Why focus on Practicing Management? 

After a year at MIT Sloan and a summer internship, you've learned and practiced analyzing problems, generating solutions, and making recommendations. Yet the most effective managers go further: they know how to actually get things done. In 15.990: Practicing Management you'll develop, apply, and refine the skills, tools, and approaches essential for doing just that. The centerpiece of the course is a real-world project that offers the ideal laboratory for you to become more effective as a manager.

What's the approach taken by this course?

This innovative course has three linked objectives: 1) to equip you to be the most effective manager you can be; 2) to develop skills for learning from every experience; and 3) to enable you to start making a difference while you're still hereby designing and working on a project that goes beyond consulting to the manager's iterative cycle of strategy, implementation, evaluation, strategy, implementation.... a cycle that principled, innovative leaders use with their teams to improve the world. We'll work on this cycle via team projects.

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A flexible design accommodates a variety of projects, including scope for student-defined projects that meet the course criteria.

What are the mechanics of the course itself?

The twelve-unit course spans this Fall H2, IAP, and Spring H1. To take this class you must be prepared to work on your project over IAP. Class size is limited to 30 this year, and enrollment by instructor's permission. You must take both half-semester courses (no grade is assigned until work is completed in the spring). Units will be distributed as follows: 3 for Fall H2, 6 for IAP, and 3 for Spring H1. The class meets Fall 06 H2, Monday, 2:30 - 5:30, with the Spring 07 schedule to be determined to best meet participants' needs.

How is 15.990 different from GLab?

Like GLab, 15.990 students work with teams of peers on a real-world project, dedicating three weeks of IAP to onsite work.  Unlike GLab, which sends students to host companies all over the globe, 15.990 projects are with companies in greater Boston.  This is a critical difference, since 15.990 projects are designed to go "beyond consulting."  With locally-based hosts, 15.990 projects allow for multi-stage engagements, where students develop and execute mini-experiments, to gather data and advance real learning at their host organization.  Their work over IAP informs continued engagement with their host in spring H1.  GLab projects, on the other hand, tend to be a one-stage engagement, without expectation of ongoing involvement for student teams -- although student invovlement during the actual engagement is very intense.  GLab students conduct an analysis and make recommendations -- possibly developing a business plan, market analysis, or new-market-entry strategy for a foreign firm.  While interaction is clearly centralto GLab projects, because of their nature, this is essentially a consultative approach, where GLab projects are scoped such that all work for the host may be completed by the end of IAP.  During Spring H1, GLab students deliver final presentations to their professors and peers, reflect on their learning, and speculate on the potential impact of their recommendations (if their hosts follow through).  During Spring H1, 15.990 students remain intimately engaged with their host companies. They develop and execute additional mini-experiments, and make a strategic hand-off, so that hosts take ownership of student work, and take it to the next level.

Another point of contrast is that most of the classroom instruction for GLab addresses topics connected to entrepreneurship in a global setting, whereas in 15.990, the focus is on getting things done -- being effective as a manager. 

Can you tell me what a 15.990 project might look like?

 
Here's a hypothetical example. An MIT Media Lab group has developed a new toy they believe has immense potential to help middle school students tackle algebra.  A 15.990 project team designs and implements pilot tests of the toy.  They collaborate with local non-profits providing after-school programming, such as Young People's Project and Citizen Schools.  During IAP, the 15.990 team conducts a pre-test with students, tests the toy with them, then gathers feedback and ideas.  They also conduct a post-test.  During Spring H1, the 15.990 team work with their host to incorporate student feedback/data into design modifications, to capture student impacts for future marketing and lay the groundwork for a second test.

So it's all about projects. What makes for a good project?

Projects for 15.990 should:

      Be substantial enough to support  the collaborative work of team of at least four students (please note that teams will be formed in the class);

      Involveinteractions with multiple stakeholders within a host organization;

      Center on a problem that cannot be solved simply by research, analysis, or application of off-the-shelf frameworks;  

      Depend on the design and execution of "mini experiments" that test hypotheses and gather data to advance learning;

      Depend on innovation---your mini-experiments should represent a new, untested strategy for your host, helping them move beyond the limits of preexisting infrastructure.

Can I do my own project? Can I select my own team? 

15.990's design accomodates some projects proposed by students. If you have a project that meets the criteria listed above, you may submit a write-up to us.

Teams will be formed in the class, be prepared to work in a novel team.  

How do I sign up?

Please email Ashley Chiampo (ashley@mit.edu) to apply for the course.  We are accepting students on a rolling basis. Please send the following :

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