9464 EWMBA Bro.c2.3.indd - Berkeley MBA - University of California ...

THE BERKELEY MBA
Learning Beyond the
Gaining hands-on exposure to real-world business
situations is emphasized in the Berkeley MBA Program.
Experiential field activities are an integral part of your
innovative courses as well as in numerous out-ofclassroom
opportunities.
In Class and in the Field
Many Berkeley MBA electives make use of hands-on projects in the field.
This almost always means team projects—an important aspect of
experiential learning. For example, the course Business Model Innovation
sends groups of students to work with Silicon Valley firms to analyze how
firms use innovation in different ways to gain industry leverage.
The innovative Social Sector Solutions course partners with the international
consulting firm McKinsey & Co. to engage in major consulting projects for
nonprofit organizations, such as the David Brower Center, the Graduate
Theological Union in Berkeley, and the Opportunity Fund. Students work with
senior leaders of the organizations and McKinsey consultants in offering
plans, creative ideas, and solutions.
Vidya Chadaga
MBA 09
Senior Product Marketing Manager
Cast Iron Systems
Mountain View, California
Previous degree:
BEng, Marathwada Institute of Technology
India
“With the Haas@Work program,
I experienced the much-desired life
of a consultant—solving real world,
live case problems for companies
like Cisco, Lam Research and Visa.
Executives from these companies
engaged us to help them identify
strategic opportunities and develop
specific recommendations to
capitalize on market trends.”
“At the end of the workshop, teams
presented their recommendations to
each company’s executives who then
decided on which recommendations
to execute on and invest in. This
experience let me apply all models
and frameworks learned in the
Berkeley MBA program to real world
business situations.”
The Seminar in International Business courses send groups of Berkeley MBA
students around the world to learn how business practices are employed
across cultures. Recent trips have taken students to India, Russia, South
Africa, and Chile.
Applied Innovation Opportunities
Beyond the course-related field activities are a plethora of programs,
projects, student-organized conferences, case and business plan
competitions, and numerous special events that challenge Berkeley MBA
students to put their learning to work right away.
The school’s flagship applied innovation program is Haas@Work, which sends
teams of Berkeley MBA students to work with top executives at major firms
such as Cisco, Disney, Panasonic, Clorox, and Wells Fargo. In the program,
you research a competitive challenge posed by the firm and develop potential
4 Haas School of Business Leading Through Innovation