M.B.A. students from the world's top management schools will go head to head on April 11 and 12 at the UCLA Anderson School of Management's inaugural Global Business Leadership Competition (GBLC), a unique forum designed to foster leadership thinking in today's global economy.
While there are many M.B.A. competitions worldwide, UCLA Anderson's GBLC is the first case competition to bring together international students, speakers and industry leaders to tackle business-leadership challenges from a global perspective.
"In today's global marketplace, where news, challenges and opportunities materialize in minutes rather than days or months, effective leaders must have an unprecedented range of talents," said Judy Olian, dean of UCLA Anderson. "Our vision for the GBLC is to expose and test future leaders across several distinct leadership-decision quandaries and crisis situations. That's what leadership is about, and it will be particularly intriguing to observe teams from around the globe as they approach these distinct leadership challenges."
Held at UCLA Anderson School of Management, the competition will showcase the leadership acumen of M.B.A. students representing 18 elite management schools from around the world. Extending beyond the traditional limits of business case competitions, GBLC student teams will address situations and dilemmas facing today's global leaders through various interactive, task-oriented scenarios designed to simulate real-world leadership challenges.
A distinguished lineup of industry and academic leaders will serve as competition judges and keynote speakers, sharing their personal experiences and applications of leadership.
Although the competition will recognize teams and individuals that demonstrate outstanding leadership skills, the experience will also provide students from diverse backgrounds the opportunity to share their distinctive visions of leadership.
"The GBLC is important from both competitive and developmental perspectives," said David Lewin, the competition's faculty lead and Neil H. Jacoby Professor of Management at UCLA Anderson. "Not only will M.B.A. students from all over the world be demonstrating and applying their knowledge of leadership concepts to specific decision situations, they will be sharing their leadership perspectives with each other in a unique learning community and thereby further enhancing their leadership knowledge and capability."
Organized by a team of UCLA Anderson students under the guidance of Lewin, the two-day event consists of three competition modules and a culminating leadership case challenge. Based on the combined score of team participants and the final case challenge, schools will be ranked for their excellence. First prize in the competition is $25,000; second place, $10,000; and third, $5,000.
Positioned to serve as a nexus for educational exchange, the GBLC is an example of UCLA Anderson's dedication to advancing global leadership. Not only will students have the chance to learn from each other as they challenge their leadership skills, they will also benefit from key networking opportunities. An official resume book of student participants will be distributed to competition judges and sponsors, giving them immediate access to an elite group of future global business leaders.
Sponsors of the competition include Amgen, Panda Restaurant Group Inc., Trust Company of the West, Luxe Hotels, UCLA Anderson's Harold and Pauline Price Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, and the Center for International Business Education and Research at UCLA.
For more information and a complete list of participating schools, please visit www.anderson.ucla.edu/gblc/index.html.
The UCLA Anderson School of Management, established in 1935, is regarded as among the very best business schools in the world. UCLA Anderson faculty are ranked No. 1 in "intellectual capital" by Business Week magazine and are renowned for their teaching excellence and research that advances management thinking and practice. Each year, the school provides management education to more than 1,600 students enrolled in M.B.A., executive M.B.A., fully-employed M.B.A. and doctoral programs and to more than 2,000 professional managers through executive education programs. Combining highly selective admissions, innovative learning programs and a worldwide network of 35,000 alumni, UCLA Anderson develops and prepares global leaders.
