Since our charter class graduated more than 25 years ago, alumni
from the UC Davis Graduate School of Management have been making
their presence known around the world.
Our graduates are CEOs, vice presidents, chief financial
officers, chief operating officers and entrepreneurs. Around the
globe, they have taken prominent roles as international business
leaders in a wide range of industries and organizations.
Graduate School of Management alumni are actively involved in
their communities, and they make time for mentoring, advising and
assisting current students and networking with fellow graduates.
Calculating Risk
Status Quo is the Enemy
Associate Professor Thomas D. Beamish studies organizations, institutions, and economy; hazards and risks; and innovation and social change. He has written numerous articles and chapters and a book on a massive petroleum accident, “Silent Spill: the Organization of an Industrial Crisis” (MIT Press). In this blog, he discusses strategies for preventing crescive risk and disasters in teams and organizations.
The Experience is the Message: Online Marketing for the Wine Industry
In 2012, there’s no need to make a case for social media—it’s ubiquitous, and the necessity of participating in those channels is recognized by many wineries. However, the wine industry is very different from other marketplaces, so social media needs to be approached in a unique way. From a business standpoint, we have a challenge because there are 130,000 domestic and imported wines introduced every year, and there are very few companies with significant market share. We’re faced with a market that is incredibly fragmented, making it difficult to develop any kind of brand loyalty.
Mind be Nimble, Mind be Quick!
Agile Learning for Business Leaders
What do you do when you’re faced with a situation where you don’t know the answer? Think carefully . . . how did you just react to that question? Did you feel curious and empowered, or stressed and overwhelmed? If you felt curious rather than stressed, then you may be a breed of leader who has the skills of an “agile learner”. Researchers Michael Lombardo and Robert Eichinger explored this trait in their book The Leadership Machine.
Wine Executive Program 2012
Growing Skills from The Ground Up
How will you manage your business during the tight supply of grapes in the coming years? How do you create an effective social media plan? Is there a real wine market in China? Participants discussed these questions (and many more) during the 12th Annual UC Davis Wine Executive Program, presented by the UC Davis Graduate School of Management and Department of Viticulture.
America’s Corporate Distrust Problem
Let’s be honest: the term “Corporate America” doesn’t illicit warm and fuzzy feelings. Scandals like Enron and Bernie Madoff—not to mention the Wall Street crisis—have led many to lose their trust in corporations. To be more specific, there is a general distrust in the leaders who run those corporations. In the 2012 Edelman Trust Barometer, trust is now an essential line of business to be developed and delivered.
Mentorship Networks: Pay Innovation Forward
By Wendy Beecham
Over the last few weeks, I’ve continued to think about Professor Andrew Hargadon’s work on the power of building networks to foster innovation – idea networks and action networks. Andy is an engineer and social scientist, as well as the author of How Breakthroughs Happen: The Surprising Truth About How Companies Innovate. His position is that to become more innovative, you need to tap into what others are doing in order to learn from them. You’ll be able to adapt their ideas into something that will make a difference for you, your customer, and your organization.
Measuring the Impact of Executive Education
When developing custom programs with a client, the question at the forefront of my mind is always: How do we measure the ROI for the client? When will we know if the education we present has made a true impact on the teams we work with?
To answer those questions, I turned to Dan Burton, Senior Manager of Training & Development at the Genentech Vacaville Plant, who has partnered with Executive Education at UC Davis Graduate School of Management to plan and deliver custom executive education programs for his company. Burton explained that Executive Education at UC Davis allowed his company to “spend less and receive four times the value for the investment made.” His perspective is based on the active partnership and continuing collaboration after the program ended between Genentech and UC Davis.
Innovation Networks: Connect Your Way to a Better Idea
In Executive Education at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management, we’ve noticed a heightened interest in custom programs on the topic of “innovation.” I use quotations for a reason: the deeper I delve into what our clients seek to resolve, the more I find that they are grappling with issues around risk taking, collaboration, or faster decision making–not the stereotypical Eureka!/light bulb image conjured by the term.
A Rare Commodity: Women at the Top
Women at the top executive level are a rare commodity. Why and how do we move forward and change the numbers?
This week, I attended Unlocking a Source of Growth: Women in the Boardroom, hosted by Watermark, an event that sought to answer these very questions. The event was held at the Rancho Cordova headquarters of VSP Global, an international vision care company with several senior women leaders including Chief Marketing Officer Kate Renwick Espinosa and Chief Operating Officer of Vision Care Laurie Costa.