Executive MBA Channels Entrepreneurial Spirit
The Kellogg-Schulich Executive MBA is ever-responsive to industry demand. The course New Venture Design (NVD) was created to give students the ability to see, create and evaluate new business opportunities, and the ability to innovate continuously in today’s fast-paced business environment.
“The NVD course is the result of our ongoing efforts to keep the program up-to-date and relevant, based on input received from our alumni and current students,” said Matthias Kipping, EMBA Academic Director. “An entrepreneurial mindset and skillset have become indispensable to succeed in today’s economy, whether you work in large organizations that want to continuously adapt and renew themselves or are considering starting your own venture at some point during your career. For the NVD course, we draw on the strength of Schulich’s entrepreneurship program, which cuts across many of our functional areas and includes entrepreneurs-in-residence.”
From the first day in class, students work in teams and begin creating their own viable venture from scratch, which they refine and develop throughout the year. “In the classroom, we have more discussions than lectures,” Professor of Operations Management and Information Systems and CPA Ontario Chair in International Entrepreneurship, Moren Lévesque said. “Entrepreneurship is very collaborative, and we bring in successful entrepreneurs who provide real-world validation of the skills we are teaching in the course.” After a dress-rehearsal with all student teams pitching their ventures to Entrepreneur-Mentors, they pitch their ventures to Seasoned-Entrepreneur Judges in a June capstone event.
The course merges both research and industry in the classroom via Professor Lévesque and Marketing Instructor, Steve Pulver. Together, the co-instructors provide a unique balance that gives students both a hands-on and theory-based approach.
One of Professor Lévesque’s research topics examined in the course, How to Tame a Dragon, was an analysis of CBC’s reality television show Dragons’ Den. Her insight from the show revealed that angel investors use eight rules of thumb to quickly weed out what they consider to be flawed venture proposals.
On the hands-on side, Pulver who has started, mentored and invested in many ventures, uses his wealth of experience to guide the teams throughout the year. The course also has many successful entrepreneurs mentor each team as well as judge the capstone project.
The Revolving Kitchen, which was founded in the inaugural course by Kellogg-Schulich students, has already become a reality. Read more about their journey!