The Four Components of the UCLA Anderson Curriculum

1:  Leadership & Management Communication

Leadership Foundations is a unique, five-day, mandatory two-unit course taken during Orientation that is designed to enhance knowledge of and competency in leadership. The course offers different perspectives on leadership, emphasizing the development of skills that support effective leadership. The combination of readings, lectures, cases, experiential exercises and class discussion allows entering MBA students to determine their own leadership strengths and limitations, and to develop a plan for improving their strengths and overcoming their limitations.

The Management Communication program is designed to help students strengthen the relationship between their analytical and communication skills.  The program's components are designed to complement work done in selected core and elective courses and in the Applied Management Research (AMR) project.  The first component is a 4-unit class taken in the first two quarters of the program aimed at improving students' business presentation skills, visual and verbal persuasion skills, and interpersonal communication skills.  The second component is part of the AMR project and includes communication workshops and coaching to improve the quality of the written and verbal communications.  The third component is an advanced elective for students interested in further developing their communication skills.

2:  Customized Core Sequencing

Customized core sequencing is designed to prepare you for internship interviews, which get into full swing at the start of the winter quarter. In the fall quarter all students take accounting, statistics, and economics to build a firm quantitative foundation, but then choose between marketing and finance. If you're aiming for a career in marketing or consulting, enrolling in the fall marketing class will probably be the best way to prepare for the case-based interviews commonly used in these fields. Alternatively, if you're aiming for a more quantitatively-oriented career, the finance class will give you the knowledge and skills you need to perform well in the interview room.  During the winter quarter, you'll pick up whichever of the two classes you did not take in the fall. You'll then have the option to take the core strategy course or pursue an elective course of your choosing. For some students, such as aspiring consultants, it makes sense to prepare for internships by taking strategy earlier in the year. If you intend to do the finance or marketing track, then there are elective offerings that will help you get off to a strong start.

First Year Core Schedule

3:  Tracks and Specializations

Your second year of study is made up entirely of elective courses of your choosing, plus the AMR project (see below).  You'll have the opportunity to complete one of four optional tracks: marketing, consulting, finance or custom. These tracks will allow you to pick from a series of elective courses to build deep expertise in your chosen career path. Specializations allow you to customize your academic preparation even further according to industry and function.  Elective courses taken in the first year will get you started on the track or specialization(s) that you would like to leave UCLA Anderson with. However, the majority of the effort to complete these requirements will occur as a result of your choice of electives in your second year. 

4:  Applied Management Research Project (AMR) 

The Applied Management Research project provides an opportunity to apply your knowledge and skills to the strategic problems of a real world organization. A two-quarter project in the second year, the AMR, is the final requirement of the UCLA Anderson MBA program. Teams of MBA students, advised by faculty, complete a project from among three options:

01 Management Field Study teams complete strategic consulting projects for companies secured by UCLA Anderson or arranged by the team independently with program approval.

02 Business Creation projects may be conducted by a select number of teams that wish to execute an approved business plan.

03 Special Projects investigate significant business issues. These projects could involve conducting an industry-wide study or building a model to prove a complicated financial theory.

We look forward to becoming a partner in the story of your career success.  If you have questions about our curriculum please contact Jessica Luchenta, Associate Director, MBA Student Affairs.