Digital Product Management Certificate

Product Management is a discipline relevant to every industry. It guides every step of a product’s lifecycle—from development to positioning to pricing, focusing on the product and its customers.  Research, strategy, operations, sustainability, finance, marketing, and data analysis are all part of the job. And there’s more. Demand for qualified product managers is growing, which is why we created this specialized certificate program for MIT Sloan degree program graduate students.

What to expect:

Target your education to your specific professional goals.
Get hands-on experience in a real-life product management project before you graduate.
Earn a specialized credential from MIT Sloan, demonstrating to employers that you have what it takes to succeed in product management.
Join a vibrant community of passionate and dedicated leaders, giving you access to MIT Sloan alumni in product management around the world.

Of students go on to take jobs in product management—making it the second-largest job category for graduates.

Curriculum

Our 39-unit certificate curriculum is built on MIT’s unique culture of collaboration, technology-driven innovation, and hands-on experiences. The program is open to MIT Sloan degree program graduate students. The 2022-23 requirements are listed below (subject to change).

—Required Courses (12 units)

	Course Title	Filter by Term Spring Winter
15.785	Digital Product Management	Spring	6 Cr.
	Introduction to product management with an emphasis on its role within technology-driven enterprises. Topics include opportunity discovery, product-technology roadmapping, product development processes, go-to-market strategies, product launch, lifecycle management, and the central role of the product manager in each activity. Exercises and assignments utilize common digital tools, such as storyboarding, wireframe mock-ups, and A/B testing. Intended for students seeking a role in a product management team or to contribute to product management in a new enterprise. Professor: V. Farias No textbook information available
15.786	Digital Product Management Lab	Winter	6 Cr.
	Adds an action learning component to 15.785. Students are matched with partner companies and contribute (over IAP) to a PM-related project at the company. Students must register for both IAP and spring to receive credit and participate in the company project.

Elective Courses (select 27 units from below)

Our wide-range of electives allow you to pursue your specific interests in product management.

—Electives

	Course Title	Filter by Term Fall Spring
15.071	The Analytics Edge	Spring	12 Cr.
	Examines how data analytics is used to transform businesses and industries, using examples and case studies in e-commerce, healthcare, social media, high technology, sports, the internet, and beyond. Demonstrates the use of analytics methods such as linear regression, logistic regression, classification trees, random forests, text analytics, social network analysis, time series modeling, clustering, and optimization. Uses R programming language. Includes team projects. Meets with 15.0711 when offered concurrently. Expectations and evaluation criteria differ for students taking graduate version; consult syllabus or instructor for specific details.
15.358	Platform Strategy and Entrepreneurship	Spring	6 Cr.
	Considers key strategic concepts and ideas useful for managers and entrepreneurs, especially the distinction between a product versus a platform strategy as well as product versus a service strategy. Takes a relatively deep dive into various hardware and software technologies that have stimulated new platforms and business models as well as applications and startup companies in a variety of fields. Topics may include enterprise Software as a Service, blockchain, Gig/sharing economy ventures, AI/ML in self-driving technology and other enterprise applications, cybersecurity, Industrial Internet of Things, and Quantum Computing. Classes consist of lectures, case studies, guest lectures, videos, and weekly student team presentations as well as final papers.
15.387	Entrepreneurial Sales	Fall	12 Cr.
	Instruction provided in basics of technology sales - making a sales call, designing sales compensation plans, and hiring, managing, and firing sales representatives. Also discusses negotiating large sales transactions, managing international sales organizations, integrating sales teams in acquisitions, and selecting the best go to market model for a company. Considers what comprises a 'startup sales toolkit.'
15.390	New Enterprises	Fall	12 Cr.
	Covers the process of identifying and quantifying market opportunities, then conceptualizing, planning, and starting a new, technology-based enterprise. Topics include opportunity assessment, the value proposition, the entrepreneur, legal issues, entrepreneurial ethics, the business plan, the founding team, seeking customers and raising funds. Students develop detailed business plans for a start-up. 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. Meets with 15.3901 when offered concurrently.
15.467	Asset Management, Lifecycle Investing, and Retirement Finance	Spring	9 Cr.
	Built for students focused on financial services careers - professional asset management, financial product design, trading, sales, consulting, or regulatory oversight of the financial industry. Applies finance science and financial engineering tools and theory to asset management, lifecycle investing, and retirement finance. Focuses on foundational analytical tools students will rely upon throughout their careers - derivative pricing and risk measurement, portfolio analysis and risk accounting, and performance measurement to analyze and implement concepts and new product ideas. Students should be comfortable with portfolio-selection theory, CAPM, option pricing, futures, swaps, and other derivative securities. 15.433 is a strongly recommended co-requisite. Preference to MBA and MFin students.
15.483	Consumer Finance and FinTech	Spring	6 Cr.
	Explores consumer finance and the ways in which financial innovation and new technologies disrupt the financial services industry, leading to material change in business models, product design and customer user interfaces. Provides a solid understanding of rational and behavioral aspects of consumer decision-making and how the players, products, funding markets, regulatory frameworks, and fundamentals all interact to shape ever-changing consumer financial markets, including consumer debt, investment, transactions, and advising markets. Covers past and current innovations and technologies ranging from peer-to-peer lending, AI, deep learning, cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology, and open API's, to the role of FinTech startups. A combination of case studies, guest speakers and group discussion provide real-world insight and interactivity, while special review sessions help hone technical skills.
15.570	Digital Marketing and Social Media Analytics	Fall	6 Cr.
	Provides a detailed, applied perspective on the theory and practice of digital marketing and social media analytics in the age of big data. Covers concepts such as the difference between earned and paid media, predictive modeling for ad targeting and customer relationship management, measuring and managing product virality, viral product design, native advertising, and engaging the multichannel experience. Stresses the theory and practice of randomized experimentation, AB testing and the importance of causal inference for marketing strategy. Combines lectures, case studies, and guest speakers with relevant industry experience that speak directly to the topics at hand.
15.761	Introduction to Operations Management	Fall	9 Cr.
	Imparts concepts, techniques, and tools to design, analyze, and improve core operational capabilities and apply them to a broad range of domains and industries. Emphasizes the effect of uncertainty in decision-making, as well as the interplay among high-level financial objectives, operational capabilities, and people and organizational issues. Covers topics in capacity analysis, process design, process and business innovation, inventory management, risk pooling, supply chain coordination, sustainable operations, quality management, operational risk management, pricing and revenue management. Underscores how these topics are integrated with different functions of the firm. Case studies and simulation games provide experience in applying central concepts and techniques to solve real-world business challenges. Meets with 15.7611 when offered concurrently. Expectations and evaluation criteria differ for students taking graduate version; consult syllabus or instructor for specific details. Summer section is primarily for Leaders for Global Operations students.
15.783[J]	Product Design and Development	Spring	12 Cr.
	Covers modern tools and methods for product design and development. Includes a cornerstone project in which teams conceive, design and prototype a physical product and/or service. Covers design thinking, agile development, product planning, identifying customer needs, concept generation, product architecture, industrial design, concept design, green design methods, and product management. Sloan students register via Sloan course bidding. Engineering students accepted via lottery based on WebSIS pre-registration.
15.814	Marketing Innovation	Fall	9 Cr.
	Develops the skills necessary to market innovations, including new products, services, concepts, and customer experiences. Covers how to select the right market, target that market effectively, position a product or service for maximum success, and combine analytics, frameworks, and research for maximum potential. Emphasizes both marketing theory and practice: proven solutions to marketing problems, case sessions to illustrate the application of these techniques in various industries, and practice sessions to apply these techniques to real problems.
15.819	Marketing Analytics	Spring	9 Cr.
	Uses quantitative data to inform, make, and automate marketing decisions, including growth marketing, product design, pricing and promotions, advertising, and customer retention. Topics include creating metrics, randomized experiments, models for targeting, network effects, and analyzing launches. Features lectures, industry examples and guests, and data analysis assignments supported by in-class labs. Draws inspiration from the internet industry, but applications span many industries.
15.821	Listening to the Customer	Spring	6 Cr.
	Introduces proven methods for listening to customers and understanding their needs in order to generate new ideas to build the top line. Students practice experiential interviewing and discuss how to use metaphor analysis, observation, the voice of the customer, and other methods to uncover customer needs.
15.911	Entrepreneurial Strategy	Fall	9 Cr.
	Teaches an integrated strategy framework for start-ups. Provides a deep understanding of the core strategic choices facing innovation-based entrepreneurs, a synthetic framework for the process of choosing and the implementation of entrepreneurial strategy, and the core challenges and approaches for scaling ventures over time. Highlights the process of how to choose an entrepreneurial strategy, the specific choices that matter, how key choices fit together to form an overall entrepreneurial strategy, and the playbook for particular strategies for startups.

Applications to DPM-Lab have increased 7-fold since 2019.

Digital Product Management Lab (DPM-Lab)

More and more students are seeking hands-on experience in digital product management. Enrollment in DPM-Lab has increased dramatically since its creation in 2019. This popular action learning course gives students with a chance to apply what they’ve learned about the discipline in class to a real-life business project. Most DPM Lab participants go on to land jobs in product management in summer internships and full-time positions.

In 2021, 82 students worked with 40 host companies from 7 different industries. 

A Vibrant Product Management Community

The Product Management Club is one of the largest clubs at MIT Sloan, with over 700 registered members and an active LinkedIn group including current students and alumni. The club sponsors a variety of events, connecting students with each other, and with guest speakers who are leading professionals in product management across industries.

Current graduate students at MIT Sloan should contact their program advisor for more information.

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