October , 2018

DEVELOP AN ENTREPRENEURIAL MINDSET AND DRIVE INNOVATION

Introduction:

The CBSD Professional Education certificate in entrepreneurship and innovation invites current undergraduate students from across the university to explore entrepreneurship at large, and in the context of their majors. You’ll learn what entrepreneurship means and how it can be applied to your life. You’ll test the feasibility of ideas and find ways to get funded. You’ll begin to see problems as innovation-inspiring opportunities. And you’ll gain the skills, knowledge, and experience you need to turn your dreams into reality.

The E&I Certificate offers experienced professionals and business owners the opportunity to acquire skills and knowledge to become an entrepreneurial manager of either a new or established business. You will learn how to deal with uncertainty, manage innovation and improve the business through the application of best practice methods of small business management and new product development.

The Purpose:

What gap in the market is this event filling?

Entrepreneurship and Innovation are widely regarded a critical source of competitive advantage in an increasingly changing environment, enhancing capabilities for sustainable growth, economic activity and the wealth of nations.

The Certificate of Entrepreneurship and Innovation introduces a paradigm shift in thinking towards enterprise creation or renewal through the identification and analysis of new opportunities. The program is aimed at facilitating changes in individual and managerial behavior through the development of creative, innovative and entrepreneurship competencies.

Develop essential knowledge and skills related to innovation and entrepreneurship. Through this professional certificate, you’ll discover new ways of thinking, learn to drive innovative initiatives, and approach business challenges with a fresh perspective.

What skills are taught and why are they needed?

Knowing how to integrate innovation into a participant’s chosen profession is crucial for creating thriving communities and careers. The Entrepreneurship & Innovation Certificate will teach the essential skills and effective strategies for enhancing working experiences and for starting new opportunities. In workshops designed to engage and inspire idea generation, participant will learn how to solve problems, seize opportunities, and move from idealized dreams to tangible ventures

The goal of this certificate is to further enhance participants’ abilities to explore complex problems and to develop innovative methods to address those problems. Participants will gain the ability to apply knowledge across disciplines to turn ideas into actions, making a tangible positive impact on society.

Target Audience

• Leaders of innovative teams, or teams that wish to be innovative
• Professionals from startups, non-profits and the public sector
• Marketing, sales, finance, and project management teams
• Engineers and project team leads who want to be more creative
• Entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs
• The E&I Certificate is for MSA undergraduate students of all majors and backgrounds who want to develop an entrepreneurial spirit and gain a transferable skillset that will benefit them in any pursuit at MSA and beyond. The goal is for students to select their courses and experiences with intentionality so that their time in the E&I Certificate will align with the rest of their MSA experience. Students are expected to have a clear set of goals for the program, as well as an area of focus they want to explore.
  • The Student should Enroll If:
    • There is a desire to be independent.
    • She/he is creative and innovative.
    • There is an interest in starting their own venture or enhancing their career.
    • They are leaders wishing to solve problems for the betterment of their communities.

Certificate Description

The E&I Certificate prepares participants who are either planning to or have already embarked on a career as an entrepreneur (innovating to form new companies) or an intrapreneur (innovating within existing companies).  

The E&I Certificate is designed to provide participants with a pathway to pursue a rigorous cross-disciplinary study of innovation and entrepreneurship that will be complementary to any major and will enable students to be innovative and entrepreneurial in their pursuit of knowledge in service of society. 

The certificate allows post-graduate participants from any discipline to learn about entrepreneurship, innovation, and the new venture creation process. The interdisciplinary certificate program provides participants an opportunity to gain business skills they can use in starting a business without a large time commitment.  

Developing hands-on skills and know-how in innovation and entrepreneurship is becoming increasingly important for leaders all over the world. This is why we have designed E&I Certificate to meet the specific needs of potential and busy entrepreneurs who want to find innovative and practical solutions to the challenges they face. The certificate will enable you to: 

Seize new opportunities in your current organization or business venture  

Drive innovation and develop an entrepreneurial mindset 

Be prepared to get out of your chair and use your whole brain, because creativity and innovation take practice. 

LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. Acquire the business literacy and professional skills demanded by all employers in the contemporary economy
2. Develop viable business models through market research and financial analyses
3. A greater understanding of the tools that every innovative organization needs to succeed
4. A wider and deeper set of innovation skills, customized to fit both your organization’s needs and your career goals
5. Develop products or services in a start-up context or within an existing organization
6. Focus on business strategy and how to implement it effectively
7. Embrace a new way of thinking to find creative solutions to the challenges you face
8. Apply problem solving, design and decision making methodologies to identify and provide innovative solutions to complex problems with intellectual independence
9. Learn how to identify, evaluate and develop new venture opportunities & Understanding how to transform ideas into feasible commercial opportunities.
10. Personal feedback and advice from CBSD’s Team of innovation coaches and entrepreneurship mentors

Learning Cycle (Visual)

1. identify need(s), particularly one(s) tied to large, complex problems
2. Generate multiple ideas (innovations) to address the need(s) identified
3. Assess the validity (under realistic constraints) of the innovation(s) generated
4. Create and execute a research project, artistic endeavor, social entrepreneurship, or business plan tied to a specific innovation
5. Acquire necessary resources to initiate a project, program, or venture to pursue an innovation
6. Create the needed financing for an innovation project or venture and manage finances in order to successfully sustain a project or venture
7. Lead, manage, and work effectively within a team
8. Commercialize or otherwise generate income from an innovation
9. Communicate effectively, particularly innovative ideas, verbally and in writing
10. Create a positive and ethical culture in which to pursue innovation and entrepreneurial ideas
11. Develop courage and resilience, along with an understanding of the value/learning which comes from failure
12. Evaluate success in creating a project, program, or venture

MAIN COMPTENCIES

Cultivating such an innovative and entrepreneurial spirit will involve participants continuing to develop the following capacities:

• Creativity, nurtured through disciplined mastery as well as exposure to diverse modes of research, inquiry, and experimentation.
• Technical Competencies, learned by engaging the relevant topics/fields as well as learning through workshops and experiences those skills that are critical to success in innovation and entrepreneurship.
• Courage and Resilience, encouraged through workshops that focus on experimentation and through experiential learning.
• Reflection, developed through careful analysis (and learning the tools for such analysis) both inside and outside of class, through co-curricular spaces to engage mentors and colleagues in engaging major issues facing the world, and through structures and opportunities for introspection about one’s own gifts as well as blind-spots.
• Collaboration, fostered by opportunities to work in teams and to reflect on the diverse communication and leadership challenges that teamwork involves.

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