Harness opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship
6 weeks, excluding
orientation
6–8 hours per week,
entirely online
Weekly modules,
flexible learning
Earn a digital
MIT Sloan certificate
1
An assessment of your organization’s capacity for innovation, in terms of both barriers and opportunities.
2
Tools to effectively engage with key stakeholders to overcome challenges and drive transformation in your business.
3
A tailored strategy for your organization, equipping you with an action plan to maximize entrepreneurship and foster a culture of innovation.
"I'd highly recommend this program to anyone looking to use innovation to supercharge their business or organization."
James Goodnow, CEO, Fennemore Craig
Over the duration of this online program, you’ll work through the following modules:
Module 1
Innovation and Its Challenges
Develop an understanding of innovation, the traditional context where it occurs, and the challenges faced by corporations trying to build innovation capabilities.
Module 2
Innovation in Ecosystems, with Stakeholders
Understand the importance for innovation of co-location in ecosystems, the nature of innovation and entrepreneurship capabilities, and the role of those ecosystems’ critical stakeholders.
Module 3
Innovation-driven Entrepreneurship and Experimental Innovation Loops
Recognize the importance of innovation-driven entrepreneurship and the role of innovation loops.
Module 4
Corporate Stakeholders in Innovation Ecosystems
Reflect on the roles that corporations play as stakeholders in an innovation ecosystem, and explore their links to the innovation-driven entrepreneur, university, risk capital, and government stakeholders.
Module 5
Innovation Practices as Tools of Engagement: Hackathons, Accelerators, and Prize Competitions
Learn about different options available to organizations for facilitating meaningful engagement with their ecosystems.
Module 6
Leading Innovation in an Ecosystem
Develop a plan for building an innovation strategy in an organization within an innovation ecosystem framework.
Please note that module titles and their contents are subject to change during course development.
Fiona Murray
William Porter Professor of Entrepreneurship, Associate Dean for Innovation and Co-Director, MIT Innovation Initiative
Murray is an associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research and serves on the British Prime Minister’s Council on Science and Technology. She has been awarded a CBE for her services to innovation and entrepreneurship in the UK. She is on the board of private biotechnology company Celixir and the global advisory board of MassChallenge.
Murray is an international expert on the transformation of investments in scientific and technical innovation into innovation-based entrepreneurship that drives jobs, wealth creation, and regional prosperity. She has a special interest in the commercialization of science, from idea to impact, and the mechanisms that can effectively link universities with entrepreneurs, large corporations, and philanthropists in that process. In her recent scholarship and writing, Murray has emphasized the ways in which women and underrepresented minorities are engaged in the innovation ecosystem and the ways in which different approaches to evaluating early-stage ideas can overcome the unconscious bias that she has documented in entrepreneurial funding. Her work is widely published in a range of journals, including Science, Nature, New England Journal of Medicine, Nature Biotechnology, American Journal of Sociology, Research Policy, Organization Science, and the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. She brings her deep appreciation of research and design to an understanding of the global innovation economy and how the next generation of global innovators should be educated. Murray received her BA (1989) and MA (1990) from the University of Oxford in chemistry. She subsequently moved to the United States and earned an AM (1992) and PhD (1996) in applied sciences from Harvard University.
Phil Budden
Senior Lecturer of Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Strategic Management, MIT Sloan School of Management
Budden focuses on innovation-driven entrepreneurship (IDE) and innovation ecosystems in Sloan's Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Strategic Management (TIES) group. He co-teaches in the successful Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program (REAP), an MIT global program for regional teams from around the globe that are interested in accelerating innovation-driven entrepreneurship. In a related class, he leads the Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration for Leaders (REAL) course aimed at mid-career exec MBAs. He also lectures on similar topics to executives in a variety of executive education settings, including the on-campus Innovation Ecosystems program. Budden’s approach combines researched, real-world and personal perspectives on how leaders from all the different stakeholders — including entrepreneurs, universities, and risk capital providers, alongside corporate enterprises and government policymakers — can all contribute to building successful innovation ecosystems.
Budden has previously worked for the British Government, the Royal Bank of Scotland's US subsidiary (Citizens Bank), and for executives from around the world. His background in diplomacy and banking makes him well-suited to outlining innovation, the interplay among stakeholders, and the negotiations within innovation ecosystems (especially between corporate and government stakeholders). Budden holds a BA and MA in history from Lincoln College, University of Oxford; an MA in history and government from Cornell University; and a PhD (DPhil) in history and international political economy, also from the University of Oxford.
“This course was a first-class presentation on the current and emerging best practices for engaging innovation activities and leveraging ecosystems. The careful discernment and process evaluations throughout the course were especially valuable. The course videos, practitioner, and champion dialogue reinforced the content throughout.”
This MIT Sloan online program is delivered in collaboration with online education provider GetSmarter. Join a growing community of global professionals, and benefit from the opportunity to:
Develop new competencies and earn valuable recognition from an international selection of universities and institutions, entirely online and on your own time frame.
Enjoy a personalized, people-mediated online learning experience that supports you every step of the way.
Experience a flexible but structured approach to online education as you plan your learning around your life to meet weekly milestones.