LOS ANGELES -- When Pepperdine University introduces its new six-part MBA entrepreneurship emphasis at its Malibu and West Los Angeles campuses in the fall, and at its Irvine campus in the spring term, full-time MBA and part-time MBA candidates will not be expected to have a business idea in mind. Students will be immersed in a program that focuses on unlocking their creativity and imagination to generate high-market value ideas before they begin courses on financing, marketing and structuring a viable business. The approach ensures students uncover solutions to problems that are both personally compelling and have large market potential. The result will be a business plan validated by a panel of angel and venture capital investors.
"We have designed an entrepreneurship emphasis to help MBAs translate a creative vision into a real business that not only produces wealth, but also allows students to express their personal values," said Dr. Larry Cox, an associate professor and director of the Entrepreneurship Program at Pepperdine University's Graziadio School of Business and Management.
Dr. Cox previously served as director of the top 10 ranked Entrepreneurship Center at Ball State University and director of the nationally recognized Weinert Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also was Director of Research at Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a private nonpartisan foundation that works to harness the power of entrepreneurship and innovation to grow economies and improve human welfare. Dr. Cox joined the faculty at Pepperdine's business school in fall 2008 to lead the redesign of entrepreneurship programs and oversee the annual Pepperdine University Business Plan Competition.
The new emphasis' linchpin will be a required entrepreneurship seminar series. Each session in the series explores new venture opportunities in a different industry or field of study, including clean tech, social entrepreneurship, entertainment, life sciences, and eCommerce. The seminars help students find those personally compelling, high-potential ideas for a new business.
"Each seminar offers an overview and basic explanation of a cutting-edge technology or field, and discussion of a broad range of potential applications for new products and services," said Dr. Cox. "Students will discover market problems that might be solved by new ventures utilizing the technologies presented."
Added Dr. Cox, "We want to nurture entrepreneurs who have no choice but to bring their business ideas to market. They will be driven to do it because the ideas are that good and that important to them. 
