MIT EMBA Program Curriculum

MIT Executive MBA students tap into MIT’s deep roots in innovation and management, learning from faculty who are world-renowned experts in their fields. 

Our curriculum integrates data-driven analytical methods and the fundamentals of business management with an Action Learning-based approach to executive-level management education. Through this scientific approach, you’ll learn research-based tools and acquire the skills and credibility to lead change across your organization and industry.

Weekend Sessions

There are 26 weekend sessions (occurring every two to three weeks) that meet all day Friday and Saturday. These sessions provide iterative engagement with academic subjects and an opportunity for you to collaborate with classmates from a diversity of backgrounds and industries. Up to three weekends may transition to fully-remote as part of our pilot flexibility program. 

Executive Modules

Each of the four modules is a six- to eight-day immersive experience during which you’ll benefit from access to the Institute as a whole. They combine intensive classwork, collaboration with classmates, and evening events and speakers that link EMBA students to the MIT community as they build tight bonds within their class. These modules happen about every six months. 

Module 1: Leadership and Integrative Management (LIM)
You’ll evaluate the sustainability strategy of a multinational organization through various stakeholder lenses. The module culminates with student teams presenting recommendations for the organization’s senior leaders. You’ll develop a new perspective on creating, capturing, and conserving value. 

Module 2: Innovative-Driven Entrepreneurial Advantage (IDEA)
During IDEA week, you and your classmates will take an integrated look at innovation and entrepreneurship from the perspective of both startups and large firms. The module combines projects as well as speakers from across the school to deepen your relationships within the MIT ecosystem. You’ll develop an understanding of the mechanics of new product innovation, entrepreneurial strategy, and developing an entrepreneurial advantage.

Module 3: Leading in a Global Context (LGC)
Here you’ll study how firms adapt strategies to capitalize on the opportunities and avoid the risks of globalization. The course covers macroeconomics, global markets, national policies, and international strategy. You’ll develop an understanding of how firms can take advantage of the opportunities presented by different countries, institutions, and macroeconomic trends shaping the business world. 

Module 4: Leading With Impact (LWI)
This is the capstone module for the Executive MBA curriculum in which you and your cohort will be asked to synthesize what you’ve learned over the previous 20 months and connect those insights with your own values. During the final module week, student teams work with the leadership of local nonprofits to apply what they have learned to solve a pressing problem for that organization. On the final day, you’ll reflect on what it means to be a principled innovative leader who improves the world. 

Action Learning

In Action Learning experiences, you’ll apply the program’s methodologies and frameworks both to your own organization and to team challenges focusing on other enterprises and industries of interest. Midway through the program, you and your peers will take Organization Lab (O-Lab), an opportunity to use your coursework so far—particularly in system dynamics and operations management—to fix a process in your organization.  

In the final spring semester, it’s time for an Action Learning project in an Executive Labs course. In Global Organizations Lab (GO-Lab), you’ll work as part of a tight-knit team of advisors helping the leaders of a company solve a demanding issue relating to innovation, global management, or global social challenges. This can include one week at multiple company sites worldwide for field research and immersion in the company’s challenges. In IDEA Lab, you'll have the chance to work on your own or a classmate's innovation or entrepreneurship project or help an already existing innovation ecosystem maximize its impact. 

Electives

During three electives periods, you’ll have the opportunity to deeply explore specific areas of interest. Each January, you can take one or two electives. In the final Spring term, you can take up to three electives offered in the program schedule. Electives vary from year to year and include advanced topics and cutting-edge research. You may also take advantage of full cross-registration privileges at Harvard and in MIT’s full-time programs.