Program Overview

Program Overview

The Mini-MBA for STEM program is designed to provide participants with a comprehensive understanding of business concepts and their application in science, technology, and engineering organizations.

Module 1: Program Kickoff

This module lays the framework for the program format and aligns participants' expectations. The Academic Director provides a general overview of the program content, followed by the introduction of the two deliverables within the program: an individual assignment and a team presentation. Participants will be able to:

• Appreciate the role played by science, technology, and engineering in today's organizations
• Identify the relevant intersecting areas between these management topics and the Science, Technology, and Engineering domains
• Understand the Business Model Canvas as the framework for how businesses function
• Utilize the Value Proposition Canvas to uncover opportunities and threats within businesses and/or projects
• Describe various emerging business models and create linkages between science, technology, and/or engineering and the impact on organizational operation and value creation

Module 2: Strategy Overview

This module covers Strategic Management, which is the ongoing planning, monitoring, and assessment of all necessities within an organization to meet its goals and objectives. Participants will be able to:

• Identify the Strategy Planning Process and understand its importance for the fundamentals of management
• Utilize SWOT and PESTEL analyses at the organizational and project level
• Work through real-world examples to generate strategies for value creation
• Appreciate various strategic approaches for informed decision making
• Understand the role that product lifecycles can play in business strategy; anticipating clients' needs/wants and building an appropriate marketing strategy

Module 3: Innovation Management Overview

Innovation is important for business success, but this requires an organization to be able to manage it effectively. Innovation Management encompasses the decisions, activities, and practices that drive innovation in alignment with an organization's strategy. By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Identify the different types and levels of innovation
• Determine the various drivers of innovation
• Define the key aspects of innovation management
• Understand what innovation portfolios are and how they are utilized

Module 4: Finance Overview

Financial management is the practice of handling a company's finances in a way that allows it to be successful and compliant. It also provides valuable feedback on the viability of organizations and projects. In this overview, participants will:

• Be introduced to financial management and capital budgeting tools to determine appropriate long-term capital allocation decisions
• Differentiate between capital budgeting tools such as payback, net present value, and internal rate of return
• Understand the application and significance of cash flows, discount rates, and other financial considerations; sunk costs, risks, and inflation
• Determine which business propositions add value and how to measure that value

Module 5: Marketing Overview

Marketing is a broad field with infinite implications on the day-to-day of organizations. This session provides a high-level view of how marketing is integral to the success of products and services in the market. After this session, participants will be able to:

• Develop an overview of the different types of marketing (B2B, B2C) and the goals of marketing
• Identify how to create and capture value through the marketing process, including how to add customer value and satisfaction
• Understand the 4Ps of marketing; product, price, promotion, place
• Learn how to create a marketing strategy with segmentation, targeting, and positioning

Module 6: Organizational Leadership

The final business concept covered in the program focuses on leaders setting strategic goals for the organization while motivating individuals within their teams to successfully carry out assignments in service to those goals. After this module, participants will be able to:

• Appreciate the importance of the human factor in the overall effectiveness of any business
• Understand the key aspects pertaining to leadership skills and the various styles of managers
• Identify the key factors affecting the effectiveness of teams within organizations
• Learn how to apply the best practices for team effectiveness and leadership proficiency

Module 7: Operations Management Overview

This module will introduce business practices to create the highest level of efficiency possible within an organization. Focusing on converting materials and labor into goods and services to maximize profit. Participants will have the opportunity to:

• Understand forecasting for operations management; different types, steps, and processes
• Learn how to balance inventory management and customer service through understanding types of inventory, function of inventory, and inventory strategies and models
• Recognize the four determinants of quality and learn how to apply quality tools for successful quality management
• Receive an introduction to capacity management, process design, supply chain management, and facility location strategy and cost

Module 8: Strategic AI Leadership

With 80% of enterprise AI initiatives failing due to strategic misalignment, this module equips executives and managers with crisis-tested frameworks for AI transformation. Participants will explore this through interactive workshops, executive case studies, peer collaboration sessions, and strategic planning exercises. In this session, participants will:

• Complete organizational AI readiness diagnostic using established assessment frameworks
• Build ROI models quantifying AI impact across revenue, efficiency, and competitive positioning
• Design AI governance architecture using established methodologies (e.g., Three Lines of Defence)
• Develop a 90-day AI implementation roadmap with defined milestones and success metrics
• Master change leadership strategies for overcoming AI adoption resistance and building organizational capability

Module 9: Emerging Businesses in Science, Technology & Engineering

In this module, participants will continue to discuss Innovation with a direct correlation to organizations in STEM. Content will emphasize identifying what the entrepreneurial forces are leading the market. In this session, participants will:

• Understand the key concepts of the Business Model Canvas with an emphasis on Innovation
• Look at how various businesses (sector/type) embed innovation within their commercial operations
• Discuss real-life examples of business models used in STEM organizations
• Identify different approaches and focus areas that businesses can adopt to innovate their business model while continuing to create value for both the market and themselves

Module 10: Science, Technology & Engineering Industry Panel

The Industry Panel session invites CEOs of Science, Technology, and Engineering companies for a moderated Q&A session. Participants engage in lively discussion with our CEOs to discuss what challenges STEM companies are currently facing. Discovering what business strategies are being utilized to navigate an evolving industry and what lessons have been learned. Following the Q&A, participants have the opportunity to network with the CEOs and learn more one-on-one.

Module 11: Science, Technology & Engineering Case Study (Team Assignment Review)

Throughout the program, participants are posed questions, in small groups, to summarize and apply the content of each session and how they relate to the program Case Study, featuring a STEM organization (i.e., Tesla). The accumulation and integration of these questions are presented by each group as a class-wide facilitated discussion.

Module 12: Emerging Trends in Science, Technology & Engineering

This session focuses on the discovery of cutting-edge science, technology, and engineering trends that are coming to market. Top research faculty at Carleton University form our Academic Panel, presenting the new and exciting trends in their fields. Similar to the Industry Panel, participants will interact with our panelists in a Q&A session, learning about the application and impact on organizations today and tomorrow.

Module 13: Management Topics in Science, Technology & Engineering (Individual Presentations)

The final deliverable of the program is an individual short-form essay on a management topic related to the program's content. This provides participants the opportunity to dive deeper into a topic of their choice. Assignments will be presented to the class, followed by an informal class-wide discussion and Q&A.