University of La Verne, California – Specialised Programmes
Tour Options
Advanced Business Strategy Topics presented in a context of direct application of concepts in the decision-making process.
Start Date: 2022-01-17 End Date: 2022-02-18 Max Participants: 20Transforming strategic financial decisions into shareholder value.
Start Date: 2022-01-17 End Date: 2022-02-18 Max Participants: 20Worldwide class project management with a focus on the human factor. Knowledge and experience indispensable to professionals in the area.
Start Date: 2022-01-17 End Date: 2022-02-18 Max Participants: 20Price: 20 254,00 ZAR
Tour Information
These are 2 credit bearing courses (GST credit and elective credit).
You are required to complete all activities and the group assignment below to ensure you receive the GST and Elective credit.
These online programmes are offered ‘free of charge’ for those who have opted for a physical tour in 2022.
The online tour will need to be paid within 21 days after an invoice is generated, and prior to the start of the online tour.
An amount equal to the value of the online tour will be deducted from your 2022 physical tour invoice, the remainder balance for the 2022 physical tour will be paid at least 5 months prior to the tour.
The University of La Verne and the International Business School Americas are offering a set of online programs for the students of WITS Business School enrolled in the International Study Tours. The objective is to open an ADDITIONAL opportunity for academic and professional development, particularly in the context of the Covid 19 pandemics. Participants of this online program can also attend the face-to-face programs in California when the health authorities from both countries allow international travels and in-class lectures.
By successfully attending one of the online programs, WITS students will earn the academic credits regarding to the Global Study Tour and elective, an academic requirement for completion of your MBA. After their graduation, at the time defined by WITS Business School in accordance with its academic calendar, the students will have the opportunity of traveling to California, having the international experience provided by this program, and earn a Certificate issued by the University of La Verne.
The WITS Business School will enroll the students in the online programs based upon academic criteria and availability of spots in each of the four tracks. All four programs are composed by lectures given by the ULV faculty, cultural activities, networking opportunities, extra-class activities, and will be finalized by two academic assessment tasks. Note that the coordinator may make changes in the programming, however participants will know in advance.
Course period: 17 January – 18 February 2022
- Preparatory content and briefing: 17 January 2022 8am to 10am, Los Angeles time.
- Speed Networking– Meeting for student integration and networking with your classmates:
- Virtual AmazingRace or Online Visits
- Live classes
- Deadline for the final assignment: 16 February 2022
- Release of final grade of the program: 4 March 2022
- Class language: English
- Student’s assessment: final test (individual) and final assignment (group)
- Approval criterion: grade 7 (grades ranging from 0 to 10) and 80% attendance in class.
Sample Schedule
Instructions for students – ULVUniversity of La Verne – Online Tours
Briefing Session
Please join us for the briefing session on the 8th of April from 17h00-19h00.
Zoom Link – https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87278970222
Opening Ceremony: Guest Speaker
Mr Chris Donnelly
CEO
Verb Brands
Named in Forbes 30 under 30, Chris Donnelly is the founder of VERB Brands; a luxury digital agency based in London, New York & Shanghai. VERB specialises in creating digital strategies for brands through website and eCommerce platform build/optimization and conducting SEO, PPC, programmatic and social media campaigns for luxury brands. Having seen the demand, Chris has recently launched VERB China to help western luxury brands launch and grow in China.
Having started the company at university when he was 21, he has grown the company organically, working on omnichannel digital projects for international brands such as Jimmy Choo, Bugatti, Clive Christian, The Wolseley, Claridges to name a few. VERB is now one of the most recognised luxury digital agencies in the world.
“The Leading Digital Agency for Luxury & Premium Brands.”
Based in London & New York, VERB is a performance-based digital agency that drives strategy, growth, and revenue. VERB provides SEO, PPC, organic & paid social, programmatic services, websites and content for some of the world’s leading brands.”
Verb is a service business that is primarily based in the UK, it was started in 2013.
Professor Issam Ghazzawi received his Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh, his Masters in Labor and Human Resources (MLHR) from The Ohio State University, and his Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Sul Ross State University. He has taught management and organizational studies courses and has over 20 years of executive management experience.”
Paul J. Abbondante, Ph.D., has extensive experience as an investment banker and chief financial officer. He was the Chief Financial Officer of Genève International Corporation, a FINRA broker-dealer specializing in investment banking, from 2000 to 2016. Prior to that, he was President of Irvine Securities, also a FINRA broker dealer, and was responsible for all aspects of the company’s operations. The duties included investment analysis, due diligence, and the management of 25 brokers. In his previous positions as CFO with Triple Crown Industries, Inc. and Capital Network, Inc., he was responsible for the allocation of corporate funds along with the financial analysis and modeling that preceded the spending decisions. Triple Crown Industries was publicly traded and he submitted quarterly and annual reports to be filed with the SEC. Dr. Abbondante has taught economics and finance at the University of California at Los Angeles, California Polytechnic University at Pomona, and Chapman University. He received his doctoral degree in Economics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute. He also had series 7 (registered representative), series 24 (general securities principal), and series 27 (financial and operations principal) securities licenses.
Dr. Kathy Duncan is a Professor of Management at the University of La Verne. She is the Program Director for the Master’s in Leadership and Management program. Before coming to academia, Kathy had over twenty years of experience in healthcare including clinical, management, and educator positions as a registered nurse. Dr. Duncan has presented at a number of academic and leadership conferences. As a consultant, Kathy facilitates team building, strategic planning, and conflict resolution with teams in healthcare, education, and non-profit organizations.
Prof. Frank Fialho is currently a doctoral candidate in the Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership program at the University of La Verne and holds an MBA with a concentration in Marketing and a Bachelor of Science Degree in business administration, in addition he has more than 40 years of Marketing and Professional Selling experience
Closing Ceremony: Guest Speaker
Matthew Khoury
CEO/Co-Founder
Loke Global
Graduated from University of South Australia, Matthew Khoury co-founded Loke Global in Australia in 2012.
LOKE builds branded ordering, loyalty and marketing technology for retail and hospitality brands. It provides both web and native apps in customer’s brand with the widest selection of tools to build revenue and customer data. LOKE’s bespoke platform includes customisable segmentation and tracking tools, allowing its customers to create powerful and meaningful journeys while enhancing customer’s interaction with businesses. It offers a feature set normally only achieved by combining multiple platforms.
After the successful launch in Australia and Singapore, Matt moved to London to expand Loke’s operation into the UK in 2018. When Covid-19 hit UK in March 2020, Matt led his team to change its business model over night, they have pivoted extremely successfully to focus on providing ordering platforms, for delivery services, to small and medium sized hospitality businesses.
Its customers include Shake Shack, Nandos, Baskin Robbins, National Australia Bank, Milestone Group, Gelato Messina, City Pub Group and many more, it has offices in Sydney, Singapore, London and Aukland.