Nothing embodies MIT’s motto of “mens et manus,” or “mind and hand,” better than the MIT Sloan Action Learning lab courses.
A myriad of host companies participates in Action Learning, which has been offered for more than 30 years, starting with the launch of the Entrepreneurship Lab in 1992. MIT Sloan students work with hosts on a business challenge, typically over four months. Students also spend one to three weeks onsite in some courses. This is done with support from the MIT Sloan Annual Fund.
In each Action Learning lab, students apply what they learn in the classroom to complex business challenges in a real-world environment. Now, there are new labs that will provide even more opportunities for students to make a local and a global impact.
ASEAN Lab focuses on solving complex management challenges facing companies operating in Southeast Asia. ASEAN—short for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, comprising Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam—is a diverse, populous, and complex union. ASEAN Lab helps students learn about the region before their onsite travel thanks to preliminary lectures, case studies, and guest speakers. Early in the term, student teams are matched with a host organization. The student teams then travel onsite to work with their hosts in person.
ASEAN Lab students have worked with a variety of businesses. During the course’s second iteration in Spring 2024, Philippine Transmarine Carriers worked with students to increase their resource supply of Filipino seafarers. Another ASEAN Lab team collaborated with Bangkok Bank in Thailand for four months to scale their consumer banking digital ecosystem. At Hijra Bank in Indonesia, students researched how AI can apply to fintech. And another two teams worked with the Asia School of Business (ASB) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to optimize their executive education and MBA programs.
Sanya Chauhan, MBAn ’24, was one of the ASEAN Lab students who worked with Bangkok Bank. Her team was tasked with integrating digital payments into Thailand’s tourism sector, and their solution leveraged the country’s QR system. As the country hopes to go cashless, this proposed digital payment system is an important step. Chauhan worked onsite at Bangkok Bank’s headquarters and later presented the team’s project at MIT Sloan’s Action Learning Labs Spring 2024 Poster Day.
In ASEAN Lab, we took big ideas from the classroom and transformed them into actionable strategies, all while navigating Thailand’s vibrant tourism sector and collaborating with industry leaders. It was Action Learning at its best.
“In ASEAN Lab, we took big ideas from the classroom and transformed them into actionable strategies, all while navigating Thailand’s vibrant tourism sector and collaborating with industry leaders. It was Action Learning at its best. This project didn’t just enhance my strategic skills—it demonstrated the transformative power of technology in shaping the future of banking,” says Chauhan.
The ASB projects were another high point of the Spring 2024 cohort. ASB was founded as a collaboration between MIT Sloan and Bank Negara Malaysia in 2015; when the school recently launched a one-year MBA program, it was the perfect fit for an Action Learning project. In fact, ASB ended up working with two teams. One of the student teams analyzed the competitiveness of their executive education program, and the other worked on optimizing the new one-year MBA student experience.
The first team assessed 35 other executive education programs both inside and outside the ASEAN region. Based on their research, they proposed a modular learning program that allows for gradual progress via certifications and short classes. Other recommendations included ways to brand effectively, prioritize the right subject areas, and differentiate the program from others like it.
“We found qualities that could continue to separate ASB from the competition, like the ability to create custom programs for different employers, allowing executives the opportunity to do Action Learning like we were doing as students, or creating programming for entrepreneurial support,” explains Sophia Mullineaux, MBA ’24.
The second team needed to redefine and refine the ideal student profile for the school’s new one-year MBA program. They also needed to consider Southeast Asia’s workforce and the most robust businesses there, including startups and companies working with the government. “There was so much good work being done and so much emotional investment that these incredible individuals were putting in to create a brand-new program, essentially, for students and to make sure that they have a positive experience,” says Nisha Patel, MBA ’25.
The student team recommended better targeting and marketing for more effective recruitment, and they also encouraged internal consolidation to streamline the work—noting that four offices were functioning in parallel on aspects of the student experience. “We sat down with all of them and tried to understand where the workloads were, whether there were opportunities for even incremental improvements in collaboration, and to look for process flow efficiencies to improve the student journey,” says Patel.
The demand for expertise in generative AI is extremely high and the supply is limited. MIT Sloan students will continue to be on the leading edge of understanding how and why new technologies like AI will have business, economic, and societal effects.
Building on the success of existing courses like ASEAN Lab, two new labs are now available to MIT Sloan students in Spring 2025: Generative AI Lab (GenAI-Lab) and Real Estate Lab (RE-Lab). In GenAI-Lab, students will focus on projects related to generative AI. Faculty will discuss related issues and applications, and then a diverse set of projects will be available across industries.
“The demand for expertise in generative AI is extremely high and the supply is limited,” says GenAI-Lab faculty member John J. Horton (Associate Professor, Information Technology). “MIT Sloan students will continue to be on the leading edge of understanding how and why new technologies like AI will have business, economic, and societal effects.”
For RE-Lab, co-managed by MIT Sloan and the MIT Center for Real Estate (CRE), the aim is to educate students about real estate. It will include site visits and field-based projects for more practical insights, including emerging trends like urban planning and sustainability.
Citing the increased demand that led to the formation of these two labs, Becca Souza (Director, Action Learning) says, “MIT Sloan Action Learning empowers students to transform their educational experience through hands-on, real-world problem-solving opportunities. Our priority is to help students gain experience in various fields and industries, with a particular focus on innovation and new technology.”
“Support from our alumni and donors is crucial in driving these initiatives, as it allows us to provide students with the resources and guidance they need to excel,” she adds.
The MIT Sloan Annual Fund, including the Dean’s Circle, helps provide the necessary funds for students to participate. This community is only possible thanks to the generosity of alumni, donors, and friends who are committed to supporting students in the classroom and beyond.
