Product Management Certificate

Addresses statistical issues as a consultant would face them: deciphering the client's question; finding appropriate data; performing a viable analysis; and presenting the results in compelling ways. Real-life cases and examples.

Covers key topics in data science (in the context of analytics) ranging from descriptive, inferential statistics, and regressions analysis to modern predictive analytics (interpretable machine learning models, trees, rules, and flexible black-box methods). All methods and tools illustrated through real-world applications. Focuses on topics that are most relevant to the practical analysis of managerial decisions. Uses the R and Julia programming languages. Preference to Sloan Master of Business Analytics students.
R. Mazumder
No textbook information available

 

Focuses on structuring the oral and visual communication of data. Introduces these concepts and a methodology of self-reflection to help students accelerate their life-long learning process. Improves students' ability to develop strategic communications that use data to persuade others to take action. Primary focus is on reducing barriers to action by making data as easy as possible for others to absorb through clear structure, clear design, and clear delivery. Significant time will be devoted to practice. Students give and receive substantial feedback on their work.
M. Kazakoff, A. Mehrotra

Introduces skills and capabilities for real-world problem solving to take technology from lab to societal impact: technical and functional exploration, opportunity discovery, market understanding, value economics, scale-up, intellectual property, and communicating/working for impact across disciplines. Students work in multidisciplinary teams formed around MIT research breakthroughs, with extensive in-class coaching and guidance from faculty, lab members, and select mentors. Follows a structured approach to innovating in which everything is a variable and the product, technology, and opportunities for new ventures can be seen as an act of synthesis. Teams gather evidence that permits a fact-based iteration across multiple application domains, markets, functionalities, technologies, and products, leading to a recommendation that maps a space of opportunity and includes actionable next steps to evolve the market and technology.
L. Perez-Breva, D. Hart

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.

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.

Emphasizes programming in scripting languages (e.g., Python) within the context of emerging trends that underlie current and future uses of digital technologies in business. Provides a solid grasp of programming basics and the foundations of computing. Other topics include web technologies, database systems, digital experimentation (A/B testing), crowdsourcing, digital marketplaces, distributed ledger technologies, and AI.
A. Almaatouq

Provides understanding of the theory and processes of negotiation as practiced in a variety of settings. Designed for relevance to the broad spectrum of bargaining problems faced by the manager and professional. Allows students an opportunity to develop negotiation skills experientially and to understand negotiation in useful analytical frameworks. Emphasizes simulations, exercises, role playing, and cases.
Fall: B. Tewfik
Spring: J. Lu, J. Richardson

Provides an integrated strategy framework for innovation-based entrepreneurs. Students examine the core strategic choices facing start-up innovators, and discuss a synthetic framework for the development, implementation and scaling of entrepreneurial strategy in dynamic environments over time. Identifies the types of choices that entrepreneurs must make to take advantage of a novel opportunity, and studies the logic of particular strategic commitments and positions that allow entrepreneurs to establish competitive advantage. Restricted to MIT Executive MBA and Sloan Fellow MBA students.
S. Stern, E. Scott
 

 

Introduces modern analytics methods (data mining and optimization), starting with real-world problems where analytics have made a material difference. Modern data mining methods include clustering, classification, logistic regression, CART, random forest methods, and association rules. Modern optimization methods include robust, adaptive and dynamic optimization. Applications include health care, hospital operations, finance, energy, security, internet, and demand modeling. Uses R programming language for data mining and ROME for robust optimization. Restricted to Executive MBA students.
Staff

Focuses on effective supply chain strategies for companies that operate globally, with emphasis on how to plan and integrate supply chain components into a coordinated system. Students are exposed to concepts and models important in supply chain planning with emphasis on key tradeoffs and phenomena. Introduces and utilizes key tactics such as risk pooling and inventory placement, integrated planning and collaboration, and information sharing. Lectures, computer exercises, and case discussions introduce various models and methods for supply chain analysis and optimization.
Staff

Provides an introduction to supply chain management from both analytical and practical perspectives. Taking a unified approach, students develop a framework for making intelligent decisions within the supply chain. Covers key logistics functions, such as demand planning, procurement, inventory theory and control, transportation planning and execution, reverse logistics, and flexible contracting. Explores concepts such as postponement, portfolio management, and dual sourcing. Emphasizes skills necessary to recognize and manage risk, analyze various tradeoffs, and model logistics systems. SCM.271 meets with SCM.260, but has fewer assignments.
Angela Acocella, Chris Caplice

Introduces concepts of supply chain design and planning with a focus on supply chains for products destined to improve quality of life in developing countries. Topics include demand estimation, process analysis and improvement, facility location and capacity planning, inventory management, and supply chain coordination. Also covers issues specific to emerging markets, such as sustainable supply chains, choice of distribution channels, and how to account for the value-adding role of a supply chain. Students conduct D-Lab-based projects on supply chain design or improvement. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.
Staff
 

 

Introduces core concepts and methods in data-driven modeling that inform and optimize decisions under uncertainty. Teaches modeling and computational skills (R and Python). Covers topics such as machine learning, time series forecasting, choice modeling, dynamic programming, mixed-integer programming, stochastic optimization, matching algorithms, and multi-armed bandits. Draws on real-world applications from retail, healthcare, logistics, supply chain, public sector, social applications, and online learning.

Integrated approach to the analysis, design and management of supply networks for products and services. Provides a framework for analysis, design and operation of supply chains (SCs) that relies on fundamental concepts, such as the management of inventory, and operations and logistics planning. Discusses the value of (timely) information and of the need for collaboration and coordination between SC players. Also presents conceptual frameworks that focus on the emergence of a wide range of enabling services that are critical to the survival and growth of this class of system. Includes study and discussion of concepts, examples, and case studies from a wide range of industries. Guest speakers present personal experiences on various aspects of the service industry and supply chains. Restricted to Sloan Fellow MBAs.

Covers modern tools and methods for product design and development, including human-centered design, agile development, product planning, identifying customer needs, concept generation, product architecture, industrial design, concept design, sustainable design methods, and product management. Limited enrollment.

Provides an interactive learning experience in implementing operations improvement and an opportunity to work on challenging operations problems across industries in the Boston area, across the United States, and abroad. Teams of three to four students use their training and experience to help improve operations in organizations that range from small and medium businesses to multi-national corporations. Teams conduct term-long projects via remote interactions with companies, and travel to work on-site at the client company during the Sloan Innovation Period. Boston-area projects involve periodic visits throughout the term.
Staff

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.

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.

Provides a foundation for building, managing, and defending brands at various stages in the brand life cycle. Introduces the fundamentals of customer experience, brand architecture, and management strategies relevant for B2C and B2B Marketing. Examples from a variety of industries cover topics that include brand co-creation, diffusion, imitation, and authenticity. Explores theory and practice using cases and behavioral academic research. Also looks at the development of leadership branding.

Establishes a foundation for formulating, analyzing, and executing strategies to develop and commercialize new products and services in technology-intensive industries. Develops and applies rigorous frameworks to examine the interaction between patterns of technological change, market dynamics, and the development of internal firm capabilities. Topics include profiting from innovation, the role of intellectual property, platform strategy, government regulation, and innovation policy. Applies concepts in various industry and case settings with an emphasis on addressing issues most relevant for today's changing economic landscape and fostering innovation for social progress, such as clean energy, environmental management, healthcare, and digitalization.