Competing effectively means innovating as never before. Rapidly evolving technologies, emerging markets and escalating competition create unprecedented demand for innovative products and innovative ways to succeed. But bottom-line success is not enough.
Organizations need leaders who can employ big-picture, systems thinking. Leaders who can spearhead the development of innovative products while guiding employees across functional and geographic boundaries to work together wisely, creatively and effectively—not only for the company’s benefit, but for the benefit of the environment and humankind.
To address these imperatives, MIT’s SDM program offers companies an unprecedented portfolio of career-compatible educational offerings intended to build and strengthen a systems thinking capability throughout the organization.
Created in 1996 in response to industry’s need to develop the next generation of leaders, MIT SDM is at the forefront of graduate education at MIT. Not an MBA, SDM combines cutting-edge courses from MIT Sloan School of Management and MIT's School of Engineering with innovative distance-learning mechanisms, flexible matriculation options and an interdisciplinary perspective that prepares graduates who can think outside the box, lead across organizational boundaries and inspire others to collaborate and innovate in technical and nontechnical arenas.
The centerpiece of SDM’s portfolio is its rigorous 13 to 24 month graduate program. Built on a foundation of core courses in systems architecture, systems engineering and systems optimization, and integrated with classes in engineering and specially designed courses in management, this program leads to a master of science degree granted jointly by MIT Sloan and the School of Engineering. Accepted applicants can enroll as full-time on-campus students or part-time commuters/distance learners. All SDM fellows, wherever they are located, work together in global teams on class assignments throughout matriculation.
SDM also goes beyond traditional master’s programs by addressing not just the need of individuals but the entire system of which s/he is a part.
There are many ways that companies can participate in SDM to develop a systems thinking capability for the entire organization. For example, SDM’s one-year, primarily-at-a-distance certificate program in systems engineering is designed for individuals who are interested in acquiring or deepening systems thinking skills and for companies that want to extend this capability among their staff. And a weeklong organizational leaders program, intended for those to whom students in SDM’s degree and certificate programs report, helps managers understand how to apply these new concepts, develop their SDM employees and deploy systems thinking throughout their organizations.
MIT SDM’s partner program is the beginning of a lifelong, systems-based approach to leadership and innovation.
For further information, contact John M. Grace, MIT SDM industry codirector, jmgrace@mit.edu, 617.253.2081.
