MBA in Design Strategy
California College of the Arts (CCA)
Nathan Shedroff
Program Chair
designmba.org

What’s driving this intersection?
“The MFA is the new MBA”
—Dan Pink, 2004
Harvard Business Review
Tomorrow’s B-School?
It Might Be A D-School”
Special Report, 2005, BusinessWeek

What’s driving this intersection?
“CEOs Must Be Designers,
Not Just Hire Them”
—Bruce Nussbaum, 2007
BusinessWeek

What’s driving this intersection?

What’s driving this intersection?

Program Description:
Help create the next generation of
business leaders, not merely design
leaders or leading designers.

What the program isn’t:
MFA Design > leading designers
Masters Design Mgmt. > design leaders
MBA Design Strat. > business leaders

Who is this program for?
Designers
Other Professionals
(including from the NGO sector)
Program Aim: 25-30 per cohort

Where are the jobs?
Consulting (organizations)
Companies (management & intra.)
Start-ups
Non-profits (management & innov)

Curriculum:
What does the program focus on?
Strategy, Innovation, Sustainability,
Collaboration, Entrepreneurship
B+D(+S)
Each course:
investigate, analyze, make, write, present,
collaborate

Curriculum:
Throughout:
Strategy, Innovation, Sustainability,
Collaboration, Entrepreneurship
Each course:
investigate, analyze, make, write, present,
collaborate

Program Description:
Low-Residency Model:
Four-day weekends
Five times a semester (each month)
Time flexibility for students and faculty
Geographic flexibility
For now: full-time program

Program Description:
Dual Design Degree (3 years):
1 2 3 4 5 6
MFA Strand
Form + 2 Skills Studios (6 units) Discipline-Specific Studio Thesis Presearch (6 units) Thesis: Studio (6 units) Ethics & Organizational Culture Strategic Management (3 units)
(6 units) (3 units)
Design Research (3 units) Contemporary Issues (3 units) Experiences Studio (6 units) Venture Studio (Thesis) (6 units)
History of Media (3 units) Leadership by Design (3 units) Advanced Topic Studio (6 units) Managerial Economics (3 units) Operations & Systems (3 units) Business Law & Negotiation
(3 units)
Live Exchange (3 units) Bus. Models & Stakeholders Finanical & Managerial Market Insight Studio (6 units) Managerial Finance (3 units) Sustainability Studio (3 units)
(3 units) Accounting (3 units)
MBA Strand

Program Description:
In the Future (3+ years):
Executive Certificate Program
(those already with a business degree)
Part-time Program
(every course starts every semester)

Blog and Online Resource Center:

Thank you!