Global Immersion Courses
Global Immersion Courses
Learn about the Business Environment, Entrepreneurship and Technology Transformation in Vastly Different Economic, Political and Social Environments
Concentrating on the school’s target regions of Asia and Latin America, the Center for Global Management offers four-unit global immersion elective courses throughout the year. These experiential learning courses expose students to a country’s economy, political environment, major industries and businesses, startup communities, local culture, key historical events and the many aspects of conducting business outside the United States.
Courses include four on-campus classes and one week in-country for a blend of guest speakers (business executives, entrepreneurs, policy makers, academics and opinion leaders), fireside chats, panel discussions, company and startup visits, contextual visits, cultural sessions and networking with alumni.
Each course is a mix of approximately 40 participants across Anderson’s four MBA programs, providing students a wonderful opportunity to network among the different degree programs and gain many memorable experiences. Over the years, more than 3,000 students and alumni have participated in these courses and traveled to over 30 countries with more than 25 UCLA Anderson faculty members.
The Center for Global Management’s global immersion and international exchange courses enable more than 300 FEMBA, EMBA, UCLA-NUS EMBA and full-time MBA students to travel and study abroad each year. Virtual course alternatives were available when travel was restricted. Guest speakers, virtual experiential and live interactive sessions complemented the faculty teaching sessions to provide students with a unique, learning-orientated experience.
A Sample of Our Global Immersion Courses
Doing Business in an Advanced Middle-Income Country: Chile
Sebastian Edwards
Henry Ford II Chair in International Management and Distinguished Professor of Global Economics and Management
CHILE: Doing Business in an Advanced Middle-Income Country: Chile
Sebastian Edwards
Henry Ford II Chair in International Management and Distinguished Professor of Global Economics and Management
Chile is the most advanced country in South America. It has vast deposits of natural resources and sophisticated financial, business, and political institutions. It has the second largest lithium deposits in the world, the number one copper deposits, incredibly varied climate, best locations in the world for solar (northern desert) and wind clean energy (Patagonia). It also has vast potential for green hydrogen. When it comes to global business it is one of the most interesting countries in the world. It has immense potential, but it also has challenges. This course explores all of them. In October 2019, and to the surprise of most analysts, major demonstrations erupted in Chile. They were massive and at times violent. This process, which this course studies in greater detail, resulted in the election of a Constitutional Convention, which will write a new constitution for the country. This new “law of the land” will determine the way in which Chile organizes its society, its politics, and its business in the next 40 to 50 years. Before travel to Chile, during three class sessions, the course will explore some of the most important economic, business, social and political aspects of the country, cultural issues as well as social and business challenges. In-country, prominent business leaders, academics, politicians and senior policy makers will help illuminate Chile’s economic and business environments.
Cuba: An Economy in Transition
Gonzalo Freixes
Associate Dean and Adjunct Professor of Accounting
Cuba: An Economy in Transition
Gonzalo Freixes
Associate Dean and Adjunct Professor of Accounting
This course looks at Cuba’s history and economy both before and after the Castro brothers assumed power in 1959. The Cuban Revolution led to the establishment of a traditional communist economy in Cuba in the early 1960’s. Following a Soviet model, Cuba seized most major landholdings from its foreign or domestic owners, promulgated a centralized economy, abolished private ownership and strictly controlled any kind of private enterprise. These reforms led to a mass migration of many in Cuba’s upper and middle classes, and the retaliatory imposition of an economic embargo by the United States. Cuba’s economy struggled due to these factors and relied on sizable subsidies from the Soviet Union to maintain itself economically. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia, P.R. China, Vietnam and other communist nations charted a different economic path, embracing private enterprise for economic gain. Cuba resisted these changes until after Fidel Castro stepped down from power in 2008. Thereafter, Cuba slowly adopted limited free market reforms, leading to a new 2018 constitution that recognized private ownership and foreign direct investment for the first time since 1959. Two trends emerged from this economic path: (1) The proliferation of small to medium size businesses across the island, and (2) government partnerships with foreign companies to develop Cuban industries like tourism, agriculture (tobacco, sugar), distilled spirits (rum) and mining. These initiatives have accelerated since Raul Castro stepped down as the country’s president in 2018. Students discuss the successes and failures of the Cuban Revolution, analyze the trajectory of economic reforms in recent years, learn about Cuba’s rich culture and gain an understanding of the impact of the Cuban diaspora on the United States.
The Business Environment of India: Mumbai and Hyderabad with an Emphasis on Entertainment, Finance, Tech and Biotech
Romain Wacziarg
Hans Hufschmid Chair in Management and Professor of Economics
INDIA: The Business Environment of India: Mumbai and Hyderabad with an Emphasis on Entertainment, Finance, Tech and Biotech
Romain Wacziarg
Hans Hufschmid Chair in Management and Professor of Economics
This course familiarizes students with India’s business environment. Since experiencing a severe balance of payments crisis in 1991, India has engaged in several waves of economic reforms that have resulted in high rates of growth over the last 30 years. Aided by strong fundamentals such as a democratic political system, a vast and youthful population, a culture of entrepreneurship and a large cohort of well-trained engineers and scientists, India is emerging as one of the major economic powerhouses of the 21st Century. Yet challenges remain: an inadequate infrastructure, rampant corruption, growing income inequality, the permanence of the caste system and a dysfunctional political economy have conspired to hinder the strides that India was poised to make. This course explores both the risks and opportunities offered by the Indian market for foreign investors and domestic entrepreneurs alike.
Start Up Nation: Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Sustainability
Stuart Gabriel
Arden Realty Chair and Distinguished Professor of Finance
ISRAEL: Start Up Nation: Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Sustainability
Stuart Gabriel
Arden Realty Chair and Distinguished Professor of Finance
This course seeks to explore antecedents to and sustainability of agglomeration of entrepreneurial business innovation and related start up activity in Israel. That agglomeration has led many to describe Israel as the “Start Up Nation.” Technology development has focused on numerous applications including fintech, enterprise IT and data infrastructure, national security, natural resource scarcity, agriculture, and health. Israel has become a global leader in cybersecurity, high-yield agriculture, water-conserving technology, largescale water de-salinization, and related efforts to sustain agricultural and urban development in arid zones. This course explores the aforementioned topics, via on-campus class lectures and discussions, presentations and site visits in Israel that focus on venture capital, entrepreneurial activity and technological innovation, related social entrepreneurship, and the Israeli start up and contextual eco-system. The course also seeks to evaluate the sustainability of the Israeli start-up phenomena and ongoing efforts to spread those opportunities to weaker segments of society.
A Technology-Driven Transformation of Society, Enterprises and Consumers: Using Singapore to Provide a Perspective on What is Happening in the Greater China Region and the Broader Southeast Asia Region
Terry Kramer
Faculty Director, Easton Technology Management Center and Adjunct Professor of Technology Management
GREATER CHINA REGION: A Technology-Driven Transformation of Society, Enterprises and Consumers: Using Singapore to Provide a Perspective on What is Happening in the Greater China Region and the Broader Southeast Asia Region
Terry Kramer
Faculty Director, Easton Technology Management Center and Adjunct Professor of Technology Management
A notable transformation is occurring in the Greater China Region (GCR), including Shenzhen and Hong Kong. This technology driven transformation has been enabled by Government policy, changes in consumer preferences and enterprise driven innovation. With growing political and economic tensions between the Greater China Region and the U.S., Singapore has emerged in a unique and pivotal role: first, as a “bridge” between the U.S. and the Greater China Region; second, as a growing location for regional headquarters both of U.S. and Chinese technology companies; and finally, as a regional hub for technology in the growing Southeast Asia region. Singapore’s importance has recently increased as a result of the many uncertainties around the future role of Hong Kong and the current tensions between the Greater China Region and the United States. Technology-based innovation themes will be centered around three key sectors--fintech, technology-based manufacturing and internet services specifically drawing upon contextual leadership—identifying the “cause and effect” of the successes in the region and the likely future outcomes and areas of innovation. The course includes and utilizes travel to Singapore to anchor discussions and visits there around Chinese companies that have offices there; Singapore’s perspectives on Chinese consumers and tech offerings and the differences with the United States and to better understand the impressive areas of innovation and dynamic role of technology in the Greater China Region as well as its impact on surrounding regions and the world.
Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation in South Africa
Gayle Northrop
Assistant Adjunct Professor of Social Entrepreneurship and Senior Faculty Advisor, Center for Impact at Anderson
SOUTH AFRICA: Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation in South Africa
Gayle Northrop
Assistant Adjunct Professor of Social Entrepreneurship and Senior Faculty Advisor, Center for Impact at Anderson
This course seeks to explore topics of social entrepreneurship and social innovation, and sustainable economic and community development in application to South Africa. South Africa has a rich and turbulent history that impacts all aspects of entrepreneurship in the country. History, politics, culture, and economic conditions in South Africa today have led to the growth of social entrepreneurship and a vibrant social sector, while at the same time creating challenges unique to this country’s social and environmental context. This course explores these topics through on-campus class sessions at UCLA and a series of site visits and speakers in Cape Town, South Africa. The site visits focus on elements of economic activity and policy, innovation and entrepreneurship, and sustainable development. In-country sessions typically include tours of private social enterprises, innovation hubs and accelerators in the city and the townships, and a visit to a social enterprise winery. Students hear from successful social entrepreneurs and community leaders and emerging entrepreneurs working to start-up and scale their social innovations and small businesses. Via visits and related analyses, students explore policies, initiatives, and pre-conditions necessary to support innovation and build a sustainable, impactful social enterprise in South Africa.
Dubai and Its Evolving Role in the U.A.E., Middle East and the World
Eric Sussman
Adjunct Professor of Accounting and Real Estate
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Dubai and Its Evolving Role in the U.A.E., Middle East and the World
Eric Sussman
Adjunct Professor of Accounting and Real Estate
In less than 50 years, Dubai has emerged to become a significant economic hub, serving not just the Middle East, but the world, with significant interests and enterprises in tourism, aviation, real estate, financial services, and most recently, technology. While the discovery of oil in Dubai in the mid-1960’s led to significant economic growth (oil represented nearly a quarter of Dubai’s GDP by 1990), most of the emirate’s expansion since then has derived from sources other than oil. The U.A.E. has experienced significant volatility in the last decade, as it emerged as a significant economic and transportation hub, whose growth trajectory and even its existence were impacted significantly by the Great Recession and declines in oil prices, along with the consequences of debt-financed growth. How did this extraordinary growth and transformation occur? How has the country been able to balance its (constitutional) monarchal structure, Islam, and Sharia (Islamic financial law), with capitalism and economic transparency? How has Dubai managed its growth with its increasing cost of living? In many ways, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and the UAE in general are places of great contradiction, blending and maintaining some equilibrium of both east and west. This course explores the aforementioned topics through in-class lectures as well as a series of site visits to both Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the two largest emirates making up the U.A.E. In Dubai and Abu Dhabi, several conversations will help illuminate the UAE’s political, economic, and business environment, and the substantial changes that have occurred over the last several decades.
Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries: Focus on Vietnam
George Abe
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship
VIETNAM: Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries: Focus on Vietnam
George Abe
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship
The course seeks to explore how political and economic policies in Vietnam play out in one of Southeast Asia’s most vibrant economies, Vietnam, with a particular focus on entrepreneurship. Questions that the course explores include: How does Vietnam’s political economy work? What are key characteristics and macroeconomic factors? What are the business opportunities for Americas? How do regional and global economic issues impact Vietnam and how is business conducted? For example, what is the position of Vietnam with regards to ASEAN? How has the U.S.-China trade dispute affected Vietnam? The course is conducted via on-campus class lectures and discussions, and presentations and site visits in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City with foreign and local businesses and government leaders, including UCLA alumni. The course exposes students to a country that is not well understood but holds considerable importance to Asia and the world.
Since 2008, over 85 Courses Have Provided Opportunities for Students to Visit 32 Countries, including:
Argentina |
Austria |
Brazil |
Chile |
China (PRC) |
Colombia |
Costa Rica |
Cuba |
Czech Republic |
Finland |
France |
Germany |
Greece |
Hong Kong SAR |
Hungary |
India |
Israel |
Japan |
Jordan |
Malaysia |
Myanmar |
Peru |
Saudi Arabia |
Singapore |
South Africa |
South Korea |
Spain |
Sweden |
Thailand |
United Arab Emirates |
Uruguay |
Vietnam |