Management & Business
Running organizations: finance, marketing, operations, and strategy.
159 courses from MIT OpenCourseWare.
11.431J · Graduate · Fall 2006
This course is an introduction to the most fundamental concepts, principles, analytical methods and tools useful for making investment and finance decisions regarding commercial real estate assets. As the first of a two-course sequence, this course will focus on the basic building blocks and the “micro” level, which pertains to individual properties and deals.
11.432J · Graduate · Spring 2007
This half-semester course introduces and surveys the major public capital market real estate vehicles, REITs and MBS (with primary emphasis on CMBS). Some background is also included in basic modern portfolio theory and equilibrium asset pricing. This course is primarily designed to provide MSRED students with a basic introduction to the public capital market sources of financial capital for real estate, and how those markets value such capital investments.
11.433J · Graduate · Fall 2008
This course, offered by the MIT Center for Real Estate, focuses on developing an understanding of the macroeconomic factors that shape and influence markets for real property. We will develop the theory of land markets and locational choice. The material covered includes studies of changing economic activities, demographic trends, transportation and local government behavior as they affect real estate.
11.434J · Graduate · Spring 2007
This half-semester course introduces and surveys a selection of cutting-edge topics in the field of real estate finance and investments. The course follows an informal “seminar” format to the maximum degree possible, with students expected to take considerable initiative. Lectures and discussions led by the instructors will be supplemented by several guest speakers from the real estate investment industry, who will present perspectives on current trends and important developments in the industr…
15.010 · Graduate · Fall 2004
15.010 is the Sloan School’s core subject in microeconomics, with sections for non-Sloan students labeled 15.011. Our objective is to give you a working knowledge of the analytical tools that bear most directly on the economic decisions firms must regularly make. We will emphasize market structure and industrial performance, including the strategic interaction of firms. We will examine the behavior of individual markets – and the producers and consumers that sell and buy in those markets – in s…
15.012 · Graduate · Spring 2011
<em>15.012 Applied Macro- and International Economics</em> uses case studies to investigate the macroeconomic environment in which firms operate. The first half of the course develops the basic tools of macroeconomic management: monetary, fiscal, and exchange rate policy. The class discusses recent emerging market and financial crises by examining their causes and considering how best to address them and prevent them from recurring in the future. The second half evaluates different strategies o…
15.014 · Graduate · Spring 2016
This course seeks to establish understanding of the development processes of societies and economies by studying several dimensions of sustainability (environmental, social, political, institutional, economy, organizational, relational, and personal) and the balance among them. It explores the basics of governmental intervention, focusing on areas such as the judicial system, environment, social security, and health, and builds skills to determine what type of policy is most appropriate. We als…
15.015 · Graduate · Fall 2011
<em>15.015 Macro and International Economics</em> focuses on the policy and economic environment of firms. This subject divided in three parts. The first part of the course is a study of the closed economy and how monetary and fiscal policy interacts with employment, GNP, inflation, and interest rates. Next, the course provides an examination of national economic strategies for development and growth and recent financial and currency crises in emerging markets. Finally, the course addresses the…
15.024 · Graduate · Summer 2004
<p>The fact of scarcity forces individuals, firms, and societies to choose among alternative uses – or allocations – of its limited resources. Accordingly, the first part of this summer course seeks to understand how economists model the choice process of individual consumers and firms, and how markets work to coordinate these choices. It also examines how well markets perform this function using the economist’s criterion of market efficiency.</p> <p>Overall, this course focuses on microeconomi…
15.025 · Graduate · Spring 2015
This course develops and applies principles of game theory relevant to managers’ strategic decisions. Topics include how to reason about strategies and opponents; strategic commitment, reputation, and “irrational” actions; brinkmanship and negotiation; auctions; and the design of markets and contests. Applications to a variety of business decisions that arise in different industries, both within and outside the firm.
15.040 · Graduate · Spring 2004
This half-term course examines the choices that we make which affect others and the choices others make that affect us. Such situations are known as “games” and game-playing, while sounding whimsical, is serious business. Managers frequently play “games” both within the firm and outside it – with competitors, customers, regulators, and even capital markets! The goal of this course is to enhance a student’s ability to think strategically in complex, interactive environments. Knowledge …
15.053 · Undergraduate · Spring 2013
This course introduces students to the theory, algorithms, and applications of optimization. The optimization methodologies include linear programming, network optimization, integer programming, and decision trees. Applications to logistics, manufacturing, transportation, marketing, project management, and finance. Includes a team project in which students select and solve a problem in practice.
15.053x · Undergraduate · Spring 2021
<p>This course will examine optimization through a business analytics lens. Students will learn the theoretical aspects of linear programming, basic Julia programming, and proficiency with linear and nonlinear solvers. Theoretical components of the course are made approachable and require no formal background in linear algebra or calculus.</p> <p>The primary focus of the course is optimization modeling. As a six-week subject, it covers about half of the material of the MIT OpenCourseWare versio…
15.057 · Graduate · Spring 2003
<p>Managers and engineers are constantly attempting to optimize, particularly in the design and operation of complex systems. This course is an application-oriented introduction to (systems) optimization. It seeks to:</p> <ul> <li>Motivate the use of optimization models to support managers and engineers in a wide variety of decision making situations;</li> <li>Show how several application domains (industries) use optimization;</li> <li>Introduce optimization modeling and solution techniques (in…
15.060 · Graduate · Fall 2014
This course is designed to introduce first-year Sloan MBA students to the fundamental techniques of using data. In particular, the course focuses on various ways of modeling, or thinking structurally about decision problems in order to make informed management decisions.
15.062 · Graduate · Spring 2003
<p>Data that has relevance for managerial decisions is accumulating at an incredible rate due to a host of technological advances. Electronic data capture has become inexpensive and ubiquitous as a by-product of innovations such as the internet, e-commerce, electronic banking, point-of-sale devices, bar-code readers, and intelligent machines. Such data is often stored in data warehouses and data marts specifically intended for management decision support. Data mining is a rapidly growing field …
15.063 · Graduate · Summer 2003
Communicating With Data has a distinctive structure and content, combining fundamental quantitative techniques of using data to make informed management decisions with illustrations of how real decision makers, even highly trained professionals, fall prey to errors and biases in their understanding. We present the fundamental concepts underlying the quantitative techniques as a way of thinking, not just a way of calculating, in order to enhance decision-making skills. Rather than survey al…
15.067 · Graduate · Spring 2011
This course aims to develop negotiation skills by active participation in a variety of negotiation settings, and a series of integrative bargaining cases between two and more than two parties over multiple issues. Ethical dilemmas in negotiation are discussed at various times throughout the course.
15.071 · Graduate · Spring 2017
This course presents real-world examples in which quantitative methods provide a significant competitive edge that has led to a first order impact on some of today’s most important companies. We outline the competitive landscape and present the key quantitative methods that created the edge (data-mining, dynamic optimization, simulation), and discuss their impact.
15.097 · Graduate · Spring 2012
Prediction is at the heart of almost every scientific discipline, and the study of generalization (that is, prediction) from data is the central topic of machine learning and statistics, and more generally, data mining. Machine learning and statistical methods are used throughout the scientific world for their use in handling the “information overload” that characterizes our current digital age. Machine learning developed from the artificial intelligence community, mainly within the last 30 yea…
15.098 · Graduate · Spring 2006
This seminar is intended for doctoral students and discusses topics in applied probability. This semester includes a variety of fields, namely statistical physics (local weak convergence and correlation decay), artificial intelligence (belief propagation algorithms), computer science (random K-SAT problem, coloring, average case complexity) and electrical engineering (low density parity check (LDPC) codes).
15.099 · Graduate · Fall 2003
In keeping with the tradition of the last twenty-some years, the Readings in Optimization seminar will focus on an advanced topic of interest to a portion of the MIT optimization community: randomized methods for deterministic optimization. In contrast to conventional optimization algorithms whose iterates are computed and analyzed deterministically, randomized methods rely on stochastic processes and random number/vector generation as part of the algorithm and/or its analysis. In the seminar, …
15.220 · Graduate · Spring 2012
This subject focuses on the specifics of strategy and organization of the multinational company, and provides a framework for formulating successful and adaptive strategies in an increasingly complex world economy. Topics include the globalization of industries, the continuing role of country factors in competition, organization of multinational enterprises, and building global networks. This particular version of the subject is taught and tailored specifically to those enrolled in the MIT Sloa…
15.220 · Graduate · Spring 2008
<p>Companies today confront an increasing array of choices regarding markets, locations for key activities, outsourcing and ownership modes, and organization and processes for managing across borders. This course provides students with the conceptual tools necessary to understand and work effectively in today’s interconnected world by developing strategic perspectives that link this changing environment, the state of the global industry, and the capabilities and position of the firm.</p> <p>The…
15.223 · Graduate · Fall 2011
This course examines opportunities and risks firms face in today’s global market. It provides conceptual tools for analyzing how governments and social institutions influence economic competition among firms embedded in different national settings. Public policies and institutions that shape competitive outcomes are examined through cases and analytical readings on different companies and industries operating in both developed and emerging markets.
15.224 · Graduate · Spring 2003
This course examines the opportunities and risks firms face in today’s global world. The course provides conceptual tools for analyzing how governments and a variety of social and economic institutions influence competition among firms embedded in different national settings. Public policies and institutions that shape competitive outcomes are examined through cases and analytic readings on different companies and industries operating in both developed and emerging markets. In addition to…
15.225 · Graduate · Spring 2008
<p>As markets or production bases, China and India are becoming important and integral players in the global economy. Foreign direct investment (FDI), portfolio investments and outsourcing businesses have increased dramatically in these two economies. Despite the rising importance of these two economies on the world stage, our knowledge and analysis of these two countries in an integrated manner has remained poor. The two are often lumped together by business analysts as “emerging markets,” des…
15.228 · Graduate · Spring 2016
<p>This International Study Tour went to New Zealand during the first half of the 2016 Spring semester and travel during the Sloan Innovation Period. International Study Tours provide students with a course credit opportunity to identify and address issues about which they feel particularly passionate. After classroom sessions featuring faculty, industry, and cultural experts, students embark on site visits to their destination of choice, meeting with industry and government leaders, as well as…
15.229 · Graduate · Spring 2012
This course on global integration brings together matters of global markets and institutions, global strategy, organization, and leadership. Global integration, the process by which an organization with units around the world becomes united, will be presented as a link to entrepreneurship and general management. The seminar is offered only to those enrolled in the MIT Sloan Fellows Program and challenges the participants to draw upon their past managerial experiences, especially those affiliate…
15.232 · Graduate · Fall 2013
This course explores successful approaches to delivering healthcare in challenging settings. We analyze organizations to find why some fall short while others grow in size and contribute to the health of the people they serve, and explore promising business models and social enterprise innovations.
15.269 · Graduate · Fall 2015
This course explores how we use story to articulate ethical norms. The syllabus consists of short fiction, novels, plays, feature films and some non-fiction. Major topics include leadership and authority, professionalism, the nature of ethical standards, social enterprise, and questions of gender, cultural and individual identity, and work / life balance. Materials vary from year to year, but past readings have included work by Robert Bolt, Michael Frayn, Timothy Mo, Wole Soyinka, H. D. Thoreau…
15.269B · Graduate · Fall 2002
Our subject is the ethics of leadership, an examination of the principles appealed to by executive authority when questions arise about its sources and its legitimacy. Most treatments of this subject resort to case-studies in order to illustrate the application of ethical principles to business situations, but our primary emphasis will be upon classic works of imaginative literature, which convey more directly than case-studies the ethical pressures of decision-making. Readings will include wor…
15.270 · Graduate · Spring 2016
This course offers an introduction to ethics in business, with a focus on business management. Students explore theoretical concepts in business ethics, and cases representing the challenges they will likely face as managers. There is opportunity to work with guest faculty as well as business and other professional practitioners. Individual class sessions take the form of moderated discussion, with occasional short lectures from the instructor.
15.277 · Graduate · Fall 2008
This course builds on the work done concurrently in <em>15.280 Communication for Managers</em> and <em>15.311 Organizational Processes</em> in the first semester of the MBA program. 15.280 is offered for 6 units and 15.277 provides an additional 3 units for a total of 9 units in Managerial Communication. 15.277 acts as a lab component to 15.280 and provides students additional opportunities to hone their communication skills through a variety of in-class exercises. Emphasis is on both individua…
15.279 · Undergraduate · Fall 2012
The goal of this course is to help students learn to communicate strategically within a professional setting. Students are asked to analyze their intended audience, the purpose of their communication, and the context in which they are operating before developing the message. The course focuses specifically on improving students’ ability to write, speak, work in a team, and communicate across cultures in their roles as future managers.
15.280 · Graduate · Fall 2016
<p>In this course, students develop and polish communication strategies and methods through discussion, examples, and practice with an emphasizes on writing and speaking skills necessary for effective leaders. The course includes several oral and written assignments which are integrated with other subjects, and with career development activities, when possible.</p> <p>This course is part of the MBA core and is restricted to first-year Sloan graduate students. Find out more about the Sloan MBA c…
15.281 · Graduate · Spring 2016
This course introduces interactive oral and interpersonal communication skills critical to leaders, including strategies for presenting to a hostile audience, running effective and productive meetings, active listening, and contributing to group decision-making. There are team-run classes on chosen communication topics, and an individual analysis of leadership qualities and characteristics. Students deliver an oral presentation and an executive summary, both aimed at a business audience.
15.289 · Graduate · Spring 2002
<p>Your success as an academic will depend heavily on your ability to communicate to fellow researchers in your discipline, to colleagues in your department and university, to undergraduate and graduate students, and perhaps even to the public at large. Communicating well in an academic setting depends not only on following the basic rules that govern all good communication (for example, tailoring the message to meet the needs of a specific audience), but also on adhering to the particular norm…
15.301 · Undergraduate · Fall 2006
This course introduces you to behavioral science theories, methods, and tools and provides opportunities to use and apply them to problems you will encounter in your work and career. The course material will begin with an overview of work and organizations in modern industrial society, and then examine individual behavior, move to behavior in groups or teams, and finally discuss organizations as a whole. It is expected that at the end of the course you will: (a) know something about managerial …
15.301 · Undergraduate, Graduate · Fall 2004
<p>We function in our personal and professional lives based on knowledge and intuitions. Our intuition that we know a lot is very powerful. But sometimes intuitions are accurate and sometimes they are not; without research, it is hard to tell.</p> <p>This course combines a few different goals: develop a critical eye for making inferences from data; be able to carry out simple data analysis; learn about managerial psychology; develop interesting new questions about managerial psychology and test…
15.310 · Graduate · Spring 2003
<p>Surveys social psychology and organization theory interpreted in the context of the managerial environment. Shares lectures with 15.301, with a separate recitation required. 15.301 is intended primarily for non-Sloan students, both graduate and undergraduate. Deals with a number of diverse subjects, including motivation and reward systems for engineers and scientists in industry; the aging of technical groups; the management of R&D matrix organizations; and the architecture of R&D la…
15.311 · Graduate · Fall 2003
Organizational Processes enhances students’ ability to take effective action in complex organizational settings by providing the analytic tools needed to analyze, manage, and lead the organizations of the future. Emphasis is placed on the importance of the organizational context in influencing which individual styles and skills are effective. The subject centers on three complementary perspectives, or “lenses”, on an organization: political, cultural, and strategic design. Students enrolle…
15.316 · Graduate · Summer 2005
This course is an intensive one-week introduction to leadership, teams, and learning communities. The class meets daily for five days. The class serves as an introduction of concepts and uses a variety of experiential exercises to develop individual and team skills, as well as supportive relationships within the Leaders for Manufacturing class. As part of the focus on leadership, it discusses the idea of the “Universe Within”, the images, thoughts, and experiences that are internal to…
15.317 · Graduate · Summer 2009
<em>15.317 Organizational Leadership and Change</em> focuses on practical experience that blends theory and practice. Students reflect on prior leadership experiences and then apply lessons learned to further develop their leadership capabilities. The course requires active participation in all leadership classes and/or activities as well as short deliverables throughout the program.
15.320 · Graduate · Spring 2011
<em>15.320 Strategic Organizational Design</em> focuses on effective organizational design in both traditional and innovative organizations, with special emphasis on innovative organizational forms that can provide strategic advantage. Topics include when to use functional, divisional, or matrix organizations, how IT creates new organizational possibilities, and examples of innovative organizational possibilities, such as democratic decision-making, crowd-based organizations, internal resource …
15.322 · Graduate · Fall 2003
Through lectures, discussions, and class exercises, 15.322 analyzes the human processes underlying organizational behavior and change. The class makes students aware of the challenge of organizational change and equips them to better handle it. There are many psychological and sociological phenomena that regularly occur in organizations, though many of these forces are difficult to see. The aim is to increase the students’ understanding of these forces – in themselves and in others – so th…
15.328 · Graduate · Fall 2003
<p>The Team Project has the goals of (1) developing teamwork and leadership skills and (2) learning from the analysis of a change initiative in a real-world company using concepts from other core courses. This class has no regular class schedule or weekly readings. Almost everything is oriented around your team and your project, with only a few deadlines. Each team is responsible for analyzing a recent, ongoing, or anticipated initiative at a real company. Examples might be a strategic reo…
15.341 · Graduate · Fall 2006
This class develops basic concepts for understanding individual, group, and organizational behavior through the critical analysis of important works in the field. Among the areas covered are: individual affect and cognition; group process and performance; and organizational culture and adaptation. The class also emphasizes the use of behavioral science concepts for stimulating new and useful organizational behavior research.
15.342J · Graduate · Fall 2004
<p>The goal of this doctoral course is to familiarize students with major conceptual frameworks, debates, and developments in contemporary organization theory. This is an inter-disciplinary domain of inquiry drawing primarily from sociology, and secondarily from economics, psychology, anthropology, and political science. The course focuses on inter-organizational processes, and also addresses the economic, institutional and cultural contexts that organizations must face.</p> <p>This is an intro…
15.343 · Graduate · Spring 2002
<p>The course focuses on skills managers need to adapt to current sweeping changes in the nature of work and the workforce, in business organizations and their roles in society, and in the institutions that interact with work, particularly the labor market, community and family-centered groups. This year’s teaching will be the basis for a workshop session at the Sloan School’s 50th Anniversary Convocation.</p> <p>The course will involve a mix of on-campus and off-campus students taking the cour…
15.347 · Graduate · Fall 2004
This course is designed to lay the foundations of good empirical research in the social sciences. It does not deal with specific techniques per se, but rather with the assumptions and the logic underlying social research. Students become acquainted with a variety of approaches to research design, and are helped to develop their own research projects and to evaluate the products of empirical research.
15.348 · Graduate · Spring 2004
A large proportion of contemporary research on organizations, strategy and management relies on quantitative research methods. This course is designed to provide an introduction to some of the most commonly used quantitative techniques, including logit/probit models, count models, event history models, and pooled cross-section techniques.
15.351 · Graduate · Fall 2002
This course approaches “managing the innovation process” through five levels of analysis: individual, team, network, organizational, and industrial. At each level of analysis, particular attention is given to the conditions under which innovation processes succeed and fail. The weekly readings consist of a mixture of book chapters, journal articles, and cases, and an online forum will be used for further discussion of the required readings outside of class. Tuesday classes will begin with a ref…
15.351 · Graduate · Spring 2008
This course discusses the basics every manager needs to organize successful technology-driven innovation in both entrepreneurial and established firms. We start by examining innovation-based strategies as a source of competitive advantage and then examine how to build organizations that excel at identifying, building and commercializing technological innovations. Major topics include how the innovation process works; creating an organizational environment that rewards innovation and entrepreneu…
15.352 · Graduate · Spring 2005
Important emerging trends in innovation are identified, and their implications for innovation management are explored. Major topics to be discussed include the trend to open information (“open source”) rather than protected intellectual property; the distribution of innovation over many independent but collaborating actors; and toolkits that empower users to innovate for themselves.
15.356 · Graduate · Spring 2004
To prosper, firms must develop major product and service innovations. Often, though, they don’t know how. Recent research into the innovation process has made it possible to develop “breakthroughs” systematically. 15.356 presents several practical concept development methods, such as the “Lead User Method,” where manufacturers learn from innovative customers. Expert guest speakers present case studies that show the “art” required to implement a concept development method. 15.356 is a half-term …
15.356 · Graduate · Spring 2012
Firms must develop major innovations to prosper, but they don’t know how to. However, recent research into the innovation process has made it possible to develop breakthroughs systematically. <em>15.356 How to Develop Breakthrough Products and Services</em> explores several practical idea generation development methods. To convey the art required to implement each of these methodologies, experts are invited to present real cases to the class.
15.358 · Graduate · Fall 2005
This subject is a seminar-style course aimed at anyone who is interested in founding a software company or working for a software company or company that uses software technology extensively as a senior manager, developer, or product/program manager. It is also appropriate for people interested in the industry or in working as an industry analyst. Many of the issues we discuss are highly relevant for companies whose businesses are heavily dependent on software, such as in e-business or financia…
15.361 · Graduate · Fall 2017
This course provides business students an alternative to the mechanistic view of strategy execution that reframes an organization as a complex network of teams continuously adjusting to market conditions and to other teams. The Flexible Execution Model is introduced consisting of seven elements that together shape how well an organization executes its strategy. Practical tools that help leaders achieve their organizations’ strategic priorities are discussed. The course also explores novel ways …
15.369 · Graduate · Fall 2015
This course addresses the practical challenges of making an established company entrepreneurial and examines various roles related to corporate entrepreneurship. Outside speakers complement faculty lectures.
15.387 · Graduate · Spring 2015
This course outlines the practical and tactical ins and outs of how to sell technical products to a sophisticated marketplace. How to build and manage a sales force; building compensation systems for a sales force, assigning territories, resolving disputes, and dealing with channel conflicts. Focus on selling to customers, whether through a direct salesforce, a channel salesforce, or building an OEM relationship.
15.389A · Graduate · Fall 2010
<p><em>15.389A Global Entrepreneurship Lab: Asia-Pacific</em> enables teams of students to work with the top management of global start-ups and gain experience in running, and consulting to, a new enterprise outside the United States. The focus is on start-ups operating in emerging markets throughout the world, with a special focus on the Asia-Pacific region. The course combines an internship in a growing firm with in-class discussions of the issues and policies that affect the climate for inno…
15.389B · Graduate · Fall 2010
<p><em>15.389B Global Entrepreneurship Lab: Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa</em> enables teams of students to work with the top management of global start-ups and gain experience in running, and consulting to, a new enterprise outside the United States. The focus is on start-ups operating in emerging markets throughout the world, with a special focus on Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. The course combines an internship in a growing firm with in-class discussions of the iss…
15.390 · Graduate · Spring 2013
This course covers the process of identifying and quantifying market opportunities, then conceptualizing, planning, and starting a new, technology-based enterprise. Students develop detailed business plans for a startup. It is intended for students who want to start their own business, further develop an existing business, be a member of a management team in a new enterprise, or better understand the entrepreneur and the entrepreneurial process.
15.391 · Graduate · Fall 2010
<p>If you are an entrepreneur, one of your priorities, in addition to building your company, is ensuring you have enough money at the right times. Early Stage Capital will consider a broad range of questions that entrepreneurs deal with on this front, including the following: What should your strategy and your priorities be in raising early stage capital? What are the market norms and standards in structuring VC deals? What are the critical negotiating strategies and tactics? How will your comp…
15.392 · Graduate · Spring 2026
<p>This course surveys the personal, institutional, and operational challenges involved in scaling an entrepreneurial venture. It examines effective and ineffective solutions while addressing leadership, culture, operations, governance, and human resources. The course includes case studies and guest speakers.</p> <p>The objective is to allow students to examine common challenges to scaling an entrepreneurial venture and empower future entrepreneurial leaders with the skills necessary to scale v…
15.393 · Graduate · January IAP 2025
<p>For 36 years, Nuts and Bolts of New Ventures has been taught during the January Independent Activities Period (IAP) at MIT. It is designed to foster an understanding of how to start a new venture (for-profit and social/development). The course details the process from an idea’s inception to the development of a successful new venture to deliver products and services enabled by the idea. Explores customer identification, the business/economic models, financial projections, legal and operation…
15.394 · Graduate · Spring 2003
<p>This subject is about building, running, and growing an organization. Subject has four central themes:</p> <ul> <li>How to think analytically about designing organizational systems</li> <li>How leaders, especially founders, play a critical role in shaping an organization’s culture</li> <li>What really needs to be done to build a successful organization for the long-term and</li> <li>What one can do to improve the likelihood of personal success.</li> </ul> <p>Not a survey of entrepreneurship …
15.395 · Graduate · Fall 2016
This course examines opportunities and problems for entrepreneurs globally, including Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Linkages between the business environment, the institutional framework, and new venture creation are covered with a special focus on blockchain technology. In addition to discussing a range of global entrepreneurial situations, student groups pick one particular cluster on which to focus and to understand what further development would entail. Classroom interactions are based p…
15.401 · Graduate · Fall 2008
This course introduces the core theory of modern financial economics and financial management, with a focus on capital markets and investments. Topics include functions of capital markets and financial intermediaries, asset valuation, fixed-income securities, common stocks, capital budgeting, diversification and portfolio selection, equilibrium pricing of risky assets, the theory of efficient markets, and an introduction to derivatives and options.
15.402 · Graduate · Spring 2003
The objective of this course is to learn the financial tools needed to make good business decisions. The course presents the basic insights of corporate finance theory, but emphasizes the application of theory to real business decisions. Each session involves class discussion, some centered on lectures and others around business cases.
15.414 · Graduate · Summer 2003
Financial Management studies corporate finance and capital markets, emphasizing the financial aspects of managerial decisions. It touches on all areas of finance, including the valuation of real and financial assets, risk management and financial derivatives, the trade-off between risk and expected return, and corporate financing and dividend policy. The course draws heavily on empirical research to help guide managerial decisions.
15.431 · Graduate · Spring 2011
<em>15.431 Entrepreneurial Finance</em> examines the elements of entrepreneurial finance, focusing on technology-based start-up ventures and the early stages of company development. The course addresses key questions which challenge all entrepreneurs: how much money can and should be raised; when should it be raised and from whom; what is a reasonable valuation of the company; and how should funding, employment contracts and exit decisions be structured. It aims to prepare students for these de…
15.433 · Graduate · Spring 2003
The focus of this course is on financial theory and empirical evidence for making investment decisions. Topics include: portfolio theory; equilibrium models of security prices (including the capital asset pricing model and the arbitrage pricing theory); the empirical behavior of security prices; market efficiency; performance evaluation; and behavioral finance.
15.450 · Graduate · Fall 2010
This course covers the key quantitative methods of finance: financial econometrics and statistical inference for financial applications; dynamic optimization; Monte Carlo simulation; stochastic (Itô) calculus. These techniques, along with their computer implementation, are covered in depth. Application areas include portfolio management, risk management, derivatives, and proprietary trading.
15.480x · Graduate · Fall 2021
<p>This course focuses on early-stage biotechnology companies with particular emphasis on understanding the underlying science, technology, and disease targets—together with the application of novel business structures and financing methods—to facilitate drug discovery, clinical development, and greater patient access to new therapies. </p> <p>The course was created for MITx as a collaboration between the Whitehead Institute and the Sloan School of Management and is now archived on …
15.481X · Graduate · Fall 2022
<p>Economists can’t agree on whether investors and markets are rational and efficient, as modern financial theory assumes, or irrational and inefficient, as behavioral economists believe. Drawing on psychology, evolutionary biology, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and other fields, Prof. Lo cuts through the debate in this course with a new framework—the Adaptive Markets Hypothesis—in which rationality and irrationality coexist.</p> <p>Topics:</p> <ul> <li>Introduction and Financial Ortho…
15.483 · Graduate · Spring 2018
This course provides a solid understanding of consumer decision-making and how new products and services are developed, especially given the rapid pace of innovation and regulatory change, to help students succeed in consumer finance today. Specific examples will be drawn from retirement saving products, credit cards, peer to peer lending, cryptocurrencies, and financial advising.
15.501 · Undergraduate · Spring 2004
This course studies basic concepts of financial and managerial reporting. The viewpoint is that of readers of financial and managerial reports rather than the accountants who prepare them.
15.511 · Graduate · Summer 2004
This six-week summer course teaches basic concepts of corporate financial accounting and reporting. This information is widely used in making investment decisions, corporate and managerial performance assessment, and valuation of firms. Students perform economics-based analysis of accounting information from the viewpoint of the users of accounting information (especially senior managers) rather than the preparer (the accountant). This course is restricted to MIT Sloan Fellows in Innovatio…
15.514 · Graduate · Summer 2003
<p>15.514 is an intensive introduction to the preparation and interpretation of financial information for investors (external users) and managers (internal users) and to the use of financial instruments to support system and project creation. The course adopts a decision-maker perspective on accounting and finance with the goal of helping students develop a framework for understanding financial, managerial, and tax reports. 15.514 is restricted to System Design and Management stu…
15.515 · Graduate · Fall 2003
<p>Our goal is to help you develop a framework for understanding financial, managerial, and tax reports. The course goal is divided into five subordinate challenges that can help you organize the way you learn accounting:</p> <ol> <li>The record keeping and reporting challenge</li> <li>The computation challenge</li> <li>The judgment challenge</li> <li>The usage challenge</li> <li>The search challenge</li> </ol> <p>The course adopts a decision-maker perspective of accounting by emphasizing the r…
15.518 · Graduate · Fall 2002
Traditional finance and other business courses analyze a broad spectrum of factors affecting business decision-making but typically give little systematic consideration to the role of taxes. In contrast, traditional tax accounting courses concentrate on administrative issues while ignoring the richness of the context in which tax factors operate. The objective of the course is to bridge this gap by providing a framework for recognizing tax planning opportunities and applying basic principles of…
15.521 · Graduate · Spring 2003
This course examines management accounting and related analytical methodologies for decision making and control in profit-directed organizations. It also defines product costing, budgetary control systems, and performance evaluation systems for planning, coordinating, and monitoring the performance of a business. This course defines principles of measurement and develops framework for assessing behavioral dimensions of control systems; impact of different managerial styles on motivation and per…
15.535 · Graduate · Spring 2003
The purpose of this class is to advance your understanding of how to use financial information to value and analyze firms. We will apply your economics/accounting/finance skills to problems from today’s business news to help us understand what is contained in financial reports, why firms report certain information, and how to be a sophisticated user of this information.
15.561 · Graduate · Spring 2005
<p>This class offers a broad coverage of technology concepts and trends underlying current and future developments in information technology, and fundamental principles for the effective use of computer-based information systems. There will be a special emphasis on networks and distributed computing, including the World Wide Web. Other topics include: hardware and operating systems, software development tools and processes, relational databases, security and cryptography, enterprise application…
15.564 · Graduate · Spring 2003
Information Technology I helps students understand technical concepts underlying current and future developments in information technology. There will be a special emphasis on networks and distributed computing. Students will also gain some hands-on exposure to powerful, high-level tools for making computers do amazing things, without the need for conventional programming languages. Since 15.564 is an introductory course, no knowledge of how computers work or are programmed is assumed.
15.566 · Graduate · Spring 2003
In virtually every industry and every firm, information technology is driving change, creating opportunities and challenges. Leaders who don’t understand at least the fundamentals of information systems will be at a strategic disadvantage. This course provides broad coverage of technology concepts and trends underlying current and future developments in information technology, and fundamental principles for the effective use of computer-based information systems. There will be a special emphasi…
15.567 · Graduate · Fall 2010
<em>15.567 The Economics of Information</em> provides an analysis of the underlying economics of information with management implications. It studies the effects of digitization and technology on industry, organizational structure, and business strategy, and examines pricing, bundling, and versioning of digital goods, including music, video, software, and communication services. In addition, the course considers the managerial implications of social networks, search, targeted advertising, perso…
15.568A · Undergraduate · Spring 2005
<p>The course purpose is to provide the substance and skill necessary to make sound business decisions relating to information systems and to work with senior line managers in the resolution of issues and problems in this area. Categories of issues which will be addressed in the course include:</p> <ul> <li>How do IT and its various manifestations in business, such as the Internet, affect current and future COMPETITIVENESS? How do we align business strategy and plans with IT strategy and I…
15.571 · Graduate · Spring 2009
This course provides concepts and frameworks for understanding the potential impact of information technology (IT) on business strategy and performance. We will examine how some firms make IT a strategic asset while other firms struggle to realize value from IT investments. The course focuses on the implications of increased digitization for defining business strategies and operating models, and explores the roles of both general managers and IT executives in using IT to achieve operational exc…
15.575 · Graduate · Spring 2004
Business organizations and markets use a bewildering variety of structures to coordinate the productive activities of their stakeholders. Dramatic changes in information technology and the nature of economic competition are forcing firms to come up with new ways of organizing work. This course uses economic theory to investigate the roles of information and technology in the existing diversity of organizations and markets and in enabling the creating of new organizational forms.
15.598 · Graduate · Spring 2003
The purpose of this Proseminar in Information Technology and Business Transformation (ITBT) is to provide students with a view of IT-enabled transformation and the strategic issues in the management of IT. The seminar will bring in CIOs, CEOs, and experienced consultants and industry observers to provide their perspectives and tell their stories about the use and management of IT today. Their talks will deal with the new technology, the new applications, the issues of implementation, the change…
15.599 · Graduate · Fall 2011
Diversity begets creativity—in this seminar we tap the amazing power of swarm creativity on the Web by studying and working together as Collaborative Innovation Networks (COINs). As interdisciplinary teams of MIT management, SCAD design, University of Cologne informatics, and Aalto University software engineering students we will explore how to discover latest trends on the Web, and how to make them succeed in online social networks. We study a wide range of methods for predictive analytics (co…
15.615 · Undergraduate · Spring 2003
<p>This course provides a basic understanding of legal issues that corporations face during their existence. The course starts by providing the basic building blocks of business law. We then follow a firm through its life cycle from its “breakaway” from an established firm through it going public.</p> <p>The materials covered during 15.647 (the first half of the semester) emphasize the organization and financing of the company. In the second half of the course we examine a broad array of law-se…
15.616 · Graduate · Fall 2004
<p>15.616 is an introduction to business law which covers the fundamentals, including contracts, liability, regulation, employment, and corporations, with an in-depth treatment of the legal issues relating to breakthrough technologies, including the legal framework of R&D, the commercialization of new high-technology products in start-ups and mature companies, and the liability and regulatory implications of new products and innovative business models. There is extensive attention to nation…
15.617 · Graduate · Spring 2004
Much of 15.617 focuses on mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and the law-sensitive aspects of financial services and financial markets. The course is designed to be an introduction to business law that covers the fundamentals, including contracts, liability, regulation, employment, and corporations. This class also provides an in-depth treatment of the law of finance.
15.649 · Graduate · Spring 2003
<p>This course is designed to give students an introduction to the law-sensitive aspects of Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A). In Module I, we examine the legal implications of key roles and deal structures, and walk through some of the issues that would typically arise in a simple and friendly transaction. We also give a class to the legal issues arising in LBOs and the legal concerns of financial sponsors more generally, and another class to employment-related issues, including those relat…
15.660 · Graduate · Spring 2003
This course is about both the design and execution of human resource management strategies. This course has two central themes: (1) How to think systematically and strategically about aspects of managing the organization’s human assets, and (2) What really needs to be done to implement these policies and to achieve competitive advantage. It adopts the perspective of a general manager and addresses human resource topics (including reward systems, performance management, high-performance human re…
15.665 · Graduate · Spring 2014
This course provides understanding of the theory and processes of negotiation as practiced in a variety of settings. It is designed for relevance to the broad spectrum of bargaining problems faced by the manager and professional. With an emphasis on simulations, exercises, role playing and cases, students are given an opportunity to develop negotiation skills experientially and to understand negotiation in useful analytical frameworks.
15.667 · Graduate · Spring 2001
<p>Negotiation and Conflict Management presents negotiation theory – strategies and styles – within an employment context. 15.667 meets only eleven times, with a different topic each week, which is why students should commit to attending all classes. In addition to the theory and exercises presented in class, students practice negotiating with role-playing simulations that cover a range of topics. Students also learn how to negotiate in difficult situations, which include abrasiveness, racism, …
15.668 · Undergraduate · Fall 2010
<em>15.668 People and Organizations</em> examines the historical evolution and current human and organizational contexts in which scientists, engineers and other professionals work. It outlines today’s major challenges facing the management profession. The course uses interactive exercises, simulations and problems to develop critical skills in negotiations, teamwork and leadership. Students will be introduced to concepts and tools to analyze work and leadership experiences in optional undergra…
15.676 · Graduate · Spring 2008
This seminar will cover the multi-disciplinary theoretical and empirical foundations of research on work, employment, labor markets, and industrial relations. We begin by tracing the historical development of theory and research in the field, paying special attention to how the normative premises, concepts, and methodological traditions of industrial relations compare to those of other disciplines that contribute to the study of work and employment relations. Then we will review a number of cur…
15.677J · Graduate · Spring 2005
This subject discusses the broader trends in the labor market, how urban labor markets function, public and private training policy, other labor market programs, the link between labor market policy and economic development, and the organization of work within firms.
15.760A · Graduate · Spring 2002
<p>Our objective in this course is to introduce you to concepts and techniques related to the design, planning, control, and improvement of manufacturing and service operations. The course begins with a holistic view of operations, where we stress the coordination of product development, process management, and supply chain management. As the course progresses, we will investigate various aspects of each of these three tiers of operations in detail. We will cover topics in the areas of process …
15.760B · Graduate · Spring 2004
This half-term course introduces students to problems and analysis related to the design, planning, control, and improvement of manufacturing and service operations. Class sessions involve explaining concepts, working examples, and discussing cases. A wide range of topics are covered, including: process analysis, quality management, supply chain design, procurement, and product development. Toward the end of the course, students work in teams to manage a virtual factory in a web-based simulatio…
15.761 · Graduate · Spring 2013
This course provides students with concepts, techniques and tools to design, analyze, and improve core operational capabilities, and apply them to a broad range of application domains and industries. It emphasizes the effect of uncertainty in decision-making, as well as the interplay between high-level financial objectives and operational capabilities. Topics covered include production control, risk pooling, quality management, process design, and revenue management. Also included are case stud…
15.764 · Graduate · Spring 2004
<p>The doctoral seminar 15.764 focuses on theoretical work for studying operations planning and control problems. This term’s special topic, “Customer-Driven Operations,” considers how a number of companies have succeeded in focusing their operation systems on the customer. The class reviews the quantitative models and theoretical tools underlying some of the customer-driven operational practices of these cutting-edge companies. Students will read and present research papers on topics such as d…
15.768 · Graduate · Fall 2010
<em>15.768 Management of Services: Concepts, Design, and Delivery</em> explores the use of operations tools and perspectives in the service sector, including both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. The course builds on conceptual frameworks and cases from a wide range of service operations, selected from health care, hospitality, internet services, supply chain, transportation, retailing, food service, entertainment, financial services, humanitarian services, government services, and …
15.769 · Graduate · Spring 2003
<p>This course will address operations strategy by building on the concepts of:</p> <ol> <li>Reengineering and process design developed by Dr. Michael Hammer.</li> <li>Manufacturing strategy as developed in the literature, primarily by people at HBS.</li> <li>Supply chain design and 3-D concurrent engineering literature as developed in Charles Fine’s book, <em>Clockspeed: Winning Industry Control in the Age of Temporary Advantage.</em> Perseus Books, 1999.</li> </ol> <p>The concepts there empha…
15.769 · Graduate · Fall 2010
<em>15.769 Operations Strategy</em> provides a unifying framework for analyzing strategic issues in manufacturing and service operations. Students analyze the relationships between manufacturing and service companies and their suppliers, customers, and competitors. The course covers strategic decisions in technology, facilities, vertical integration, human resources, and other areas, and also explores means of competition such as cost, quality, and innovativeness.
15.773 · Graduate · Spring 2024
This is a fast-paced introduction to deep learning with an emphasis on developing a practical understanding of how to build models to solve complex problems involving unstructured data. Topics include the basics of deep neural networks and how to set up and train them, convolutional networks to process images and videos, transformers for natural language processing, generative large language models (such as ChatGPT), and text-to-image models (such as Midjourney). Prior familiarity with Python a…
15.778 · Graduate · Summer 2004
This course covers organizational, strategic and operational aspects of managing Supply Networks (SNs) from domestic and international perspectives. Topics include alternative SN structures, strategic alliances, design of delivery systems and the role of third party logistics providers. Many of the activities exchanged among enterprises in a SN are of a service nature, and the final output is often a combination of tangible products and services which the end-customer purchases. A series of con…
15.795 · Graduate · Fall 2002
This seminar will explore the purposes and development of Technology Roadmaps for systematically mapping out possible development paths for various technological domains and the industries that build on them. Data of importance for such roadmaps include rates of innovation, key bottlenecks, physical limitations, improvement trendlines, corporate intent, and value chain and industry evolutionary paths. The course will build on ongoing work on the MIT Communications Technology Roadmap project, bu…
15.810 · Graduate · Fall 2015
This course helps students develop skills in marketing analysis and planning, and introduces key marketing ideas and phenomena, such as how to deliver benefits to customers and marketing analytics. It presents a framework for marketing analysis and enhances problem solving and decision-making abilities in these areas. Material relevant to understanding, managing, and integrating marketing concepts in managerial situations, from entrepreneurial ventures to large multinational firms, and to consu…
15.810 · Graduate · Fall 2010
<em>15.810 Marketing Management</em> is designed to serve as an introduction to the theory and practice of marketing. Students will improve their ability to develop effective marketing strategies and assess market opportunities, as well as design strategy implementation programs. In addition, students will have the opportunity to communicate and defend their recommendations and build upon the recommendations of their peers. We will explore the theory and applications of marketing concepts throu…
15.810 · Graduate · Fall 2004
This course provides an introduction to the fundamental concepts of marketing, including a customer orientation, matched with attention to competition and core strengths. It is organized so that each class is either a lecture or a case discussion. This course is a half semester MBA course taught to students in their first semester at Sloan. Together with their other core courses, students have the option of taking this course or an introductory finance course. This course is a prerequisite for …
15.818 · Graduate · Spring 2010
This course is designed to teach students how to price goods and services by providing a framework for understanding pricing strategies and tactics. Topics covered include economic value analysis, price elasticities, price customization, pricing complementary products, pricing in platform markets and anticipating competitive price responses.
15.821 · Graduate · Fall 2002
<p><em>The 15.821 and 15.822 Sequence</em></p> <p>Marketing research may be divided into methods that emphasize understanding “the customer” and methods that emphasize understanding “the market.” This course (15.821) deals with the customer and emphasizes qualitative methods (interviews, focus groups, Voice of the Customer, composing questions for a survey). The companion course (15.822) deals with the market and emphasizes quantitative methods (sampling, survey execution, quantitative data int…
15.822 · Graduate · Fall 2002
<p>Marketing research may be divided into methods that emphasize understanding “the customer” and methods that emphasize understanding “the market.” This course (15.822) deals with the market. The companion course (15.821) deals with the customer.</p> <p>The course will teach you how to write, conduct and analyze a marketing research survey. The emphasis will be on discovering market structure and segmentation, but you can pursue other project applications.</p> <p>A major objective of the cours…
15.834 · Graduate · Spring 2003
<p>The course is aimed at helping students look at the entire marketing mix in light of the strategy of the firm. It is most helpful to students pursuing careers in which they need to look at the firm as a whole. Examples include consultants, investment analysts, entrepreneurs, and product managers.</p> <p><strong>Objectives</strong></p> <ol> <li>Identify, evaluate, and develop marketing strategies.</li> <li>Evaluate a firm’s opportunities.</li> <li>Anticipate competitive dynamics.</li> <li>Eva…
15.835 · Graduate · Spring 2002
<p>This course clarifies key marketing concepts, methods, and strategic issues relevant for start-up and early-stage entrepreneurs. At this course, there are two major questions:</p> <ol> <li><strong>Marketing Question:</strong> What and how am I selling to whom?</li> <li><strong>New Venture Question:</strong> How do I best leverage my limited marketing recourses?</li> </ol> <p>Specifically, this course is designed to give students a broad and deep understanding of such topics as:</p> <ol> <li>…
15.840 · Graduate · Spring 2004
<p>The purpose of 15.840 is to:</p> <ul> <li>Introduce key marketing ideas and phenomena.</li> <li>Develop students’ skills in marketing analysis and planning.</li> <li>Provide a forum (both written and oral) for presenting and defending recommendations and critically examining and discussing those of others. An emphasis is placed on theory and practice that draws on market research, competitive analysis, and marketing science.</li> </ul>
15.871 · Graduate · Fall 2013
Introduction to systems thinking and system dynamics modeling applied to strategy, organizational change, and policy design. Students use simulation models, management flight simulators, and case studies to develop conceptual and modeling skills for the design and management of high-performance organizations in a dynamic world.
15.872 · Graduate · Fall 2013
Continuation of <em>15.871</em>, emphasizing tools and methods needed to apply systems thinking and simulation modeling successfully in complex real-world settings. Uses simulation models, management flight simulators, and case studies to deepen the conceptual and modeling skills introduced in <em>15.871</em>. Through models and case studies of successful applications students learn how to use qualitative and quantitative data to formulate and test models, and how to work effectively with senio…
15.875 · Graduate · Spring 2004
15.875 is a project-based course that explores how organizations can use system dynamics to achieve important goals. In small groups, students learn modeling and consulting skills by working on a term-long project with real-life managers. A diverse set of businesses and organizations sponsor class projects, from start-ups to the Fortune 500. The course focuses on gaining practical insight from the system dynamics process, and appeals to people interested in system dynamics, consulting, or manag…
15.879 · Graduate · Spring 2014
Doctoral-level advanced research seminar in system dynamics modeling with a focus on social, economic, and technical systems. The course covers classic works in dynamic modeling from various disciplines and current research problems and papers. Participants critique theories and models, often including replication, testing, and improvement of various models.
15.902 · Graduate · Fall 2006
This course focuses on some of the important current issues in strategic management. It will concentrate on modern analytical approaches and on enduring successful strategic practices. It is consciously designed with a technological and global outlook since this orientation in many ways highlights the significant emerging trends in strategic management. The course is intended to provide the students with a pragmatic approach that will guide the formulation and implementation of corporate, busin…
15.904 · Graduate · Fall 2005
This course is intended to be an extension of course <em>15.902 Strategic Management I,</em> with the purpose of allowing the students to experience an in-depth application of the concepts and frameworks of strategic management. Throughout the course, Prof. Arnoldo Hax will discuss the appropriate methodologies, concepts, and tools pertinent to strategic analyses and will illustrate their use by discussing many applications in real-life settings, drawn from his own personal experiences.
15.912 · Graduate · Fall 2008
<p>This course provides a series of strategic frameworks for managing high-technology businesses. The emphasis throughout the course is on the development and application of conceptual models which clarify the interactions between competition, patterns of technological and market change, and the structure and development of organizational capabilities.</p> <p>This is not a course in how to manage product or process development. The main focus is on the acquisition of a set of powerful analytica…
15.960 · Graduate · Fall 2017
This customized independent study course puts Sloan Fellows MBA students into direct contact with innovators tackling global needs in education, healthcare, and energy/environment. Co-designed projects address low-income markets in the U.S. or globally, focusing on the application of new ideas and technology rooted in MIT innovations or the Boston ecosystem. Every project aims to develop better ways for the right innovations to reach scale, sustainability, and quality, thereby improving li…
15.963 · Graduate · Spring 2008
This course draws on a wide range of perspectives to explore the roots of long term competitive advantage in unusually successful firms. Using a combination of cases, simulations, readings and, most importantly, lively discussion, the course will explore the ways in which long term advantage is built from first mover advantage, increasing returns, and unique organizational competencies. We will focus particularly on the ways in which the actions of senior management build competitive advantage …
15.963 · Graduate · Spring 2007
This course is an introduction to the use of accounting information by managers for decision making, performance evaluation and control. The course should be useful for those who intend to work as management consultants, for LFM (Leaders for Manufacturing) students, and in general, for those who will become senior managers.
15.963 · Graduate · Fall 2002
The course is structured around a core of fundamental concepts concerning how we view organizations, and the application of these concepts to basic domains of action crucial for contemporary businesses: sensemaking, learning, knowing, and change. We view organizations as enacted systems, wherein humans are continually shaping the structures that influence their action in turn. In other words, we create the systems that then create us.
15.965 · Graduate · Spring 2009
<p>This course provides you with a framework to understand the structure and dynamics of high-tech businesses, together with an approach for their effective strategic management. It is focused on domains in which systems are important, because either or both products are parts of larger and more complex systems, or they are comprised of systems. The domains covered include computing, communications (in particular the mobile and IP domains), consumer electronics, industrial networking, automotiv…
15.967 · Graduate · Spring 2005
This is a course intended to give students a broad overview of the management challenges of the non-profit sector. It is not a detailed management course but rather is aimed at students who will likely relate to non-profits in a variety of ways (on the boards, as volunteers, as fund-raisers, and occasionally as staff).
15.968 · Graduate · Spring 2005
This seminar provides an introduction to scholarship in a growing research community: the sociologists and sociologically-inclined organization theorists who study issues that relate, at least in a broad sense, to the interdisciplinary field of inquiry that is known as “strategy” or “strategic management” research. The course is not designed to survey the field of strategy. Rather, the focus is on getting a closer understanding of the recent work by sociologists and sociologically-oriented orga…
15.969 · Graduate · Fall 2004
The first two weeks of this course are an overview of performing improvisation with introductory and advanced exercises in the techniques of improvisation. The final four weeks focus on applying these concepts in business situations to practice and mastering these improvisation tools in leadership learning.
15.972 · Graduate · Spring 2010
Sustainability challenges organizations to address the implications – and responses – in their own operations and supply chain, products/services/markets, and community responsibilities. This course exposes students to professionals and organizations who are actively working toward making their organizations and industries sustainable.
15.974 · Graduate · Fall 2004
Practical Leadership is an interactive seminar where students receive repeated coaching and real-time feedback on their own leadership capabilities from their peers and the instructor. The course is structured around a set of readings. However, the key component is each student’s own self-assessment. These self-assessments are done by the students in the first week of the semester. The areas for improvement that the students identify are then targeted in the weekly role plays that are customize…
15.974 · Graduate · Spring 2003
This five-day interactive and experiential workshop focuses on how leaders lead innovations that both promote social responsibility and produce business success. The workshop is organized around three main parts: observation, sense-making, and creating. During the observation phase, students spend a full day inside the Boston office of the design company IDEO and visit some of the most interesting proven innovators in corporate social responsibility such as Ben & Jerry’s, KLD, MBDC, Plug Po…
15.975 · Graduate · Fall 2010
<em>15.975 U-Lab: Leading Profound Innovation for a More Sustainable World</em> is an interactive and experiential class about leading profound innovation for pioneering a more sustainable economy and society. The class is organized around personal reflection practices, relational practices, and societal practices. It focuses on the intertwined relationship between the evolution of capitalism, multi-stakeholder innovation, and presencing.
15.978 · Graduate · Spring 2007
In this class you will be creating a leadership development tool for students like yourselves in the leadership program at Sloan. This tool might be a coaching guide for second-year pilots, a leadership workbook for MBA students to use during their summer employment, a leadership assessment for club presidents or a workshop on networking. You will be free to choose the tool that you want to develop, but by the end of the class there must be a product that can be used at Sloan. In addition, the …
15.988 · Graduate · Fall 1998
Many books and thousands of papers cover the field of system dynamics. With all of these resources available, it can be difficult to know where to begin. The System Dynamics in Education Project at MIT put together these resources to help people sort through the vast library of books and papers on system dynamics. This course site includes a collection of papers and computer exercises entitled “Road Maps,” as well as a collection of assignments and solutions that were initially part of a guided…
15.990 · Graduate · Fall 2003
<p>While no businesses succeed based on their architecture or space design, many fail as a result of inattention to the power of spatial relationships. This course demonstrates through live case studies with managers and architects the value of strategic space planning and decision making in relation to business needs. The course presents conceptual frameworks for thinking about architecture, communication and organizations.</p> <p>This course is offered during the Sloan Innovation Period (SIP)…
15.992 · Graduate · Spring 2008
How can we translate real-world challenges into future business opportunities? How can individuals, organizations, and society learn and undergo change at the pace needed to stave off worsening problems? Today, organizations of all kinds—traditional manufacturing firms, those that extract resources, a huge variety of new start-ups, services, non-profits, and governmental organizations of all types, among many others—are tackling these very questions. For some, the massive challenges of moving t…
15.996 · Graduate · Fall 2004
<p>Cross Cultural Leadership is a collaborative research seminar that examines what constitutes “effective” leadership across cultures. It is collaborative because the students are expected to provide some of the content. The weekly readings target particular aspects of cultural differentiation. Working within those topics, students are asked to describe aspects of leadership in particular cultures based on their research and/or personal experiences. The goal of the course is to help prepare st…
15.997 · Graduate · Spring 2009
This is a course in how corporations make use of the insights and tools of risk management. Most courses on derivatives, futures and options, and financial engineering are taught from the viewpoint of investment bankers and traders in the securities. This course is taught from the point of view of the manufacturing corporation, the utility, the software firm—any potential end-user of derivatives, but not the dealer. Most related courses focus on the extensive taxonomy of instruments and the com…
15.ES718 · Graduate · Spring 2015
<p>In this three-day workshop, students will get a broad introduction to global health issues. We will look at one particular non-governmental organization in India that works to improve health across the lifespan by empowering existing community resources to provide appropriate physical, psychological and social therapies, focusing on child development, adolescent and youth health, mental health, and chronic disease. This workshop equips student to explore novel ideas and technologies with an …
15.S07 · Graduate · Spring 2013
<p>This course pairs faculty-mentored student teams with enterprises on the front lines of health care delivery in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. To tackle specific barriers identified by each partnering organization, the course is built around custom-designed projects in strategy, business model innovation, operations, marketing, and technology. Class sessions include interactive cases, practical exercises, and lively conversations with experts, all designed to support project work before,…
15.S08 · Graduate · Spring 2020
This course about financial technology, or FinTech, is for students wishing to explore the ways in which new technologies are disrupting the financial services industry—driving material change in business models, products, applications and customer user interface. Amongst the significant technological trends affecting financial services into the 2020’s, the class will explore AI, deep learning, blockchain technology and open APIs. Students will gain an understanding of the key technologies…
15.S12 · Graduate · Fall 2018
This course is for students wishing to explore blockchain technology’s potential use—by entrepreneurs and incumbents—to change the world of money and finance. The course begins with a review of Bitcoin and an understanding of the commercial, technical, and public policy fundamentals of blockchain technology, distributed ledgers, and smart contracts. The class then continues on to current and potential blockchain applications in the financial sector.
15.S50 · Graduate · January IAP 2015
<p>This course takes a broad-based look at poker theory and applications of poker analytics to investment management and trading.</p> <p>This course is offered during the Independent Activities Period (IAP), which is a special 4-week term at MIT in January. IAP provides members of the MIT community including students, faculty, staff, and alums with an opportunity to organize, sponsor and participate in a wide variety of activities and topics that are often outside of the regular MIT curriculum.…
15.S50 · Graduate · January IAP 2016
<p>Offered during MIT’s Independent Activites Period (IAP), this short course covers the poker concepts, math concepts, and general concepts needed to play the game of Texas Hold’em on a professional level.</p> <p>IAP is a special 4-week term in January that provides members of the MIT community including students, faculty, staff, and alums with an opportunity to organize, sponsor and participate in a wide variety of activities and topics that are often outside of the regular MIT curriculum.</p…
RES.15-001 · Non-Credit · Fall 2008
<p>Sloan’s Teaching Resources Library provides open access to case studies and management simulations for management educators and students worldwide. This collection of teaching materials and games focuses on areas in which Sloan’s innovative research and teaching are on the cutting edge, including action learning, entrepreneurship, leadership and ethics, operations management, strategy, sustainability, and system dynamics.</p> <p>Formerly known as <em>LearningEdge</em>, and <em>MIT Sloan Teac…
RES.15-002 · Graduate · Summer 2016
Federal credit programs involve a unique set of challenges and opportunities. This practical training course for executive and legislative branch decision-makers and staff is aimed at enhancing the understanding of the core financial principles necessary to most effectively design and run those programs. It brings together institutional analysis, risk management and corporate finance disciplines for the purpose of improving the management of federal credit agency resources.
RES.15-003 · Graduate · Spring 2016
The goal of this course is to explore and develop plans of action for improving the job and career opportunities for today and tomorrow’s workforce. If we take the right actions we can shape the future of work in ways that meet the needs of workers, families, and their economies and societies. To do so we first have to understand how the world of work is changing, how firms can compete and prosper and support good jobs and careers, and how to update the policies and practices governing the worl…
RES.15-004 · Graduate · January IAP 2020
This one-day workshop provides a brief overview of system dynamics and a hands-on simulation experience. It also serves as a preview of the more in-depth coverage of the subject available in other courses offered at MIT Sloan.
RES.15-005 · Graduate · Spring 2019
<p>Healthcare Finance (15.482x) provides students with the background, resources, and framework to influence the healthcare industry. Topics include applying financial techniques such as portfolio theory, securitization, and option pricing to biomedical contexts to develop more efficient funding structures to reduce financial risks, lower the cost of capital, and bring more life-saving therapies to patients faster.</p> <p>As part of the Open Learning Library, this course is free to use. You hav…