Kellogg Top Class Picks: Taiwanese Students (Class of 2024) Share Their Favorites
As graduation approaches, Taiwanese students from Kellogg’s Class of 2024 are preparing to turn their tassels. This moment marks a time of reflection on the enriching academic journey they have experienced at Kellogg. To celebrate this milestone, we reached out to 12 Taiwanese students who are about to graduate, asking them to share the one class that has been particularly memorable for them. Their selections are as varied as their aspirations, and we’ve curated a list of these classes by department, showcasing the breadth of our exceptional educational offerings.
1. Finance (FINC)
Entrepreneurial Finance and Venture Capital
Instructor: Professor Scott Baker
What is this class about and what’s the teaching method?
This course examines the financial challenges unique to entrepreneurial firms, focusing on fast-growing startups designed to scale quickly. It explores skills relevant to general partners managing venture capital firms, including fundraising, sourcing, investing, and portfolio management. Additionally, the course offers tools for limited partner investors to understand venture capital as an asset class.
Why do you like the class?
The frameworks and concepts covered in this course are particularly valuable for those aiming for careers in entrepreneurship and venture investments. I applied many of these frameworks during my experience in the Kellogg VC Lab. The professor is engaging and selects case studies that comprehensively illustrate various challenges faced by startups and venture capitalists.
Student Profile: MBA Program | Pre-MBA Career | Post MBA Career:
2Y | Consulting | Tech PM
2. Entrepreneurship (ENTR)
New Venture Launch
Instructor: Professor Troy Henikoff and Gregg Latterman
What is this class about and what’s the teaching method?
New Venture Launch is the culminating course in the Entrepreneurship foundational series, "Discover, Test, and Launch," designed for students intent on running their own businesses post-graduation. This application-driven course emulates a startup incubator, where students form teams around their startup concepts, preferably at a post-MVP stage. Classes begin with each team presenting their weekly progress metrics. The curriculum, enriched by guest speakers, covers a gamut of startup essentials including KPI setting, fundraising, customer acquisition, and hiring. Students gain invaluable insights from the professors and peer learning through weekly collaborative sessions.
Why do you like the class?
What makes this class particularly engaging is its interactive, hands-on approach. It's akin to being part of an actual incubator, requiring consistent weekly progress. Both Professors Henikoff and Latterman bring extensive entrepreneurial experience, having successfully exited their own ventures and mentored others through incubators and VC roles. Their structured methodology facilitates foundational learning for startup development, supplemented by expert guest speakers in various domains such as SEO and storytelling. The learning experience from this class was genuinely enriching. Although I do not intend to launch my own business immediately upon graduation, the knowledge and skills acquired are invaluable assets I anticipate will serve me well when I do venture into entrepreneurship in the future.
Student Profile: MBA Program | Pre-MBA Career | Post MBA Career:
2Y | Product Manager (E-commerce) | Product Manager (Cloud)
3. Marketing (MKTG)
Biomedical Marketing
Instructor: Professor Tim Calkins
What is this class about and what’s the teaching method?
An in-depth overview of the complex healthcare system in the United States and considerations for developing marketing strategies for pharmaceutical companies.
Why do you like the class?
This class offers a clear understanding of the healthcare system in the US, which is especially beneficial for international students. Healthcare in the US is complex and challenging to grasp, but Professor Calkins makes it easier to understand by providing interesting and engaging case studies.
Student Profile : MBA Program | Pre-MBA Career | Post MBA Career:
2Y | Sales & marketing in CPG | Healthcare Strategy Consultant
Ethnographic Customer Insights
Instructor: Professor Gina Fong
What is this class about and what’s the teaching method?
Teaches what ethnography is, from theory to practical implementation with external clients. Practical work includes preparing interview guides, conducting two interviews, organizing conclusions, discovering insights, and finally presenting recommendations to the client. The professor, an expert in this field, owns a consulting firm that specializes in this area and draws effortlessly from her experiences.
Why do you like the class?
- Professor Gina Fong: 2023 Professor of the Year. She deeply values feedback and maintains high course quality. Her classes are engaging with extensive storytelling, classroom activities, and interaction, emphasizing the importance of class participation. Given that this course now costs over 1,000 points, students are incentivized to engage fully.
- Course Design: Involves practical work that allows students to apply what they learn during the semester. The content is straightforward yet engaging and offers diverse perspectives.
*Note: This course isn't light; there's consistent weekly work, and it can be particularly busy around the time of conducting ethnographies. However, for those interested in understanding needs and finding insights, this course is not only practical for professional applications but also enriching personally. Attendance and participation are crucial—you must be attentive and speak up in class, as non-participation can lead to cold/warm-called. Whether it's worth the points depends on the individual, but with my background in marketing, I found it immensely valuable and thoroughly enjoyed both Gina's teaching and the course.
Student Profile - MBA Program | Pre-MBA Career | Post MBA Career:
2Y | CPG Marketing and Account Management | Tech
Marketing Strategy for Growth and Defense
Instructor: Professor Tim Calkins
What is this class about and what’s the teaching method?
An advanced marketing class navigates through the competitive dynamics of growing and defending your business. The class also involves marketing simulations to compete with other teams.
Why do you like the class?
Professor Tim Calkins provides firsthand marketing insights as a former P&G brand manager. He shares abundant stories and business cases on how to expand a product portfolio and defend our core competitiveness. The class offers a good combination of strategy, marketing/brand management, and basic product finance to integrate into a competition strategy. It's my favorite marketing class at Kellogg.
Student Profile - MBA Program | Pre-MBA Career | Post MBA Career:
MMM | Strategy in Banking | PM in Fintech
4. Strategy (STRT)
Strategic challenges in emerging markets
Instructor: Professor Ameet Morjaria
What is this class about and what’s the teaching method?
This course addresses specific challenges that managers may encounter in emerging business environments, such as contract enforcement, information access, property rights, and corruption. It provides toolkits and frameworks to tackle these challenges. While the class is primarily lecture-based, many students often contribute personal insights drawn from their past experiences.
Why do you like the class?
This course stands out as it delves extensively beyond the scope of the US, offering pragmatic insights. It serves as an excellent foundation for individuals aspiring to engage in international business. The professor, who has spent a considerable amount of time residing across Africa and Asia, brings a profound understanding of the cultures and nuances of these regions.
Student Profile: MBA Program | Pre-MBA Career | Post MBA Career:
2Y | E-commerce | Consulting
People Analytics and Strategy
Instructor: Professor Benjamin Friedrich
What is this class about and what’s the teaching method?
This class is about using talent data to provide data-driven decision-making for people management. In the class, we’ll use R or Stata to establish a decision framework through data modeling. For example, we come up with data models to determine whether internship experience or programming experience correlated to a candidate’s performance post-hire, or whether motivation impacts a candidate’s acceptance of the offer.
Why do you like the class?
This course provides both hard skills (data modeling) and soft skills (strategic thinking around the “life-cycle” of an employee at the company. Additionally, the professor teaches the class in a very engaging and fun way - love Benjamin!
Student Profile: MBA Program | Pre-MBA Career | Post MBA Career:
1Y | CPG Brand Management
Competitive Strategy and Industrial Structure
Instructor: Professor Joshua Mollner
What is this class about and what’s the teaching method?
The course explores competitive strategies using the location model of product differentiation for tactics like product positioning and proliferation. It also examines how to manage price competitions and uses concepts like judo economics to analyze market entry strategies and competitive dynamics.
Why do you like the class?
I appreciate how this class equips me with a structured framework to analyze business cases, providing insights into companies' strategic decisions and their long-term impacts. The concepts discussed, such as judo economics and product proliferation strategies, are not only relevant in this class but also appear frequently in other courses. These practical cases enhance my understanding of market dynamics and strategy implementation in the real world.
Student Profile: MBA Program | Pre-MBA Career | Post MBA Career:
2Y | Tech | Tech
5. Leadership Development (LDEV)
Personal Leadership Insight
Instructor: Professor Brenda Booth
What is this class about and what’s the teaching method?
The class offers opportunities to think deeply about who you truly are and what kind of leader you want to be. There will be tools and frameworks in every class lectured by the professor but more importantly, your learning will come from your deep retrospection and peer interaction. You will leave this class with better self and social awareness, a vision about you as a future leader, and a development plan to achieve that.
Why do you like the class?
I love this course, especially for the depth of personal sharing and impactful feedback from classmates. The small class size, typically around 15 people, and Professor Booth’s facilitation create an intimate and safe environment for openness and vulnerability. This environment allows for the sharing of unique experiences that are rarely voiced in other settings. The insightful and constructive feedback is another reason I love the class. The class settings enable honest and personalized feedback that provides invaluable insights that, while not immediately job-oriented, are foundational for long-term leadership development.
Student Profile: MBA Program | Pre-MBA Career | Post MBA Career:
MMM | Product Marketing in Tech | Corporate Strategy in Tech
Strategic Communication for Organizations
Instructor: Professor Shana Carroll
What is this class about and what’s the teaching method? (Feedback #1)
Through lectures, class discussions, and in-class exercises, this course offers a strong groundwork in communication strategy and provides opportunities for students to practice and reflect, empowering students to become more self-aware and adept communicators.
Why do you like the class? (Feedback #1)
The class is very engaging - not only learn from the professor, but also gain insights from my classmates' discussions on effective workplace communication. Also, the professor emphasizes the importance of self-reflection, encouraging students to define their communication style and leverage the course to align it with goals.
Student Profile: MBA Program | Pre-MBA Career | Post MBA Career: (Feedback #1)
2Y | Retail | Strategy
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What is this class about and what’s the teaching method? (Feedback #2)
This course will push you to become increasingly self-aware about your communication strengths and opportunities. It will also provide you with frameworks, tools and insights that enable you to enhance your communication effectiveness through simulation and in-class exercises.
Why do you like the class? (Feedback #2)
The course content is practical and full of immediately actionable insights. Communications happen across every industry and position and could be a vital transferable skill. As an international student, I can better deliver messages and have difficult conversations even without English fluency.
Student Profile: MBA Program | Pre-MBA Career | Post MBA Career: (Feedback #2)
1Y | Product Management | Product Management
6. Business Law (BLAW)
Business Law
Instructor: Professor Mark McCareins
What is this class about and what’s the teaching method?
This course covers the fundamentals of business law. The classes consist of lectures supplemented with practical case studies to provide a deeper understanding of legal operations.
Why do you like the class?
I find it intriguing to learn about the logic behind legal operations through real-life cases. It's particularly beneficial for aspiring entrepreneurs as it equips them with essential knowledge. Even for someone not intending to venture into entrepreneurship, gaining a comprehensive understanding of how business law operates is still valuable for people residing in the US.
Student Profile - MBA Program | Pre-MBA Career | Post MBA Career:
2Y | Tech, Supply Chain Management | Tech, Supply Chain Management
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