MIT Executive MBA
Action Learning
Put your knowledge into action.
The EMBA Program curriculum emphasizes MIT’s credo mens et manus (mind and hand). This powerful integration of intellectual and experiential learning is manifested in applied learning projects and action learning experiences that magnify your classroom learning, ground them in real-time implementation, and deliver impact for you and your company right from the day the program begins.
Applied Projects
Applied learning projects, a central component of your coursework, give you an opportunity to apply new methodologies to your organization and industries of interest. For example, in Competitive Strategy you will apply Porter’s Five Forces to gain insight into competitive dynamics in your own industry. In Operations Management, you will analyze processes in your own organization to identify opportunities for improvement. And in System Dynamics, you will apply techniques created at MIT to model your organization’s complex systems, surface organizational complexity to better understand intended and unintended consequences and drive successful change.
Organizations Lab (O-Lab)
Midway through the program, you will take everything you’ve learned so far and apply it in O-Lab, when you will undertake a change initiative within your company. You will build on courses like System Dynamics, Leading Organizations, and Operations Management to diagnose a problem and lead improvement.
Executive Labs
Executive Labs, the capstone action learning project, takes place in your final semester. MIT EMBA students can select from three distinct lab offerings: Global Organizations (GO) Lab, Innovative Driven Entrepreneurial Advantage (IDEA) Lab, or Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Lab.
Students in each lab form teams to engage in project work for four months. Students in GO Lab are matched with multi-national organizations to address critical cross-border management challenges or opportunities, which includes a field study in March. MENA Lab offers students the opportunity to work with host companies in the Middle East and North Africa on strategic managerial challenges in tech industries and also includes a field study in March. Students in IDEA Lab will either work on their own start up idea or work with organizations or ecosystems looking to accelerate innovation internally.
Questions about hosting an action learning project?
Contact:
Beth Chartier
Corporate Sponsor Relations
MIT Executive MBA Program
bethc@mit.edu