Experiential Learning

The course sends groups of students to work with Silicon Valley firms to analyze how firms use innovation in different ways to gain industry leverage.

The innovative course partners with the international consulting firm McKinsey & Co. to engage in major consulting projects for nonprofit organizations, such as the David Brower Center, the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, and the Opportunity Fund. Students work with senior leaders of the organizations and McKinsey consultants in offering plans, creative ideas, and solutions.

These international courses send groups of Berkeley MBA students around the world to learn how business practices are employed across cultures. Recent trips have taken students to India, Russia, South Africa, and Chile.

The school’s flagship applied innovation program is Haas@Work, which sends teams of Berkeley MBA students to work with top executives at major firms such as Cisco, Disney, Panasonic, Clorox, and Wells Fargo. In the program, you research a competitive challenge posed by the firm and develop potential innovative solutions during a three- to four-week program. The best ideas are selected by the firm’s executives, and student teams are then dispatched to implement the strongest solutions.

The Berkeley MBA Leadership Development Series brings top leadership experts to work with Berkeley MBA students in hands-on workshops and seminars.

Dozens of individual and team competitions challenge students to come up with solutions to real-world challenges, such as the Berkeley Business Plan Competition, the Global Social Venture Competition, and the Education Leadership Case Competition.

A wide selection of popular annual conferences—all completely organized and led by students—gives you the opportunity to address top issues in a range of topic areas. The conferences include the >play Conference on digital media, the Finance Conference, the Diversity Conference, the Asia Business Conference, and the Women in Leadership Conference.

Finally, hundreds of business and thought leaders visit Haas each year to share their real-world experiences in classes and in special speaking events.