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Donald Kieffer

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Senior Lecturer

System Dynamics

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Donald Kieffer

Faculty Bio

Donald Kieffer is a Senior Lecturer in Operations Management at MIT Sloan.


He is a career operations executive and co-creator of Dynamic Work Design. Kieffer started working running equipment in factories at age 17. He was vp of operational excellence at Harley-Davidson where he worked for 15 years. Since 2007, he has been advising executive teams around the globe in a range of areas including strategy deployment, product development, and operational improvement. Don has worked with industries as diverse as oil/gas, medical, biomedical, and banking.


His guidance was instrumental in transforming both the production and technical development areas of a Cambridge-based genomic sequencing organization, now an industry leader, using the techniques of Dynamic Work Design.


He is founder of ShiftGear Work Design, LLC and also teaches Operations Management at AVT in Copenhagen.


Kieffer holds a BS in electrical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh.


 


Courses

Management and Leadership

Business Dynamics: MIT's Approach to Diagnosing and Solving Complex Business Problems

Operations

Organizations & Leadership

Systems Thinking

EARN 5.0 EEUs
Business Dynamics: MIT's Approach to Diagnosing and Solving Complex Business Problems
In Person

STARTING

Jun 8–12, 2026

LOCATION

Cambridge, MA

DURATION

5 days

COMMITMENT

8 hours/day

TUITION

$11,400

STARTING

Jun 8–12, 2026

LOCATION

Cambridge, MA

DURATION

5 days

COMMITMENT

8 hours/day

TUITION

$11,400

Explore
Technology and Operations

Business Process Design for Strategic Management

Operations

Organizations & Leadership

Systems Thinking

EARN 2.0 EEUs
Business Process Design for Strategic Management
Self-Paced Online

STARTING

Feb 11–Mar 31, 2026

LOCATION

Online

DURATION

6 weeks

COMMITMENT

6–8 hours/week

TUITION

$3,250

STARTING

Feb 11–Mar 31, 2026

LOCATION

Online

DURATION

6 weeks

COMMITMENT

6–8 hours/week

TUITION

$3,250

Apr 29–Jun 16, 2026

Online

6 weeks

6–8 hours/week

$3,250

STARTING

Apr 29–Jun 16, 2026

LOCATION

Online

DURATION

6 weeks

COMMITMENT

6–8 hours/week

TUITION

$3,250

Jul 22–Sep 8, 2026

Online

6 weeks

6–8 hours/week

$3,250

STARTING

Jul 22–Sep 8, 2026

LOCATION

Online

DURATION

6 weeks

COMMITMENT

6–8 hours/week

TUITION

$3,250

Oct 7–Nov 24, 2026

Online

6 weeks

6–8 hours/week

$3,250

STARTING

Oct 7–Nov 24, 2026

LOCATION

Online

DURATION

6 weeks

COMMITMENT

6–8 hours/week

TUITION

$3,250

Explore