A new design studio in which Master of Business Administration students and doctoral students from across campus would work together to develop business ventures from UC Davis research is one of the innovative proposals coming from the Graduate School of Management's own entrepreneurial directors.

Four professors, commissioned by their dean a year ago to pursue such enterprising projects, are advancing initiatives for technology management, joint degree programs, executive education and greater cultivation of the wine industry.

As Dean Nicole Woolsey Biggart aims to leverage the strengths of the small school, she says these plans offer opportunities for greater collaboration with other campus units and for further extending the school's reach into the commerce of the region.

The Center for the Design of Entrepre-neurial Ventures is among the proposals Associate Professor Andrew Hargadon is driving in the field of technology management. Those in other areas come from the efforts of professors David Woodruff and Robert Smiley and Associate Professor Kimberley Elsbach.

The entrepreneurial center

Being developed with the Office of Research's new Office of Technology and Industry Alliances, the entrepreneurial center is envisioned as a research and teaching program about the design of new business ventures. Working in interdisciplinary teams, students would learn as they develop new business models based on emerging technologies and market opportunities.

"We're trying to jumpstart careers in entrepreneurship by giving students a more structured approach," said Hargadon, who studies innovation. "Fundamental to our approach is this: The way you learn to be an entrepreneur is by being one."

The professor hopes to expand over three quarters a practicum on entrepreneurism he co-taught with an entrepreneur and a venture capitalist over the winter quarter. "It showed me there are students who want to do this."

Initially, Hargadon is planning for the center to work with 12 to 15 students and later expand to 10 MBA students and 10 students from the sciences and engineering. Among the first students it would seek to attract would be those involved with the Center for Biophotonics Science and Technology.

Students would study business design and development, quickly model and evaluate new ventures and then pursue the most promising. For successfully completing the practicum and three courses -- managing innovation, managing technology, and new and small ventures, students would receive a certificate in business development skills.

Barry Klein, vice chancellor for research, says the proposed center is a great example not only of interdisciplinary activity, but also of the growing resources available to help take research from the lab to the market. "It has a chance to be something really special."

Hargadon is also working to double the undergraduate minor in technology management from 90 students last year to 180 for this year.

Joint degree programs

Meanwhile, Woodruff is promoting joint degrees in fields ranging from computer science to arts management.

The school already has joint degree offerings in law, medicine, engineering, environmental management, and agricultural and resource economics. But it wants to offer more of the programs, which allow students to interweave disciplines and earn an MBA and graduate or professional degree in less time.

The programs are also an effective draw to get students in the door. "It seems important to give applicants these options even when they don't pursue them," said Woodruff, an expert in operations management and adviser for the school's joint degree programs in engineering.

The training meets a real need in large, complex organizations -- think of health-care administration or even "big science" research with multiple investigators. In these situations, Woodruff said, it's necessary to combine expertise in a given field with management skills.

Currently, a joint degree program in computer science is before the graduate council, and Woodruff is also exploring programs in the biological sciences and biochemistry and molecular biology. He's had initial discussions with Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies for a joint degree in arts management and eyes Mondavi Center as an opportunity for student internships.

Executive education

Business in the region and beyond stands to gain from the work of Elsbach as director of executive education. She is laying the groundwork for customized training and a lecture series.

"There are more and more companies headquartered here or establishing facilities here," Elsbach said. "There's a need, and we can meet it with high-caliber programs."

What the school hopes to do, she explained, is offer an opportunity for executives to stay current with developments in business even if they don't choose to pursue an MBA. Elsbach, whose work focuses on organizational behavior and leadership, has met with representatives of Intel, E*Trade Financial and some small biotechnology firms to develop customized training.

The programs, designed to meet the needs of the company, would offer courses on general topics such as strategy, information technology and executive management. Up to one week in length, they could be taught at UC Davis, company or other facilities.

Elsbach will work with area business leaders in the school's existing Business Partnership Program to present a series of four to six lectures on business-related topics. Faculty members and the partners would speak, and business people would pay a fee to attend.

Later, Elsbach said, she will explore how the school might offer programs with set content and dates for the general public.

Wine industry studies

Smiley is looking to deepen the school's well-established roots in the wine industry. He said it took him "about a nanosecond" to agree to serve as director of wine industry studies and continue to foster programs developed when he was dean.

The annual Wine Executive Program for industry executives and winemakers, offered in conjunction with the Department of Viticulture and Enology, was expanded this year from three to four days. About two-thirds of the program's registrants stayed for the additional lectures on winery and vineyard management and legal issues.

An economist and wine industry expert, Smiley is also trying to tackle an information need. He is seeking to identify a still elusive source of data on wine exports so he can help the domestic industry develop a strategy to improve its export success.

He will continue to provide leadership for the school's participation as a two-week teaching site for the Wine MBA offered by Bordeaux Business School and to present his annual survey of the wine industry at the Wine Industry Financial Symposium in Napa.