Rensselaer’s newest MBA students got a taste of the new curriculum during a semester-kickoff sales competition.

The Lally School of Management and Technology introduced students to its new non-traditional MBA curriculum in a non-traditional way — with an Apprentice-like sales competition in which students created a drink product and took it to a local supermarket to see which team could make the most sales.

The competition capped a weeklong immersion in the study of “Leaders, Heroes, and Innovators.” The short course used videos, lectures, and a special innovation-lab to focus students on all elements of entrepreneurial leadership.

“The learning experience, a huge success in an open marketplace very foreign to many of the Lally MBA students’ own comfort zones, gave them instant feedback on how well they had prepared for the selling floor. They brought the world to a local supermarket and met the world of business face to face,” said Jeff Durgee, associate professor of management.

With a brief talk from a food nutritionist to guide them, the student teams worked with selected ingredients to blend the most effective and tasty product. Along the way, students learned about business operations from start-up to sales, and got pointers in developing the skills of leadership, creativity, innovation, and bringing new technologies to the marketplace.

The new MBA curriculum does not follow the traditional approach in which each course focuses on a specific business discipline, such as marketing or accounting; rather, it combines coursework into year-long classes that capture the complexity of the real-world business environment.

“This curriculum really responds to the changing demands of business in the 21st century,” said Iftekhar Hasan, acting dean of the Lally School. “It integrates basic business principles and presents them in a framework that mimics real-world conditions. It truly gives students an understanding of what it takes to be a manager or entrepreneur in a successful enterprise today.”

The new curriculum features “streams of knowledge” in five critical areas. These areas include: Creating and managing an enterprise; creating value, managing networks, and driving innovation; developing innovative new products and services; formulating and implementing competitive business strategies; and managing the business implications of emerging technologies.

For more information on the MBA program, go to www.lallyschool.rpi.edu.

Published October 1, 2004