Full-Time MBA

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Lab Courses
Leadership Effectiveness and Development (Lead)
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Lab Courses

You'll have the chance for hands-on learning as you face actual business challenges in lab courses.

  • Management Lab - You'll tackle consulting assignments that focus on strategic thinking, management, and research skills. Working in teams with executives at major companies, you'll work on new product development, business strategy, and operational research. Recent Management Labs teams have traveled overseas for extended periods of time to manage projects on-site. Recent projects have included work for Honeywell International and paint company Valspar.
  • New Venture and Small Enterprise Lab - You'll work closely with senior management at early-stage companies on strategic and operational projects. You'll be directly involved in helping them take their ideas to market. Students have worked on competitive analysis, marketing plans, market research, strategy development, consumer studies, pricing models, and marketing messaging for companies. The companies and enterprises that participate in the course represent diverse industries, including technology and biotech, as well as industrial- and consumer-based firms. Sample companies:
    • InContext Solutions - InContext Solutions is a Chicago-based, award winning technology and market research firm specializing in 3D-virtual simulations. By combining the power of sophisticated 3D simulation with the speed and flexibility of the web, InContext creates a uniquely salable virtual store research technology that provides clients with actionable insights for a quarter of the cost and one third of the time of traditional methods.
    • MightyNest - MightyNest handpicks content and products to help you build non-toxic, eco-friendly and stylish home for your family.
    • Protein Bar - Protein Bar is a Chicago-based quick service restaurant chain that provides active, on-the-go people with healthy, flavorful choices.
    • Solixir - Solixir is an all-natural, functional beverage with no sugar added.
  • Private Equity/Venture Capital Lab - You'll intern 15 to 20 hours a week on projects ranging from evaluating new market/business opportunities to specific issues and opportunities for portfolio companies. The classroom component features guest lecturers from private equity and venture capital companies. Companies that have participated several times in the lab include Sterling Partners, Dunrath, Duchossois, OCA Ventures, Lake Capital, Essex Woodlands, Roundtable, WHI, Seneca Partners, Arch Development, and Prism Capital. Obtain more information about the Private Equity/Venture Capital Lab. Sample projects include:
    • Chicago Booth students have helped Dunrath identify the different segments of the security industry and focus on specific opportunities.
    • They have helped Essex Woodlands research investment opportunities in health care in China and India.
  • Social Entrepreneurship Lab - You will explore social entrepreneurship first-hand by working with local nonprofit enterprises and for-profit ventures that have a social mission. Students make strategic recommendations to the participating organizations and firms after careful analysis in order to leverage greater growth. Sample companies include:

    • ACCION Chicago - ACCION Chicago is a small business lender, dedicated to providing financing and business education to small businesses.
    • Five Accessories - Five Accessories is a Chicago-based company that offers unique and functional fair trade fashion accessories.
    • I-Go - I-Go is Chicago’s non-profit car sharing service.
    • One Hope United - One Hope United is a private, nonprofit human service organization dedicated to protecting children and strengthening families.
    • Urban Education Institute - Urban Education Institute is a University of Chicago-affiliated institute with the mission to create knowledge to produce excellent urban schooling.
  • Clean Tech Lab - A new lab, the Clean Technology Lab, was added in 2010, designed to provide you with a strong foundation in clean technology through a hands-on learning experience. Throughout the quarter, student teams will work on a project with a leading clean-tech firm or research laboratory, such as UChicago Tech, IIT, Argonne, or the Chicago Energy Initiative. Work may include solving a major issue the company is facing in operations, marketing, strategy, etc., or developing a commercialization plan for a clean technology the company has developed. Augmented with classroom instruction, lectures, and discussion will focus on issues faced by entrepreneurial organizations; core principles and technologies shaping the clean-tech industry; guest lecturers from industry experts; and more. Learn more about the course and current research projects at chicagocleantech.com.

Chicago Booth also offers courses that that provide experiential learning opportunities. These courses incorporate assignments from outside companies that allow you to put your classroom learning into practice.

  • Marketing Research - This course will provide you with a toolkit of market research approaches and techniques to help companies define key research questions that underlie strategic marketing decisions. You will collect and analyze data and develop the strategic implications of the research findings. Under faculty supervision, you will work with their client sponsor on a project and present their final analysis to management.
  • Consumer Behavior - You will learn about the psychological underpinnings of consumer decisions to buy or consume a product or service. By employing a variety of research tools and techniques, you will help uncover deep insights about consumer attitudes and motivations. View a sampling of past class-project sponsors.