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.
Buffett 2.0: A Second Trip to See ‘Oracle of Omaha’
120 UC Davis MBA Students Meet Billionaire Businessman
For the second straight year, a group of UC Davis MBA students were invited to meet and learn from businessman and philanthropist Warren Buffett, the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Buffett hosted 120 students from the Graduate School of Management—triple the number who visited him last year—in Omaha on President’s Day in February.
Leading up to the trip, students met several times to prepare and finalize team projects, including ways they will thank Buffett for the opportunity to meet him and tour his businesses in Omaha.
Eighth Annual UC Davis Wine Executive Program
The Graduate School of Management and Department of Viticulture and Enology at the University of California, Davis, will offer the eighth annual UC Davis Wine Executive Program from March 9 to 13 in Sacramento.
UC Davis Breaks Ground on ‘Green’ MBA Building
Wielding golden shovels, prominent business leaders joined MBA students, faculty and alumni to break ground on a $34.5 million Graduate School of Management building and conference center complex. The energy-efficient, environmentally responsible project will help boost the profile of the nationally ranked School and serve as an important new venue for business and academic conferences when it opens in fall 2009.
Avoiding Investor Self-Sabotage
Psychological traits that serve us well in everyday life may be counterproductive when it comes to sound investing. Professor Brad Barber, an expert in investor psychology, will discuss these potentially troublesome traits in the first Policy Watch lecture of the 2007-08 academic year, on October 17.
Wine Industry Growing
Optimistic winemakers will introduce a host of new wine varietals during the coming year, according to the 16th annual survey of wine industry professionals conducted by Professor Robert Smiley, director of wine studies in the UC Davis Graduate School of Management. Smiley’s survey is the largest of its kind in the wine industry.
Auditor Quits, Stock Sinks
Stock prices dip about three percentage points immediately following the announcement of an auditor’s resignation, a study by Professor Paul Griffin shows. “A resignation seems to foreshadow an underlying message about changes in fundamentals, particularly future profitability and growth, Griffin says.” Read the study online.
Newspaper Downsizing May Backfire
Newspapers that cut budgets in response to shrinking profits risk triggering a “suicide spiral,” according to a recent study. “The media industry’s recent impulse to slash jobs to cut costs is not only ineffective, it can lead to more red ink,” notes Professor Prasad Naik, who co-authored the study. Read the study online.
Academics High as NCAA Certifies UC Davis a Division
After completing a rigorous four-year process, the NCAA certified UC Davis a Division I school. Professor Kim Elsbach, who chairs the athletic administrative advisory committee and serves as UC Davis’ faculty athletic representative to the NCAA, pointed to a recent study that showed the university’s student-athletes fare better than the rest of the student population in academic performance and graduation rates.
Big Bang! Combines Talent, Competition and Money
Three young scientists with a potentially lucrative idea for getting patients out of hospitals faster took home the $15,000 first prize at the annual Big Bang! business-plan competition organized by UC Davis MBA students. The event rewards innovation at UC Davis and encourages entrepreneurship in the region at large.
Foster Farms’ Fox, CalPERS’ Read Bring Executive Know-How to UC Davis MBAs
Robert Fox, who led Foster Farms and other major corporations for four decades, has donated $350,000 to establish the Robert A. Fox Executive-in-Residence Program at the Graduate School of Management. Each year the School invites a senior-level business leader to teach a quarter-long MBA course in his or her area of management expertise. This year’s executive is Russell Read, chief investment officer at the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS).
Nevada Gov. Gibbons Talks to ‘Green’ Entrepreneurs
Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons will address nearly 50 researchers from 14 states as they learn how to take their environmental solutions from the lab to market at a week-long UC Davis program beginning March 26 at Lake Tahoe. The Green Technology Entrepreneurship Academy is hosted by the Graduate School of Management’s UC Davis Center for Entrepreneurship.
MBA Students Make Corporate Tour of Japan
Thirteen UC Davis MBA students guided by Professor Robert Smiley take a two-week tour of Japan that would be the envy of any trade delegation. The international study trip includes exclusive meetings with leaders of more than a dozen major corporations and a visit to the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Organizational Crime: Why Good People Do Bad Things
Training employees to better understand why good people do bad things could be more effective in curbing organizational wrongdoing than ethics training and legal reforms, according to research by Professors Donald Palmer and Michael Maher. “Much wrongdoing is the result of mindless, mundane processes—rules, hierarchy, standard procedures and social influence processes,” says Palmer, who teaches a course on the causes of corporate and white-collar crime.
Business Strategy Deters Unprofitable Customers
Professor Hemant Bhargava says that companies wanting to deter unprofitable customers intentionally create setbacks that impair the quality of service for those users. Netflix, America Online and FedEx have used this strategy, which is common in the technology industries, where firms offer all-you-can-eat pricing menus.
A New Focus on UC Davis Commercialization Efforts
With InnovationAccess, UC Davis has relaunched its services for commercializing discoveries, supporting businesses spun off from the campus, and promoting research collaborations with the private sector.
‘Green’ Entrepreneurs Learn to Get Research to Market
Engineering and science researchers from across the U.S. will learn new tools to bring green technology from the lab to the marketplace at the Green Technology Entrepreneurship Academy at Lake Tahoe March 26–30. The intensive business development program is hosted by the Graduate School of Management’s UC Davis Center for Entrepreneurship.
UC Davis Little Bang Winners Announced
Several MBA students and alumni were among the winners of the Little Bang poster competition, run by UC Davis InnovationAccess. The winning teams and runners up in each sector qualify as semi-finalists in the Big Bang! Business Plan Competition.
Technology Start-ups, Step by Step
The bestselling Technology Ventures: From Idea to Enterprise (McGraw-Hill), co-authored by Professor Richard Dorf and Stanford’s Thomas Byers, is the only textbook to walk students and entrepreneurs through the process unique to starting a technology venture. The recently released second edition includes a new multimedia DVD that features video clips of entrepreneurial thought leaders from Silicon Valley.
Women in Business
Featuring Dean Nicole Woolsey Biggart and Mary Wiberg, executive director of the California Commission on the Status of Women.
Women in Business – Three
Featuring Jane Mangan, vice president of merchandising for Gymboree.