand on Thursday and found Lena at the hotel. We stayed at the Ramada Plaza which is a real five star hotel (made affordable by once again putting all four of us in one room!). Thursday night we went to Olive and then to Urban Pind. It’s a club that has expat night every Thursday night. We got there and the bouncer asked… “Are you here with Fashion TV?” “Yes, Yes we are!”. I love it. We got some good photos. There were a lot of Russian models there. Lena tried to introduce me to them but it was just really awkward. They didn’t really have much to say and I didn’t have much to say. Friday night we got into the grand opening party for the new club at our hotel and it was full of Bollywood stars. We met a bunch of stars and one of them hung out with us for most of the night. The pictures tell the story.
Saturday morning we visited the Jaipur region. I didn’t have high expectations, but it was amazing. We agreed that the Amber Fort on the hilltop was more impressive (if not more beautiful) than the Taj Mahal simply based on the size and ambition of the construction. It was fun to hang out with the whole team in a more relaxed setting. We drove back Sunday morning. Jack left Sunday night and Team FAB was downsized to three.
We went and spoke with Rajesh at UID again. He lined us up with key appointments for the coming week. We had some great Indian food for lunch and then went to meet with a bank. I was surprised about how well the meeting went. We came back and I took a couple of laps around the pool. It was outside, so every breath was of brown pollution.

Part IV: MBA Student's Research Financial Access At Birth

2011-02-09T11:16:00.000-08:00

The following is written by Brent Peterson MBA 2011 for his Applied Management Research Project:

December 16 2010

We met the man in charge of rural development. He told us how UID is enabling the government to quickly reduce the costs and time of delivering employment benefits in the rural areas. He showed us the current steps and how long each takes. It generally takes 8-10 steps to get a payment out to a person in a rural area and one to two months. UID enabled accounts will make it three steps and the goal is to bring it down to one week. That would be a huge difference since most rural people don’t have access to credit that allows them to eat if their payments are late. He said that the government hasn’t quantified everything in terms of money because some of the savings is in time and convenience and nobody has a good grasp on the monetary value of this time savings.
We got dominoes pizza again. Being in Ranchi though was educational, but I don’t think I plan on living there any time soon.

Part III: MBA Student's Research Financial Access At Birth

2011-02-07T11:43:00.000-08:00

The following is written by Brent Peterson MBA 2011 for his Applied Management Research Project:

December 15, 2010
Today started out poorly but redeemed itself in the end. Lena missed another flight when the airline screwed up and got stuck in New Jersey. Our driver was late so we only had time to go speak with Arvind. Professor Chowdry warned us about not getting too stressed about packing a lot into each day because there would be delays. We didn’t have to deal with it too much yet until today. After our meeting we went to an enrollment site in a rural area. We waited around for the guy to lead us to the site and then ended up driving with a guy from another agency that was bidding on doing enrollments in another region. The government itself doesn’t run the enrollment stations. Instead, they put the contract out to bid for third parties, and the winner gets the right to enroll people in the region. The agency is paid on a per-person basis once their data is uploaded to the central government database and validated. This method seems to be a critical factor behind the speed at which UIDAI is ramping up operations.
The last site visit was my favorite thing so far. It was really interesting to talk to our new guide about what the agencies took into account when they made their bids. I think the going rate was about 25-35 rupees per head in these areas. That’s about 55-75 cents per head. They get 50 enrollments per day, so they would only be making roughly $20 per day in revenue per station. It was the first time that we got fresh air in India, which in itself made the place beautiful. We filmed a little bit more of the process. Some of our best pictures were taken in this area. The rollout itself was very chaotic. There was no clear order to the steps in the process and people piled up against the gate trying to get their application started. They had several stations, but very few of them were being utilized at any given time. After filming a little bit, Jack and I went out and played volleyball with some local kids. After we drove back, we went to Domino’s for a much needed break from Indian cuisine. Crossing the street was another near-death experience. It was like a high-stakes game of Frogger.

Part II: MBA Student's Research Financial Access At Birth

2011-02-02T12:17:00.000-08:00

The following is written by Brent Peterson MBA 2011 for his Applied Management Research Project:

Incredible India! That was the sign at the tourist office in LA for India… and it is! Today we left Delhi and flew to Ranchi in the state of Jharkhand. It’s called the “wild west” of India. The main industries are mineral and coal extraction. There is a ton of smog everywhere in India and even in the countryside surrounding this city of 1.3MM it is no different. When we got here we tried to put all three of us in one room to ease our budget, but 15 minutes later the front desk called us back and told us we couldn’t do that. It’s against the law for unmarried men and women to sleep in the same room. After settling in we went to a festival in the town center where UIDAI had an information booth. We met up with Arvind and he took us there. At the booth, they took my eye scan and my fingerprints to demonstrate the UIDAI enrollment process. It’s a pretty cool system they have going and I was really excited to be watch it in action. We walked around for an hour after and saw the other booths including a weaving machine, which was surprisingly neat. The region was known for producing the cloth that Ghandi used for his signature garments. The entire production process was on display from raw wool to finished cloth. Also they had a very dramatic play going on. We didn’t understand a word of what was going on, but it looked pretty entertaining and elaborate.

Part I: MBA Student's Research Financial Access At Birth

2011-01-28T10:45:00.000-08:00

The following is written by Brent Peterson MBA 2011 for his Applied Management Research Project:

December 10, 2010

What an interesting place. Flew in yesterday. Got a taxi, the taxi driver missed our exit, so he just put on his blinkers and started backing up on the freeway. Woke up this morning at the Park Hotel. Went down and had breakfast, which was a mix of maple donuts and Indian food (we were really excited about the maple donuts). Indian food is the same food for breakfast that you get for lunch or dinner. I went out for a tour of the city while Jack finished up some remaining school work, only to find out later from Priya that I paid way too much for my rickshaw. No big deal. He took me around the city and then took me to all of his friend’s shops or the shops where he receives a commission. We later found out that this is standard practice. I think I frustrated the first shop owner because I had no intention of buying anything.

Priya arrived around noon. Team 41 was now 3/4th present. Lena’s visa had not yet come so she had to reschedule her flight. Unfortunately, this was only the beginning of what would become her four-day travel nightmare. We got lunch and walked around a little bit before we met with Rajesh Bansal, our main contact at the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). Rajesh was surprised and impressed by our knowledge of the goals, functions, and progress of UIDAI. He kept saying, “that kind of question comes from someone who has done their homework.” We ended up having a two-hour conversation with him and left feeling very optimistic about our upcoming field visits.

The next day we drove for five hours to get to the Taj Mahal. Absolutely breathtaking. We went with Raj, a friend of Priya’s. We tried bargaining with locals to get us into shorter line, but in the end just ended up waiting. Everything is a negotiation here. It makes the simplest exercises interesting and a challenge. Luckily the line turned out to be only 20 minutes instead of the two hours we’d heard about. We had a great time. Between the four of us we must have taken over 1,000 pictures. Jack and I got some strange stares from two guys. I feared that they were sizing us up to rob us, but I think they were just awestruck with Jack and I being the tallest, whitest pair of Americans they’d ever seen. We got home pretty late and crashed.

Stay Tuned for Part II on Monday, January 31st!

UCLA International Business Association Treks To London

2011-01-24T11:36:00.000-08:00

Over the past Thanksgiving weekend, 21 UCLA Anderson students went to London for the seventh annual career trek, hosted by the International Business Association. In conjunction with five other US MBA programs, the trip consisted of finance, consulting, and sports/entertainment fields. Sreesha Vaman of ULCA Anderson noted that "above all else, we learned that while they all work for US-based companies, they have loads of opportunities to expand their business in Europe - in many cases, moreso than their US-based colleagues who face a fragmented saturation of the American entertainment market." Ranging from the NFL and NBA to partners at Goldman Sachs and Deloitte, students had the opportunity to meet with senior executives, as well as recruiters and fellow MBAs.

UCLA CIBER sponsors Dr. Judee Timm to travel to Singapore and Malaysia

2011-01-21T12:24:00.000-08:00

Dr. Judee Timm, of Monterey Peninsula College, recently set out on a Faculty Development Trip to Singapore and Malaysia to research and expand her, as well as here program's international business competencies. The trip is sponsored by UCLA, USC, and San Diego State CIBER in an effort to promote a greater foundation of business expertise among community college faculty.

If you too would like to follow her adventures, please click on the link below:

http://jtimm.tumblr.com/

USC 24th Annual Asia/Pacific Business Outlook Conference

2011-01-12T12:54:00.000-08:00

On March 28th and 29th, USC will be hosting their 24th annual Asia/Pacific Business Outlook (APBO) Conference, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The Senior Commercial Officers (SCO’s) from American embassies, consulates and institutes in the following economies will participate in APBO 2010: Australia/New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. The SCO’s will provide “Country Outlook” seminars, will speak in small-group workshops and will be available for private appointments with APBO participants. Each of them will also be accompanied by an American executive business partner from “their” country. An additional 25 business practitioners and academic experts on Asia complete the APBO “cast.”

For the second year, APBO will feature special sessions on sustainability, as well as broader environmental issues and policies in the Asia/Pacific region. Each Country Outlook session will feature “sustainability business opportunities”— energy and water conservation, renewable energy and clean coal technologies as well as the wider green technology industry. Each of our Country Outlook speakers will discuss new national programs promoting sustainability business opportunities in their respective countries.

APBO conference attendees will gain unparalleled access to Asia business experts. In two days, 50 Asia experts will provide 60 seminars and workshops on fourteen high-growth markets around the Pacific Rim. More than 50 percent of all APBO sessions are dedicated to Q & A, and over 100 hours of private consultation appointments with the experts are reserved for conference participants.

Global Green Business Week for Young Leaders: Dates set for July 17-22, 2011

2010-12-02T14:13:00.000-08:00

UCLA Anderson School of Management’s Center for International Business Education and Research’s (CIBER) Global Green Business Week for Young Leaders is a one-week summer institute for talented rising high school seniors addressing the fundamentals and current trends of greening and management from the triple bottom line of people, profit, and planet.

Selection to the program is highly competitive and limited to 50 students. Previous attendees from around the globe have started green initiatives in their schools, created small companies while in high school, and developed non-profit ventures across the globe, all before turning eighteen.

Students are introduced to the question, what is meant by sustainability, and what are its core concepts? UCLA professors, researchers, doctoral students, MBA students, and practicing executives give insight on the biological, societal, and economic factors that drive and define green business

International Opportunities Fair

2010-11-16T10:08:00.001-08:00

Stop by Kerckhoff Hall on Tuesday, Nov. 16, between 10:00 and 1:00 to get information on careers, study, internships and fellowships abroad as well as campus-based international involvement opportunities. The opportunities fair is part of International Education Week, Nov. 15-19, an initiative of the U.S. Departments of Education and State.

Fudan Executive MBA Students Attend UCLA CIBER Seminar

2010-11-09T10:35:00.000-08:00

Executive MBA students (pictured above) from Fudan University, located in Shanghai, China, attended a 4 day seminar at UCLA's Anderson School of Management this past week. The seminar on global entrepreneurship and branding was hosted and organized by UCLA CIBER.
The program took place from Nov 2-5, 2010 and included six academic sessions taught by UCLA Anderson faculty.

UCLA CIBER Meets with Ambassador David Adelman of Singapore

2010-10-25T14:02:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, October 19, Dr. Robert Spich, Faculty Director of Programs for UCLA CIBER met with Ambassador David Adelman of Singapore. The event was hosted by the CIBER at the University of Southern California. Key representatives of the meeting included Dr. Richard Drobnick, Director, Center for International Business Education and Research, USC Marshall School of Business, Mr. Tom Plate, International Syndicated Columnist & Distinguished Scholar for Asian & Pacific Studies, Loyola Marymount University, and Mr. Kantathi Suphamongkhon, Senior Fellow, UCLA &Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand.

Financial Access Initiative Conference starts today

2010-06-07T16:16:00.000-07:00

UCLA CIBER hopes MBA students will find the Financial Access Initiative Virtual Conference on "Reimagining Microfinance Around the World" hosted by NYU, Yale, Harvard, and IPA a useful tool. To join, use the URL link: http://microsave.org/static/content/VC-on-portfolios-of-the-poor

MBAs explore how the Division of Plastic Surgery at the Federal University of São Paulo can benefit from U.S. plastic surgery best practices

2010-05-10T10:46:00.000-07:00

David Nielsen, MBA 2010, states: “The overall objective was to define best practices in academic plastic surgery hospitals in the U.S. through a benchmarking exercise and formulate recommendations to our client using a marginal return on investment framework. As such, our team traveled during Spring Break 2010 to São Paulo in order to conduct the first phase of our primary research. Interviews totaled 31 stretching across a wide range of faculty, staff, and other affiliates including the Division Chief, distinguished teaching professors, researchers, residents, et al. We also toured various hospitals and out-patient facilities throughout the city. Given our budgetary constraints, in order to conduct this research our team had to find a creative supplement to fund the project in addition to the allocated CIBER funds. Prior to our departure, we had developed an international business course curriculum that focused on health care and had sold seats to hospital chiefs, faculty, and staff from all over São Paulo. We delivered this course the last two days of our visit.

MBAs explore if Bolivian artisans can enter the US market

2010-04-20T11:38:00.000-07:00

Chris Mullen, MBA 2010, states: "We traveled during Spring Break 2010 to Bolivia to conduct our second field study for [our client,] Jalsuri. We spent our first day in Santa Cruz visiting the Jalsuri store, the local art market, and the shops of several competitors. Next, we jetted to the capital city of La Paz, where we spent the remainder of our expedition. While in La Paz, we conducted in-depth interviews with Jalsuri staff to further our understanding of Jalsuri's current operation, customers, top-selling products, and the import and shipping restrictions that apply to Jalsuri's foreign trade. We also met with a Bolivian export company to get information on Jalsuri's options for exporting products. In addition, we were able to visit several Jalsuri trade partners, including the owner of Comart, who shared his experience exporting Bolivian products to the US. Over the span of two trips, we have been able to visit all three Jalsuri store locations (Santa Cruz, La Paz, and Copacabana), giving us a complete picture of customer demand, store layouts, staffing arrangements, and product variety. While in La Paz, we also visited a number of competitor stores to understand customer preferences, product demand, price points, and to help us benchmark Jalsuri relative to other locally-made craft retailers. On our final day, we managed a trip to Copacabana, at the edge of the famous Lake Titicaca.

MBAs look at how to reach a critical mass of donors for a client in China

2010-02-24T10:47:00.000-08:00

Michelle Lee MBA 2010 writes:

Team 66 traveled to Hong Kong Dec. 16-22, 2009, on behalf of our client Wokai, an online-based microfinance organization focused exclusively on China. We chose Hong Kong as our research destination because Wokai had recently launched a Hong Kong chapter, and our research thus far showed that cities with local chapters produced the highest number of “passionate” donors who contribute the largest amounts and most frequently. This was important as Wokai is struggling to reach a critical mass of donors, and as a niche product, it needs to secure a sizable donor base of “passionate” believers, in order to be sustainable (unlike an organization such as Kiva, which serves all geographies and appeals to a mass audience). Thus, we set out to interview the board of the Hong Kong chapter and to follow them through their launch strategy. In addition, another critical part of our trip involved conducting in-depth interviews with donors from Wokai’s target segment of expatriates, given that Hong Kong has a large population of “high-potential” expats—those who have significant disposable income and who are likely to have strong enough ties to China to care about this niche product.

We first reached out to more than 250 UCLA Anderson alumni who fit the bill and ended up conducting focus group-like sessions with 10 of them. In addition, we also held meetings with the Hong Kong board, spending most of the time with the chapter’s two co-presidents. In general, through the interviews with the potential donors/alumni, we learned that credibility and transparency are major concerns, particularly since Wokai targets China and China is known to be fraught with fraud. Similarly, through the meetings with the Hong Kong board, we found out that most of the result of their outreach was made possible because nearly all of the Hong Kong donors thus far had personal ties to someone on the board. Because of the trip, we were able to uncover that Wokai had a fundamental “trust” issue that would need to be resolved through improved borrower updates (which would address the transparency concerns) and through revamped online messaging (which would address the credibility problem).

MBAs win Energy Case Competition at U Michigan Ross

2010-02-03T14:27:00.000-08:00

UCLA CIBER sponsored and congratulates Adam Green, Dave Castle, Pok Hoo, Hiromasa Ebihara, and Andrew Hunt for winning the 2010 Renewable Energy Case Competition held at the University of Michigan Ross School. The UCLA Anderson team went up against teams from Harvard Business School, Northwestern's Kellogg School, and Cornell's Johnson School. Once again, our congratulations!!!

Students studying microinsurance policies in Brazil are blogging

2009-12-14T15:02:00.000-08:00

Find out more about our students conducting their field study in Brazil regarding microinsurance policies: http://uclamicrofinance.weebly.com/blog.html

MBA Students Work in Ghana Assessing Efficiency of Hospital Operations

2009-12-08T11:24:00.001-08:00

Our client is one of the largest health care providers in Ghana. Our team has been tasked with improving the efficiency of the hospital’s operating rooms. To accomplish this, three members of our team traveled to Accra to visit. While at the hospital, we interviewed management and staff, followed patients through the system and observed surgeries. This trip helped enable our team to fully understand the hospital’s operations, including internal and external challenges the hospital must overcome. With this increased understanding, we are now developing a performance management system and providing recommendations for improving their organizational structure. In addition, we established many relationships which should prove helpful throughout the remainder of our project. Thank you CIBER for allowing this to happen!
- Scott Titus, MBA 2010

Nisarg Brahmbhatt, MBA 2010, travels to India for research

2009-10-16T11:00:00.000-07:00

Date: September 18th, 2009

On reaching Ahmedabad, I scheduled a meeting with Jagan K. Mohan (JKM) Dasa swami, manager in charge of Akshaya Patra’s (AP) Gandhinagar operations. We agreed to meet on Friday to visit the Gandihinagar kitchen, located 30 miles from Ahmadabad. Kitchen operation starts as early as 3am and I got there at 6:30am. Upon arrival, JKM and I decided to observe operations first. It was interesting to note that everyone has to remove their shoes and use clean footwear before entering the operations to keep operations area hygienic. I observed three production areas each responsible for cooking rice, daal (soup) and roti (bread). I spoke with the supervisor in charge of each production units and used my camcorder to record the kitchen operations so that I could review the footage with my team back in USA. I also visited the area where the machines cut vegetables and prepare spices that are added to food during production. After spending two hours observing the cooking process, we decided to convene in the conference room to speak with supervisors from each section and other support department heads. At the end of another 2.5 hour conversation, I gained in-depth knowledge of typical AP operation and identified areas of improvement in regard to operations. At noon, I decided to call it a day and exchanged contact information with JKM.

Date: September 21st, 2009

My next destination was Banglore, located xxxx miles away from Ahmedabad. On Monday morning, I flew to Bangalore where I met my group mate Chinny at the airport. After two hours of car ride, we reached AP’s south Bangalore kitchen where we met Ms. Usha, our point of contact from AP. We checked in at the modest but comfortable guest house that AP kindly arranged for us and left to have a lunch meeting with Usha. Usha told us about her role, the overall organization structure and her tentative schedule for the next two days. Later in the evening, we met Ajay Parikh, Executive Director of Strategy for AP. Ajay explained the foundations overall vision and long term plans. After the meeting, Chinny and I decided to go to bed early that day because we had to get up at 4 am.

Date: September 22nd, 2009

The day started with visit of the on campus kitchen at 5:00 am! We briefly visited the on-campus kitchen in Bangalore which was similar to the one in Gujarat. We then traveled another 20 miles to AP’s North Bangalore kitchen, one of the largest kitchens in AP network. North Bangalore kitchen serves over 100,000 meals per day, five days a week and is 3 floors tall. We received warm greetings from the kitchen supervisor, and we spent the next two hours observing the 3 floors of operations that entailed cleaning, cooking and packing. Afterwards, we met the supervisor from each floor and discussed various details about their operations. Around 10:30am we left to go back to South Bangalore kitchen.
Upon reaching the kitchen campus, we met with Operations Manager for AP’s largest decentralized kitchen in Mathura. He explained how the decentralized model worked and what AP’s plans were with this type of cooking model. Usha had made arrangements for us to visit a nearby school where AP sends meals every day. We visited the school and met with the headmaster to take note of his inputs. We returned to kitchen campus and spent the next hour speaking to the transportation manager to understand the distribution system. We had a quick working lunch again discussing our observations with Usha. Next, we met the Nandnandan Dasa, head of design and process optimization. In 90 minutes, he shed light to many intriguing questions that had puzzled us. We then had another meeting scheduled with Ajay, whom we met the previous day. The three of us went through AP’s short term requirements that Ajay put together for us in a scope document. We discussed various initiatives that our AMR team could work on and how our AMR team will communicate with AP going forward.
After a marathon day of visits and meetings, Chinny and I sat down to compile our notes. We went through the scope document and created a summary for the other group members. By the time we finished, it was already 11 pm and we decided to call it a day as Chinny had a flight to catch in 5 hours.

Date: September 23rd, 2009

The next morning, I met Usha and asked her to put me in touch with head of operations in Jaipur, which has second largest decentralized kitchen. She connected me with the manager over the phone and we spoke briefly to gain more information about the Jaipur operation. After the phone call, I visited the on-campus kitchen operations to take few last minute notes. It was already 1:30pm, only 2 hours before my scheduled flight. I left for the airport after a short wrap-up meeting with Usha.

On my way to the airport, I wondered why smart people like Nandnadan Dasa (with a Masters in Industrial Engineering and amazing understanding process/operation design) decided to devote their entire life to a nonprofit organization like AP instead of acquiring wealth for themselves. Then, I remembered meeting precious school children on the previous day. Observing the children eat and happily interact with their friends was truly a satisfying moment. Now I know why everyone at AP is so excited and committed to their work. Putting a smile on a child’s face by providing his one and only meal of the day is priceless and is more rewarding than achieving any great corporate success!

The Best Summer Internship Ever in Lima, Peru

2009-10-06T12:31:00.000-07:00

It was around the middle of March 2009, many of my friends had internships, I did not. I had a wave of interviews in January, nothing came of it. I had some more interviews in March, I got some offers but none of them were too attractive. Then, out of nowhere and after a flurry of phone interviews, I received only what could be described as the best summer internship, ever.

Altiplano Venture Funds (AVF) is a non-profit venture capital firm founded in October 2008 by an American finance professional who spotted an opportunity in Peru whilst he was working in Santiago, Chile. The main goal of AVF is to alleviate the side effects of mining activities on local communities in Peru. The team consisted of the founder mentioned above, a French/American private equity lawyer from New York, the South American director of a global engineering and project management firm, a team of American and Peruvian lawyers working for AVF on a pro-bono basis, and I (there was supposed to be another intern but he had visa issues).

Although it had been several months since AVF had been founded, it was not until the time I arrived that it was fully incorporated as a non-profit entity. Therefore, there was still a lot of ambiguity in the direction of the organization. My first task there was to identify potential sources of funding and investment targets. This involved gathering information from public databases, government archives , conferences and meetings such as ones at the Rotary Club and interviewing relevant people/organizations i.e. directors of other non-profits, government officials such as those at the US embassy and business leaders in the mining industry. Other tasks that I performed include projecting cash flows in order to determine the amount of funding required which in turn helped to demonstrate when the organization would become self-sustainable. From the research and modelling, it became clear that the original business model is not optimal. Over the weeks, ideas flowed and many changes took place in terms of the direction of the organization and its structure. Therefore, my main task was to re-draft the business plan for AVF over the coming years. This was not an easy task as no one on the team (including myself) had much experience in writing business plans. Nonetheless, I spearheaded the re-drafting of the business plan with much help from a variety of people (including a few UCLA Anderson professors). Eventually, towards the end of my internship, we ended up with a solid business plan and were ready to implement the pilot project (an investment into and management of a low-tech water filter manufacturer/distributor in rural Peru).

I had originally planned to be there to learn all there is to know about venture capital but, whilst I did get some experience in the investment selection process and financial modelling, I ended up learning much more about business development. I think this experience will prove to be much more valuable in the future than the finance skills that I had hoped to learn as a) I improved my ability to cope with ambiguity, b) I learned how difficult it is to start a business and c) knowing how difficult it is to start a business has not put me off in starting my own business in the future.
Overall, it was a fantastic experience not just because of the internship but also living in a culture that I’ve never experienced. At first, Peru seemed very foreign to me but after a week or so, when I had met a lot more people (especially Peruvians), figured out where things are and how things are done, I realized that Peru was an amazing place to be (my defining moment of feeling more “local” was when I shopped at a dingy produce market where I obtained 3 oranges, 3 pears, 2 Granadillas, a mango, a cherimoya and a huge avocado for $3.40). After my internship, I had a little time to travel and see other parts of South America. This short but packed journey made me realize that it is not just Peru that is fascinating but the whole continent has things to offer beyond my imagination. I will definitely be looking for opportunities there after graduation. To finish, I would like to thank CIBER for their generous financial assistance which enabled me to travel to Peru and help start an organization, AVF, which has the potential to improve the lives of many people who are less fortunate both now and in the future. My personal experience there was definitely enriched by this generosity, thank you.

MBAs conduct field research in India and adapt to project changes

2009-09-14T10:25:00.000-07:00

Hello all. We arrived in Bangalore last night, and had our first day with our client today. We have been very generously welcomed here. It was a very productive day, as we were able to meet with the heads of Finance, Marketing, Fundraising, and Strategy. They were all very impressive, and they run an extremely sophisticated operation. We were able to get a strong sense of their goals, and how they hope to achieve them. We also got a sense of the many challenges they face.

There is no lack of potential projects. However, our stated project (helping choose the optimal domestic expansion targets) will probably have to change. Currently, they expand into new regions based on invitations from the local governments. They only decline invitations if they lack the resources (i.e. private donations, municipal commitment, and availability of real estate) to operate viably in that region. They already have well developed methodologies for evaluating expansion targets. Our efforts are better served elsewhere, in helping with the many other challenges they face in reaching their aggressive expansion goals.

Potential areas of focus:

- resource procurement optimization
- marketing strategies to improve domestic and international awareness
- labor force efficiency: training, knowledge transfer
- formalized strategic plans: 2-3 year plans, and a rolling 10 year plan

These are just a few of the many issues that were raised in our interviews with the staff, which we recorded and look forward to sharing with you.

Tomorrow we will be touring the main kitchen in Bangalore, as well as some of the local schools. We will keep everyone abreast of our progress. As always, any and all feedback is appreciated.

-Saman & Reggie

UCLA CIBER inaugurates high school program around sustainability

2009-08-21T13:20:00.000-07:00

UCLA CIBER finished its first Global Green Business Week For Young Leaders, a one-week summer program for talented high school juniors and seniors. Forty students came from California, New Mexico, Minnesota, Maryland, Italy, Malaysia, France, and the United Arab Emirates to participate in the program. The students lived in dorms on campus and were taught by faculty from UCLA Anderson and the UCLA Institute of the Environment, as well as from graduate students from management, economics, and urban planning. For more info, contact our center at ciber@anderson.ucla.edu.

Note: Photo courtesy Erin Orias Photography.

Executive MBA students sponsored by UCLA CIBER conduct research for Medical and Surgical Skills Institute (MSSI) in Ghana

2009-06-03T14:06:00.000-07:00

With the financial assistance of UCLA CIBER, a UCLA Executive MBA (EMBA) SMR (Strategic Management Research) team was able to coordinate two visits to Accra, Ghana. The purpose of these visits was to conduct primary research for the business plan. Travel to Ghana was essential to obtaining information on the Johnson & Johnson/International Aid (J&J/IA) sponsored Medical & Surgical Skills Institute (MSSI) at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.

During their visits, they conducted interviews and surveys of medical students, surgical residents, University of Ghana Medical School professors and administrators, medical society leaders, corporate contributors and equipment manufacturers, and representatives of our client organizations.

Prior to their visit, the team conducted a study of 300 surgeons at the West African College of Surgeons Conference in Conakry, Guinea. Their initial visit to Ghana afforded the opportunity to gather interview data to supplement our survey responses. They were fortunate to also travel to the Michigan-based headquarters of International Aid. The interviews conducted there and at the University of Michigan allowed the team to gain insight into the intricacies of medical equipment donation, NGO operations, and the nuances of international relationships between academic institutions.

The team's second visit to Ghana provided the opportunity to interview members from their client organizations, gain insight into their other corporate contributions, and observe the MSSI in action. Additionally, the EMBA students used this as an opportunity to present our preliminary findings to their clients as part of a mid-point presentation.

The scope of the SMR project required primary research in excess of what would have been possible with the limited standard budget. The additional funding provided by CIBER allowed for additional research that will undoubtedly yield meaningful and actionable recommendations for the team's clients.

MBA students attend the University of Chicago Microfinance Conference

2009-05-11T11:24:00.001-07:00

On May 8, 2009, fourteen MBA students from UCLA Anderson attended the University of Chicago Microfinance Conference. The conference, entitled "Navigating the Markets: Microfinance in the New Economy" was held at the Chicago Booth School of Business Harper Center. In addition to the fourteen first-year MBAs who attended the conference, one Applied Management Research (AMR) team from UCLA Anderson, comprised of second-year MBA students Wallace Cheng, Amit Thakkar, Tulika Kundu, and Avantika Bhargava, presented their AMR project for client Grameen America.

MBA Team Evaluates Financial Growth for Coffee Cooperative in Guatemala

2009-04-23T15:02:00.000-07:00

MBA team Amy Nishioka, Shane Suehisa, Takako Ogawa, Felipe Sanchez, Taro Sasaki, and Andriy Aleksandrov were funded by UCLA CIBER for their AMR research project. Their client recently established federation of eight coffee cooperatives in Guatemala. Through grants from NGOs, it was able to build a dry processing facility and is in the process of obtaining an exporting license. Despite the initial grants, the client does not have adequate working capital for its current processing business or its future exporting business and has sought out the UCLA Anderson team to assist with solving this problem.

During their visit to Guatemala, the team conducted research to verify assumptions and investigate solutions regarding-the quality of the dry processing operation-the support and expectations of the member cooperatives and farmers/growers-the availability of credit in local markets and the requirements to obtain credit- and finally, the client's ability to obtain credit in the future.

Since returning, the team is focusing on formulatting the client's financial projections and validating its value proposition so that it may faciliate garnering future business from existing members and new members and obtain financing through local banks and NGOs who concentrate in the coffee growing market.

Director of Global HIV-AIDS program for the World Bank speaks at Anderson

2009-04-17T14:14:00.000-07:00

Invited by the UCLA CIBER and UCLA African Studies Center, Dr. Debrework Zewdie, Director of the Global HIV / AIDS Program at the World Bank offered her thoughts on the economic crisis' impact on global HIV-AIDS populations in her lecture "Global Economic Crisis and the HIV Response." The lecture was attended by faculty and students from UCLA Anderson, the School of Public Health, the School of Public Affairs, and the undergraduate and graduate colleges at UCLA. This lecture was part of the UCLA CIBER Key Regions/Critical Issues lecture series.

Chinese and Spanish for Business Classes for MBAs

2009-04-08T17:08:00.000-07:00

At UCLA Anderson, CIBER sponsors Winter and Spring quarter language for professional purposes classes. Both Mandarin and Spanish for business are taught and offered to MBA students as a two-credit elective. A combination of first and second-year students enroll in the courses, with a beginners course in each language offered in the winter and an intermediate follow-up course offered in the spring. The goal is to help students understand and gain knowledge of grammar fundamentals and basic phrases to assist in business context as well as to imbue an appreciation for each respective culture.

Social Issues Film Series continues on April 8, 2009

2009-04-01T09:35:00.000-07:00

UCLA CIBER, in conjunction with the UCLA Anderson Entertainment and Media Management Institute (EMMI), and the UCLA Latin American Studies Center will host the second part in a two-part series on economic crisis and social issues in international business. The documentary, Argentina: Turning Point, released by Bullfrog Films, chronicles Argentinians in the aftermath of their economic crisis in 2001-2002. The event will be held at 5:30pm in Cornell Hall, classroom D-313. For more information, or to RSVP, please email ciber@anderson.ucla.edu.

CIBER Info Session on International AMR Projects this Thursday

2009-03-02T09:59:00.000-08:00

UCLA CIBER and the UCLA Anderson AMR office (Applied Management Research) will hold a special info session for MBA 2010 candidates regarding special international projects (microfinance and international social entrepreneurship) for their AMR. Students will have the chance to learn about CIBER, past projects, and the timeline for their own project. The info session will be held in Collins Center, A-301 at 11:45am on Thursday, March 5, 2009.

Social Issues Film Series event scheduled for April 8, 2009

2009-02-24T15:50:00.000-08:00

UCLA CIBER, in conjunction with the UCLA Latin American Institute, will showcase Part II of its Social Issues in International Business Film Series focused on economic crisis. The second documentary, entitled "Argentina: Turning Around" by Melissa Young and Mark Dworkin, revisits Argentina to find out how, years later, Argentians were coping with the aftermath of their economic crisis. The event will take place on April 8, 2009 at 5:00pm at UCLA Anderson in room D-313.

Global Business Forum Takes Place in Hong Kong

2009-02-19T16:29:00.001-08:00

UCLA CIBER, along with many other CIBER centers at US universities, sponsored the 2009 Global Business Forum organized by the University of Illinois and Hong Kong University. Approximately 130 senior executives, government officials, and alumni for sponsoring universities attended the conference held at the Hong Kong convention center. Entitled "Strategic Positioning in a New World Economic Order: Asia-Pacific and Global Competitiveness," the event took place on February 12, 2009.

MBA/MPP Student Conducts Case Study Research in Africa with HIV/AIDS organizations

2009-02-17T11:33:00.000-08:00

Studying international management isn't always about figuring out best practices for a Fortune 500. With financial support from UCLA CIBER and the Price Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, MBA/MPP candidate, Erin Eriksson, traveled to Malawi and Kenya to assist in collecting data for case studies related to managing operations for profit and non-profit organizations. Much of her work looked at helping HIV/AIDS organizations improve their services through better management practices. Erin says, "I am grateful to CIBER for affording me the opportunity to build my knowledge and experience. As an MBA/MPP student focusing on international health, working abroad to gain experience with healthcare organizations in Africa was critical to my understanding of challenges and potential solutions."

MBAs Study Educational Project for Orphans Around the World

2009-02-12T11:20:00.000-08:00

For their AMR project, Luis Salas, Andrew Chun, Erica Colon, Alejandro Gonzalez, and Lan Ta (all MBAs 2009) traveled to Kenya, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Mexico, to conduct an international roll-out strategy for an entrepreneurial educational project for orphans.

Funded by UCLA CIBER, their research focused on the ideal conditions of an orphanage and key success factors in order to implement an entrepreneurship educational program in orphanages in the developing world.

Social Issues Film Series event on Economic Crisis, FEB 11, 2009

2009-02-06T12:06:00.000-08:00

This UCLA CIBER program, in conjuction with the UCLA Latin American Institute, consists of two separate documentary films that deal with the Argentine Crisis in 2001 and its aftermath 6 years later.

The first film, Argentina:Hope in Hard Times captures the social crisis that resulted when the value of the Argentine currency fell drastically, the banks froze all savings accounts, owners of businesses fled their factories and much of the public was essentially left to deal with the crisis on its own.

This film, by Melissa Young and Mark Dworkin who were in Argentina on another assignment, captures the dramatic moments of crisis that not only demonstrate the strength of the human spirit in trying times, but also how, under the most trying of circumstances, the people, workers and middle class, spontaneously organized self-help efforts and succeeded, through dialogue, discipline and hope to survive the crisis.

The second film, Argentina: Turning Point, to be shown later in April, 2009, will show how a crisis in today’s political economy can provide a opportunities for innovation and change. While not a strict Schumpeterian phenomenon, the film shows how people can experiment with new models of work, production, cooperative politics, joint ownership and community development.

MBA Field Study Team Returns from China

2009-02-02T10:28:00.000-08:00

As part of their Applied Management Research (AMR) project, Chris Bishop, Jamie Song, and Xi Wang, both MBA 2009's, traveled to Hu County, a rural county 20 miles southwest of Xi’an in central China, to do field research and analysis for their client, a microfinance institution. While there, they interviewed government officials, customers and competitors to understand the market and performed a survey to business owners and other potential customers to identify their lending needs and awareness of their client. Through their findings, they plan to make recommendations that will help their client attract more investors, increase their customer base and improve their profitability.

Agenda launched for Title VI 50th Anniversary Conference

2009-01-30T10:22:00.000-08:00

As a member of the Title VI programs for building a US international education infrastructure, UCLA CIBER will be taking part in the Jubilee anniversary Title VI conference March 18-21, 2009 in Washington, DC. The conference organizers have recently added the conference agenda. Please visit at http://titlevi50th.msu.edu/agenda/.

Travel Study in Peru Info Session (1/28/09)

2009-01-27T11:27:00.000-08:00

UCLA CIBER and the UCLA Center for World Languages will host an information session tomorrow on the CIBER Business and Culture for Spanish program in Lima, Peru. The program will take place June 22-July 17, 2009. The info session will be held in Rolfe Hall, room 1301 at 12pm. Past participants will talk about their learning and life experiences in Peru and traveling in South America. Lunch will be provided!

UCLA CIBER cosponsors Global Branding conference at Columbia

2009-01-26T10:15:00.000-08:00

In collaboration with the CIBERs at Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, UCLA CIBER will cosponsor "Branding in India and China: The Reality and Future," which will be held at Casa Italiana, on the Columbia University campus, this Friday, January 30th.

Universidad Adolfo Ibanez visits UCLA Anderson

2009-01-23T14:30:00.000-08:00

This week, nineteen executive MBA students from Universidad Adolfo Ibanez visited UCLA Anderson for a five-day international management seminar sponsored and organized by UCLA CIBER. The program included sessions taught by leading Anderson faculty in marketing, operations, policy, and global economics.