EMBA students from Loyola Marymount University recently returned from their annual week-long trip to study innovation in Silicon Valley and Sacramento, according to a press release from the school. Students learned how organizations gain a competitive edge by managing innovation through services, processes, marketing, management systems, technologies, and products.
The trip began in Sacramento where students learned how the legal and regulatory climate in California works to support or challenge innovation. They toured the state capitol and met with policy-makers whose decisions shape California policy. Topics the students discussed included government-industry relations, lobbying activity, state budget initiatives and constraints related to innovation, educational and environmental issues, and laws and regulations affecting innovation in the state.
Afterwards, students traveled to Silicon Valley to learn about innovation management in some of the most cutting-edge organizations on the planet. Students were welcomed inside high-profile companies like Oracle, Genentech, Facebook, Microsoft, Flextronics, and Plug and Play to meet with executives and ask them questions about leadership, product and managerial development, investing, and culture. Although rigorous, the trip aimed to inspire and energize students by exposing them to the culture of innovation in California.
Robert Tisdale, EMBA student, felt that the event keyed in on what really makes the difference in between a success and a failure. “Policy will always be relevant; however, innovation is a lifestyle. Innovation is the catalyst to a thriving alignment of personal, operational and strategic networks that fuel strategies within the corporate culture; igniting a competitive advantage that enlightens the commitment of a company’s vision,” he said in a press release from the school.