Mike Hochleutner, Executive Director, Center for Leadership Development and Research (left), meets with students in preparation for Strategic Leadership.
Karen Hart, MBA 2009
Former Goldman Sachs banker Karen Hart says she appreciates the new curriculum's emphasis on globalization and managing in a global environment.
"I spent the last year working in Hong Kong and would have benefited tremendously from the discussions we are having in class right now—from tactical ideas of how to gain credibility as a foreigner to broader ideas on building an international expansion strategy. My classmates and I are encouraged to think about the more complex issues associated with globalization, where there are lots of moving parts, missing information, and no clear-cut answers. Discussions often continue outside class."
The Critical Analytical Thinking (CAT) seminar, an innovation in the first year curriculum, also earns high praise from Karen.
"I love taking a seminar that allows me to interact closely with classmates from diverse backgrounds. Plus I have learned to focus on the need to understand evidence, construct arguments, write effectively, and get my point across quickly. CAT has helped refine my critical perspective."
Although the workload can be challenging—at the beginning of the term she was spending up to 60 hours a week on class preparation and now averages 30-40 hours a week on academics outside class—Karen remains pleased at the ongoing level of collaboration among students.
"Never have I felt unhealthy competition among my classmates. From the size of the school, to the atmosphere, to the friendliness of faculty and students, the overall experience has been overwhelmingly positive."
And, says Karen, she has had the opportunity to partake of the San Francisco Bay Area’s amenities.
"I go to San Francisco a couple of times a month. I have visited Point Reyes and gone surfing at Pismo Beach. And even when we are studying hard, my classmates and I take breaks for impromptu wine tastings and birthday parties.
The business school is a true community."
"The great thing about being a faculty member at the Stanford GSB is the opportunity to get to know our extraordinary students personally. Whether it is through being a formal faculty advisor, accompanying students on a global study trip, listening to new business ideas, or discussing career options more generally, the size of the GSB makes this kind of one-on-one relationship possible.
Professor Garth Saloner
Jeffrey S. Skoll Professor of Electronic Commerce, Strategic Management, & Economics
Director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies
Stanford AM '81, MS '82, PhD '82
Curriculum—A Bold New Vision
A Fast Start
With Stanford's new curriculum, you will immediately dive into complex managerial issues.
Through your first quarter Management Perspectives courses, you will examine questions that transcend any single function or discipline of management such as:
- What responsibilities does a corporation have to society?
- What do markets do well, and what do they do poorly?
- What are the costs and benefits of commitment?
You will begin to understand the larger context of management and recognize deficiencies in your own knowledge that you will fill with Management Foundations classes in your second and third quarters.
Right from the start, you also will focus on developing your leadership style and honing your skills of oral and written persuasion.
Faculty Guidance
Members of our world-renowned faculty are accessible and eager to provide individual guidance in your first year. They care about you and your academic experience. You will get to know faculty members well. And they will get to know you.
As a Stanford MBA student, you will have a faculty advisor who knows your background in depth and helps you assess your strengths and development areas.
Your faculty advisor partners with you to select the Management Foundations courses that are calibrated to your personal background, experiences, and interests.
Tailored Curriculum
Stanford offers Management Foundations courses with multiple levels of difficulty in each discipline calibrated to the background and experience of each student. In some cases there will be options available to better suit students' learning and career goals.
We are not a "one size fits all" program. We help you reach your goals faster and better.
Global Experience
Today's society is truly a global one, and it has never been more important to consider the global context of business.
Through required courses and electives, you will not only examine global management issues but also develop frameworks for learning about other countries and how best to navigate cultures different from your own.
We expect to provide every student with opportunities for a global study trip, overseas service-learning trip, international internship, or student exchange experience while in the Stanford MBA Program.
Small Seminars
One of the key benefits of a smaller school is that we can provide more engaging learning environments through our intimate seminars.
Both students and faculty consistently describe Stanford seminars as among their most valuable classroom experiences.
Your Stanford MBA experience will begin and end with seminar classes that bring students and faculty together in small groups to delve deeply or debate more broadly.
Stanford also is introducing a series of intensive one-week fall seminars for second-year students in which you dive deeper into the cutting-edge research and ground-breaking ideas of our faculty members.
Capstone Experience
As your MBA education draws to a close, you will join with your peers and professors to synthesize the last two years with a seminar course that is both retrospective and prospective.
This is a chance to reflect on what you have learned and examine what you hope to achieve in the future—for yourself and for others.