UCLA Anderson Applied Management Research Field Study Projects Make an Impact

UCLA Anderson Applied Management Research Field Study Projects Make an Impact


A giant leap in tech-sector interest and commitment to social good drive students’ experiential learning

Left: As part of their field study capstone project, Melody Akbari (’18), Ryan Dumlao (’18) and teammates conducted a focus group with potential customers of Kenyan tech startup Lynk at a local office in Nairobi. Right: Another UCLA Anderson international field study team visited Alta Verapaz in the northern highlands of Guatemala with their client Strategies for International Development


A quick look at Applied Management Research field study projects from the past few years reveals a few interesting trends:

  • Projects in the tech sector rose from 7% in 2015–16 to 19% in 2018–19.
  • Projects aimed at social impact have become the most popular, surpassing those in health care.
  • Prosocial projects now make up nearly a quarter of all AMR field studies.
  • International AMR projects have risen from 21% to 29%.

The rise in projects with a social mission is attributed to a desire among students to use their field study projects to make a positive difference in the world before returning to the workforce post-graduation.

When it came to selecting my AMR project, I wanted to stretch my skill set and work in a completely different industry than I had before. Since I plan on pursuing a career in entertainment upon graduation, I decided to utilize this unique opportunity to take on a project in the international impact sphere. Now that my AMR team and I are working on a social impact and environmental sustainability project in Southern Africa, I am excited to enhance my market research and client management skills while also making a difference in peoples’ lives on a global scale.
― Nick Galante (’19)


Conservation International Guyana commissioned Yuhei Iwasaki's ('18) Applied Management Research team to assess the feasibility of blockchain technology to manage a community development plan

Students taking on tech projects are making a big impact on the companies they’re working with as well. Here’s what Anderson alumnus John Stankey (’91), CEO of WarnerMedia, had to say about a Class of 2017 team’s project he supervised:

The AMR team of Sophia Law, Arshad Mazher, David Wang, Jessamy Zimbalist and Jared Coelho presented to members of my management team. They did an outstanding job. The compilation of their work was the best AMR project ― bar none ― I have been involved with. It was even better than mine! In addition to high value content, their overall presentation was clean, articulate and effective. Just an A+ job all around. Hopefully, they feel similar benefit from the overall experience and opportunity to work with their AT&T coordinates.

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