The UC Berkeley & Silicon Valley Experiential Trip is an exciting and unique opportunity for CityU MBA participants to gain international experience by staying at the UC Berkeley campus for a 7-day Entrepreneurship & Business Plan Development Programme and a 5-day Innovative Management for Global Business Programme during the period of 28th of July to 7th of August 2014 and 11th to 15th of August 2014 respectively.
Entrepreneurship & Business Plan Development Programme
Exposure to innovative business thinking in the bay area: The course leader David Charron from Haas School of Business kick-started the programme by introducing Silicon Valley’s innovation and entrepreneurship culture so that participants could gain an in-depth understanding of the business environment in the bay area. Through the detailed explanation, practical examples of various corporations, visits of large and small companies and sharing of local entrepreneurs, participants were able to learn the relationships between new ventures, customers and venture capital there.
Essentials of entrepreneurship and business management: Participants were divided into groups for interactive activities to learn the essence of entrepreneurship and develop their business model. They were given a framework which provided them with a “hands on” tool for creating a business plan including refining the idea, developing the opportunity and planning & delivering business venture. Under a stimulating and informative setting, participants were asked to construct a prototype on a business and then present their ideas to potential customers to find out their needs by collecting feedback on the product. They were also introduced concepts on financial management concepts to better understand the capital requirements of the company and dealing with investors. Participants then were given time to conduct interviews with potential customers and to practice their presentation to attract the attention of the audiences.
Exchange with entrepreneurs of large and small companies: Participants had visited four companies in San Francisco namely New Avenue, Autodesk, QB3 and Google Glass. They were excited to learn the business model of each company and the sharing of their experience. Not to mention the opportunity to try on the newly developed Google Glass to test its functions. At the same time, participants had also met with a panel of entrepreneurs discussing their experiences in starting and running their ventures. They found the conversation fruitful and constructive and shared the difficulties that panel members are facing. The programme ended by presenting to a panel of four judges who are also experienced entrepreneurs in town. They listened to the final deliverable of our participants and gave valuable comments and feedback to each group so that they could to launch a business with a greater chance for success.
It was the first time ever for CityU MBA participants going beyond China for its Residential Trip. The programme is well-received by our participants who enjoyed much of their learning at Berkeley, the arrangement of programme and last but not least, the invaluable sharing of experience entrepreneurs who had gone through the up and down in a business.
Innovative Management for Global Business
It is the 7th Summer that CityU offered the 5–day advanced management programme in collaboration with the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley. Participants from MBA, EMBA, DBA and a few taught postgraduate participants from the College of Business gathered together in the Executive Education Seminar Room and were all excited to meet and learn from faculties from Haas.
The programme focused on Innovation and Marketing which provided participants with the ideas, knowledge, and the practical tools in building a better business in general. Led by Faculty Director Prof Lynn Upshaw, the programme started with the emphasis on global marketplace and market strategies. Global strategies, innovation and entrepreneurship then were introduced to the group before going to the company visits at Google and Intel. Participants were delighted to have a chance visiting the world famous corporations in Silicon Valley and be able to learn the corporate culture and development of the companies in their headquarters. Under the sunshine of California, participates gathered together with classmates for photo taking outside the companies and explore environment in the surrounding.
Participants were also engaged in the beer game, a stimulation game, which enabled participants to understand the key principles and the advantages of taking an integrated approach of supply chain management. Pricing in the global marketplace and brand marketing were also introduced. The programme concluded with participants’ presentation and a sum up by Prof Upshaw.
Participants were pleased with the well-structured programme which provided practical business skills and knowledge within the specific field.
