LearningEdge is a free learning resource for management educators and students provided open and available to the world. Developed by MIT Sloan faculty and students, this collection of teaching case studies and management flight simulations focuses on areas in which Sloan's innovative research and teaching are on the cutting edge, including entrepreneurship, leadership and ethics, operations management, strategy, sustainability, and system dynamics.

LearningEdge was formerly MIT Sloan Teaching Innovation Resources (MSTIR).

Introduction to the sources of technological innovation, economics of innovation, protection of innovation rights, communication of technical information, capturing benefit from innovation, organizing to manage the innovation process, cooperation in the innovation process, new ventures. 15.351 is a full-term subject with greater detail on technology strategy and on product development and implementation. 15.352 is a half-term subject. Students cannot receive credit for both subjects.

This course discusses the basics every manager needs to organize successful technology-driven innovation in both entrepreneurial and established firms. We start by examining innovation-based strategies as a source of competitive advantage and then examine how to build organizations that excel at identifying, building and commercializing technological innovations. Major topics include how the innovation process works; creating an organizational environment that rewards innovation and entrepreneurship; designing appropriate innovation processes (e.g. stage-gate, portfolio management); organizing to take advantage of internal and external sources of innovation; and structuring entrepreneurial and established organizations for effective innovation. The course examines how entrepreneurs can shape their firms so that they continuously build and commercialize valuable innovations. Many of the examples also focus on how established firms can become more entrepreneurial in their approach to innovation.

This is the first edition of a modular open textbook designed for entrepreneurial journalism, media innovation, and related courses. This book has been undergoing student and faculty testing and open review in fall 2017. Feedback has been implemented in Version 1.0 and will continue to be implemented in Version 2.0 (ETA spring 2018). An accompanying handbook will include additional activities, ancillary materials and faculty resources on media innovation for instructors.

This workshop is designed to introduce students to different perspectives on international politics in the 21st century. Students will explore how advances in information technology are changing international relations and global governance through opening new channels of communication, creating new methods of education, and new potentials for democratization. We will consider the positive and negative externalities associated with applications of such technologies. Students will be encouraged to look at alternative futures, and/or to frame solutions to problems that they define. The class will include guest lectures, discussions, and a final project and presentation.

"Can you make a cellphone change the world? NextLab is a hands-on year-long design course in which students research, develop and deploy mobile technologies for the next billion mobile users in developing countries. Guided by real-world needs as observed by local partners, students work in multidisciplinary teams on term-long projects, closely collaborating with NGOs and communities at the local level, field practitioners, and experts in relevant fields. Students are expected to leverage technical ingenuity in both mobile and internet technologies together with social insight in order to address social challenges in areas such as health, microfinance, entrepreneurship, education, and civic activism. Students with technically and socially viable prototypes may obtain funding for travel to their target communities, in order to obtain the first-hand feedback necessary to prepare their technologies for full fledged deployment into the real world (subject to guidelines and limitations)."

People and Organizations examines the historical evolution and current human and organizational contexts in which scientists, engineers and other professionals work. It outlines today's major challenges facing the management profession. The course uses interactive exercises, simulations and problems to develop critical skills in negotiations, teamwork and leadership. Students will be introduced to concepts and tools to analyze work and leadership experiences in optional undergraduate fieldwork projects.

Covers modern tools and methods for product design and development. The cornerstone is a project in which teams of management, engineering, and industrial design students conceive, design, and prototype a physical product. Class sessions employ cases and hands-on exercises to reinforce the key ideas. Topics include: product planning, identifying customer needs, concept generation, product architecture, industrial design, concept design, and design-for-manufacturing.

How can we translate real-world challenges into future business opportunities? How can individuals, organizations, and society learn and undergo change at the pace needed to stave off worsening problems? Today, organizations of all kinds--traditional manufacturing firms, those that extract resources, a huge variety of new start-ups, services, non-profits, and governmental organizations of all types, among many others--are tackling these very questions. For some, the massive challenges of moving towards sustainability offer real opportunities for new products and services, for reinventing old ones, or for solving problems in new ways. The course aims to provide participants with access and in-depth exposure to firms that are actively grappling with the sustainability-related issues through cases, readings and guest speakers.

Topics vary from year to year. Typical examples from past years: manufacturing strategy, technology supply chains. This seminar will explore the purposes and development of Technology Roadmaps for systematically mapping out possible development paths for various technological domains and the industries that build on them. Data of importance for such roadmaps include rates of innovation, key bottlenecks, physical limitations, improvement trendlines, corporate intent, and value chain and industry evolutionary paths. The course will build on ongoing work on the MIT Communications Technology Roadmap project, but will explore other domains selected from Nanotechnology, Bio-informatics, Geno/Proteino/Celleomics, Neurotechnology, Imaging and Diagnostics, etc. Thesis and Special Project opportunities will be offered.

D-Lab World Prosthetics is a collaboration between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Jaipur Foot Organization to improve the design, manufacture, and distribution of rehabilitation devices in the developing world. The course welcomes individuals interested in physical rehabilitation to work on multidisciplinary teams of students with bioengineering, mechanical engineering, material science, and medical or pre-medical backgrounds. Students will learn about the basics of human walking, different types of gait disabilities, as well as the technologies that seek to address those disabilities. Patient perspectives and current research areas are presented. Lecture topics focus on lower-limb disabilities, including polio and above-knee and below-knee amputation, and will cover both developed and developing world techniques for overcoming these disabilities. Students form teams to design and prototype low-cost orthotic and prosthetic devices, and present their work at the end of the course.

This book is suited for the Entrepreneurship or Innovation course with an emphasis on Sustainability or for a course devoted entirely to Sustainability.

What are the trends and forces underlying the changing character of the business-environment relationship? How they are creating significant entrepreneurial opportunities for individuals and companies? Around the world, the movement toward “sustainable development” has caused many firms to adopt policies and practices that reflect what is sometimes called a “sustainable business” or “triple bottom line” approach. “Triple bottom line” refers to the demonstration of strong performance across economic, social, and environmental indicators. Those measures serve as indicators of fiduciary responsibility to a growing set of concerned investors and therefore can help ensure access to capital. They also enable innovators to lower costs, create strategic differentiation, reduce risk, and position themselves for competitive advantage over rivals less attuned to trends.

The deep roots of sustainability thinking are now evident in widespread and increasingly visible activities worldwide, and Sustainability, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship explores this evolution; its necessity, its implications and its progression.

Systems Engineering is an interdisciplinary approach and means to enable the realization of successful systems. It focuses on defining customer needs and required functionality early in the development cycle, documenting requirements, then proceeding with design synthesis and system validation while considering the complete problem including operations, performance, test, manufacturing, cost, and schedule. This subject emphasizes the links of systems engineering to fundamentals of decision theory, statistics, and optimization. It also introduces the most current, commercially successful techniques for systems engineering.

Outlines tools for formulating and evaluating technology strategy, including an introduction to the economics of technical change, models of technological evolution, and models of organizational dynamics and innovation. Topics covered include: making money from innovation; competition between technologies and the selection of standards; optimal licensing policies; joint ventures; organization of R&D; and theories of diffusion and adoption. Taught using a combination of readings and case studies.

Our linked subjects are (1) the historical process by which the meaning of technology has been constructed, and (2) the concurrent transformation of the environment. To explain the emergence of technology as a pivotal word (and concept) in contemporary public discourse, we will examine responses--chiefly political and literary--to the development of the mechanic arts, and to the linked social, cultural, and ecological transformation of 19th- and 20th-century American society, culture, and landscape.

U-Lab: Leading Profound Innovation for a More Sustainable World is an interactive and experiential class about leading profound innovation for pioneering a more sustainable economy and society. The class is organized around personal reflection practices, relational practices, and societal practices. It focuses on the intertwined relationship between the evolution of capitalism, multi-stakeholder innovation, and presencing.

Does your business need a make-over? Are you unsure how to start?

Having an innovative business model is key for a profitable business and growth. In this business and management course, you will learn how to design, test and implement new business models for sustainable success.

This course introduces you to the main topics of business model innovation. You will learn what drives business model innovation and why it is valuable to you and your business. You will apply practical tools to (re)design and test a business model.

Be inspired by real-life business model examples from fellow entrepreneurs and learn from leading experts who design business model innovations. By the end of this course, you will be able to structure your thinking and communicate your business model ideas and learn how to improve your own business.

" In 2004, the Ansari X PRIZE for suborbital spaceflight captured the public's imagination and revolutionized an industry, leveraging a $10M prize purse into over $100M in innovation. Building from that success, the X PRIZE Foundation is now developing new prizes to focus innovation around "Grand Challenge" themes, including genomics, energy, healthcare, and education. This course will examine the intersection of incentives and innovation, drawing on economic models, historic examples, and recent experience of the X PRIZE Foundation to help develop a future prize in Energy Storage Technologies."