Best Free MOOCs In Business For June

May 20, 2016

Best Free MOOCs In Business For June

Poets and Quants

Memorial Day marks the unofficial kickoff to summer. In business, that means summer hours or “working” from home on Fridays. For some, June is a time to catch their breath. Since the holidays, they’ve been criss-crossing the country, living out of Drury Inns with 11 p.m. conference calls and 5 a.m. wake ups. For others, June is a time to step back and reflect. The numbers have started rolling in, giving them an idea of where they stand – and where they need to be.

Not surprisingly, June’s MOOCs cater to professionals who are pausing to wade into smaller issues they’ve pushed back – or big picture items that will reverberate long after the quarter ends. And there’s no better place to start than the lifeblood of any organization: Marketing and sales.

MARKETING HEADLINES JUNE OFFERINGS

And you can start with analytics, which has joined with social media to transform how companies target and communicate with prospects and customers alike. In its “Marketing Analytics: Marketing Measurement Strategy” course, the University of California at Berkeley takes a practitioners’ tact towards deep dive data analysis. Taught by a former marketing executive at Cisco and SAS, the course examines how data can be used to identify trends, measure returns, evaluate strategy, and guide decision-making. It also introduces students to standard analytics tools, exposing both their capabilities and the contexts where they carry the greatest value.

Two of Europe’s top MBA programs – IESE and IE Business School – have unveiled courses that examine underlying marketing fundamentals. IE’s course, “Positioning: What You Need For A Successful Marketing Strategy,” focuses on how organizations can successfully differentiate their products in a cluttered and changing marketplace. At the same time, IESE’s “Marketing: Understanding Your Customers” returns to the basics: Why do customers buy and what enticements can you introduce to jumpstart the process? For professionals looking for an enterprise-wide perspective, the University of Illinois is introducing “Corporate Strategy,” which analyzes how the broader vision and plan creates sustainable competitive advantage and customer value.

COACHING EMPLOYEES AND USING SIX SIGMA ARE OTHER BIG ATTRACTIONS

Beyond marketing, June MOOCs cover a wealth of key educational ground. Wondering how to jumpstart your low performers or malcontents? Check out U.C.-Davis’ “Coaching Conversations,” which features models of how to get the most from those employee talks that every manager dreads. Dreaming of transitioning to the nonprofit sector? Check out the SUNY’s “Introduction to the Nonprofit Sector, Nonprofit Organizations, Nonprofit Leadership and Governance,” a how-to for managing a cause-driven organizations and working with boards. For students looking to understand the impact of accounting on the c-suite, the University of Illinois offers “Accounting for Business Decision Making: Measurement and Operational Decisions.”

Finally, you don’t need to earn a belt to understand Six Sigma. echnische Universität pulls back the curtain with “Fundamentals of Six Sigma: Quality Engineering and Management.” Here, students can see how basic six sigma principles can inform everything from how to make better decisions to how to better service customers.

To learn more about these courses – and register for them – click on the links below.

Marketing

Marketing Analytics: Marketing Measurement Strategy / June 7 / University of California-Berkeley

Positioning: What You Need For A Successful Marketing Strategy / June / IE Business School

Marketing: Understanding Your Customers / June / IESE Business School

Corporate Strategy / June / University of Illinois

Leadership

Coaching Conversations / June / U.C.-Davis

The Three Pillar Model for Business Decisions: Strategy, Law & Ethics / June 1 / University of Michigan

Introduction to the Nonprofit Sector, Nonprofit Organizations, Nonprofit Leadership and Governance / June 6 / State University of New York

Leadership Through Social Influence / May 30 / Northwestern University

New Models Of Business In Society / June 6 / University of Virginia

International Business 1 / June 6 / University of Virginia

Finance and Operations

Accounting for Business Decision Making: Measurement and Operational Decisions / June / University of Illinois

Operations Management / June 1 / University of Illinois

Computational Investing, Part I / June 6 / Georgia Tech

Project Management / Entrepreneurship

Fundamentals of Six Sigma: Quality Engineering and Management / June 15 / echnische Universität

Creating and Developing a Tech Startup / June 6 / École Polytechnique and HEC Paris

Leadership Through Design Innovation / June 6 / Northwestern University

Other Courses

Marketing Analytics: Marketing Measurement Strategy

School: University of California-Berkeley

Platform: edX

Registration Link: CLICK HERE

Start Date: June 7, 2016 (4 Weeks Long)

Workload: 5-7 Hours Per Week

Instructor: Stephan Sorger

Credentials: Sorger is an adjunct faculty at the University of California-Berkeley, where he teaches courses in marketing planning, brand management, marketing research, and marketing analytics. Professionally, he is a partner at On Demand Advisors, a consulting firm that uses marketing metrics tools to identify new segments, fill pipelines, and increasing their closing ratio. He is also the author of two college textbooks on marketing. Before entering academia, he held senior level marketing roles at tech firms like Oracle and SAP.

Graded: After completing the course, students can receive an instructor-signed certificate for $150.

Description: Two decades ago, marketers could assume a campaign was successful by revenue alone. However, this metric alone didn’t necessarily answer the questions that vex marketers. Are resources being allocated to the right channels in the right amounts? What can we change in real time to maximize return? How do our different efforts compare to each other – and what can we expect over time?

Analytics have revolutionized marketing by being able to provide both a segmented micro and an integrated macro view of a firm’s marketing mix. In the process, firms could more readily identify trends and potential opportunities and profit centers. Through this course, students will be exposed to the analytics tools and techniques used by leading marketers, along with which metrics provide the best value in various contexts. Even more, students will learn how to spot trends in various data points and how to translate their insights into new strategies and solutions.

Review: No reviews.

Positioning: What You Need For A Successful Marketing Strategy

School: IE Business School

Platform: Coursera

Registration Link: CLICK HERE

Start Date: June 2016

Workload: Not Available

Instructors: Ramon Diaz-Bernardo, Teresa Serra and Ignacio Gafo

Credentials: The three instructors are professors of marketing at IE Business School. Diaz-Bernardo is an expert in the area of tourism and hotel marketing strategy who has consulted for companies ranging from Ford to AC Nielsen. Serra has taught at the school since 1984 and has headed its marketing area for the past decade. Her expertise lies in product distribution and store setup. Ignacio focuses on category management, channel development, and international marketing. Along with being an associate dean at the dean, he has also been a marketing manager for the Vodafone Group.

Graded: Students can choose to explore course videos, discussions, and ungraded assignments for free, but they won’t be able to submit graded assignments, earn a certificate, or complete a specialization without paying a $79 fee per course.

Description: Most brands conjure up images. For example, many might associate sentiments like “young,” “upbeat” and “vibrant” with Pepsi. And that’s not by accident. Behind every brand is a strategy rooted in psychology, market research, and competitive differentiation.

To appeal to the right audience and amplify its uniqueness, brands rely on a three step structure: “Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning (STP).” In this course, IE Business School defines these segments as follows:

Segmentation: Find groups of consumers who have a common need and common buying behavior. Targeting: Pick the segment (or segments) of consumers that are more willing to buy the brand and where you should focus your marketing resources. Positioning: Design your company’s offering and image so that these occupy a meaningful and distinctive competitive position in the target’s mind.

After learning the techniques in each step, students will understand how to develop the right messaging and positioning for a brand that distinguishes them in the consumer’s minds and helps provide “a long-term competitive advantage.”

Review: No reviews.

Additional Background: This course is part of IE Business Schools’ “Marketing Strategy” specialization, a five course series that also covers conducting market research and developing a marketing plan. To learn more about this specialization and register for it, CLICK HERE.

Marketing: Understanding Your Customers

School: IESE Business School

Platform: Coursera

Registration Link: CLICK HERE

Start Date: June 2016

Workload: Not Specified

Instructor: Mario Capizzani

Credentials: Capizzani is a lecturer of marketing at IESE Business School, where his areas of expertise include decision sciences, marketing and pricing strategy, marketing research, sales force management, and customer relations. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley.

Description: Why do customers choose one product over another? Is it price? Do these decisions stem from a unique proposition or promotion? Or, are they based more on relationship or salesmanship? In many ways, it is a combination of all of the above. If you miss on strategy, you’ll fail to attract the right customers. If your product doesn’t consistently deliver, word of mouth will undercut any brand building you do.

As part of this introductory course, students will explore the broad spectrum of marketing basics, including “segmentation, targeting and positioning; the 4 P’s (product, price, place and promotion), and branding and communication strategies.” The course will conclude with students using what they learn to write a marketing plan.

Review: No reviews.

Additional Background: This course is the first part of a “Foundations of Management” specialization, a four course series that includes areas like finance, marketing, and organizational behavior. To learn more about these courses and register for them, CLICK HERE.

Corporate Strategy

School: University of Illinois

Platform: Coursera

Registration Link: CLICK HERE

Start Date: June, 2016

Workload: Not Specified

Instructor: Joe Mahoney

Credentials: Mahoney is a professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the University, along with serving as the Caterpillar Chair of Business at the school. He teaches students ranging from undergrads to Ph.D.s in classes that include Strategic Management and Economics of the Organization. Illinois students have given Mahoney an overall “Excellent” score for his teaching for 24 consecutive years beginning in 1992. He holds a Ph.D. in Business Economics from the University of Pennsylvania.

Description: Michael Porter points out that “Strategy is about making choices [and] trade-offs; it’s about deliberately choosing to be different.” And ‘choices’ are the key. Strategy inherently involves focus and limits, with variables like market expectations, channel distribution, costs, revenue and margins, and customer acquisition and retention all vying for emphasis. A good strategy balances such factors, while providing clarity on what organizational objectives are – and how to achieve them. This course helps students understand how to not only create value, but present it to the marketplace. In particular, students will “understand how corporations create, capture, and sustain competitive advantage; analyze business situations and create a coherent corporate strategy; and understand the fit between corporate strategy and organization structure to improve economic performance.”

Review: No reviews.

Additional Background: This is the sixth of a seven course specialization from the University of Illinois called “Strategic Leadership and Management.” It includes courses on organizational design, business and corporate strategy, and applying leadership techniques. To learn more about this specialization and register for it, CLICK HERE.

Coaching Conversations

School: U.C.-Davis

Platform: Coursera

Registration Link: CLICK HERE

Start Date: June 2016

Workload: Not Specified

Instructor: Kris Plachy

Credentials: Plachy is the CEO and Coach at Leadership Coach LLC, which specializes in helping leaders hold difficult conversations with difficult employees. Before moving to coaching, Plachy oversaw enrollment and training for the University of Phoenix before directing operations performance coaching for its parent company, the Apollo Group.

Description: No one likes to break bad news – especially when you’re a manager. When performance is subpar – or an employee’s conduct is undermining team morale and cohesiveness – a conversation is needed. It won’t be easy. Some employees will argue, blame, and threaten. Others will make empty promises or withdraw. How do you reach these employees? And how can return them to being the energized employees they were when hired them? In this course, Plachy will teach students how to prepare for such conversations, demonstrating through role plays the approaches that produce long-lasting change – and those that worsen the situation.

Review: No reviews.

Additional Background: This course is the third part of a five course series called “Coaching Skills For Managers.” To learn more about the courses and register for them, click here.

The Three Pillar Model for Business Decisions: Strategy, Law & Ethics

School: University of Michigan

Platform: Coursera

Registration Link: CLICK HERE

Start Date: June 1, 2016

Workload: Not Specified

Instructor: George Siedel

Credentials: A recognized expert in negotiating and dispute resolution, Siedel teaches at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. In addition, he has taught this topic on every continent, to audiences ranging from business leaders to doctors. Seidel, who holds a J.D. from the University of Michigan’s School of Law and served as associate dean of the Ross School of Business, also conducts annual negotiation seminars in Hong Kong and Italy. A distinguished researcher, Siedel has received numerous teaching awards as well.

Graded: Students can choose to explore course videos, discussions, and ungraded assignments for free, but they won’t be able to sit for the final exam or earn a certificate without paying a course fee.

Description: Traditionally, the basis behind business decision-making has involved three pillars: Economics, law and ethics. Ethics involved acting responsibly, while law covered the management of risk. Economics, which encompasses variables like cost and outsourcing, has never quite fit. As a result, Siedel modified the pillars, inserting strategy (i.e. value creation) in place of economics. The result is a new way to view decision-making, where strategy is able to integrate law and ethics to better drive innovation without running afoul of regulations or shirking liability.

According to Siedel, the course “provides legal briefings (with many examples) on the key elements of business success, such as (1) attracting the best employees, (2) developing successful products, (3) creating new business models, (4) protecting intellectual property, (5) creating contracts that achieve business goals, and (6) using dispute resolution processes that improve business relationships.” The course will be taught through short videos and readings, with students evaluated through quizzes and a final mastery exam.

Review: No reviews.

Introduction to the Nonprofit Sector, Nonprofit Organizations, Nonprofit Leadership and Governance

School: State University of New York

Platform: Coursera

Registration Link: CLICK HERE

Start Date: June 6, 2016

Workload: Not Specified

Instructors: Yvonne Harrison and Vic Murray

Credentials: Harrison is an assistant professor in the Department of Public Administration and Policy at the University of Albany, where she teaches courses in the foundations of public management and nonprofit governance. Murray is an adjunct professor in the School of Public Administration at the University of Victoria.

Description: Not-for-profit organizations are run far different than their for-profit counterparts. Forget profits. Mission is the driving force here. At the same time, they often possess fewer revenue streams, relying instead on goodwill to fund their efforts. As a result, they must be governed in a different fashion. In this course, students will learn the best practices for operating a non-profit. In particular, the course will focus on the following areas:

Unique characteristics of nonprofits Leadership and governance Roles of board members Developing a BEAR (Board Effectiveness Readiness Assessment

The course includes video lectures and practitioner interviews, case studies and discussion forums, with students evaluated on quizzes and a class project.

Review: “Very thorough and practical. Great insights into the governance and leadership required in the nonprofit sector.” For additional reviews, click here.

Additional Background: This is the first of a four course specialization from the State University of New York called “Improving Leadership and Governance in Nonprofit Organizations.” It includes courses on managing nonprofit boards. To learn more about this specialization and register for it, click here.

Leadership Through Social Influence

School: Northwestern University

Platform: Coursera

Registration Link: CLICK HERE

Start Date: May 30, 2016 (4 Weeks Long)

Workload: 1-3 Hours Per Week

Instructor: Daniel J. O’Keefe

Credentials: O’Keefe teaches courses in persuasion at Northwestern University’s Department of Communication Studies. A highly decorated researcher and teacher, he received the school’s Galbut Outstanding Faculty Award in 2010, along with several awards for his scholarship from the National Communication Association, the International Communication Association, the American Forensic Association, and the International Society for the Student of Argumentation. Holding Ph.D. in speech communication from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, O’Keefe is the author of Persuasion: Theory and Research (3rd edition) from Sage Publications.

Description: Is leadership innate or learned? Perhaps it is a bit of both. In this course, students will learn tools for influencing, persuading and inspiring their peers. In particular, “the course will address four broad topics: strategies for influencing people’s personal attitudes; strategies for affecting social factors influencing behavior; strategies for affecting people’s perceived ability to undertake the desired behavior; and strategies for inducing people to act on their existing intentions.” Even more, it will focus on how leaders can customize their communication style in various contexts.

Review: No reviews.

Additional Note: This is the third of a six course specialization from Northwestern University called “Organizational Leadership.” It includes courses on communicating through storytelling, building collaborative teams, and leading through marketing and design innovation. To learn more about the courses and register for them, click here.

New Models Of Business In Society

School: University of Virginia (Darden)

Source: Coursera

Registration Link: CLICK HERE

Start Date: June 6, 2016 (4 Weeks)

Workload: 2-3 Hours per Week

Instructor: R. Edward Freeman

Credentials: Professor Freeman is a Business Administration and Religious Studies professor at the University of Virginia, where he teaches courses like Business Ethics and Creative Capitalism. Among his leadership roles, Freeman serves as Academic Advisor to the university’s Institute for Practical Ethics and Academic Director of Darden’s Initiative For Practical Ethics. He has also earned teaching awards at Darden, The Wharton School of Business and The University of Minnesota.

Graded: Coursera will issue a Statement of Accomplishment for students who meet course requirements.

Description: In this course, Professor Freeman shares new ideas and business models on how companies are creating value beyond the balance sheet. From conscious capitalism to philanthropy to sustainability, students will learn how businesses can go beyond serving customers and shareholders to sharing benefits with employees, partners and communities. The course includes weekly topic-based video discussions, along with optional reading assignments. At the end of the course, students will create a business model that both generates revenue and makes society better.

Review: “Very engaging professor. I learnt a lot from this course about how a business should be run, its’ stakeholders, and perhaps most importantly that every business should have a purpose other than making money. I’d recommend this course to anyone interested in learning about the changing models of business and the things that will make an entrepreneur successful in the modern world.” For additional reviews, click here.

International Business 1

School: University of New Mexico

Platform: Coursera

Registration Link: CLICK HERE

Start Date: June 6, 2016 (6 Weeks Long)

Workload: 3-6 Hours Per Week

Instructor: Doug E. Thomas

Credentials: Dr. Thomas teaches at the Anderson School of Management at the University of New Mexico, A former associate dean and faculty chair at the school, Thomas also provides big data consulting to various government agencies in New Mexico. He holds a Ph.D. from Texas A&M University.

Graded: By completing the course, students can earn a signed Statement of Accomplishment from the instructor.

Description: Based around eight weekly modules, this course answers many of the key questions surrounding international business. In particular, the course examines the impact of culture, social institutions, politics, history, languages, currencies, and economics on global trade networks. The content, which will be delivered through video lectures, will be available in both English and Spanish.

Review: No Reviews yet.

Accounting for Business Decision Making: Measurement and Operational Decisions

School: University of Illinois

Platform: Coursera

Registration Link: CLICK HERE

Start Date: June 2016 (4 Weeks Long)

Workload: 2-4 Hours Per Week

Instructor: Gary Hecht

Credentials: A respected researcher and teacher, Hecht is an associate professor of accountancy at the University of Illinois, where he teaches at the undergraduate, MBA, and PH.D. levels. A practitioner and an academic, Hecht worked in auditing and taxation, financial analysis, and consulting for ten years before earning his Ph.D. at the University of Illinois. From there, he taught at Emory University and the University of Wisconsin before returning to Champaign in 2013. His recent research, which focuses on compensation and performance measurements, has been published by The Journal of Accounting Research, The Accounting Review, and Contemporary Accounting Research. Most recently, Hecht was listed among the school’s professors ranked as “Excellent” by their students.

Description: On the surface, accounting seems like a stream of archaic rules designed to promote consistency and accuracy. In reality, it is far more than statements reflecting credits and debits and whether revenue exceeds expenses. Instead, it is a language used to measure the health of an organization and communicate it to the market. Beyond gauging overall performance, accounting acts as a compass that points out profit centers and inefficiencies, along with identifying where to invest and how to project future performance.

This course focuses on the “three decision-oriented roles of accounting: measurement, control, and communication.” After completing the course, students will be able to “identify the nature, purpose, and importance of different types of decision-useful accounting information; create, organize, and communicate cost information to best suit common operational decisions; and use accounting information to manage products, control costs, and leverage other drivers of operational success.”

Review: No reviews.

Additional Background: This course is part of the University of Illinois’ “Fundamentals of Accounting” specialization, Wharton’s, a five course series that also covers financial statements for company performance and positioning and how accounting impacts strategy assessment and control. To learn more about this specialization and register for it, click here.

Operations Management

School: University of Illinois

Platform: Coursera

Registration Link: CLICK HERE

Start Date: June 1, 2016 (4 Weeks Long)

Workload: 6-8 Hours Per Week

Instructor: Gopesh Anand

Credentials: Anand is an award-winning teacher who is currently the associate professor of business administration at the University of Illinois’ College of Business. Holding a Ph.D. in operations management from Ohio State, Anand has been named among the “List of Excellent of Teachers” at the school for the past six consecutive years, along with being named the school’s MBA Professor of the Year in 2011. His research interests include operations strategy and continuous improvement and his recent work has been published by Production and Operations Management and the International Journal of Operations and Production Management.

Graded: Students can choose to explore course videos, discussions, and ungraded assignments for free, but they won’t be able to submit graded assignments or earn a certificate without paying a $79 fee for the course.

Description: These days, operations is considered to be a competitive differentiator in enhancing customer experience and reducing costs. But it isn’t a one-size-fits-all endeavor. And it requires operations professionals to closely partner with marketing and finance to execute company strategy. In this course, students will learn the tools for establishing processes, reducing bottlenecks, establishing quality control, and managing suppliers and delivery chains. In addition, they will study frameworks and metrics for evaluating capacity, lead time, and inventory management. The course will be taught through readings, video lectures, and quizzes.

Review: “A very interesting course which applies very well principles to our daily business life regarding operations. The instructor was very good and the provided material very helpful. Targeted course material…highly recommended.” For additional reviews, click here.

Additional Note: Professor Anand recommends that students come with a basic knowledge of statistics, including variation and distribution.

Computational Investing, Part I

School: Georgia Tech

Platform: Coursera

Registration Link: CLICK HERE

Start Date: June 6, 2016

Workload: 8-12 Hours Per Week

Instructor: Tucker Balch

Credentials: Balch is an associate professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Interactive Computing. The author of over 80 research articles and recipient of nearly 20 grants over his career, Balch also serves as the co-found and CTO of Lucena Research.

Description: Investors often make the same mistakes. Sometimes, they cannot process data fast enough to act at the speed of the market. Other times, they respond emotionally and chuck their long-term strategy in the heat of the moment. These days, investors can rely on tools related to high frequency or algorithmic trading to increase their speed and maintain consistency. In this course, Balch will introduce students to the “principles and algorithms that hedge funds and investment professionals use to maximize return and reduce risk in equity portfolios.” In addition, the course will answer these questions:

Why do the prices of some companies’ stocks seem to move up and down together while others move separately? What does portfolio “diversification” really mean and how important is it? What should the price of a stock be? How can we discover and exploit the relationships between equity prices automatically?

The course is divided into eight modules:

Portfolio Management and Market Mechanics From a Portfolio Manager’s perspective Company Worth, Capital Assets Pricing Model and QSTK Software Overview Manipulating Data in Python and QSTK To Create a Portfolio Efficient Markets Hypothesis and Event Studies, Portfolio Optimization and the Efficient Frontier. Reading an Event Study and Detecting Wrong Data The Fundamental Law, CAPM for Portfolios Information Feeds and Technical Analysis Jensen’s Alpha, Back Testing and Machine Learning

Review: “Great course if you have a technical background. If you don’t know python programming it’ll be a bit hard. But if you know python its a good introduction to computational investing. The one thing I’ll remove from the course is the videos answering questions from the people taking the course.” For additional reviews, click here.

Fundamentals of Six Sigma: Quality Engineering and Management

School: echnische Universität

Platform: edX

Registration Link: CLICK HERE

Start Date: June 15, 2016

Workload: Not Available

Instructors: Martin Grunow and Holly Ott

Credentials: Grunow teaches production, operations, and logistics management at Technische Universität München. He has authored or co-authored over 100 articles in research journals, including the Journal of Production Economics and Flexible Services and Manufacturing Journal. He is especially interested in the electronics and automotive industries. Ott, a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Virginia, also teaches at the school. Before entering academia, she worked for Siemens, Motorola, and IBM.

Graded: After completing the course, students can receive an instructor-signed certificate for $150.

Description: DMAIC – Define, measure, analyze, improve, and control – are quality engineering fundamentals that serve as the foundation behind methodologies like six sigma. In this course, students will understand the theoretical fundamentals and statistical tools behind each of these quality components. Focusing on all aspects of the value chain – including design and development, quality control, inventory and returns, supply chains, and customer service – the course will cover methods and techniques that include “sampling, statistical process control, process capability, regression analysis, and design of experiments.”In the process, they will absorb basics of product design and quality management through case studies and guided projects.

Review: “The most important quality methods and techniques are taught, including sampling, statistical process control, process capability, regression analysis, and design of experiments. Quality management is examined, from the viewpoint of quality incorporated into product design, measuring and controlling quality in production and improving quality, using interactive, guided projects and case studies. The course closes with the presentation of a full Six-Sigma project.” For additional reviews, click here.

Creating and Developing a Tech Startup

Schools: École Polytechnique and HEC Paris

Platform: Coursera

Registration Link: CLICK HERE

Start Date: June 6, 2016 (6 Weeks Long)

Workload: 3-4 Hours Per Week

Instructors: Roman Beaume and Etienne Krieger

Credentials: Beaume is an entrepreneur and angel investor who was previously the Innovation Management Chair at École Polytechnique and Director of the Sustainable Mobility Institute at Paris Tech. Krieger is an Affiliate Professor at HEC Paris, along with being a serial entrepreneur whose credits include Ingenico, a point of sale payment solution based in Silicon Valley with 32 million terminals in 170 countries.

Description: Make no mistake: Technology entrepreneurship isn’t for the faint of heart according the seasoned entrepreneurs who teach this course: “You need to be ready to accept that not all “good” ideas will lead to success, and that only a very small number of projects lead to great success. You must learn to overhaul your relationship with failure, which is a valuable source of experience and should be managed according to the logic of “acceptable loss”: the entrepreneur loves uncertainty, not excessive risk… The development trajectory of a tech business is full of mishaps which require you to be both agile and greatly prepared to build on a strong idea, choose your market, develop your proposal, assemble a team worthy of the task in hand, and finding financing.”

And this course is designed to teach students exactly that. Over the course, students will learn strategies for coming up with sustainable ideas; fleshing out, researching, and testing their concepts; evaluating the competitive landscape; calculating the capital needed to launch and scale a startup; and developing a business model that differentiates the organization while bringing added value to the solution. The course will be taught through videos and cases, with students evaluated through a peer reviewed assessment and a final exam.

Review: No reviews.

Additional Background: The videos will be spoken in French with English subtitles. However, all reading content, quizzes, and assessments will be done in English.

Leadership Through Design Innovation

School: Northwestern University

Platform: Coursera

Registration Link: CLICK HERE

Start Date: June 6, 2016

Workload: 3-4 Hours Per Week

Instructors: Elizabeth Gerber, Pam Daniels, Ed Colgate and Greg Holderfield

Credentials: Gerber is an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering, where she focuses on harnessing “the diverse and untapped human, social and economic capital from distributed networks.” Daniels is a Design Innovator in Residence at McCormick’s Segal Design Institute and is the co-founder of the non-profit DesignHouse Chicago. Colgate is the Senior Professor in Design at McCormick, where his research targets human-robot interaction. Holderfield is the head of the Segal Design Institute.

Description: “Innovation” – it’s the mantra of today’s fast-changing business world. To excel, you need to be constantly re-thinking and re-testing – always asking “why” with an eye always turned towards “how.” Doing that requires a culture that embraces experimentation and avoids becoming fixated on a particular avenue. Even more, it requires a different type of leader. In this course, students will “learn how to engage with end users, effectively frame problems, identify potential solutions, and build prototypes to test assumptions and learn what works (and doesn’t).”

Review: No reviews.

Additional Background: This is the fifth of a six course specialization from Northwestern University called “Strategic Leadership and Management.” It includes courses on teamwork and negotiation, marketing leadership, and social influence. To learn more about this specialization and register for it, click here.