Business continuity during the pandemic: Every downturn creates challenges and out of these come innovations. In a talk, Dr. Vandana Mangal will discuss her work and analysis on sector disruptions.  Her colleague, Sarala Peachimuthu, will share her experiences in the sectors she is working in.  

Every downturn creates challenges and out of these come innovations. Each business has had to determine its own path to business continuity.Big or small; corporations, startups, education or transportation, healthcare or consulting, what are the companies and institutions doing that has allowed them to have business continuity? And can their mantras be adopted by other companies that are trying to determine what they need to do?

Speaker: Dr. Vandana (Ana) Mangal teaches management classes at UCLA and consults on innovation and edtech for higher education.  As Innovation Advisor at Pepperdine Graziadio Business School, she has worked with the Dean and his leadership team on the strategic initiative to bring innovation into the curriculum for the purpose of differentiation.  She has also led the initiative to integrate fourth industrial revolution technologies such as AI, data, and blockchain into the MBA curriculum at Graziadio, to prepare MBAs to manage and lead in digitally transforming sectors.  Earlier, Dr. Mangal was the Executive Director of the Easton Technology Management Center at UCLA Anderson School of Management, where she was instrumental in creating the strategy and design for a technology leadership certificate program in which she grew into an endowed Center.  Through her research on the BIT project at UCLA Anderson, she has published four books, papers, and articles.  Dr. Mangal speaks at conferences and forums on emerging technology-related topics including AI for education, preparing the workforce of the future, disruption in the transportation sector with technology deployment, and women in technology.  Her Ph.D. is from Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College and she has worked at Intel Corp, Tata Group, and AE Business Solutions consulting before joining UCLA Anderson.