The donor was so impressed by the creativity and forward thinking of this focus that he wished to provide funds to ensure its effective and rapid implementation across the curriculum. This is the second recognition of the school's information management emphasis in recent weeks. Students in UCI's full-time MBA program receive an integrated view of the importance of managing information and technology in areas such as accounting, finance, strategy and marketing, and across entire business operations. This is coupled with the fundamental theories that drive businesses, no matter what technologies are being used and how practices change. The gift will be used to partially fund the five ITM labs in which students receive hands-on experience in successfully managing all aspects of a business operation.
Students then prepare a five-year sales forecast for a prospective company.
In the Enterprise Modeling Lab, students model parts of the system they designed and examine how IT systems can be configured to support a business. Consultants from Big Five firms provide guidance to teams of four GSM students. These teams visit local companies to analyze their process models against processes actually used in the corporate world. In the Operations Management Lab, students design logistical support for a company. These are essential parts of e-business, which GSM also is widely incorporating into its curriculum.