MBA9525 Leading Innovation at Gorillas, Chimps & Monkeys
(Formerly MOB9525)
1.5 Intensive Elective Credits
There are only two ways to grow: M&A and Organic. Organic Growth is much much much more difficult than M&A. Growth is the only common thing that all types of firms -- start-ups, small, medium, large, family-businesses, non-profits -- have in common. However, how they go about achieving growth could be very very different. This course focuses on how innovation is a mechanism for growth in a variety of firms and situations.

If you are going to work for a Gorilla / Chimp (Large / Medium Business):
M&A, incremental innovation, risk management and bureaucracy building are all skills and capabilities that are in abundance inside large enterprises. However, organic growth, radical innovation, uncertainty navigation, and entrepreneurial leadership skills and capabilities are all scarcities within large enterprises. Hence, many medium- and large-sized enterprises are creating internal innovation leaders who are able to drive organic growth by building innovation sandboxes and creating and nurturing a culture of innovation.

If you are going to start or work at a Monkey (Startup / Small Business):
Large firms routinely don't want to cater to certain markets and certain customers. They are very picky in terms of what margins they want and will protect. So, large enterprises do not pursue many opportunities. These spurned opportunities are precisely the ones that start-ups and small businesses should go after. Having a clear understanding of how large firms make their decisions in terms of markets and margins will improve the opportunities for start-ups and small businesses. Also, start-ups and small firms are notoriously lacking in resources. Creativity and Innovation is the primary weapon of the entrepreneur to compete against the Gorillas & Chimps. This course will provide several strategies for start-ups and small businesses to compete against the larger enterprises.

If you are from / going-to-join a family business:
All family business leaders have to comprehend that Strategy, Innovation and Leadership cannot be discussed independently and in isolation. They are all highly intertwined. At the heart of this triangle sits an even more difficult concept called "Culture." Depending on the generational, technological and socio-economic changes that are underway in their countries / industries / businesses, family business leaders have to navigate VUCAH (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity & hyperconnectedness) through a careful combination of multi-dexterous skills in terms of Strategy, Innovation, Leadership & Culture. This course will help you gain those multi-dexterous skills.

  • Program: Graduate
  • Division: Operations and Information Management
  • Level: Graduate Elective (Grad)
  • Course Number: MBA9525
  • Number of Credits: 1.5

OIM7522 Leading Sustainable Innovation
(Formerly MOB7522)
3 Elective Credits

If you took and passed MOB7522, you cannot register for OIM7522, as these two courses are equivalent

The era of corporations integrating sustainable practices is being surpassed by a new age of corporations actively transforming the market to make it more sustainable. Enterprise integration is geared toward present-day measures of success; market transformation will help companies create tomorrow's measures. This course prepares entrepreneurial leaders to create systemic transformation and apply practical decision-making with the purpose of socio-ecological and economic value. In this course you will learn different approaches including systems thinking to design, develop and implement sustainability-oriented innovations. After completing this course, you will be able to
(1) Critically examine the relationship between business practices and socio-ecological system,
(2) Understand and apply the concepts of sustainability thinking and practice (externalities, process thinking, and systems and design thinking) to design, develop and implement sustainability-oriented innovations with socio-ecological systemic impacts,
(3) Understand how to operationalize the four elements of sustainability thinking and practice (purpose and strategic intent, stakeholder involvement, metrics, design and implementation of innovations)
(4) Develop knowledge and skillset to take lead in formulating an effective sustainability strategy for the transformation of a conventional organization

  • Program: Graduate
  • Division: Operations and Information Management
  • Level: Graduate Elective (Grad)
  • Course Number: OIM7522
  • Number of Credits: 0

OPS6110 Operations Management

1.5 CreditsIn enterprises of any kind, managing operations effectively is essential to success. The course explores the role of operations in enabling a firm's strategy, affecting its business model, and in creating extensible systems to capture value for multiple stakeholder classes. Students will identify critical systems, design solutions, and apply problem solving practices in ways that could potentially reset competitive conventions or enable a new initiative or venture to overcome constraints posed by a nascent & uncertain operating environment.

  • Program: Graduate
  • Division: Operations and Information Management
  • Course Number: OPS6110
  • Number of Credits: 1.5

OIM7800 Operations and Information Management
2 Credits (Core MBA)


If you have taken and passed OPS7200, you cannot register for OIM7800, as these two courses are equivalent

This course focuses on the role of operations and information in executing a firm's strategy and delivering the organization's products and/or services. Within this focus, students learn to apply operations design and strategy in three ways. First, they learn to configure resources and design processes to achieve performance, identify improvement opportunities, and leverage strategic capabilities for sustainable growth. Second, they learn the strategic role of technology and data, and use data for improving the operational model. Third, they study the operational model of innovation to create sustainable value for an organization. With an emphasis on building long-term sustainable models, this course helps managers consider environmental and social impact in their operating models.

  • Program: Graduate
  • Division: Operations and Information Management
  • Course Number: OIM7800
  • Number of Credits: 2

OIM6111 Operations Management
(Formerly OPS6110)

If you took and passed OPS6110, you cannot register for OIM6111, as these two courses are equivalent

In enterprises of any kind, managing operations effectively is essential to success. The course explores the role of operations in enabling a firm's strategy, affecting its business model, and in creating extensible systems to capture value for multiple stakeholder classes. Students will identify critical systems, design solutions, and apply problem solving practices in ways that could potentially reset competitive conventions or enable a new initiative or venture to overcome constraints posed by a nascent & uncertain operating environment.

  • Program: Graduate
  • Division: Operations and Information Management
  • Course Number: OIM6111
  • Number of Credits: 1.5

OIM7555 Product Design and Development
(Formerly MOB7555)
3 Elective Credits

If you took and passed MOB7555, you cannot register for OIM7555, as these two courses are equivalent

Product Design and Development (PDD) is an integrated management course that provides students with a field-based understanding of the fundamentals of conceiving, evaluating, and developing successful new physical products. One works in a team-based environment learning how to translate a new product idea into a product concept and final design. The course extends the design toolkit introduced in core MBA courses, preparing students to create final working prototypes to be used to pursue funding for venture launch.

Weissman Foundry resources are used extensively to develop product prototypes. Student teams propose projects or are matched with projects in collaboration with participating client companies. The course culminates in the MBA Product Design Fair where teams present final product prototypes.

The course covers emerging topics and tools in sustainable product design as well as the use of generative artificial intelligence in the design process. While there is some case-based learning, the primary focus is on experiential learning through creating new products. The course is particularly relevant for students interested in launching ventures based on physical products, those seeking employment in companies with a product focus, those wishing to learn more about the design and innovation process through engaging in a semester-long development project, and those interested in product management roles.

(3.0 Credit Hours)

This course is typically offered in the following semesters: Spring

Prerequisites: None

  • Program: Graduate
  • Division: Operations and Information Management
  • Level: Graduate Elective (Grad)
  • Course Number: OIM7555
  • Number of Credits: 3

OIM6301 Programming for Business Analytics
(Formerly MIS6300)
3 Credits

If you took and passed MIS6300, you cannot register for OIM6301, as these two courses are equivalent

This course will introduce fundamental programming concepts including data structures and networked application program interfaces, using three different programming languages: SQL and Python. In addition, you will learn to manage structured data (SQL) and unstructured data (Python) At the end of this course, you will gain the basic understanding of programming and managing data in a data science driven world.

You will also learn:

· Understand multiple definitions of business intelligence and its relationship to analytics

· Understand how companies employ BI to shape strategy, monitor performance, and achieve competitive advantage

· Be able to identify opportunities for using different business analytical skills in a variety of business cases

· Understand database management and data warehousing and become competent in implementing them

· Learn to gather, analyze, summarize and visualize data to solve basic business problems

· Be able to program with SQL and Python

· Understand the challenges of big data and the technologies used to build models on and draw inferences from large data sets

Prerequisites: Admission in to the MSBA program. CAM students should contact Graduate Academic Services to pursue enrollment in this course. MBA students will be required to review approximately 2 hours of pre-work videos.

  • Program: Graduate
  • Division: Operations and Information Management
  • Level: MSBA Core (Grad),Graduate Elective (Grad)
  • Course Number: OIM6301
  • Number of Credits: 3

OIM6601 Project Management Under Uncertainty
3 Credits (MSAEL Core)
This course offers methods and frameworks for commercializing nascent technologies that offer potentially breakthrough value to the market and therefore, enormous reward for the firm, but whose value propositions and applications are highly uncertain at the outset. Aside from readings and cases, students' job will be to undertake a project either from their own organization or one provided by the faculty and, applying the tools and methods of the course, understand the technology, learn how to articulate it in terms of market opportunity, scope out the potential applications, and begin doing the hard work of evaluating the potential of the opportunity, incubating it and determining next steps.

Prerequisites: MOB6600 and EPS6600; OIM 6600

  • Program: Graduate
  • Division: Operations and Information Management
  • Level: MSAEL (Grad)
  • Course Number: OIM6601
  • Number of Credits: 3

OIM6600 Scaling a New Business Within the Enterprise Through Digital
3 Credits (MSAEL Core)
Digitized processes and platforms are an essential approach for leaders to scale major projects and initiatives in an organization. Cloud computing enable digital platforms that focus on operations, employee collaboration, customer relationships, and machine-to-machine connections such as the Internet of Things (IoT) to capture, analyze, and share data and insights. Instead of experimenting in an incubation state, the entire organization has to get involved with the innovation process. In this course, we explore how and when to use these digital platforms. This includes not only the rollout of the digital change from an operations and resourcing perspective but understanding who the active and passive champions and resistors are and working with them to drive diffusion. We will also discuss operations challenges and solutions associated with moving from a pilot to full scale production. Finally, the course will expose students to emerging technology enablers (e.g. data visualization, 3D printing, robotics, machine learning, augmented/virtual reality tools) and effectively identify the role they can play in the organization's growth and renewal.

Prerequisites: MOB6600 and EPS6600

  • Program: Graduate
  • Division: Operations and Information Management
  • Level: MSAEL (Grad)
  • Course Number: OIM6600
  • Number of Credits: 3

OIM7504 Social Innovation Design Studio: Impacting the Future of Business

3 Credits

This new experiential studio course offers students a unique opportunity to integrate entrepreneurial leadership with social design and learn by doing as they create and implement solutions to some of the world's pressing challenges - in partnership with innovative organizational sponsors. Students work collaboratively in teams supported by faculty, mentors, lecturers and their own self-initiated research. Three sections guide learners through the process of self-discovery, understanding the landscape and potential of social design in business, and hands-on application of the process to a real-world challenge. The mindsets, skillsets and processes mastered will serve students in creating the future they want throughout their lives. This is a signature learning experience for the updated Intensity Track in Business and Social Innovation.

Prerequisites: None

  • Program: Graduate
  • Division: Operations and Information Management
  • Level: Graduate Elective (Grad)
  • Course Number: OIM7504
  • Number of Credits: 3