Results for GSBGEN

Students of all sexual orientations are invited to apply for this unique new seminar looking at the distinct challenge LGBT leaders have faced in communicating effectively. Through the years, many individuals have led the struggle for gay rights and inclusion through a variety of different communication strategies and tactics; some were successful while others were not. This seminar course will explore some of the key leaders in the LGBT community and how they chose to communicate. Together we will search through a variety of film clips, transcripts, news reports, and other historical elements to see how the message, media, and moments work together. A number of guest speakers will also share their perspective on what it means to "Lead Out Loud." Heterosexual identified students as well as LGBT students are encouraged to apply; in fact, we seek to have a true diversity of opinions in the room as we explore this topic. All students will benefit from this exploration of how to communicate about controversial, sensitive, and personal subjects with greater strength and purpose.

Even the most artistically accomplished and well-managed performing arts organizations--symphony orchestras, operas, dance companies, and many theaters--tend to live on the edge financially. In fact, most performing arts groups are organized as nonprofit organizations, because they cannot make enough money to cover costs and survive as profit-seeking businesses. In this seminar we will explore the reasons for the tension between artistic excellence and economic security,drawing on the experience of performing arts organizations in the United States and in countries(whose governments have adopted quite different policies toward the arts). Using economic concepts and analysis that we develop in the seminar, you will first examine the fundamental reasons for the economic challenges faced by performing arts organizations. In later sessions, we will consider and evaluate alternative solutions to these challenges in the United States and other countries. The seminar may include meetings with managers and/or trustees of arts organizations.nnnBy the end of the seminar, you will be able to assess the economic condition of an arts organization, evaluate alternative strategies for its survival, and understand the consequences of alternative government policies toward the arts.nnnDuring the early part of the course, you will prepare two short papers on topics or questions that I will suggest. Later, you will prepare a longer paper applying concepts learned to one of the performing arts or a particular arts organization that interests you. You will submit that paper in stages, as you learn about concepts and issues that are relevant to your analysis. There will also be a final exam.

With leadership comes responsibility. This course explores the numerous ethical duties faced by managers and organizations. It combines analytical frameworks with the latest findings on human behavior to inform a wide range of ethical decisions and strategies. Readings include case studies, insights from experimental psychology and economics, and excerpts from or about major works of moral philosophy. Through online and in-class exercises, discussions, and personal reflection, you will reveal and assess your ethical intuitions, compare them with more explicit modes of ethical thought, and learn how to use ethics in business settings. A diverse set of ethical viewpoints will be considered with an emphasis on not only their implications for ethical behavior but also on the social and cognitive pitfalls that undermine the ability of business leaders to fulfill their ethical duties.

With leadership comes responsibility. This course explores the numerous ethical duties faced by managers and their organizations. It combines classical philosophical theories with contemporary scholarship on human behavior to inform a wide range of ethical situations, decisions, and strategies. Resources include case studies, insights from experimental psychology and economics, and excerpts from or lectures on major works of moral philosophy. Through online and in-class exercises, discussions, and personal reflection, students will discover, reveal, and assess their ethical intuitions, compare them with more explicit modes of ethical thought, and began to learn how to explicitly apply ethics in business settings. A diverse set of ethical viewpoints will be considered, emphasizing not only business leaders’ ethical behavior but also social and cognitive pitfalls that undermine ethical behavior.

GSB students are eligible to report on work experience that is relevant to their core studies under the direction of the Senior Associate Dean responsible for the MBA Program. Registration for this work must be approved by the Assistant Dean of the MBA Program and is limited to students who present a project which, in judgment of the Advisor, may be undertaken to enhance the material learned in the first year core required courses. It is expected that this research be carried on by the student with a large degree of independence and the expected result is a written report, typically due at the end of the quarter in which the course is taken. Specific assignment details and deadline information will be communicated to enrolled students. Units earned for this course do not meet the requirements needed for graduation.

Investing for Good will introduce students to the entire spectrum of purposeful, values-driven, and impact investing. We examine the field from the perspective of an institutional investor (i.e. fund manager, investment advisor, endowment manager, head of a family office, etc). Our goal is to have students emerge with a practical and analytical framework for: 1. evaluating impact and mission-aligned investments across multiple asset classes and sectors; 2. constructing a portfolio using impact as a lens; 3. designing an impact investment company; and 4. understanding the many practical and theoretical challenges confronting this exciting emerging field.nnWe start by exploring some fundamental questions: what is a purposeful or impact investment; can impact investments be defined along a spectrum between conventional investing and philanthropy; whose money is it; what are the constraints and opportunities; how do we (re)define return and/or performance. We briefly analyze impact investing in the context of modern portfolio theory. We then develop a framework for portfolio construction and evaluation across four criteria: risk, return, liquidity, and impact. Through a combination of class dialogues, role plays, and case discussions, we will explore a wide variety of asset classes, impact themes, and investment challenges. A series of team-based investment committee simulations will comprise a significant portion of the course and will provide a significant experiential learning experience.nnPrevious experience in finance, investing, social enterprise, entrepreneurship, or philanthropy is not required, but both helpful and welcomed. While first year students are encouraged to enroll, students who have limited familiarity with the basics of investing and corporate finance are strongly encouraged to purchase David Swensen's "Pioneering Portfolio Management" and cover the recommended chapters in advance of the course. It's is also important to note that this class will require financial modeling and detailed investment analysis.nnMany of the issues we'll be tackling have no unambiguous answers. Lively discussion and debate will be necessary and expected.

The major objective of this course is to provide the student with an understanding of the fundamentals of real estate investment. The course covers land economics, market analysis, finance, taxation, investment analysis, investment vehicles, real estate risk, development and urban design. Major land uses are discussed including apartments, retail, office, and industrial. The course is designed for students with limited or no background in real estate.

This course addresses the distinctive challenges and opportunities of launching high-potential new ventures in developing economies. Developing economies are attractive targets for entrepreneurs because many are just starting to move up the growth curve, and they offer low-cost operating environments that can be great development labs for potentially disruptive innovations. They increase in attractiveness when their political institutions stabilize and they become more market-friendly. At the same time, developing economies pose serious challenges. Pioneering entrepreneurs take on significant risks to gain early mover advantages. Specifically, entrepreneurs will not be able to count on the same kind of supportive operating environments that we take for granted in the developed world. They often face cumbersome permit and licensing processes, poorly developed financial and labor markets, problematic import and export procedures, unreliable local supply chains, weak infrastructure, corruption, currency risks, limited investment capital, lack of financial exits and more. This course is designed to help would-be entrepreneurs - both founders and members of entrepreneurial teams - better understand and prepare for these issues as they pursue the opportunities and address the challenges to start, grow, and harvest their ventures in these environments.nnGSB314 combines a seminar/discussion format (Tuesdays) with a team-based project (Thursdays). For the Tuesday sessions, students will read about and discuss the key challenges described above and potential solutions. Guests will describe their own startup and investing experiences in developing economies and answer questions. A framework based on the recently published World Economic Forum (WEF) report on "Entrepreneurial Ecosystems Around the Globe and Company Growth Dynamics" will be used to structure the course. Each student will prepare a short paper on a topic of interest from this portion of the course.nnThe Thursday sessions is a team-based exercise for students who either have a specific idea or want to join a team of classmates to pursue more deeply an understanding of the team's country of focus and an initial investigation of the idea's viability. Students must come in willing to be team players and do the work necessary to complete this exercise over the full quarter. Each team member's contributions will be assessed by fellow teammates. Teams will be formed before the start of class or on the first day at the latest. The team will describe, in a final presentation, the challenges and opportunities in their country using the WEF framework. The final presentation will also include the team's thoughts on the viability of their proposed venture and how it capitalizes on their country's assets and addresses its challenges. A detailed business plan is not required; however, specific recommendations and plans for next steps that would be carried out during a 3 to 6 month field and market research study in the country will be part of the final presentation.nnNote: Students who only want to participate in the seminar/discussion portion of the class and not do a team-based project (see details below) may enroll in GSB514 for 2 units.

Business leaders have marketing strategies, expansion strategies, finance strategies, even exit strategies. Successful leaders, however, also have communication strategies. This course will explore how individuals and organizations can develop and execute effective communication strategies for a variety of business settings.nnThis course introduces the essentials of communication strategy and persuasion: audience analysis, communicator credibility, message construction and delivery. Deliverables will include written documents and oral presentations and you will present both individually and in a team. You will receive feedback to improve your communication effectiveness. In the final team presentation, your challenge is to craft an oral presentation that will persuade your audience to accept your strategic recommendations. By doing this, you will see why ideas, data and advocacy are combined for a professional, persuasive presentation. nnThis practical course helps students develop confidence in their speaking and writing through weekly presentations and assignments, lectures and discussions, guest speakers, simulated activities, and videotaped feedback. An important new feature of this course is that a team of external communications coaches work in concert with the professor to ensure that students get rigorous and individualized coaching and feedback.nnIn this course you will learn to:nn- Create communication strategies at an individual and organizational leveln- Develop clearly organized and effective presentations and documentsn- Diagnose and expand your personal writing and oral delivery style n- Adapt your delivery style to different material and audiences n- Enhance oral delivery through effective visual aidsnnStudents at all levels of comfort and expertise with public speaking and business writing will benefit from this course. Waitlists have been long for this course, and you're encouraged to keep that in mind as you make your course selections. Waitlisted students are encouraged to attend the first two classes.

Successful leaders have to conceive, author, rebuild, pivot, differentiate, and finally maintain a personal reputation to make a lasting, recognizable and powerful identity. Reputation Management will explore how you can effectively communicate to create, adapt and maintain your personal reputation. Your reputation remains fluid as you navigate your career decisions and interact with different professionals along your journey. nnThe course is designed along three interlocking elements: reputation management literature, relevant case studies, and curated guest speakers. Students will learn the fundamentals of strategic corporate communication and the risk of not managing reputation effectively. These frameworks will be extended with specific case studies to illustrate where individuals, groups, and firms have faced the challenge of managing reputation effectively. We will focus on both traditional and virtual components of communication including the relevancy of online reputation management. Finally we will invite well-known leaders from a range of industries who have built and sustained their reputations, through effective communication. Each leader has had to manage their reputations in the public eye, and alongside their peers, supervisors, and employees. Guests will be invited to discuss their conscious and unplanned strategies of how to successfully communicate the kind of person, leader, innovator, or public figure they strive to be. nnStudents will benefit from a rich blend of frameworks, cases, and speakers enabling them to successfully enter the work force and create their own, personal reputations. Students will create a case study drawn from their own experience (or personal network), of a reputation dilemma. A final assignment requires students to research their own reputation history by projecting what they think their reputation is, creating their own survey for friends, colleagues and employers to take, conduct three interviews about their personal reputation with three individuals who have worked closely with them, and then synthesize all this feedback into a cohesive paper and short video that reflects their authentic work and personal reputation. Throughout the course students will post at least one blog drawn from class concepts and respond to posts by peers in the class.

The course will be structured around the perspective of a high net worth individual who has decided to devote substantial resources to philanthropy and wishes to decide which philanthropic goals to pursue and how best to achieve them. Although there are no formal prerequisites for the course, we will assume that students have experience working at a foundation, nonprofit organization, impact investing fund, or similar organization, or have taken an introductory course in strategic philanthropy such as GSBGEN 381. (There is sufficient overlap with Paul Brest's Autumn course, Measuring and Improving the Impact of Social Enterprises (GSBGEN 322), that students taking that course should not enroll in this one.) nnWe will explore selected topics including: nn- the roles of the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors in society;n- choosing philanthropic goals, and whether giving to the poor is morally obligatory ;n- the justifications for tax-subsidized philanthropy;n- alternative legal and organizational structures to carry out philanthropic programs, including donor-advised funds, direct giving, foundations;n- whether foundations should exist in perpetuity or spend down over a finite number of years;n- fundamentals of nonprofit strategy;n- designing performance metrics (KPIs) and measuring philanthropic impact;n- barriers to the practice of strategic philanthropy;n- fundamentals of investment management for pools of philanthropic capital;n- socially motivated criteria for investing, including PRIs, MRIs, SRIs, and negative screens;n- impact investing and investor-funded pay for success programs.

This course focuses on strategy and actionable measurement in government, non-profit organizations, market-based social enterprises, philanthropy, and impact investing. "Actionable" means that measurement is used by managers, investors, and other stakeholders in improving outcomes. nn nThe course explores the intersection of several ideas that seem to be in some tension with each other. (1) "In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable." (Dwight D. Eisenhower), (2) You can't manage what you can't measure, (3) Measurement is expensive and its results are often ignored, (4) "Not everything that counts can be counted and not everything that can be counted counts" (apocryphally attributed to Einstein), (5) "The more any quantitative social indicator is used for decision making, the more subject it will be to corruption pressures and the more apt it will be to distort and corrupt the social processes it is intended to monitor." (Campbell's Law). nnnSpecifically, the course will include: strategic planning, logic models, theories of change, monitoring, and evaluation; measuring the social impact of governments, non-governmental organizations, and market-based social enterprises, and asking how philanthropists and impact investors can assess their own impact; impact investing, performance contracting, and social impact bonds; and techniques for improving the behavior and accountability of individuals and organizations. These issues will be addressed mainly through business school case studies, which place the students in the position of CEOs, managers, and investors called upon to make major decisions. nnnWARNING: The course has a fair amount of reading - not more than is common in undergraduate and graduate courses, but more than is typical for MBA courses in the GSB.

The disruptive nature of the Internet has set in motion the destruction of business models that have supported traditional media organizations. This course will examine the current state and broader economic challenges facing the media industry. These include: the impact of technology, changing consumer behavior, the rise of mobile, social networks, big data, real-time metrics, innovations in digital advertising and distribution channels, and new business models. Students will analyze new digital media ventures and hear from industry experts facing innovation challenges at the intersection of content, technology and business. The course also will identify paths for entrepreneurs interested in building a media business. And experiment with prototyping new digital media ventures.

The course explores the role of mindfulness, self-compassion and compassion in the workplace, and the contribution of these qualities to leadership. Topics addressed will include: How can mindfulness enhance clarity in purpose and productivity? What is the connection between mindfulness and compassion? Is compassion in the business world a strength or a weakness? Are compassion and profit motives fundamentally incompatible, or can they support each other? What does compassionate leadership look like? Can mindfulness and compassion be trained at the individual level, and built into company policy? How does self-compassion support effective leadership and recovery from setbacks? Participants in the course will engage with exercises from evidence-based programs targeting the development of mindfulness and the practical application of the skills of self-awareness, self-compassion, and perspective taking in the context of work and relationships.

This course examines trends and opportunities in the sustainable energy sector with a particular focus on low carbon energy. We examine these trends in the context of technological change, emerging business opportunities and the parameters set by public policy. nSpecific topics to be examined include: (i) the impact of regulatory policies and tax subsidies on the energy mix (ii) the growing competitiveness of renewable energy, in particular solar PV and wind, (iii) sustainable transportation (iv) adaptation by fossil fuel energy sources, (v) innovative financing mechanisms for energy projects, (vi) the venture capital perspective (vii) the changing role of utilities in the energy landscape.

Believe it or not, the "Silicon Valley model" has little or nothing to do with most businesses. Most businesses are not started by MBAs; most startups are not funded by VCs; most employees don't work for tech firms; and most businesses don't sell out to other businesses or go public. Rather, the vast majority of businesses world-wide are started, funded, and owned by families, and these firms create most of the employment in the global economy. Despite the prominence of family firms, teaching and research have traditionally focused on analyzing the widely-held or Silicon Valley model of the firm. This course explores the challenges and opportunities faced by family businesses. It is taught by Leo Linbeck III, Lecturer since 2005 at the GSB and President and CEO of Aquinas Companies, LLC. This course is an outlier in a world obsessed with tech startups and venture capital; it is a "Minority Report" from the heart of Silicon Valley. The course is intended for four main audiences: (1) Students whose family owns a business. (2) Students who are considering working for a family firm. (3) Students who are interested in acquiring or consulting with a private firm either directly (search funds, management consultants, etc) or indirectly (private equity, etc). (4) Students who are sick of only learning about cool, sexy startups and the geniuses who get rich from them. The course uses a combination of case studies, guest speakers, lectures, movies, and student presentations to explore the central ideas of the course, which are likely to appear irrelevant to everyone (save the instructor).

This case study-oriented course will focus on the critical skills needed to evaluate, develop, finance (on a non-recourse basis), and complete standalone energy and infrastructure projects. The primary course materials will be documents from several representative projects - e.g. solar, wind, storage, carbon capture - covering key areas including market and feasibility studies, environmental permitting and regulatory decisions, financial disclosure from bank and bond transactions, and construction, input, and offtake contracts. Documents and economic models tend to be highly customized. By taking a forensic approach, looking at several different projects, we can learn how project developers, financiers, and lawyers work to get deals over the finish line that meet the demands of the market, the requirements of the law, and (sometimes) broader societal goals, in particular climate change, economic competitiveness, and energy security.

Transforming the global energy system to reduce climate change impacts, ensure security of supply, and foster economic development of the world's poorest regions depends on the ability of commercial players to deliver the needed energy at scale. Technological innovation is a necessary but not sufficient condition for this to occur. The complex institutional frameworks that regulate energy markets in the United States and around the world will play a major role in determining the financial viability of firms in the energy sector. In this course we survey the institutional contexts for energy enterprises of all types and consider what kinds of business models work in each setting. We study in detail how markets function for carbon (assessing the advantages and disadvantages of different policy tools and considering in particular California's implementation of A.B. 32); electricity (with extensive discussion of wholesale electricity markets, energy trading, and issues of market power); renewable energy technologies (focusing on ways to manage intermittency and on how renewable energy businesses respond to government incentives); nuclear power (as a case study of how the regulatory process affects investment decisions); oil and natural gas (treating both conventional and unconventional resources and emphasizing the key role of risk management in an industry characterized by uncertainty and high capital requirements); transportation fuels (discussing biofuels incentives, fuel efficiency standards, and other policy tools to lower carbon intensity); and energy for low-income populations, for which affordability and distribution pose special challenges. A primary teaching tool in the course is a game-based simulation of California's electricity markets under cap and trade. Student teams play the role of power companies and compete to maximize return by bidding generation into electricity markets and trading carbon allowances. The objective of the course is to provide a robust intellectual framework for analyzing how a business can most constructively participate in any sector like energy that is heavily affected by government policy. Instructors: Frank A. Wolak, Director, Program on Energy and Sustainable Development; Mark Thurber, Associate Director, Program on Energy and Sustainable Development.

This experiential course will focus on how to make a business decision correctly. The theory will focus on common behavior biases and mistakes. Students will practice making business decisions by analyzing a business case each week.

This lecture course will explore the U.S.-centered financial crisis of 2008 and the ongoing European financial crisis.nnWe will examine the causes of both crises, policies implemented during the crisis, and options for reform.nnThis is an economic policy course rather than a pure economics course. It will focus on the practical intersection of economics, financial markets and institutions, policy, and politics.nnTopics we will examine include the following for the 2008 crisis:n- Did a global savings glut, international savings flows, or Fed policy cause the credit bubble?n- What caused the housing and mortgage bubbles?n- How does a bad mortgage turn into a toxic financial asset?n- Why and how did large financial institutions fail? What's the difference between a solvency crisis and a liquidity crisis?n- What is Too Big To Fail? Is it real? Why was Bear Stearns bailed out but not Lehman?n- Was the global financial system on the verge of meltdown in September 2008? How? Why?n- What was the TARP? The TALF? The CPP? The stress tests?n- What can we learn from comparing the US financial crisis with that in other major economies?n- How effective were various policy tools during the crisis?n- How have policies enacted and implemented since the crisis changed the outlook for the future?nnFor the European debt crisis we will examine:n- The fiscal and economic situations in various European countries;n- The structures and history of the Eurozone;n- Policy options to address problems in troubled European economies;n- The interaction between European financial institutions and European governments; andn- Options for longer-term reform of the Eurozone.n nThere will be no exams. Students will write two individual memos and a group memo.

To grow and innovate, you not only need a big idea, you also need stake-holder buy in and action. However, many companies fail in this regard because stakeholders are not aligned, the real problem that the innovation seeks to solve has not been identified, and the story has not been defined. Story can fuel stakeholder buy-in by painting a clear picture of what is and what could be for everyone - from employees, to investors, to customers. In other words, an excellent story means that you can delegate tactical aspects effectively because it clarifies how to execute specific functions against the story (e.g., digital marketing, advertising, design). Further, when the stakeholder becomes part of the story, they are more likely to act, which generates momentum and create a culture of optimism.nnStory is equally important for leaders of companies, who often need to act as editors - shaping the stories told by employees and customers - to align with a shared vision. A secondary goal of the class is to demonstrate how personal stories can be used by leaders to build high performing teams and companies. By creating powerful stories, you'll see how your company can gain momentum and how you can help your employees and customers become more connected. nnBy the end of the class, you will have gained insight into:n- How to use stories as an asset in businessn- What makes for a good and bad storyn- Pitching stories

This course will explore the contemporary higher education industry, focusing especially on the places where disruptions of all kinds present significant opportunities and challenges for investors, entrepreneurs, and the businesses that serve this huge global market, as well as for faculty, students, and higher education administrators. Using a variety of readings and case studies to better understand recent disruptions and the unbundling occurring across the post-secondary landscape, from outside and inside the academy, both for-profit and non-profit, the course will examine technology in teaching and learning; the future of the degree and alternatives to the traditional credential; accreditation; competency based education; debt and education financing models; investing in the education space; and tertiary products and platforms that serve the student services market. Guests will include higher education leaders and practitioners, as well as investors and entrepreneurs.

For students interested in the nonprofit sector, those in the joint Business and Education program, and for Public Policy MA students. The focus is on the missions, functions, and capabilities of nonprofit, public, and private organizations, and the managerial challenges inherent in the different sectors. Focus is on sectors with significant competition among institutional forms, including health care, social services, the arts, and education. Sources include scholarly articles, cases, and historical materials.

The course will provide students from different disciplines with an understanding of the broad educational policy context. The course will cover topics including a) school finance systems; b) an overview of policies defining and shaping the sectors and institutional forms of schooling, c) an overview of school governance, d) educational human-resource policy, e) school accountability policies at the federal and state levels; and f) school assignment policies and law, including intra- and inter-district choice policies, desegregation law and policy.

(Same as EDUC 347) Topics: the worth of college and graduate degrees, and the utilization of highly educated graduates; faculty labor markets, careers, and workload; costs and pricing; discounting, merit aid, and access to higher education; sponsored research; academic medical centers; and technology and productivity. Emphasis is on theoretical frameworks, policy matters, and the concept of higher education as a public good. Stratification by gender, race, and social class.

The relationships between political and economic analysis and policy formulation in education; focus is on alternative models of the political process, the nature of interest groups, political strategies, policy efficiency, the external environment of organizations, and the implementations of policy. Applications to policy analysis, implementation, and politics of reform. (APA)

Students will learn and apply several frameworks for organization design and human centered design. They'll also get a rare, in-person view into the fabric of industry-leading organizations during project work outside of class. They'll discover how company leaders inculcate the notion of user empathy into their DNA, to create compelling customer experiences and extraordinary work environments. Employing a human-centered approach, interdisciplinary teams will explore the partner companies and identify opportunities to design for positive organizational impact. After generating a range of initial ideas, teams will prototype focused interventions taking the form of novel roles, tools, spaces, rituals and more. Students will learn how design thinking applies to leading creative organizations. They will be exposed to and experiment with multiple organizational design models in a real-world environment. They will work in teams and learn from their peers' professional experience by participating in projects together.

This course will examine the world of wine with a fresh and contemporary lens. It will explore the market dynamics of this fascinating global industry. The goal of the course is to provide insight into the branding, marketing, and distribution dynamics that shape what consumers can buy and consume with a focus on the strategies of some of the world's leading wine brands. Attention will also be paid to the legal, regulatory, and market dynamics that define the U.S. wine industry as well as to issues of contested authenticity in the world of wine.

This course will examine the diverse management challenges facing the sports industry. The course will cover issues at the league level, the team level, the athlete/agent level, and the college level. The diverse constituencies with interests in sports issues (athletes, fans, media companies, advertisers, and legislators to name a few) will be discussed. Sports issues at a global level (the IOC) and both U.S. and outside U.S. will be covered. There will be coverage of evolving business ventures related to the sports industry (such as venture backed sports companies and sports networks). nnA key focus is on how the sports industry is similar to and different from other industries. Key concepts underlying the course are: value creation/value sharing; revenue ecosystem; virtuous circles and vicious circles; disruptive technologies; growth facilitators and growth inhibitors; leveragable assets/inherited liabilities; and entrepreneurship/new product innovations. Over 80% of the sessions typically will include a guest co-lecturer from the sporting industry.

One of every four dollars in the American economy will be spent by the federal government this year. This course will examine how federal spending, taxes, deficits and debt affect the U.S. economy and global financial markets, and how the economy affects the federal budget. We will look inside the federal budget to understand entitlement spending, what causes it to grow so fast, how it could be reformed, and why that's so hard to do. We'll understand where the money goes -- how much goes to infrastructure, education, housing, health care, energy and the environment, parks, scientific research, national defense, and other needs. We'll look at the stimulus vs. austerity debate, both within the U.S. and between the U.S. and Europe. We'll look beyond partisan battle lines and explore various fiscal philosophies that sometimes split the political parties. We'll cover the federal budget process from developing the President's budget to enacting individual spending and tax bills, and discuss process reforms including spending and deficit reduction targets, a balanced budget amendment, and line item veto. We'll cover the major players in the budget debate and understand where the big and small budget decisions are made. We'll look at federal taxation, where the money comes from, how it affects the economy, and how it might be restructured. We'll examine the recommendations of the President's budget commission and see if we can predict what will become of its recommendations. And we'll see if we, as a class, can solve our nation's fiscal problems as Washington has so far been unable to do.

GSB graduates will play important roles in solving many of today's and tomorrow's major societal problems - such as improving educational and health outcomes, conserving energy, and reducing global poverty - which call for actions by nonprofit, business, and hybrid organizations as well as governments. nnThis course teaches skills and bodies of knowledge relevant to these roles through problems and case studies drawn from nonprofit organizations, for-profit social enterprises, and governments, as well as novel financing mechanisms like impact investments and social impact bonds. Topics include designing, implementing, scaling, and evaluating social strategies; systems thinking; decision making under risk; psychological biases that adversely affect people's decisions; methods for influencing individuals' and organization's behavior, ranging from incentives and penalties to "€œnudges;" and human-centered design. Students who have encountered some of these topics in other courses are likely to gain new perspectives and encounter new challenges in applying them to solving social problems.

This course is intended for any student interested in a career in managing, developing, or investing in alternative assets such as hedge funds, private real estate funds, buy-out private equity (primarily large cap firms) and infrastructure. The first module of the course presents an overview of how investing in these alternative assets differs from investing in the public markets (e.g., publicly traded stocks and bonds). We spend time defining and discussing the risks involved when investing in non-transparent market sectors. We also focus on the perspectives of general partners and limited partners and how they each assess performance. Lastly, in this module we identify the attributes of successful private investment firms. The second module consists of analyses of individual transactions in real estate, mezzanine debt, large cap buyout transactions and infrastructure. Many of these investments can become significantly troubled and when they do, one must make decisions among a number of poor alternatives. Cases will be global.nnObjectives include: How to construct portfolios that include alternative assets; How to benchmark such portfolios; How to assess risks in transactions and portfolios; How to perform relative value analyses of differing investment opportunities; How to manage troubled investments (when to "hold 'em and when to fold 'em"); and How to manage a general partner firm. The course is divided into three modules with special emphasis on the financial analysis for transactions and portfolios. The first module focuses on portfolio construction issues and how to quantify whether the investor has been successful. The second module focuses on underwriting individual transactions and applying a relative value construct in determining the more attractive investments. The second module also focuses on the management of troubled investments, including deciding when to "double down" and how to protect investments already in place. The third module will address how general partners manage their firms.nnStudents will be expected to create an investment concept, draft an investment memorandum, create a pitch book and make presentations to a panel of experts.

Our society implicitly prizes a particular approach to leadership - but today's cross-sectoral, impact-oriented leader cannot afford to be restricted to a single approach. If we aspire to address challenges across social, economic, and political arenas, with highly charged moral implications and multiple stakeholders, we have an imperative to use all available tools by discovering, celebrating, and advancing diversity in leadership.nnnEducation provides the perfect canvas on which to explore this imperative. In this course, we will: (1) study a range of effective leadership approaches in the context of education; (2) develop broad, transportable skills and frameworks required to lead in any complex setting - business, public sector, nonprofit sector; (3) delve into leadership tradeoffs and tensions; (4) explore and understand our own values and tacit and explicit decision-making criteria; and (5) recognize barriers to diversity and tactics to address them. Guiding questions will include: How does the context shape the solution set? What does inspired and inspiring leadership look like? How do race/gender/other identities enter into the equation? How do I develop my own brand of leadership? nnnWe will examine contemporary leaders and controversies from education, draw upon timeless historical thinkers, enjoy the wisdom of guest speakers, and work intensively in small groups to highlight challenges, opportunities, and tradeoffs. By exploring a range of approaches and situations, we will strive for deeper understanding of ourselves and of the context to become a more capable, empathetic and effective leaders.

Appropriate for any student driven to effect positive social change from either the for-profit or nonprofit sector, Philanthropy will challenge students to expand their own strategic thinking about philanthropic aspiration and action. In recent decades, philanthropy has become an industry in itself - amounting to over $358 billion in the year 2014. Additionally, the last decade has seen unprecedented innovation in both philanthropy and social value creation. This course explores the key operational and strategic distinctions between traditional philanthropic entities, such as community foundations, private foundations and corporate foundations; and innovative models, including funding intermediaries, open-source platforms, technology-driven philanthropies, impact investing and venture philanthropy. Course work will include readings and case discussions that encourage students to analyze both domestic and global philanthropic strategies as they relate to foundation mission, grantmaking, evaluation, financial management, infrastructure, knowledge management, policy change and board governance. Guest speakers will consist of high profile philanthropists, foundation presidents, social entrepreneurs and Silicon Valley business leaders creating new philanthropic models. The course will also provide students with real-world grantmaking experience in completing nonprofit organizational assessments and making grants to organizations totaling $20,000.nn

This is a skills/toolbox class. The goal is to teach future business leaders how Washington actually works so you can interact more effectively with it and be a better informed citizen and voter. This course is about the practice of policymaking and politics, not the theory of either. It has three major components: (1) Elections, focused on the exciting and chaotic election cycle this fall; (2) Governing, focused on the mechanics of White House and Congressional policy decision-making, and (3) Practical Skills for interacting with Washington, DC.nnWe'll quickly cover everything you should have learned in civics class: how the electoral college works, the structure of Congress and the Executive Branch, how a bill becomes a law. Then we'll look at how it really works--what lobbyists do, how a President gets information and makes decisions, how and why it's so hard to change policy or enact a new law. We'll simulate a White House presidential decision-making process. We'll examine presidential and congressional election strategies. We'll discuss the strategy and tactics of trying to pass (or block) legislation.nnWe'll also look at political parties, get a better understanding of the makeup of the American polity and how it's changing.nnWe'll also discuss working in Washington--especially running for office, appointed positions. We'll look at what's involved in political fundraising and interacting with the DC press corps. We'll talk about how one might participate in the policy process from outside of DC. I hope to have a few guest speakers.

Need approval from sponsoring faculty member and GSB Registrar. There is a limit on the number of units in courses of independent study that may be applied toward degree requirements.

The course's goal is to introduce students to the complexities of military strategy in the modern era. We will cover a variety of types of warfare, ranging from early modern wars, through the great wars of the twentieth century to the strategic challenges posed by present-day counterinsurgency and low-intensity conflicts. Military planners are required to act fast in an uncertain and highly lethal environment. We will examine how, and why, they react to innovations that completely transform their worlds, and try to understand what makes such strategic responses successful. In so doing, we will explore the interlocking relations between strategy and economics, technology, ideology, state apparatuses, and various forms of armed organizations. Course requirements: Students are required to submit 2 assignments: a mid-term project analyzing a successful military strategy, and a final project. The final project will be based on an in-class simulation of a strategic military campaign. Students will be required to submit individual analyses of the simulation, and present their analyses in class.

Giving away money well-i.e., achieving genuine planned impact in a measurable way--turns out to be as hard or harder than earning or investing it. In this seminar, students will decide how and to which nonprofit organization they will make a real $100,000 donation. The students, guided by the instructor, will choose what readings and resources to draw on in making their decisions from a bibliography provided as well as other sources they develop. They will also discover, debate, discuss and decide what evaluation approach approach to use as well as what decision-making process to apply. Students are likely to be asked to research and present knowledge on relevant topics. And a final presentation to a donor trying to decide whether to fund part of the $100,000 is likely also.

Healthcare spending is now nearly 18% of the entire GDP of the U.S. economy. The S&P healthcare sector has been one of the best producing segments of the market for the last five years, and growth of healthcare expenditures continue to escalate at a rapid pace. This has triggered an abundance of opportunities for those interested in a career in healthcare management, investing, or entrepreneurialism. The Business of Healthcare-2016 will present the current market framework from the eyes of a clinician and with the perspective of the consumer-patient, but with the experience of a successful business builder and investor. Course will begin with the discussion of the channels of distribution of healthcare delivery, from providers, to practitioners, to consumer-facing "healthcare lite" sectors of the market. Impact of the regulatory environment, with specific focus on the Affordable Care Act, will be evaluated. Overview of venture and private equity investing will be deeply probed, with many specific market examples of how investors develop an investment thesis, identify specific targets, diligence companies, and close an investment. High-level discussion around building financial modeling for target acquisitions will be presented, and the course will delve into the burgeoning area of healthcare analytics and outcomes management and its future impact on positioning, reimbursement and clinical outcomes. Sectors that will be discussed include: healthcare services, healthcare IT, Life Sciences, Pharma and Biotechnology, and Managed Care. Course will include preparatory readings, presentations from industry leaders, and robust in-class discussion requiring student engagement. Final grade will consist of in-class participation, one minor in-class presentation, and a final paper developing either a new healthcare business start-up proposition or presenting an identified investment target in the healthcare industry. Course will be especially valuable for those interested in a career in starting a healthcare company, healthcare investing, healthcare administration, or other healthcare-related entity business.

Social ventures require leadership, funding, expertise, skills and networks to get off the ground, grow and scale. This course will focus on the key strategies for building and leveraging a network of champions to capitalize a social venture at early-stage, and for sustaining and growing that network as the venture grows. This class is applicable to intrapreneurs, changemakers within major institutions, (private or public), board members, impact investors, those who aspire to be senior leaders within social ventures and social entrepreneurs (founders). Co-led by a practicing venture philanthropist and a social entrepreneur, this interactive, pragmatic course will: n- Discuss the critical financial and human capital needs of organizations and companies at different life stages. n- Explore the concept of champions and the different types of champions including board chairs, co-founders, mentors, faculty advisors, donors, investors, community evangelists, and fellow entrepreneurs. n- Learn about effective networks and how to build them, including the role of communications, relationship-building, and crisis management. n- Explore the concept of a powerful vulnerability and the art of "influence without authority" in attracting financial and human capital to the mission and making social ventures happen. Special emphasis will be given to developing co-founders and founding teams, boards and funders/investors as champions. n- Develop a roadmap for the ways you will support social ventures throughout your career. n- Meet social entrepreneurs and their champions who promote them within various power structures (major corporations, government, the institutional funding community) to learn about the successes and failures of their partnerships. Guest speakers will be posted prior to start of class. n- Invite you to join instructors, guest speakers and fellow students for casual dinner on both Wednesdays after class.n- Get to know your fellow classmates who share a passion for addressing the world's intractable problems and for creating systemic change.

GSBGEN 514 - Creating High Potential Ventures in Developing Economies (2 Units)nnThis course addresses the distinctive challenges and opportunities of launching high-potential new ventures in developing economies. Developing economies are attractive targets for entrepreneurs because many are just starting to move up the growth curve, and they offer low-cost operating environments that can be great development labs for potentially disruptive innovations. They increase in attractiveness when their political institutions stabilize and they become more market-friendly. At the same time, developing economies pose serious challenges. Pioneering entrepreneurs take on significant risks to gain early mover advantages. Specifically, entrepreneurs will not be able to count on the same kind of supportive operating environments that we take for granted in the developed world. They often face cumbersome permit and licensing processes, poorly developed financial and labor markets, problematic import and export procedures, unreliable local supply chains, weak infrastructure, corruption, currency risks, limited investment capital, lack of financial exits and more. This course is designed to help would-be entrepreneurs - both founders and members of entrepreneurial teams - better understand and prepare for these issues as they pursue the opportunities and address the challenges to start, grow, and harvest their ventures in these environments. nnGSBGEN 514 is a seminar/discussion format in which students will read about and discuss the key challenges described above and potential solutions. Guests will describe their own startup and investing experiences in developing economies and answer questions. A framework based on the World Economic Forum (WEF) report on "Entrepreneurial Ecosystems Around the Globe and Company Growth Dynamics" will be used to structure the course. Each student will prepare a short write-up as a final assignment on a case chosen from a selection provided by the instructors. Note: Groups of students who want to work as a team to investigate a specific new venture idea in addition to participating in the seminar/discussion sessions should contact the instructors about doing a 390.

Successful leaders understand the power of authentic, memorable communication.nnThis course uses the lens of oral communication and presentations, to introduce the essential elements of the strategic communication strategies that make authentic, memorable communication work.nnFocusing on oral communication and presentation, we introduce the essentials of communication strategy and persuasion: audience analysis, message construction, communicator credibility, and delivery.nnDeliverables include written documents, focusing on individual and team presentations, with students receiving continuous feedback to improve their communication effectiveness, and to sharpen their authentic leadership voice.n nThis highly interactive, practical course, is focused on feedback to help students at all levels of communication mastery develop confidence in their speaking and writing. Course includes presentations, assignments, lectures, discussions, simulated activities, in-class feedback, and filmed feedback.n nIn this course you will learn to:n-Recognize strategically effective communicationn-Implement the principles of strategic communication across different platformsn-Develop clearly organized and effective presentations and documentsn-Diagnose and expand, your personal authentic communication stylennAs you make your super round selection, keep in mind that wait lists have been long for this course.

This course will examine the world of wine with a fresh and contemporary lens. It will explore the market dynamics of this fascinating global industry. The goal of the course is to provide insight into the branding, marketing, and distribution dynamics that shape what consumers can buy and consume with a focus on the strategies of some of the world’s leading wine brands. Attention will also be paid to the legal, regulatory, and market dynamics that define the U.S. wine industry as well as to issues of contested authenticity in the world of wine.

The exponential growth in our understanding of the workings of the human brain has led to a rather startling and maybe embarrassing (even depressing) conclusion. While the human brain is unique among species in its ability to strategize, conceptualize, hypothesize, etc., it is now undeniable that most of our decisions, behaviors and experiences are shaped by instinctual brain systems. Thus, constituting the broad goals of this seminar, it behooves us to first understand the workings of the instinctual brain and then leverage this understanding to craft solutions for real-world issues from the vantage points of the "firm" as well you as an individual, a leader and an innovator. Topics that will be covered from your vantage point include leadership skills including being effective at influencing key stakeholders within and outside the firm and being effective at making decisions, personal as well as professional. Topics that will be covered from the firm's vantage point include crafting superior value propositions at the decision as well as the experience phases of the "customer" journey, fostering an innovative organizational culture and developing incentives to increase employee engagement.

The disruptive nature of the Internet has set in motion the destruction of business models that have supported traditional media organizations. This course will examine the current state and broader economic challenges facing the media industry. These include: the impact of technology, changing consumer behavior, the rise of mobile, social networks, big data, real-time metrics, innovations in digital advertising and distribution channels, and new business models. Students will analyze new digital media ventures and hear from industry experts facing innovation challenges at the intersection of content, technology and business. The course also will identify paths for entrepreneurs interested in building a media business.

The course explores the role of mindfulness, self-compassion and compassion in the workplace, and the contribution of these qualities to leadership. Topics addressed will include: How can mindfulness enhance clarity in purpose and productivity? What is the connection between mindfulness and compassion? Is compassion in the business world a strength or a weakness? Are compassion and profit motives fundamentally incompatible, or can they support each other? What does compassionate leadership look like? Can mindfulness and compassion be trained at the individual level, and built into company policy? How does self-compassion support effective leadership and recovery from setbacks? Participants in the course will engage with exercises from evidence-based programs targeting the development of mindfulness and the practical application of the skills of self-awareness, self-compassion, and perspective taking in the context of work and relationships.

Many students are prepared to be leaders, but few are prepared to be thought leaders. Yet, that's precisely what many of our students will become. This communications course focuses on the risks and the rewards of stepping into a thought leadership role as a subject matter expert or change agent in a domain of the student's choice. From the very first class students will tackle different communication elements (blogs, op-ed pieces, keynote talks, video blogs, conference panels, etc.) and receive feedback from professors and peers. By the end of this course students will: -Understand the risks and rewards of thought leadership -Identify and clearly articulate their own niche and "What-If?" future -Know the communication channels available to exercise thought leadership -Codify best practices and lessons learned into a forward-thinking document or framework that they can share widely -Craft a distinct message with an authentic voice across multiple channels -Build their ripples of influence by engaging their first followers and building a tribe -Begin to activate well-respected advocates who will champion their ideas -Define how to measure the success of their efforts (ex: reach, resonance) -Create a resource list of vendors, tools, technology and communities to support their thought leadership efforts -Overcome what may hold them back from stepping into the spotlight and assuming the role of thought leader in their niche. A prequalification assignment is required for this course. See https://docs.google.com/a/stanford.edu/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfhU-MYmkxfRn7lJjHbfkJPZ4n4vm-RlE_oBkfeEABt9_zgSg/viewform for details and submit the survey by October 14.

This course examines business models and opportunities related to clean energy, specifically to low-carbon energy. We examine emerging trends for this sector in the context of technological change, business opportunities and the parameters set by public policy. Specific topics to be examined include:nn- Carbon Emissions and the Clean Energy Transitionn- Funding Innovative Energy Companiesn- Modeling Cost Competitiveness of Alternative Energy Technologiesn- The Momentum of Renewable Energy: Solar PV and Windn- The Changing Business Model of Utilitiesn- Storage and Sustainable Transportation

Licensing of technology and its corresponding intellectual property is big business, and integral to the business plans and competitive strategies of start-ups and Fortune 500 companies alike. Although the annual dollar magnitude of licenses of patents and other technology-related IP is difficult to estimate due to the proprietary nature of much of the data, academic studies peg the U.S. IP licensing market at ~$66B, and the global market at ~$180B. The development and evolution of technology standards and interoperability requirements, regulatory overlays that require technologies outside a company'€™s core competencies, the proliferation and widespread enforcement of patents, the rapid expansion of IP-based business models, and the staggering expense and uncertain benefits of internal R&D, among other things, have combined to weigh heavily on the buy side of the make/buy scale, and to amplify the importance of inbound and outbound licensing arrangements for both start-up and Fortune 500 companies.nnBecause licenses are complex legal agreements with important legal consequences, it is tempting for business executives to delegate to lawyers the negotiation of the non-economic terms of their companies'€™ technology license agreements. The problem with such an approach, however, is that 'œnon-economic'€ terms relating to license scope and duration, the extent of any representations and warranties to be offered, how and when and by whom payment will be effected and royalty calculations policed, indemnification against third-party IP and enforcement of licensed IP against infringers, the ownership and responsibility for patenting of improvements made to licensed technology, remedies for violation of the license, and many other issues, can and often do have significant and occasionally mortal economic and business consequences. While no business person should grapple with these issues in the context of a large or complex license agreement without legal counsel, it is critical that the business person understand the consequences and negotiating levers and trade-offs themselves, for at their core, the decisions to be made on these issues are business decisions, not legal ones.nnIt is the objective of this course to enable students to better understand and think critically about the principal issues that arise in the conceptualization and negotiation of technology license agreements, including those involving computer hardware and software, biotechnology and pharmaceutical compounds, medical devices, and other methods and products. As we address licensing arrangements in particular industries, business and licensing executives from companies active in these markets will participate in various class sessions, and will share with the students their experiences and strategic perspectives.

Negotiation is a central part of business in the worlds of sports and entertainment. This course will examine negotiation dynamics and key takeaways for general management from multiple different settings where negotiations had an important role--these will include preparing for a negotiation, the negotiation process itself, contractual outcomes of negotiation and their execution and in some cases litigation. The settings will include negotiations over player and actor contracts, negotiations between leagues and players associations, negotiations between investors and movie companies, and negotiations between content providers (both in sports and entertainment) and distribution partners (such as cable stations, international media companies, and online companies such as Netflix). Each of the six sessions is planned to include at least one and in some cases two guests that have had extensive experience in negotiations.

This is a project-based course on problem solving and creativity. It is expected that everyone who takes the class will work on some significant problem that’s currently ongoing (e.g., the design of part of a complex project, a difficult negotiation over a new venture). The course is designed to achieve two goals. First, it will give you tools that should increase the probability that you’ll make (hopefully substantial) progress on your problem. Second, it will introduce you to research that explains why it’s sensible to try those tools on hard problems---i.e., the point of those tools.nnnPlease note that the first goal is stated rather cautiously. There are good reasons for this. I expect that most students will be working on hard problems. (Everyone in the class will be getting help from classmates on their particular problem; why bother your peers with an easy problem that you could solve yourself?) An important idea in cognitive science, Newell’s Law, says that magic doesn’t exist: if a problem-solving method is powerful (very likely to solve a certain type of problem), then it only works on a narrow class of problems. So... this course will not give you tools that are both powerful and general. It can’t: such tools don’t exist. Happily, improving your problem-solving skills, at least in certain domains, is possible, and that’s what the course aims to do.nnnProgress on hard problems usually requires help from friends and colleagues. Virtually all researchers of creativity agree that most innovations that are both bold and useful involve multiple problem solvers. This course will implement this important pattern by requiring every student to help some classmate with their problem. Carrying out this help will be an important part of your grade.nnnAnother important empirical regularity in the field of innovation is that when problems are hard many (perhaps most) candidate-solutions don’t work out. It’s easy to accept that about other people’s ideas; about my own, not so much. So a vital component of effective problem-solving is tough-minded evaluation. This implies rejecting bad ideas or bad parts of a would-be solution. Hence, at the end of the course you will be required to evaluate the progress that a classmate has made on his/her problem and to explain your assessment. (For obvious reasons you will not evaluate the same person you’re helping.)nnnIn sum, every student will do three things in this course: generate new ways to make some progress on a problem of their own choosing; help somebody else work on their project; evaluate somebody’s progress.

This seminar will explore the nature and role of leadership in organizations. We will examine such questions as (1) What is leadership? (2) Why is it important? (3) What is it that leaders actually do? (4) How do they do it? (5) How are leaders developed? (6) Why do leaders succeed or fail? (7) What about your potential for leadership and your strategy for developing it?nnOur primary objective in this seminar is to achieve a deeper understanding of the nature and role of leadership in organizations. Our approach will be to examine a small sample of the literature, together with the amazing story of Ernest Shackleton and his Endurance crew, and then to probe several key questions through lively class discussion. The discussion, informed by the readings and also by our collective experiences, will seek to develop some general principles and observations about leadership - particularly about how you might better develop yourself as a leader.

The health care system accounts for 17% of US GDP and is one of the fastest growing segments of the economy. This two unit class focuses on the interplay and tension between the main players in the health care field - providers of health care services (individual doctors, group practices, integrated health care systems), payors (insurances companies, employers, consumers, and government), patients, and innovator companies (biopharma, medical device, diagnostics, and health care IT). The course is designed for students with a broad diversity of backgrounds and interests who want to better understand the health care business and system. No prior experience in the health care or medical field is assumed or needed. The focus of the class will be primarily on the US health care system, but there will be limited discussion of non-US systems as well. The course is divided into four modules: - An overview of the US Health Care System and the interplay between payers, providers, innovators, and patients' Provider delivery models, health care information technology, and incentive structures - The relationship between quality, cost, and access - Integrated systems, value-based, and fee for service models - New IT technologies, including electronic data records - The role of information and incentives - Innovator business models and issues - Financing and managing new product development - Clinical trial management and gaining regulatory approval - Marketing, reimbursement, and sales strategies - Business models to drive innovation - Health care system reform and comparisons of the structure of the US Health Care system to that of other countries. The class will be taught primarily from the perspective of a business person operating a company rather than that of a policy maker, academic, or investor. While there will be a few lectures to provide background and frameworks for course topics, most classes will involve a case discussion and prominent guest speakers from the health care industry. Speakers will include CEOs, senior executives, and partners from leading companies and venture firms.nThe course is divided into four modules: n1. An overview of the US Health Care System and the interplay between payers, providers, and innovatorsn2. Provider organization models and incentive structuresn - The relationship between quality, cost, and accessn - Integrated systems and fee for service modelsn - New IT technologies, including electronic data records, and incentives for adoption n - How the delivery system structure affects technology innovatorsn3. Innovator business models and issuesn - Financing and managing new product development and portfolio managementn - Clinical trial management and gaining regulatory approvaln - Marketing, communication and sales strategies (both physician and patient communication and sales) to drive product adoption and gain third party reimbursementn - Business models to drive innovationn4. Health care system reform nnThe class will be taught primarily from the perspective of a business person operating a company rather than that of a policy maker, academic, or investor. While there will be a few lectures to provide background and frameworks for course topics, most classes will involve a case discussion and prominent guest speakers from the health care industry. Speakers and panelists last year included CEOs from Genomic Health, Tenet Health, Blue Shield of California, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Safeway, and Practice Fusion; venture investors from Venrock and Chicago-Pacific; and the Dean of Stanford Medicine.

This two-week, six-session workshop will offer techniques and practical in-class exercises for writing better -- better memos, emails, feedback for colleagues, news releases, responses to media questions, opinion pieces and social-media postings. Glenn Kramon, a senior editor who has helped New York Times reporters win 10 Pulitzer Prizes, will teach the course along with accomplished journalists with expertise in powerful, persuasive writing for business. They will provide not only helpful tips but constructive feedback on students' work, which will be completed mostly in class. They will also share thoughts on how best to work with the news media.

This two-week, six-session workshop will offer techniques and practical in-class exercises for writing better -- better memos, emails, feedback for colleagues, news releases, responses to questions from the media and from interviewers, and opinion pieces. Glenn Kramon, an editor who has helped New York Times reporters win 10 Pulitzer Prizes, will teach the course along with accomplished journalists with expertise in powerful, persuasive writing for business. They will provide not only helpful tips but constructive feedback on students' work. They will also share thoughts on how best to work with the news media.

Course examines investment and financing issues that face a diverse set of participants in the sports industry (defined very broadly). A key theme is using general financial concepts to better structure decision making in the sports industry. Specific topics illustrate the broad set of perspectives considered: Player Payroll Financial Dynamics; Asset Appreciation Opportunities; Assessing the Value of Players (& General Managers); Investment Syndicates in Sports; Investing in Startup Leagues; Financial Valuation of Sporting Clubs; Financial/Strategy Analysis for a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Venture; and On-Line Sports Venture Evaluation. One hand in requires feedback to the CEO's of several new sporting ventures about ways to expand their opportunity set; the CEO's come to a class and present their venture. The second hand in is a case study of a sports investment where there was sizable value creation or value destruction. Each session typically is co-taught with an industry visitor.

This Sports Marketing course combines (a) a focus on key marketing themes (such as branding, customer attraction/retention, and celebrity power) and (b) an analysis of marketing in diverse areas of the sporting industry: the league level, the team level, the player level, the network level, the advertiser level, the sponsor level, the fan level, and the media level. The nine sessions cover the following: Corporate Sponsorship; Online Marketing; Events as Brand Building Investments; Marketing to Youth; Sports/Entertainment Nexus; Club Marketing Strategies; Brand Revitalization & Strengthening; Motor Sports Marketing; Marketing in a Web 2.0/Social Networking World. Each session is typically taught with an industry visitor.

In this seminar we will explore the intersection of art and commerce in the entertainment industry. We will look at creating films and television programs that are artistically meaningful and/or have the potential for commercial success. Films are increasingly used as a tool for social change, and we will also examine this power. The entertainment industry is one of enormous importance - both from a business and cultural standpoint, and has influence in virtually every sphere of our society. Sometimes the industry can seem baffling, mercurial, and characterized more by madness than method. But despite its uncertainties, Hollywood does have its own rules, rhythms, methods and strategies - and examining and evaluating them will be a key part of this seminar. This is a time when many existing formulas are being reconsidered, retooled, or jettisoned, and new technologies and expanding markets are having a profound impact on the industry - and tracking and analyzing this will be a key part of the course. I will also bring some of my professional experiences into the classroom (including directing, writing, producing for film and television, etc.), and discuss these experiences through the intersection of the business and creative sides of the industry. We will have class discussions on entertainment industry's future, and address varied and effective paths for creating entertainment product that has artistic and/or commercial merit and is intended have widespread distribution. Students taking the course will be asked to be part of a group project and present their work in class.

Politics, perhaps like no other arena, provides a rich and dramatic laboratory for studying the art and science of influential communication. Whether it is a local school bond election or a Congressional race, a Presidential debate or a State of the Union Address, the demanding communications of politics provide insights into our own strengths and gaps as a communicator and leader. Political campaigns, by their very nature, are highly visible, oriented toward very specific objectives, and increasingly leverage a variety of new media platforms. They are often emotionally charged, and rife with conflict and drama. The principles of political communications transcend politics, and are useful guides for leaders in business, the non-profit community, as well as government. How candidates, elected officials, and leaders in all kinds of organizations communicate vision, values, and experience, as well as how they perform in very fluid environments, not the least of which may be during a crisis, has a great deal to do with their career success. nnIn its eighth year, this highly interactive course allows students to explore both theory and practice behind effective positioning and presentation. This year is a presidential election year in the United States, and looks to be an extraordinary event in many respects. Students will analyze and evaluate both successful and unsuccessful communications strategies of political campaigns and candidates. They will explore historic examples of US Presidential debates, from Nixon/Kennedy to the present. Further they will experience political events as they happen -- like this year's campaigns -- with each class drawing lessons from political developments around the nation and the world. Students will also hone their own strategic communications skills in activities requiring both written and spoken communication. This is not a course in political science, American government, or in public speaking. However, the engaged student will gain insights into those areas as well.nnThe course is taught by David Demarest, Vice President of Public Affairs for Stanford University. Demarest has broad communications experience across the public and private sector in financial services, education, and government. After serving as Assistant U.S. Trade Representative, and Assistant Secretary of Labor in the Reagan Administration, in 1988 he served as Communications Director for Vice President George H. W. Bush's successful presidential campaign. He then became a member of the White House senior staff as White House Communications Director. After leaving government in 1993, he spent the next decade leading communications for two Fortune 50 companies, before coming to Stanford in 2005.

GSBGEN 566 is an elective course offered to 2nd-year MBA and MSx students. The goal of this course is to improve students' judgment in confronting ethical situations encountered in the normal course of business activities. Classes use the Socratic method to examine ethical questions and build analytical skills. The course aims to sharpen moral reasoning and build judgment without favoring a particular position. The course will be taught by Mark Leslie and Peter Levine, Lecturers.nThe course, which is "vignette" based, will involve revealing partial information about the situation during the class, interspersed with discussion as the vignette develops. Frequent student-to-student and student-to-instructor role-playing will be encouraged. Cases will be drawn from a wide selection of real business situations with protagonists as guests whenever available), including such topics as raising venture capital, managing major industrial customers, product distribution agreements, board of director fiduciary conflicts, developing financial instruments, senior management mutiny, work/life balance, etc. The class is extremely engaging - it is quite usual to find continuing discussion of the day's case outside the classroom among small groups of students. This class is for two GSB credits and will be graded on a pass/fail basis. Sixty percent of the final grade will be derived from classroom performance; the remainder will be based on a final written assignment.

This elective 2-credit course is offered to 2nd-year, 3rd-year, and 4th-year Medical students, Residents, and Fellows, and to 2nd-year MBA students who aspire to improve their ability to deal effectively with difficult interpersonal situations. The course will be taught at Stanford Medical School by H. Irving Grousbeck, Consulting Professor of Management, Stanford Graduate School of Business, with assistance from Dr. Charles G. Prober, Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education. Teaching techniques that have been successful in helping business school students improve their ability to manage difficult conversations will be used.nnThe course, which will be case-based, will involve frequent student-to-student and student-to-instructor role-playing in actual medical situations. Physician-experts often will be present to participate as class guests. Relevant principles of professionalism, leadership, and psychology underlie the course pedagogy.nnThere will be seven classes held on Wednesdays beginning September 28th and concluding on November 16th (no class on October 26). Each class will begin promptly at 12:35 and end at 2:05, without a break. Due to the abbreviated nature of the class (7 sessions), students will be expected to attend all classes unless excused in advance. nnClass preparation will include reading of assigned cases; analysis of the cases and recommendations as to how to confront specific difficult conversations (consistent with assigned study questions); and reading of assigned background material. While optional, it is suggested that students form regular study groups. For GSB students, 50% of the final grade will depend on classroom performance; the remainder will be based on a final written assignment of no more than 6 pages. GSB students will be graded on a Pass/Fail basis. The course will be ungraded for Medical School students, Residents and Fellows. All students will be expected to complete the written assignment.nnClass size will be limited to 35 students per the following: (1) a maximum of 15 MBA2 students and (2) a maximum of 20 2nd-year, 3rd-year and 4th-year Medical Students, Residents, and Fellows.

This new course will look at ongoing and upcoming innovation in cars, driving, and mobility from three perspectives: (1) technology, (2) economics & business Models, and (3) policy. We'll survey changes in powering vehicles (e.g. electrification and biofuels), in vehicle connectivity and communications, and most especially changes in autonomy and self-driving vehicles. We’ll look at changes in the economics of cars, vehicles, and driving—new business models, shared ownership, mobility as a service, as well as who some of the major players are in this nascent field and what they'€™re doing/developing. And we'll explore the interactions of technology and economics with policy and broader societal changes-€”direct effects like safety, legal liability, and who can drive; indirect effects on traffic, insurance, infrastructure needs, fuel taxes, and the environment; as well as longer-term and even bigger changes in daily life and where and how we live, work, and drive.

This course is based on a large number of interviews with MBA grads who have been out of the GSB for 4-10 years. These interviews identified a set of common early career challenges that young MBAs faced--and the lessons they learned from these. This 6-session course is based on these critical transitions, formative experiences, and personal conflicts that characterize the challenges young leaders face. The course objective is to help current students better understand some of the pitfalls they are likely to face as they become leaders and to avoid the career-limiting mistakes that these can bring.

Ever wonder if your online audience is paying attention to your web presentation or meeting? Have you wanted more engagement from your participants? Communicating virtually - using conference or video calls, web tools, and mobile devices is very challenging. Yet more and more communication is happening with presenter and audience connecting electronically.nInformed by scholarly research and industry best practices, this workshop will provide a hands-on, practical introduction to immediately applicable techniques that will help you prepare and deliver engaging, participative, and impactful virtual presentations.nnSpecifically, you will learn techniques for confidently delivering virtual presentations, how to create content that invites engagement, and how to facilitate speaker-audience interactions that invite collaboration without losing control. We will also cover best practices for responding to audience input and questions that will amplify your message and for handling challenging interactions and questions. With these virtual-presenting skills, you will feel more confident presenting and your audience will be more connected and engaged.

During this class, you will: * Challenge your basic beliefs about the nature of crisis * Learn to scan your business practices for political and social risks * Anticipate and prepare for potential crises * Explore techniques for successfully solving problems in high-pressure crisis situations characterized by complex decision environments, time-pressure, high stakes, unanticipated events, and information overload * Develop strategies for managing stakeholders, public opinion, media relations, and public officials * Integrate your crisis management approach into your overall business strategy

This course examines the strategies that highly educated women and men use to combine work and family and the strategies that managers and policy makers can use to help others strike a balance. Topics include the tradeoffs in becoming a stay-at-home parent, the economic value of unpaid labor, the consequences of balancing two high-powered careers and children, the economics of marriage, fertility, child care, and elder care, the gendered division of labor in the home, time-management , workplace innovations, and policy initiatives. Guest speakers add their own perspectives on these issues and describe the roles their organizations play.

The basic assumption of `authentic agency' is as a leader, manager, or consultant your job requires working with people to make decisions and solve problems. Authentic agency is an intentional effort to influence congruent with one's motivating emotional-values schema. In accordance with this assumption and definition your major tool for influencing people and achieving results is via languaging - the interpersonal use of spoken and written words - values and emotions. The focus of this course is how to `effectively and meaningfully use authentic expression to influence individual and group performance. `Authentic Agency' will be conceptually and experientially explored as the expressive intersection of intentionality, emotions, and values. Specific classroom activities and peer feedback will heighten student awareness of their present personal `authentic agency schema'. Besides completing homework readings and review questions, students are expected to author and submit a brief (20 min writing) `authentic agency meaning-making log' after each class. Each student will also complete a one-on-one critical incident phone interview (40-50 min) with Professor Bristol aimed at helping them capture and expand their authentic agency schema. Students will be provided digital copies of this interview for their study.

GSB Graduates will be entering and re-entering the workforce needing to know and understand how to assess, create, broadcast, and maintain their personal brand. Project You will help each student realize: What is a personal brand and how can it be unleashed as a valuable, competitive advantage? Why do you need a personal brand? How do you differentiate yourself and create a brand identity and strategy? How do you use social and traditional media to enhance your brand effectively as well as measure the metrics of social media responses? And how do you know when to pivot and evolve your brand for sustainability? GSB Lecturer, Allison Kluger, a former Television Executive and Co-Lecturer, Tyra Banks, Supermodel/Entrepreneur/Television Executive/Business CEO, will lead this class. They will help students create their own specific image to support their brand, teach them how to navigate on-air exposure, and help them create a long-term strategy for how to promote their personal brand across several media platforms. This class will be a highly interactive learning environment with image transformations, live broadcasting of presentations at a television station, live streaming of portions of the class on Facebook Live, and YouTube recordings of presentations. Class participation and interactive class activities are part of the expected assignments. The class culminates with the students sharing their honed personal brand to the public via three viable platforms (Facebook Live, local television, YouTube) to jump-start their personal brand extension. A 1:00 original iPhone (or similar device) video stating "Who you are, what your personal brand is, and why this class would be impactful for you?" will be a mandatory requirement before Class #1. Once you get accepted, there is no option to drop out as there is a mandatory short survey that needs to be completed a week before class one. If you do not want your image broadcast across multiple platforms, this is not the class for you. There is also a mandatory additional class to broadcast final projects live from KMVT television station on Thursday, May 18th, 6-9pm Do not apply for this class if you cannot make this, or any of the other 6 classes. If you can commit to these 7 classes, you will have a dynamic, transformational, highly interactive experience in which your personal brand will get seen by the public.

This course aims to introduce Social Impact Labs Fellows to different types of social impact organizations and nonprofit organizations, to their financial models, and to issues that arise in measuring their social impact. The course will also support development of the Social Impact Lab Fellows'€™ projects, through peer and faculty discussion and feedback.

This course is open only to students participating in the Stanford-Tsinghua Exchange Program and is required of those students. Requirements include researching and reporting on companies to be visited, attending lectures in preparation for the China visit, attending lectures at Tsinghua, and carrying out and reporting on a project with one or more Tsinghua student. Offered Pass/No Pass only. 2 units. Winter quarter.

As educators and scholars, academics must have the skills to effectively communicate their research to a wide range of audiences, including colleagues, students, professionals, and the general public, as well as in a variety of settings, from academic conferences and job talks to field seminars and the news media. nnnThis highly interactive course is designed to equip PhD students with critical communication skills, including best practices in academic presentations, public speaking, contributing in group settings, and shaping the public dissemination of your work.nnnWhether you are terrified of public speaking or simply looking to enhance an already strong skill set, you will have the opportunity to learn and practice strategies for getting comfortable on the stage, targeting your presentations to various audiences, managing Q&A, creating an effective "elevator pitch" about your work, and telling the narrative of your research. Ultimately, students will gain confidence in their ability to engage, connect, and communicate with their audiences.nn

This course covers various advanced quantitative methods with applications in marketing and economics. Topics include simulation-based estimation, dynamic decision processes, and other topics relating to empirical models of demand and supply. The course stresses the conceptual understanding and application of each technique. Students will learn to apply these techniques using Matlab or an equivalent language.

This course covers various advanced quantitative methods with applications in marketing and economics. Topics include simulation-based estimation, dynamic decision processes, and other topics relating to empirical models of demand and supply. The course stresses the conceptual understanding and application of each technique. Students will learn to apply these techniques using Matlab or an equivalent language.

This seminar examines research on the psychology of judgment and choice. Although the normative issue of how decisions should be made is relevant, the descriptive issue of how decisions are made is the main focus of the course. Topics of discussion include choice, judgment heuristics and biases, decision framing, prospect theory, mental accounting, context effects, task effects, regret, and other topics. The goal of the seminar is twofold: to foster a critical appreciation of existing knowledge in behavioral decision theory, to develop the students' skills in identifying and testing interesting research ideas, and to explore research opportunities for adding to that knowledge.

This course provides an introduction to microeconomic theory designed to meet the needs of students in the GSB non-Economics PhD programs. The course will cover the standard economic models of individual decision-making, models of consumer behavior and producer behavior under perfect competition, the Arrow-Debreu general equilibrium model, and some basic issues in welfare measurement. This class assumes a basic knowledge of undergraduate intermediate microeconomics, comfort with multivariable calculus and linear algebra and some exposure to real analysis.

This course is offered for students requiring specialized training in an area not covered by existing courses. To register, a student must obtain permission from the faculty member who is willing to supervise the reading.

This course is elected as soon as a student is ready to begin research for the dissertation, usually shortly after admission to candidacy. To register, a student must obtain permission from the faculty member who is willing to supervise the research.