Experience SMU Cox Immersions.
At SMU Cox, Online MBA program graduates are poised to find creative solutions to business challenges from day one due to the experiential opportunities at the heart of our curriculum. No matter which SMU Cox online program you choose, you will have an opportunity to experience global and domestic immersion trips with peers and professors. Our immersion trips are located in cities chosen for their strategic relevance to the business community. Over the course of an immersion, you’ll gain hands-on experience working in teams on a real-time project that will challenge you to overcome complex corporate obstacles in a fluid global market. You’ll explore leadership and analytics topics and hear from top corporate executives about their experiences.
In an era of business ambiguity and flux, immersions teach MBA candidates the skills to pivot and meet today’s evolving changes and challenges.
Santiago, December 2022
In partnership with Draper Startup House, this thrilling experience offers students the opportunity to prepare and execute intentional business strategies.
Highlights include:
- Opportunities to collaborate with the Draper Startup House founders.
- Stress testing real-world frameworks from start-ups and proposing strategies to optimize their processes.
- Attend business meetings with partner companies.
- Cultural tour of Santiago and wine tasting.
Past Immersions
In-Person Immersions
Cape Town, October 2022
This immersion centered on innovation for social entrepreneurs and NGOs. MBA students worked with early-stage companies in need of a holistic business strategy. The immersion experience included:
- Pre-trip sprints to help cohort teams create customer-facing, stakeholder-informed business strategies.
- Applying Lean and Agile methodologies to solve ambiguous problems for local companies.
- Networking and collaboration with local professionals to develop and present proposals.
- Cultural excursions, including a Cape Town city tour and trips to Table Mountain and Aquila Private Game Reserve.
Seattle, June 2022
The immersion experience included:
- Cohort team building exercises focused on innovation and human-centered design.
- Wargame-style activities – judged by Seattle professionals – that shape critical thinking, ideation and problem-solving skills.
- Immersive activities exploring ambiguity and employing strategic tools to create operational solutions.
- Exposure to the Seattle ecosystem and networking opportunities with local companies embracing innovation.
Madrid, February 2022
Underpinning this immersion was the use of the Be-Novative platform for anonymous collaborative ideation. Companies like Apple, Cisco, Bank of America, ABB, GE Healthcare, HSBC London and British Telecom use Be-Novative to help develop strategy and to hack solutions where old assumptions are no longer valid.
- Two weeks ahead of the immersion, participants worked on their projects while collaborating in Be-Novative.
- Team projects provided opportunities to practice strategy and leadership skills by working with NGOs, social entrepreneurs and other enterprises within Madrid’s thriving startup ecosystem.
- These real client projects became a competition.
Dallas, January 2022
The immersion experience included:
- Opening keynote speaker Bob Pragada, President and COO of Jacobs, a global Fortune 500 company and #1 engineering design firm in the industry.
- Closing keynote speaker Nina Vaca, Chairperson and CEO of Pinnacle Group, the fastest growing women-owned business in the U.S.
- Opportunities to participate in skill building master classes in game theory, leadership challenges, entrepreneurship exploration, the future of energy and Tableau skills.
Dubai, October 2021
The immersion experience included:
- Keynote speaker Dayle Rebecca Carden, Managing partner of Elliott Barrett Group, a Dallas-based strategic advisory firm.
- Team projects that integrate strategy and leadership skills with several companies in UAE.
- Opportunities to network and interact with SMU Cox program faculty.
Colorado, June 2021
The immersion experience included:
- Team projects that integrate strategy and nature with the executive owner of Devil’s Thumb Ranch (DTR).
- Opportunities to network and interact with SMU Cox program faculty.
- Team adventure games featuring ten physical and intellectual challenges across the 6,500 acre ranch, designed to develop leadership.
- Voluntary activities including horseback riding and fly fishing.
London, December 2019
The immersion experience included:
- Presentations from industry giants, startups, and NGOs, including: Microsoft, Eversend mobile online bank, Monzo bank, and TACT fostering agency.
- Students used complex problem solving skills and analyzed business, economic and financial market implications in real time.
- Opportunity to explore the rich history and cultural landmarks of London, Bath, Windsor and Stonehenge.
“We needed to bring strategic and tactical solutions in a short time, which represents the reality of every business. I love this type of work since part of my job is to help companies succeed using technology.”
Silvia Davis, Online MBA ‘21, Product and Solutions Marketing Strategist
Virtual Immersions
Innovation Hackathon, August 2020
- MBA student teams worked with 15 early stage companies from around the world to reimagine their businesses in the midst of a global pandemic.
- Students pitched innovative business solutions to judges representing leading early stage investors.
- Keynote addresses from Cox School of Business Dean Matt Myers, Dallas Mavericks CEO Cynt Marshall, and Co-Founder and Managing Partner of the Billion Dollar Fund for Women Entrepreneurs Shelly Porges.
- Students gained first-hand experience and applied best practices on collaboration in a virtual business environment.
“Battle for the Cloud” War Game, February 2021
- Students participated in workshops teaching competitive intelligence, scenario planning, and war gaming.
- The three-round war game ended with a catastrophic scenario challenging student teams to recalibrate their strategies to survive and prosper.
- Judges included c-suite executives from the world’s leading cloud providers and their global clients.
- Jay Nakagawa, Director of Competitive Intelligence at Dell Technologies, delivered the keynote address.
