Leveraging Design Thinking for Innovation: The Multiplier Effect

About the Program

Design thinking has been the key differentiator which has enabled firms like Apple, IBM, Google, Airbnb, PepsiCo, and Nike to be successful brands. Rapidly changing business environments, fast evolving disruptive technologies, interconnected economic and commercial landscapes, dynamic nature of customer needs and preference, rapid transition from market place to market space based business models has made it imperative for startup and s and established business entities, academic institutions, government bodies to be agile in design and delivery of products and services as per the voice of the customers.

This program has been designed to bring together business and thought leaders, technocrats, academia and industry experts for an enriching , multi-disciplinary learning on the inescapable need for leaders to infuse an organization wide culture of design thinking and integrating technology and business success by focusing on customer centric products, service and processes.

What you will learn

The goal of this course is to provide an effective combination of theory and practice of design thinking as a business multiplier. Live lectures, industry insights and project work will provide a rich forum for virtual class discussions. You will assemble key insights on the following:

Record of Participation

Upon successful completion of the course, you will be awarded a record of participation from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Extension.

World Class Faculty

You will learn from world class faculty in this program from leading business schools and global corporates.

Professor Michael Spence

Nobel prize winner for economics in 2001, together with George Akerlof and Joseph Stiglitz for their analyses of markets with asymmetric information, Michael Spence is senior professor at the Department of Economics at Bocconi University and professor in the MBA program at SDA Bocconi.In 1981 he was awarded the John Bates Clark Medal from the American Economic Association.

Spence is also Professor in Economics & Business at the New York University Stern School of Business and Professor and Dean, Emeritus, at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University. Michael Spence is currently a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, serves as co-chair with Joseph Stiglitz of the Commission on Global Economic Transformation and is Senior Advisor at General Atlantic and a Senior Advisor at Jasper Ridge Partners.

He is the co-chair with Dr. Victor Fung, of the Advisory Board of the Asia Global Institute at Hong Kong University. Spence serves on the Advisory Board of the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University in Beijing. Spence chaired a global Commission on Growth and Development (2006-2010), addressed to growth issues in emerging economies.

Professor Manuel E. Sosa

Manuel E. Sosa is a Professor of Technology and Operations Management, the Director of the Heinrich and Esther Baumann–Steiner Fund for Creativity and Business at INSEAD. He is also the director of the new “Innovation by Design” on-line executive programme.

He received a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from Universidad Simón Bolívar (Caracas, Venezuela) and an SM and a PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).Professor Sosa research in complex product and software development have been published in journals including Management Science, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, Production and Operations Management, and Harvard Business Review amongst others. His research about “managing design” has received several awards.

He developed a teaching programme with the Art Center College of Design (California) to integrate business and design disciplines for product development. He has received the Dean’s commendation for excellence in MBA teaching multiple times. He was runner-up for best professor award on innovation management and creative thinking twice.

Professor Toshiko Mori

Toshiko Mori is the Robert P. Hubbard Professor in the Practice of Architecture at Harvard University Graduate School of Design, the former chair, Department of Architecture Harvard University Graduate School of Design and visiting faculty at Columbia University and Yale University. She is the former chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Design.

Mori’s strong research-based approach to design won her numerous awards mainly the Cooper Union Inaugural John Hejduk Award, Academy Award in Architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Medal of Honor from the American Institute of Architects, New York Chapter. She is also principal of Toshiko Mori Architect, New York and designed the award-winning Visitor Centre at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Darwin D. Martin House compound in Buffalo, New York, as well as the Centre of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems for Syracuse University.

Your Learning Journey

During the program you will have the chance to learn from world class faculty through live virtual lectures . You will interact with industry executives and better understand ongoing global trends. You will be given the opportunity to work in groups on projects of relevance to your business contexts.

Who should take this course?

This program is designed for a broad range of executives across industry sectors. Managers of all functions and senior executives can learn to effectively analyze, articulate and apply innovation management and leadership insights in their teams and organizations.

This program will benefit you if

• You are seeking to enhance the innovation readiness of your firm
• You are interested to leverage the forces of innovation and disruptive change
• You are keen to innovate in new product/service development and the creation of new business models
• You want to identify specific tools and approaches for driving innovation in your firm.