MIT Sloan Executive Education innovation@work Blog

Neil Ackerman has put his MIT Sloan Executive Certificates to work—and to great success

Posted by MIT Sloan Executive Education - 1 day ago

MIT Sloan Executive Certificate Holder Neil Ackerman

MIT Sloan Executive Certificate holder Neil Ackerman is a highly successful supply chain and strategy executive currently serving as Senior Director of Global Supply Chain Advanced Planning and Innovation for healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson. His accomplishments in supply chain innovation throughout his career have been many—so, it’s hard to imagine a time when Ackerman wasn’t sure where he wanted to go, or how he was going to get there. But for the now-accomplished executive, there were several turning points in his career that required deep thought, new ways of thinking, and giants leaps of faith.

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Want to follow in Amazon's footsteps? Bill Aulet says focus on your beachhead market

Posted by MIT Sloan Executive Education - 2 days ago

Establishing the beachhead market

Amazon’s most recent $13.7-billion acquisition of Whole Foods has moved Jeff Bezos into the top spot—he is officially the richest man in America. As a result of this takeover, his empire has disrupted the grocery industry and amassed a treasure trove of consumer and market data. But as MIT Sloan’s Bill Aulet reminds us in a recent article on entrepreneur.com, it was not always so.

“Once upon a time, Amazon sold only books. Bezos’s initial focus on books constitutes the greatest execution of a beachhead marketing strategy ever.” Emerging entrepreneurs can learn valuable lessons from Bezos’s approach.

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The truth about entrepreneurship: 6 myths debunked

Posted by MIT Sloan Executive Education - 7 days ago

The truth about entrepreneurship: 6 myths debunked

When you think of entrepreneurs, what beliefs and traits come to mind? It’s quite possible your holding on to one or more misconceptions about what entrepreneurship is and what it requires. And if you’re an aspiring entrepreneur yourself, such misperceptions could be getting in your way.

MIT Sloan Professor Bill Aulet, a long-time-practicing entrepreneur, Managing Director of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship, and author of Disciplined Entrepreneurship: 24 Steps to a Successful Startup, says that as more people aspire to become entrepreneurs, it is important to debunk common myths about what makes them successful—these six in particular.

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How Red Hat’s CEO creates the context for success

Posted by MIT Sloan Executive Education - 10 days ago

Red Hat’s Jim Whitehurst at MIT

The MIT Leadership Center, in partnership with MIT Sloan School of Management, invites distinctive individuals who are making a difference in the world to participate in The Innovative Leadership (iLead) Series. These leaders include Jim Whitehurst, President and CEO of open source software company Red Hat, who spoke to a live audience on campus about cultivating passionate employees in today’s disruption-driven business environment.

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The human side of IoT: Digital transformation is about more than technology

Posted by MIT Sloan Executive Education - 15 days ago

The Human Side of IoT

Many organization think of digital transformation as the implementation and use of cutting-edge technologies. But advancements in information technology—and the Internet of things (IoT) in particular—pose opportunities and challenges that far transcend technology. In order to seize strategic advantage with IoT, many businesses require hard fought for alent and organizational shifts. In fact, our new online course, Internet of Things: Business Implications and Opportunities, approaches IoT as a leadership opportunity and a mechanism to transform business, rather than viewing it as a purely technical topic.

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An interview with MIT Sloan Executive Certificate Holder Keith Patch

Posted by MIT Sloan Executive Education - 16 days ago

MIT Sloan Executive Certificate Holder Keith Patch

Executive Certificate holder Keith D. Patch is Principal of a technical and management consultancy that assists clients in early stage R&D, productization, operations, and cost savings. He holds four patents, two published patent applications, and has appeared in over 60 publications. Patch, who earned an Executive Certificate in Management and Leadership, recently shared some thoughts about his experiences with MIT Sloan Executive Education programs, and how they have influenced both his professional and personal life.

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Digital enters the C-suite

Posted by MIT Sloan Executive Education - 24 days ago

Enter the Chief Digital Officer

Setting the pace for—or simply keeping up with—the digital revolution requires strong digital leadership, and top companies know it. The role of Chief Information Officer (CIO) has never been more critical, or more complex. Today’s CIOs are tasked with creating business value from big data, managing IT consumerization, driving the implementation of digital technology, and even facilitating an increasingly mobile workforce.

Thus, it comes as no surprise that 72% of CIOs polled as part of IDG’s 2017 State of the CIO admitted they are struggling to balance business innovation and operational excellence; 87 percent said the CIO role is more challenging than ever.

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Moneyball for business managers: The 7 components of a successful analytics program

Posted by MIT Sloan Executive Education - 26 days ago

Analytics

In 1977, Bill James published a landmark manual that codified the empirical analysis of baseball (Sabermetrics). During the Oakland A's 2002 season, General Manager Billy Beane famously used some of these concepts to field a team that, as a result, over-delivered on their value relative to their salaries. Beane’s innovative approach was chronicled by author Michael Lewis in Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. The sports data revolution was born. In 2008, five NBA teams had an analytics team; by 2016, all 30 teams had data scientists on board. From football to tennis, golf, and even little league baseball, new statistical tools are changing the game.

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Recent Posts

  1. Neil Ackerman has put his MIT Sloan Executive Certificates to work—and to great success
  2. Want to follow in Amazon's footsteps? Bill Aulet says focus on your beachhead market
  3. The truth about entrepreneurship: 6 myths debunked

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To take advantage of your discount, enter the Referral Code ALUM20 on your application form. Discount is valid on all MIT Sloan Executive Education open enrollment programs held in Massachusetts and cannot be combined with any other discount.