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Within this particular detailed elucidation pertaining to health care innovation and entrepreneurship, and global and national health.
1 MIT Reports to the President 2012–2013
Dean, MIT Sloan School of Management
The mission of the MIT Sloan School of Management is to develop principled, innovative
leaders who improve the world and to generate ideas that advance management
practice. During the 2013 academic year, the School’s faculty and administration realized
this mission through the continued development of a portfolio of degree programs
designed to educate leaders for today and tomorrow, the introduction of new research
initiatives aimed at addressing today’s greatest challenges and future opportunities,
and a set of outreach programs and projects aimed at bringing MIT Sloan into the world
for impact. Of particular note, during AY2013 our two newest degree programs, the
Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) and Master of Finance (MFin)
programs, reached full capacity; we had our best faculty recruitment year to date with
11 ofers and 11 hires; our faculty launched several new research centers, including the
Center for Finance and Policy; and our administrative leadership continued to grow
with the hiring of a new chief administrative ofcer and senior associate dean of degree
programs.
Academic Programs
Prior to the 2013 academic year, MIT Sloan undertook successful eforts to grow its
portfolio of customized academic programs. While this growth strategy continued in
FY2013, School priorities and energies were shifted more toward operational excellence.
The goal of improving the program’s operating excellence in FY2013 inspired faculty,
staf, and students to many notable achievements. Also during the academic year, MIT
Sloan’s electronic dashboard project reached fruition. Each of Sloan’s nine degree-
granting programs now has a fully functional, performance-focused dashboard tailored
to its needs, with multiple easy-to-use interactive interfaces. A single technology
solution provider created all of the dashboards, permiting uniform navigation across
the systems.
Master of Business Administration Program
In FY2013, MIT Sloan’s fagship program—the two-year residential MBA—introduced
a new curricular certifcate option, the enterprise management track. The new track
seeks to develop students’ capability to apply integrated management perspectives to
business goals and problems via innovative classroom- and project-based activities. The
curriculum prepares students for career tracks in large organizations in the for-proft
and not-for-proft sectors. Specifc skills such as product development, branding, and
supply chain management are targeted in the track’s coursework, which focuses on
marketing, operations, and strategy. Enrollment for the frst cohort was 51 students.
As part of the new certifcate option, MBA students participated in a unique client-
facing project in the frst semester. Teams of students tackled several cross-functional
issues for large and global organizations in such diverse industries as automotive,
telecommunications, and agriculture. Launched as a Marketing Club student initiative in
the early 2000s, the client-facing project was integrated into the full track as a four-credit
option in FY2013.
2 MIT Reports to the President 2012–2013
Dean, MIT Sloan School of Management
The rapid transformation of the health care sector prompted the approval and
development of a health care certifcate as part of the MBA curriculum. The certifcate
will be available to students in the 2014 academic year. Approximately two dozen
faculty members across multiple disciplines were engaged to provide formal and
informal health care and health management coursework. The courses are designed
to prepare students for career paths in the pharmaceutical and biomedical industries,
as well as in health care consulting, health care innovation and entrepreneurship, and
global and national health care delivery.
In February 2013, the MBA program appointed a third academic advisor providing
personalized career counseling to students. Annual study tours were conducted in Qatar
(to examine the transition from a post-petroleum to a knowledge-based economy), Brazil
and Chile (to explore education models), and Ethiopia and Mozambique (to examine
agriculture in Africa).
The MBA Admissions Ofce hosted more than 3,000 prospective applicants in the
on-campus ambassadors program and information sessions and held more than 150
recruiting events worldwide in Lisbon, Moscow, Kiev, Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai,
Mumbai, and other cities. More than 4,500 applications in all were received. The
program matriculated 413 students into the MBA class of 2014.
The day before the MIT Commencement ceremonies, MIT Sloan’s MBA program
hosted a convocation ceremony at the Boston Opera House for graduates and their
families. The keynote speaker was Marjorie Mun Tak Yang, who also was presented
the Dean’s Leadership Award. Yang received her bachelor of science degree in pure
mathematics from MIT and is chairman of the Esquel Group, a leading textile and
apparel manufacturer with operations throughout the world. The student speaker was
Rikhi Jain.
Three months after receiving their MBAs, the program’s students enjoy a 92% job ofer
rate, primarily in consulting, technology, and diversifed fnance positions. Nearly 10%
of graduates launch their own businesses—the highest percentage historically—and a
testament to these students’ entrepreneurial skills.
Master of Science in Management Studies Program
The rigorous one-year Master of Science in Management Studies (MSMS) program ofers
coursework designed to enhance the expertise of students who have already completed
a management program at an international school. Students from around the world
study a specifc feld in depth while working alongside MIT Sloan faculty to complete
their theses. The program maintained a steady state of 35 students over the past year,
and the graduating class hailed from 16 countries worldwide.
In spring 2013, MIT Sloan began preparations in earnest to merge the operations of the
MSMS and MBA programs to achieve resource efciencies and greater economies of
scale.
Dean, MIT Sloan School of Management
3 MIT Reports to the President 2012–2013
Master of Finance Program
The MIT Sloan Master of Finance program graduated its fourth class of students; this
cohort was the frst to achieve the full class size of 120 students, nearly double the
number of graduates from the prior year. This high volume of students exemplifes the
tremendous interest in developing quantitative and hands-on problem-solving skill sets,
in high demand in the fnancial industry. More than 1,000 applications for admission
were received, making the MFin program one of the most competitive programs across
all of MIT.
Women made up more than one third (36%) of the full class of students, and
international students comprised 92% of the class. The internationalism and diversity of
this student class support the MFin program’s objective of developing future generations
of global fnancial leaders.
New faculty were hired to serve this much larger student body, including senior lecturer
in fnance Andrei Kirilenko, who teaches corporate fnance with an emphasis on the
application of option pricing to real investment analysis. A new class, 15.481 Financial
Market Dynamics and Human Behavior, was added to the curriculum and taught by
Andrew Lo, Charles E. and Susan T. Harris professor of fnance.
To enhance the academic on-campus experience and the career success of postgraduate
students, a new advisor model was introduced in FY2013 whereby students have more
direct access to dedicated career and academic advisors at MIT Sloan. Also for the frst
time, MIT Sloan ofered a Dean’s Master of Finance Fellowship to an incoming student.
Nearly 90% of graduating students receive job ofers within three months of graduation,
primarily in the investment management, investment banking, and consulting felds.
Offce of Undergraduate Education
The Bachelor of science degree program in management science recorded a total
enrollment of 125 students. Forty percent of these students were double majors drawn
from other academic areas of MIT to pursue management science studies. Fifty students
graduated in FY2013 (up from 48 students the prior year). Additionally, 26 students
graduated with a minor in management and 16 with a minor in management science.
These fgures reafrm MIT Sloan’s commitment to all students having some exposure
to business science and related management concepts. All together, 157 electives are
ofered to MIT undergraduates, atesting to the breadth of the MIT Sloan undergraduate
program.
The Undergraduate Task Force was created in FY2013 with a mission to discern ways to
beter engage undergraduates in MIT Sloan courses. The task force conducted numerous
interviews with faculty members, administrators, and students. Among the fndings:
• MIT students have a high level of interest in practical, hands-on courses that
teach tangible skills distinct from their engineering courses.
• Students prefer more fexibility in choosing courses for both major and minor
degrees.
4 MIT Reports to the President 2012–2013
Dean, MIT Sloan School of Management
These and other conclusions were delivered to the Undergraduate Education Commitee
for action steps in FY2014. The Undergraduate Task Force subsequently was folded into
the Undergraduate Education Commitee.
MIT Sloan Fellows Program in Innovation and Global Leadership
The MIT Sloan Fellows Program in Innovation and Global Leadership, in its 83rd
year in FY2013, is the longest running executive program of its kind in the world. The
curriculum of this one-year (June to June) midcareer, full-time immersive MBA program
emphasizes innovation, leadership development, and a learning environment with a
global perspective.
During the academic year, students designed a course called REAL (Regional
Entrepreneurial Acceleration Lab) that was subsequently approved by the faculty and
will continue in FY2014. This special end-of-year course provides students with practical
and academic insights into the design and development of entrepreneurial ecosystems
around the world. The course, which drew from existing faculty resources, encouraged
cross-campus collaboration and diferent stakeholder perspectives in moving scientifc
discoveries toward marketable products.
There were 120 students enrolled in the MIT Sloan Fellows program in FY2013. Their
average age was 37 years, and each had accumulated 15 years of professional experience
on average. Roughly half were sponsored by corporations, and the remainder were self-
funded. Students hailed from 34 countries around the world, the highest number to date
(up from 22 last year and six the previous year).
Executive Master of Business Administration Program
The MIT Sloan Executive Master of Business Administration program is designed to
equip active business leaders with the skills necessary to transform their organizations
and institutions. The EMBA program builds on MIT Sloan’s history of distinguished
MBA programs and midcareer education.
The curriculum parallels that of the MIT Sloan Fellows program with respect to faculty,
course material, credits, and contact hours. The diference is that students can apply
their newfound knowledge to the needs of their respective organizations in real time
(i.e., the program ofers a “learning while working” experience enhancing executive
performance).
Members of the class of 111 students who matriculated in FY2013 were global executives
from a broad range of industry sectors, including fnancial services, health care, and
technology. Their average amount of work experience was 16 years, and their average
age was 40 years. Nearly half (46%) held advanced degrees, and 81% held positions at
the director level and above. Two thirds of the students earned an annual income of
more than $150,000. Thirty-six percent were international students, 24% were women,
and 10% were underrepresented minorities. FY2013 represents the frst time in which
the program had two cohorts running concurrently.
Dean, MIT Sloan School of Management
5 MIT Reports to the President 2012–2013
In January 2013, EBMA students were able to take elective courses during their
time away from for-credit classes, the frst time this option was provided. Alumni
of the program were invited to participate in these classes, helping to build the MIT
community and adding to the educational content.
PhD Program
The PhD program received 639 applications, down slightly from 2012. Thirty-three
percent of the applications came from the United States, and female applicants
accounted for 35% of total applications. Of MIT Sloan’s 10 research groups, those
receiving the highest percentages of applicants were fnance (33%) and technological
innovation, entrepreneurship, and strategic management (12%). All together, 32 students
were admited, of whom 17 enrolled.
In March 2013, the frst Doctoral Research Forum was held. Nine students about to
graduate presented 15-minute summaries of their thesis research, and two students
won monetary prizes. The thesis prize commitee members were MIT Sloan professors
Lote Bailyn, Glen Urban, and Michael Scot Morton. Given its success, the decision was
reached to make the forum an annual event, with the next one scheduled in March 2014.
Student job placements included the University of Minnesota, Washington University
in St. Louis, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Princeton, the University of Washington,
Rutgers University, the London Business School, Cambridge University, and Oxford
University. Postdoctoral job placements included Stanford University and Brown
University.
Action Learning at MIT Sloan
MIT Sloan continues to make signifcant investments in action learning. In this work,
faculty and students seek to solve complex, real-world business problems and/or
produce systemic changes. These insights enhance students’ academic experiences while
preparing them for the future.
During AY2013, the ofce formed the Action Learning Operations group, composed of
faculty and staf running the day-to-day administration of action learning labs, with
the goal of sharing best practices. The group convenes monthly to discuss respective
experiences, issues, and best practice models.
More than 125 business leaders, MIT and MIT Sloan faculty, and other university
academics and practitioners atended the frst Action Learning Conference in August
2012. The purpose of the conference was to create a community to discuss action
learning as a pedagogical tool, as well as to explore opportunities and challenges of
using this method of instruction to develop tomorrow’s business leaders.
A new lab, the Enterprise Management Lab (EM-Lab), was added to the curriculum as
part of the enterprise management track. The lab is designed to helps students develop
their ability to apply integrated management practices within large organizations. As is
the case with other labs, EM-Lab students work in small teams for host companies on
6 MIT Reports to the President 2012–2013
Dean, MIT Sloan School of Management
tightly scoped projects that focus on strategy, operations, or marketing. Many students
registered for two or more labs, with several participating in fve.
Overall, 868 students registered in action learning labs in FY2013, up from 681 the
prior year. A total of 140 students registered for the Global Entrepreneurship Lab,
participating in 35 projects in 15 countries including Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, and
Vietnam. Projects included how to improve the layer feed market to increase the
afordability of poultry (for Sagevest Holdings) and the building of an in-house
innovation lab to develop and launch new mobile technologies (for CTIC Dakar).
Faculty
MIT Sloan is commited to atracting and retaining a cuting-edge faculty research
community. AY2013 was a successful year with respect to faculty recruitment. Of 11
ofers made, 11 were accepted.
One of the new faculty members is Michael Whinston, Sloan Fellows professor of
management in the Applied Economics Group and professor of economics in the
Economics Department. Whinston previously was the Robert E. and Emily H. King
professor of business institutions in the Department of Economics at Northwestern
University, and before that he was a professor of economics at Harvard University. His
research addresses organizational behavior in oligopolistic markets, game theory, the
design of contracts and organizations, health economics, and other topics.
Other new faculty hires include Sinan Aral, David Austin professor of management
and associate professor of information technology and marketing, and Jonathan
Parker, international programs professor in management and professor of fnance.
Parker has held numerous government service and consulting positions, including
special adviser on fnancial stability for the US Department of the Treasury’s Ofce of
Financial Stability. An expert in fnance, macroeconomics, and household behavior, he
has published widely on topics such as macroeconomic risks and asset returns, fscal
stabilization policy, national saving, and measurement of business cycles.
Aral has been a Fulbright Scholar and served as chief scientist at SocialAmp, a social
commerce company that enables targeting and peer referral in social media networks.
His research focuses on how to manage information difusion in massive social networks
such as Twiter and Facebook, given their impact on information worker productivity,
consumer demand, and viral marketing.
Many notable faculty and staf accomplishments were logged in FY2013. Although space
limitations preclude citing all of these achievements, a few stand out.
Arnoldo Hax, professor of technological innovation, entrepreneurship, and strategic
management, was awarded the Medal of Comendador de la Orden al Mérito de Chile
(Commander of the Order of Merit of Chile) in recognition of a lifetime of distinguished
service to Chile. The honor, the highest given to foreign nationals by the government of
Chile, was presented by Chilean president Sebastian Pinera.
Dean, MIT Sloan School of Management
7 MIT Reports to the President 2012–2013
Michelle Hanlon, Howard W. Johnson professor and professor of accounting, and
Catherine Tucker, Mark Hyman, Jr. career development professor and associate
professor of marketing, were co-recipients of the Jamieson Prize for Excellence in
Teaching in recognition of their contributions to educational excellence at MIT.
Andrew Lo was inducted into the 233rd class of members of the American Academy of
Arts and Sciences, one of the world’s most prestigious learned societies and a leading
center of independent policy research.
Antoinete Schoar, Michael M. Koerner (1949) professor of entrepreneurship and
professor of fnance, was named one of the top 10 academics infuencing the institutional
investment industry by Chief Investment Ofcer magazine.
James Uterback, David J. McGrath jr (1959) professor of management and innovation
and professor of engineering systems, was named a fellow of the American Association
for the Advancement of Science for his distinguished contributions to the felds of
technological and scientifc engineering.
MIT Sloan Research Initiatives and Centers
Developing Programs and Initiatives
During the academic year, faculty at MIT Sloan established the Center for Finance and
Policy, intended to serve as a forum for the research and fnancial analysis of public
policy issues. The Center for Finance and Policy brings together faculty members with
other world thinkers to spur collaboration among government, the private sector, and
academia to address such post–fnancial crisis issues as systemic risk. The goal is to
promote regulations that are conducive to global economic growth without sacrifcing
economic stability. This objective, non-ideological research is subsequently provided to
policymakers, business leaders, and MIT Sloan students for class discussion.
One study by the center focused on lifetime savings and consumption (pensions),
a subject of national importance. Robert Merton, Sloan School of Management
distinguished professor of fnance and the recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in
Economic Sciences in 1997, led the research efort.
Other new ventures emerged during the academic year. MIT Sloan’s Center for Digital
Business, created in partnership with industry to beter understand the rapidly evolving
business opportunities posed by the Internet and related technologies, launched the
Initiative on the Digital Economy (IDE). Its focus is the impact of digital technology
on businesses, the economy, and society. IDE draws on MIT Sloan’s internationally
recognized faculty and decades of groundbreaking research and scholarship on
technology and the economy to bear on the challenges of the digital revolution.
The Center for Digital Business continued to implement tools and frameworks for
analyzing Internet-enabled technology, management, and business strategy through
one-to-one relationships with corporate partners. To date, the center has funded more
than 70 research projects with more than $30 million in corporate support, drawing on
8 MIT Reports to the President 2012–2013
Dean, MIT Sloan School of Management
a wide range of MIT Sloan and other MIT resources including the World Wide Web
Consortium, the Center for Information Systems Research, the Center for Collective
Intelligence, the Computer Science and Artifcial Intelligence Laboratory, and the Media
Lab. Research is organized into four special interest groups: productivity, marketing,
services, and the cloud.
Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship
The Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship provides the expertise, support,
and connections needed for MIT students to become efective entrepreneurs. Working
across all fve of MIT’s schools, the center’s focus is on educating the next generation of
entrepreneurs. The objective is to help these students transform innovative ideas and
technologies into businesses that have lasting, real-world impact.
During the academic year, the center unveiled the MIT Global Founders’ Skills
Accelerator, a summer program providing students an intense, deep-dive education
in entrepreneurship. Student teams from MIT joined others from around the world in
Canada, Russia, Scotland, Turkey, Germany, and China to collaborate on an accelerated
range of projects. Projects ran the gamut from the creation of a “social genome” to the
development of super-slippery coatings. Teams were provided with up to $20,000 in
grants for meeting customized milestones.
Spanning every possible industry, the teams built cross-cultural bridges widening
students’ perspectives. The program culminated in a “demo day” held in conjunction
with the annual t=0 (the time is now) Festival of Innovation and Entrepreneurship,
which exposes students early in the academic year to the career possibilities of
entrepreneurship. The festival was expanded to a full week of festivities in FY2013.
Another frst-time project, Healthcare Ventures, was launched in fall 2012. This new
seminar engaged cross-disciplinary student teams in building new ventures in the
health care space. The seminar drew extensively in scope from MIT’s Hacking Medicine
student initiative, in which students who knew litle about the health care arena were
inspired to learn more. Hacking Medicine also fostered Music Hack Day @ MIT,
which was cosponsored by the Martin Trust Center and The Echo Next to encourage
entrepreneurship in the arts. The decision was made to continue Healthcare Ventures as
an ongoing project.
Another milestone was the publication of Disciplined Entrepreneurship: 24 Steps to a
Successful Startup, writen by William Aulet, senior lecturer and the Martin Trust Center’s
managing director.
Leadership Center
The MIT Leadership Center is commited to innovative research, education, and
dialogue across (and beyond) the MIT community. The center’s focus is on distributed
leadership, the idea that leadership derives from every part of an organization. The
center straddles both teaching and research realms, although it leaned more toward
education in FY2013, emphasizing leadership teaching programs that transform research
into powerful student learning experiences.
Dean, MIT Sloan School of Management
9 MIT Reports to the President 2012–2013
The second year of the peer-to-peer leadership development program proved even more
successful than the frst, with the number of student participants increasing from 60 to
100. The program pairs up second-year MBA students and Sloan Fellows as executive
coaches of frst-year MBAs, supporting and helping them defne their leadership goals,
competencies, and behaviors. Second-year MBA students and Sloan Fellows are thus
provided the opportunity to learn and practice a behavior-based coaching model.
Students especially value the program for the meaningful relationships it promotes
across MIT. Many second-year MBA students participating as coaches had been coached
themselves the prior year.
Another highlight was the development of a peer feedback tool providing student teams
with the opportunity to give and receive quick feedback promoting team discussion. The
tool rates students’ and teams’ strengths and weaknesses on a one-to-fve scale. Faculty
mentor feedback also is solicited, disseminated, and evaluated. The tool is now being
used in action learning programs and with project teams in certain classes.
During the academic year, the MIT Leadership Center ofered more than 60 leadership
sessions as an integral part of the Sloan Innovation Period (SIP), which occurs at the
midpoint of each semester and provides students with an intensive week of experiential
leadership learning. The Leadership Center unveiled a number of new and innovative
SIP courses during the year and engaged area alumni to participate in teaching several
workshops.
Among the leadership role models visiting the campus as part of the Dean’s Innovative
Leader Series (cosponsored by the Leadership Center) were Admiral Thad Allen, former
commandant of the US Coast Guard; Adriane Brown, president and chief operating
ofcer of Intellectual Ventures; Dan Hesse, CEO of Spring; Dr. Una Ruan, former
president and CEO of Diagnostics for All; Sophie Vandebroek, chief technology ofcer
and president of Xerox Innovation Group; and Marshall Carter, chairman of NYSE
Euronext.
MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative
During FY2013, the Sustainability Initiative continued the strategic planning process
begun in the prior year. MIT Sloan faculty gathered to examine the strategic import of
the Initiative for Sustainable Business and Society, launched in FY2007. The initiative
is built on the promise of a future in which the economy, business, society, personal
wellbeing, and the environment are all parts of an interconnected whole. The goal of the
faculty retreat was to discuss the initiative’s performance against this mission. Following
the retreat, the program was rebranded as the MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative,
reinforcing its purpose to develop a community of innovators for sustainability and
engage both faculty and students in the promise of a sustainability initiative across the
entire Institute.
The sustainability curriculum was altered in FY2013 to refect the broader strategy.
Students at MIT Sloan, for example, were provided greater fexibility in taking courses
at the MIT Media Lab. That said, the curriculum continues to introduce students to
10 MIT Reports to the President 2012–2013
Dean, MIT Sloan School of Management
basic sustainability concepts. In addition, events such as the sustainability lunch series
provide opportunities for deeper engagement with leading practitioners.
The ffth Sustainability Summit was held in April and atracted more than 300 students,
infuential practitioners, and alumni. The summit featured three keynote speeches and
10 breakout panels organized into thematic clusters including Sustainable Consumption,
Innovations in Urban Planning, and Environmentally and Socially Responsible Decision
Making. Keynote speakers included Rick Ridgeway, vice president of environmental
initiatives at Patagonia; Katherine Gajewski, director of the Mayor’s Ofce of
Sustainability in Philadelphia; and acclaimed glacier photographer James Balog whose
work is featured in the flm Chasing Ice.
Several sustainability simulations were ofered during the academic year, including
CleanStart: Simulating a Clean Energy Startup. In this live, web-based simulation,
students played the role of the founder of a startup company in the clean technology
sector and then collaborated on developing this technology into a successful company.
Other simulations involved such industries as solar photovoltaics and commercial
fshing. Another engaged students in negotiating international agreements to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions.
Thanks to two major donor gifts, the program’s staf was enlarged with the appointment
of an associate director.
Outreach and Visibility
International Programs
A notable achievement for the Ofce of International Programs in FY2013 was the
opening of the MIT Sloan Latin America Ofce in Santiago, Chile. The new ofce,
funded by a generous donor gift, exemplifes MIT Sloan’s interests in expanding and
enhancing its activities in Latin America. MIT and MIT Sloan have deep ties to Chile.
More than 300 MIT alumni live and work in the country, of whom 125 are graduates
of MIT Sloan. Located in the heart of the capital city’s thriving business district, the
ofce promotes MIT Sloan programs to potential students in the region and facilitates
enhanced research and outreach.
The second cohort of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women project graduated in
FY2013. The project is a $100 million, fve-year, global-scale initiative to provide
management education to 10,000 underserved women in emerging markets. The 76
female entrepreneur graduates marked a signifcant increase from the 43 women who
graduated the prior year.
As part of the Goldman Sachs initiative, MIT Sloan and Yunnan University created the
Women’s Entrepreneur Program in FY2013. Based at Yunnan University in Kunming,
China, the program integrates action learning and related workshops with courses in
such foundational areas as business plan development, marketing, and accounting.
MIT Sloan faculty members train their China-based counterparts in business and
management science to develop female students’ entrepreneurial capabilities.
Dean, MIT Sloan School of Management
11 MIT Reports to the President 2012–2013
Faculty from MIT Sloan and Yunnan University’s School of Business and Tourism
Management co-developed the program curriculum, which addresses the specifc
challenges faced by female entrepreneurs in China. These challenges include employee
retention, expansion into new regions, and establishment of an efective leadership
style and company culture. Investing in the education of women has a signifcant
multiplier efect by reducing poverty, increasing economic growth, and fostering overall
community prosperity.
Beyond a practical skill set, the program seeks to equip women entrepreneurs with
a robust network of emerging and established businesspeople in their felds, thereby
providing a support system for female-run businesses throughout China. Previous
graduates have launched several successful businesses, including a hedge fund, a
housekeeping service, and a company that manufactures embalming fuids to preserve
fowers.
Executive Education
MIT Sloan ofers open enrollment and custom executive education programs to
high-potential managers and midcareer senior executives worldwide. The Executive
Education program comprises more than 30 two-day to weeklong programs led by
internationally renowned experts from MIT Sloan and other MIT schools and research
centers.
The portfolio of courses focuses on a range of management topics in three areas of
concentration: strategy and innovation; technology, operations, and value chain
management; and management and leadership. Graduates are presented an MIT Sloan
executive education certifcate. The overarching goal is to provide business professionals
with a fexible means to achieve their career development goals while simultaneously
positioning their organizations for future growth.
Executive Education ofered 112 open enrollment and custom programs ranging from
two days to six weeks in duration (406 days in total), with a total enrollment of more
than 5,000 executives from 92 countries. Close to 3,700 participants atended open
enrollment programs, with individuals atending 1.6 programs on average.
In some cases, courses were customized to address a particular organization’s specifc
business challenges. Custom programs during the academic year were ofered in
conjunction with many leading companies and other institutions, including Harvard
Hospitals, The Fung Group, Aker Solutions, China Mobile, and OCP. The later program
was particularly exceptional, as OCP, a large Moroccan phosphate company that
accounts for 3.5% of the country’s gross domestic product, had recently transitioned
from a government enterprise to a private company. Its current CEO, Dr. Mostafa
Terrab, an MIT alumnus, was brought in to help lead this transition.
Among the new, highly innovative open enrollment programs was Big Data: Making
Complex Things Simpler. Initially, the plan was to present the program in a pure
classroom environment, but Superstorm Sandy disrupted these intentions. Instead of
canceling the course, MIT Sloan quickly leveraged a blended online/ofine platform
12 MIT Reports to the President 2012–2013
Dean, MIT Sloan School of Management
using avatars to teach the seminar to approximately 50 students in a virtual classroom,
in addition to about 100 students in a real classroom. This alternative was so well
received that the blended course format will return in FY2014 for this class and other
courses, some relying exclusively on the online model of instruction.
During the year, REAP (Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program) workshops
were held in Scotland and New Zealand. REAP, a capstone global initiative at MIT,
is designed to help regions accelerate economic growth and job creation through
innovation-driven entrepreneurship. Partner regions form multi-disciplinary teams and
commit to a two-year learning engagement with MIT, working with faculty on a series
of experiential learning activities to create a regional strategy for enhancing innovation-
driven ecosystems.
Forty senior business leaders from the local region and the chamber of commerce
participated in the Executive Leadership Institute, which is cosponsored by MIT Sloan
and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Executive
students are provided the opportunity to interact with C-level peers in business and
government while learning from both schools’ faculty members in half-day sessions
focusing on important management and leadership issues.
Media Relations
MIT Sloan Media Relations supports institutional branding and marketing initiatives
and oversees the creation of content for the MIT Sloan Experts Blogs, which are featured
on the home page of the MIT Sloan website. A total of 79 blogs were posted by Sloan
experts in FY2013, with 40 placed in a variety of external publications. Blog visitors
totaled 12,784. MIT Sloan consistently ranks in third place among peer schools in the
number of media citations in major business publications, with most of the faculty eager
to share their research. MIT Sloan maintained this position in FY2013 and ranked second
in Asia.
The eighth annual Big Idea campaign brought together faculty, staf, and students
from across the campus to engage in the campaign’s theme of “Driving Innovation,
Transforming the World Economy.” The theme spotlights cuting-edge faculty research,
international student initiatives, and alumni startups that are transforming the global
economy and how companies conduct business.
MIT Sloan Management Review
In FY2013, the MIT Sloan Management Review (SMR) continued to operate as a self-
sustaining enterprise (in the black) for the third successive year, executing renewal
contracts with SAS, the Boston Consulting Group, the Shanghai Lian Technology
Management Company, and Deloite and signing a new contract with Capgemini
Consulting. A licensing agreement was signed with the Borger International Media and
Technology Group in China for the co-branded publication of all SMR-owned content.
Advertising sales continued on an upswing, and a successful direct mail campaign for
subscription sales was conducted. FY2013 revenue totaled $3.39 million, up more than
$250,000 from the prior year’s revenue.
Dean, MIT Sloan School of Management
13 MIT Reports to the President 2012–2013
The SMR website was successfully redesigned to present content in a more user-focused
and interactive manner. This content is now available on mobile devices such as tablets
and smartphones, guiding substantial increases in both trafc and user engagement.
The tablet app version of the new website was a fnalist for the Editorial and Design
Awards presented by Media Industry News. Sloan Management Review produced a video
introducing the new website and explaining its advanced search, intuitive navigation,
and other functions.
Two webinars were broadcast by SMR to a high number of registrants and atendees,
and a test advertising campaign was initiated to compare the responses from target
channels. SMR continued to publish Big Ideas, streams of content in such areas as
sustainability, data analytics, social business, and digital transformation, with many
published stories promoting the contributions of MIT Sloan faculty and staf. Project
Red, a yearlong initiative to transform SMR’s digital oferings and enable a digital-frst
publishing strategy, also commenced during the academic year.
Offce of External Relations
During FY2013, the MIT Sloan Ofce of External Relations (OER) continued to play a
critical role in supporting MIT Sloan’s mission of developing principled, innovative
leaders who improve the world and generating ideas that advance management
practice. Working closely with School-wide leadership to identify the philanthropic
priorities that will drive support over the course of the capital campaign for MIT, the
ofce focused on three overarching goals:
• Motivating donors to support MIT Sloan through steady and growing gifts to
both the MIT Sloan Annual Fund and restricted gift funds
• Engaging current and future donors and volunteers through proactive and
targeted communication, events, and outreach
• Developing systems and processes to more efciently and efectively track our
donor, alumni, and student populations, with particular atention paid to their
MIT Sloan activities, areas of interest, and contact information
These goals guided the ofce’s approach to events, engagement opportunities, prospect
cultivation, and stewardship in FY2013. OER worked to expand MIT Sloan’s global
impact, developed opportunities to engage and support the alumni network, and
generated new levels of funding in support of the School’s philanthropic priorities.
OER raised a total of $29.5 million in new gifts and pledges from individuals and
corporations, including $25.7 million in restricted funds. The MIT Sloan Annual Fund
raised $3.8 million in unrestricted giving, exceeding the FY2013 goal of $3.5 million. The
Annual Fund total represents an 8.7% increase in gifts from FY2012 to FY2013.
The Dean’s Circle (which recognizes individuals who make donations of $1,000 or more
to the Annual Fund) grew to 825 members in FY2013, representing a 10% increase from
FY2012. In FY2013, OER increased the number of cultivation and stewardship events for
Dean’s Circle members, hosting seven events (fve domestic and two international) with
over 200 atendees. OER also had a record number of atendees (180) at this year’s Sloan
appreciation dinner, which draws many Dean’s Circle members.
14 MIT Reports to the President 2012–2013
Dean, MIT Sloan School of Management
OER partnered with EMBA, Leaders for Global Operations , and MSMS students on the
MIT Sloan Student Class Gift campaign, which raised $420,946 in cash and pledges with
an 87% participation rate from these three programs. Of particular note, the EMBA class
of 2013 had 100% participation in the class gift.
OER organized 13 international and 36 domestic trips in FY2013. Countries visited
included England, France, Switerland, Brazil, China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Korea,
Saudi Arabia, and India. Of particular note, the ofce partnered with faculty across the
School to host a digital economy symposium in San Francisco (January) and a fnance
forum in London (June). These events built on the success of activities in FY2012.
High-level cultivation of philanthropic prospects continued to be a priority. OER
facilitated more than 215 meetings between deans and senior-level executives, both on
campus and around the world. In addition, OER hosted four regional executive board
meetings and one all-board meeting in Cambridge. During FY2013, annual fund gift
participation from board members increased from 50% to 60%, and total dollars raised
increased from $1.09 million to $1.31 million.
OER launched the Alumni-Student Mentoring Program in FY2013. During the initial
trial, OER partnered EMBA students (mentors) with MBA students (mentees).
With regard to communications and outreach, OER took over publication of the MIT
Sloan alumni magazine, completed an entire redesign of the magazine, and added a
third issue focused on faculty research to the yearly publication schedule. OER managed
a complete redesign of all alumni and development communications materials,
including the suite of materials for reunions, the alumni e-newsleter, all alumni
relations materials, the branding for the Alumni-Student Mentoring Program, and all
OER printables and related development pieces.
Looking toward the future, OER devoted signifcant resources to campaign preparation
in FY2013. The ofce partnered closely with colleagues in the Resource Development
Campaign Ofce to understand Institute planning and strategy. In partnership with the
dean, the group identifed MIT Sloan’s philanthropic priorities for the campaign and
prepared dollar goals for each priority. Finally, staf partnered with faculty at MIT Sloan
to identify specifc giving/recognition opportunities for priority initiatives, to prepare
development marketing materials, and to provide opportunities to expose prospects to
these priorities.
David C. Schmitlein
Dean, Sloan School of Management
doc_168158528.pdf
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1 MIT Reports to the President 2012–2013
Dean, MIT Sloan School of Management
The mission of the MIT Sloan School of Management is to develop principled, innovative
leaders who improve the world and to generate ideas that advance management
practice. During the 2013 academic year, the School’s faculty and administration realized
this mission through the continued development of a portfolio of degree programs
designed to educate leaders for today and tomorrow, the introduction of new research
initiatives aimed at addressing today’s greatest challenges and future opportunities,
and a set of outreach programs and projects aimed at bringing MIT Sloan into the world
for impact. Of particular note, during AY2013 our two newest degree programs, the
Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) and Master of Finance (MFin)
programs, reached full capacity; we had our best faculty recruitment year to date with
11 ofers and 11 hires; our faculty launched several new research centers, including the
Center for Finance and Policy; and our administrative leadership continued to grow
with the hiring of a new chief administrative ofcer and senior associate dean of degree
programs.
Academic Programs
Prior to the 2013 academic year, MIT Sloan undertook successful eforts to grow its
portfolio of customized academic programs. While this growth strategy continued in
FY2013, School priorities and energies were shifted more toward operational excellence.
The goal of improving the program’s operating excellence in FY2013 inspired faculty,
staf, and students to many notable achievements. Also during the academic year, MIT
Sloan’s electronic dashboard project reached fruition. Each of Sloan’s nine degree-
granting programs now has a fully functional, performance-focused dashboard tailored
to its needs, with multiple easy-to-use interactive interfaces. A single technology
solution provider created all of the dashboards, permiting uniform navigation across
the systems.
Master of Business Administration Program
In FY2013, MIT Sloan’s fagship program—the two-year residential MBA—introduced
a new curricular certifcate option, the enterprise management track. The new track
seeks to develop students’ capability to apply integrated management perspectives to
business goals and problems via innovative classroom- and project-based activities. The
curriculum prepares students for career tracks in large organizations in the for-proft
and not-for-proft sectors. Specifc skills such as product development, branding, and
supply chain management are targeted in the track’s coursework, which focuses on
marketing, operations, and strategy. Enrollment for the frst cohort was 51 students.
As part of the new certifcate option, MBA students participated in a unique client-
facing project in the frst semester. Teams of students tackled several cross-functional
issues for large and global organizations in such diverse industries as automotive,
telecommunications, and agriculture. Launched as a Marketing Club student initiative in
the early 2000s, the client-facing project was integrated into the full track as a four-credit
option in FY2013.
2 MIT Reports to the President 2012–2013
Dean, MIT Sloan School of Management
The rapid transformation of the health care sector prompted the approval and
development of a health care certifcate as part of the MBA curriculum. The certifcate
will be available to students in the 2014 academic year. Approximately two dozen
faculty members across multiple disciplines were engaged to provide formal and
informal health care and health management coursework. The courses are designed
to prepare students for career paths in the pharmaceutical and biomedical industries,
as well as in health care consulting, health care innovation and entrepreneurship, and
global and national health care delivery.
In February 2013, the MBA program appointed a third academic advisor providing
personalized career counseling to students. Annual study tours were conducted in Qatar
(to examine the transition from a post-petroleum to a knowledge-based economy), Brazil
and Chile (to explore education models), and Ethiopia and Mozambique (to examine
agriculture in Africa).
The MBA Admissions Ofce hosted more than 3,000 prospective applicants in the
on-campus ambassadors program and information sessions and held more than 150
recruiting events worldwide in Lisbon, Moscow, Kiev, Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai,
Mumbai, and other cities. More than 4,500 applications in all were received. The
program matriculated 413 students into the MBA class of 2014.
The day before the MIT Commencement ceremonies, MIT Sloan’s MBA program
hosted a convocation ceremony at the Boston Opera House for graduates and their
families. The keynote speaker was Marjorie Mun Tak Yang, who also was presented
the Dean’s Leadership Award. Yang received her bachelor of science degree in pure
mathematics from MIT and is chairman of the Esquel Group, a leading textile and
apparel manufacturer with operations throughout the world. The student speaker was
Rikhi Jain.
Three months after receiving their MBAs, the program’s students enjoy a 92% job ofer
rate, primarily in consulting, technology, and diversifed fnance positions. Nearly 10%
of graduates launch their own businesses—the highest percentage historically—and a
testament to these students’ entrepreneurial skills.
Master of Science in Management Studies Program
The rigorous one-year Master of Science in Management Studies (MSMS) program ofers
coursework designed to enhance the expertise of students who have already completed
a management program at an international school. Students from around the world
study a specifc feld in depth while working alongside MIT Sloan faculty to complete
their theses. The program maintained a steady state of 35 students over the past year,
and the graduating class hailed from 16 countries worldwide.
In spring 2013, MIT Sloan began preparations in earnest to merge the operations of the
MSMS and MBA programs to achieve resource efciencies and greater economies of
scale.
Dean, MIT Sloan School of Management
3 MIT Reports to the President 2012–2013
Master of Finance Program
The MIT Sloan Master of Finance program graduated its fourth class of students; this
cohort was the frst to achieve the full class size of 120 students, nearly double the
number of graduates from the prior year. This high volume of students exemplifes the
tremendous interest in developing quantitative and hands-on problem-solving skill sets,
in high demand in the fnancial industry. More than 1,000 applications for admission
were received, making the MFin program one of the most competitive programs across
all of MIT.
Women made up more than one third (36%) of the full class of students, and
international students comprised 92% of the class. The internationalism and diversity of
this student class support the MFin program’s objective of developing future generations
of global fnancial leaders.
New faculty were hired to serve this much larger student body, including senior lecturer
in fnance Andrei Kirilenko, who teaches corporate fnance with an emphasis on the
application of option pricing to real investment analysis. A new class, 15.481 Financial
Market Dynamics and Human Behavior, was added to the curriculum and taught by
Andrew Lo, Charles E. and Susan T. Harris professor of fnance.
To enhance the academic on-campus experience and the career success of postgraduate
students, a new advisor model was introduced in FY2013 whereby students have more
direct access to dedicated career and academic advisors at MIT Sloan. Also for the frst
time, MIT Sloan ofered a Dean’s Master of Finance Fellowship to an incoming student.
Nearly 90% of graduating students receive job ofers within three months of graduation,
primarily in the investment management, investment banking, and consulting felds.
Offce of Undergraduate Education
The Bachelor of science degree program in management science recorded a total
enrollment of 125 students. Forty percent of these students were double majors drawn
from other academic areas of MIT to pursue management science studies. Fifty students
graduated in FY2013 (up from 48 students the prior year). Additionally, 26 students
graduated with a minor in management and 16 with a minor in management science.
These fgures reafrm MIT Sloan’s commitment to all students having some exposure
to business science and related management concepts. All together, 157 electives are
ofered to MIT undergraduates, atesting to the breadth of the MIT Sloan undergraduate
program.
The Undergraduate Task Force was created in FY2013 with a mission to discern ways to
beter engage undergraduates in MIT Sloan courses. The task force conducted numerous
interviews with faculty members, administrators, and students. Among the fndings:
• MIT students have a high level of interest in practical, hands-on courses that
teach tangible skills distinct from their engineering courses.
• Students prefer more fexibility in choosing courses for both major and minor
degrees.
4 MIT Reports to the President 2012–2013
Dean, MIT Sloan School of Management
These and other conclusions were delivered to the Undergraduate Education Commitee
for action steps in FY2014. The Undergraduate Task Force subsequently was folded into
the Undergraduate Education Commitee.
MIT Sloan Fellows Program in Innovation and Global Leadership
The MIT Sloan Fellows Program in Innovation and Global Leadership, in its 83rd
year in FY2013, is the longest running executive program of its kind in the world. The
curriculum of this one-year (June to June) midcareer, full-time immersive MBA program
emphasizes innovation, leadership development, and a learning environment with a
global perspective.
During the academic year, students designed a course called REAL (Regional
Entrepreneurial Acceleration Lab) that was subsequently approved by the faculty and
will continue in FY2014. This special end-of-year course provides students with practical
and academic insights into the design and development of entrepreneurial ecosystems
around the world. The course, which drew from existing faculty resources, encouraged
cross-campus collaboration and diferent stakeholder perspectives in moving scientifc
discoveries toward marketable products.
There were 120 students enrolled in the MIT Sloan Fellows program in FY2013. Their
average age was 37 years, and each had accumulated 15 years of professional experience
on average. Roughly half were sponsored by corporations, and the remainder were self-
funded. Students hailed from 34 countries around the world, the highest number to date
(up from 22 last year and six the previous year).
Executive Master of Business Administration Program
The MIT Sloan Executive Master of Business Administration program is designed to
equip active business leaders with the skills necessary to transform their organizations
and institutions. The EMBA program builds on MIT Sloan’s history of distinguished
MBA programs and midcareer education.
The curriculum parallels that of the MIT Sloan Fellows program with respect to faculty,
course material, credits, and contact hours. The diference is that students can apply
their newfound knowledge to the needs of their respective organizations in real time
(i.e., the program ofers a “learning while working” experience enhancing executive
performance).
Members of the class of 111 students who matriculated in FY2013 were global executives
from a broad range of industry sectors, including fnancial services, health care, and
technology. Their average amount of work experience was 16 years, and their average
age was 40 years. Nearly half (46%) held advanced degrees, and 81% held positions at
the director level and above. Two thirds of the students earned an annual income of
more than $150,000. Thirty-six percent were international students, 24% were women,
and 10% were underrepresented minorities. FY2013 represents the frst time in which
the program had two cohorts running concurrently.
Dean, MIT Sloan School of Management
5 MIT Reports to the President 2012–2013
In January 2013, EBMA students were able to take elective courses during their
time away from for-credit classes, the frst time this option was provided. Alumni
of the program were invited to participate in these classes, helping to build the MIT
community and adding to the educational content.
PhD Program
The PhD program received 639 applications, down slightly from 2012. Thirty-three
percent of the applications came from the United States, and female applicants
accounted for 35% of total applications. Of MIT Sloan’s 10 research groups, those
receiving the highest percentages of applicants were fnance (33%) and technological
innovation, entrepreneurship, and strategic management (12%). All together, 32 students
were admited, of whom 17 enrolled.
In March 2013, the frst Doctoral Research Forum was held. Nine students about to
graduate presented 15-minute summaries of their thesis research, and two students
won monetary prizes. The thesis prize commitee members were MIT Sloan professors
Lote Bailyn, Glen Urban, and Michael Scot Morton. Given its success, the decision was
reached to make the forum an annual event, with the next one scheduled in March 2014.
Student job placements included the University of Minnesota, Washington University
in St. Louis, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Princeton, the University of Washington,
Rutgers University, the London Business School, Cambridge University, and Oxford
University. Postdoctoral job placements included Stanford University and Brown
University.
Action Learning at MIT Sloan
MIT Sloan continues to make signifcant investments in action learning. In this work,
faculty and students seek to solve complex, real-world business problems and/or
produce systemic changes. These insights enhance students’ academic experiences while
preparing them for the future.
During AY2013, the ofce formed the Action Learning Operations group, composed of
faculty and staf running the day-to-day administration of action learning labs, with
the goal of sharing best practices. The group convenes monthly to discuss respective
experiences, issues, and best practice models.
More than 125 business leaders, MIT and MIT Sloan faculty, and other university
academics and practitioners atended the frst Action Learning Conference in August
2012. The purpose of the conference was to create a community to discuss action
learning as a pedagogical tool, as well as to explore opportunities and challenges of
using this method of instruction to develop tomorrow’s business leaders.
A new lab, the Enterprise Management Lab (EM-Lab), was added to the curriculum as
part of the enterprise management track. The lab is designed to helps students develop
their ability to apply integrated management practices within large organizations. As is
the case with other labs, EM-Lab students work in small teams for host companies on
6 MIT Reports to the President 2012–2013
Dean, MIT Sloan School of Management
tightly scoped projects that focus on strategy, operations, or marketing. Many students
registered for two or more labs, with several participating in fve.
Overall, 868 students registered in action learning labs in FY2013, up from 681 the
prior year. A total of 140 students registered for the Global Entrepreneurship Lab,
participating in 35 projects in 15 countries including Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, and
Vietnam. Projects included how to improve the layer feed market to increase the
afordability of poultry (for Sagevest Holdings) and the building of an in-house
innovation lab to develop and launch new mobile technologies (for CTIC Dakar).
Faculty
MIT Sloan is commited to atracting and retaining a cuting-edge faculty research
community. AY2013 was a successful year with respect to faculty recruitment. Of 11
ofers made, 11 were accepted.
One of the new faculty members is Michael Whinston, Sloan Fellows professor of
management in the Applied Economics Group and professor of economics in the
Economics Department. Whinston previously was the Robert E. and Emily H. King
professor of business institutions in the Department of Economics at Northwestern
University, and before that he was a professor of economics at Harvard University. His
research addresses organizational behavior in oligopolistic markets, game theory, the
design of contracts and organizations, health economics, and other topics.
Other new faculty hires include Sinan Aral, David Austin professor of management
and associate professor of information technology and marketing, and Jonathan
Parker, international programs professor in management and professor of fnance.
Parker has held numerous government service and consulting positions, including
special adviser on fnancial stability for the US Department of the Treasury’s Ofce of
Financial Stability. An expert in fnance, macroeconomics, and household behavior, he
has published widely on topics such as macroeconomic risks and asset returns, fscal
stabilization policy, national saving, and measurement of business cycles.
Aral has been a Fulbright Scholar and served as chief scientist at SocialAmp, a social
commerce company that enables targeting and peer referral in social media networks.
His research focuses on how to manage information difusion in massive social networks
such as Twiter and Facebook, given their impact on information worker productivity,
consumer demand, and viral marketing.
Many notable faculty and staf accomplishments were logged in FY2013. Although space
limitations preclude citing all of these achievements, a few stand out.
Arnoldo Hax, professor of technological innovation, entrepreneurship, and strategic
management, was awarded the Medal of Comendador de la Orden al Mérito de Chile
(Commander of the Order of Merit of Chile) in recognition of a lifetime of distinguished
service to Chile. The honor, the highest given to foreign nationals by the government of
Chile, was presented by Chilean president Sebastian Pinera.
Dean, MIT Sloan School of Management
7 MIT Reports to the President 2012–2013
Michelle Hanlon, Howard W. Johnson professor and professor of accounting, and
Catherine Tucker, Mark Hyman, Jr. career development professor and associate
professor of marketing, were co-recipients of the Jamieson Prize for Excellence in
Teaching in recognition of their contributions to educational excellence at MIT.
Andrew Lo was inducted into the 233rd class of members of the American Academy of
Arts and Sciences, one of the world’s most prestigious learned societies and a leading
center of independent policy research.
Antoinete Schoar, Michael M. Koerner (1949) professor of entrepreneurship and
professor of fnance, was named one of the top 10 academics infuencing the institutional
investment industry by Chief Investment Ofcer magazine.
James Uterback, David J. McGrath jr (1959) professor of management and innovation
and professor of engineering systems, was named a fellow of the American Association
for the Advancement of Science for his distinguished contributions to the felds of
technological and scientifc engineering.
MIT Sloan Research Initiatives and Centers
Developing Programs and Initiatives
During the academic year, faculty at MIT Sloan established the Center for Finance and
Policy, intended to serve as a forum for the research and fnancial analysis of public
policy issues. The Center for Finance and Policy brings together faculty members with
other world thinkers to spur collaboration among government, the private sector, and
academia to address such post–fnancial crisis issues as systemic risk. The goal is to
promote regulations that are conducive to global economic growth without sacrifcing
economic stability. This objective, non-ideological research is subsequently provided to
policymakers, business leaders, and MIT Sloan students for class discussion.
One study by the center focused on lifetime savings and consumption (pensions),
a subject of national importance. Robert Merton, Sloan School of Management
distinguished professor of fnance and the recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in
Economic Sciences in 1997, led the research efort.
Other new ventures emerged during the academic year. MIT Sloan’s Center for Digital
Business, created in partnership with industry to beter understand the rapidly evolving
business opportunities posed by the Internet and related technologies, launched the
Initiative on the Digital Economy (IDE). Its focus is the impact of digital technology
on businesses, the economy, and society. IDE draws on MIT Sloan’s internationally
recognized faculty and decades of groundbreaking research and scholarship on
technology and the economy to bear on the challenges of the digital revolution.
The Center for Digital Business continued to implement tools and frameworks for
analyzing Internet-enabled technology, management, and business strategy through
one-to-one relationships with corporate partners. To date, the center has funded more
than 70 research projects with more than $30 million in corporate support, drawing on
8 MIT Reports to the President 2012–2013
Dean, MIT Sloan School of Management
a wide range of MIT Sloan and other MIT resources including the World Wide Web
Consortium, the Center for Information Systems Research, the Center for Collective
Intelligence, the Computer Science and Artifcial Intelligence Laboratory, and the Media
Lab. Research is organized into four special interest groups: productivity, marketing,
services, and the cloud.
Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship
The Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship provides the expertise, support,
and connections needed for MIT students to become efective entrepreneurs. Working
across all fve of MIT’s schools, the center’s focus is on educating the next generation of
entrepreneurs. The objective is to help these students transform innovative ideas and
technologies into businesses that have lasting, real-world impact.
During the academic year, the center unveiled the MIT Global Founders’ Skills
Accelerator, a summer program providing students an intense, deep-dive education
in entrepreneurship. Student teams from MIT joined others from around the world in
Canada, Russia, Scotland, Turkey, Germany, and China to collaborate on an accelerated
range of projects. Projects ran the gamut from the creation of a “social genome” to the
development of super-slippery coatings. Teams were provided with up to $20,000 in
grants for meeting customized milestones.
Spanning every possible industry, the teams built cross-cultural bridges widening
students’ perspectives. The program culminated in a “demo day” held in conjunction
with the annual t=0 (the time is now) Festival of Innovation and Entrepreneurship,
which exposes students early in the academic year to the career possibilities of
entrepreneurship. The festival was expanded to a full week of festivities in FY2013.
Another frst-time project, Healthcare Ventures, was launched in fall 2012. This new
seminar engaged cross-disciplinary student teams in building new ventures in the
health care space. The seminar drew extensively in scope from MIT’s Hacking Medicine
student initiative, in which students who knew litle about the health care arena were
inspired to learn more. Hacking Medicine also fostered Music Hack Day @ MIT,
which was cosponsored by the Martin Trust Center and The Echo Next to encourage
entrepreneurship in the arts. The decision was made to continue Healthcare Ventures as
an ongoing project.
Another milestone was the publication of Disciplined Entrepreneurship: 24 Steps to a
Successful Startup, writen by William Aulet, senior lecturer and the Martin Trust Center’s
managing director.
Leadership Center
The MIT Leadership Center is commited to innovative research, education, and
dialogue across (and beyond) the MIT community. The center’s focus is on distributed
leadership, the idea that leadership derives from every part of an organization. The
center straddles both teaching and research realms, although it leaned more toward
education in FY2013, emphasizing leadership teaching programs that transform research
into powerful student learning experiences.
Dean, MIT Sloan School of Management
9 MIT Reports to the President 2012–2013
The second year of the peer-to-peer leadership development program proved even more
successful than the frst, with the number of student participants increasing from 60 to
100. The program pairs up second-year MBA students and Sloan Fellows as executive
coaches of frst-year MBAs, supporting and helping them defne their leadership goals,
competencies, and behaviors. Second-year MBA students and Sloan Fellows are thus
provided the opportunity to learn and practice a behavior-based coaching model.
Students especially value the program for the meaningful relationships it promotes
across MIT. Many second-year MBA students participating as coaches had been coached
themselves the prior year.
Another highlight was the development of a peer feedback tool providing student teams
with the opportunity to give and receive quick feedback promoting team discussion. The
tool rates students’ and teams’ strengths and weaknesses on a one-to-fve scale. Faculty
mentor feedback also is solicited, disseminated, and evaluated. The tool is now being
used in action learning programs and with project teams in certain classes.
During the academic year, the MIT Leadership Center ofered more than 60 leadership
sessions as an integral part of the Sloan Innovation Period (SIP), which occurs at the
midpoint of each semester and provides students with an intensive week of experiential
leadership learning. The Leadership Center unveiled a number of new and innovative
SIP courses during the year and engaged area alumni to participate in teaching several
workshops.
Among the leadership role models visiting the campus as part of the Dean’s Innovative
Leader Series (cosponsored by the Leadership Center) were Admiral Thad Allen, former
commandant of the US Coast Guard; Adriane Brown, president and chief operating
ofcer of Intellectual Ventures; Dan Hesse, CEO of Spring; Dr. Una Ruan, former
president and CEO of Diagnostics for All; Sophie Vandebroek, chief technology ofcer
and president of Xerox Innovation Group; and Marshall Carter, chairman of NYSE
Euronext.
MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative
During FY2013, the Sustainability Initiative continued the strategic planning process
begun in the prior year. MIT Sloan faculty gathered to examine the strategic import of
the Initiative for Sustainable Business and Society, launched in FY2007. The initiative
is built on the promise of a future in which the economy, business, society, personal
wellbeing, and the environment are all parts of an interconnected whole. The goal of the
faculty retreat was to discuss the initiative’s performance against this mission. Following
the retreat, the program was rebranded as the MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative,
reinforcing its purpose to develop a community of innovators for sustainability and
engage both faculty and students in the promise of a sustainability initiative across the
entire Institute.
The sustainability curriculum was altered in FY2013 to refect the broader strategy.
Students at MIT Sloan, for example, were provided greater fexibility in taking courses
at the MIT Media Lab. That said, the curriculum continues to introduce students to
10 MIT Reports to the President 2012–2013
Dean, MIT Sloan School of Management
basic sustainability concepts. In addition, events such as the sustainability lunch series
provide opportunities for deeper engagement with leading practitioners.
The ffth Sustainability Summit was held in April and atracted more than 300 students,
infuential practitioners, and alumni. The summit featured three keynote speeches and
10 breakout panels organized into thematic clusters including Sustainable Consumption,
Innovations in Urban Planning, and Environmentally and Socially Responsible Decision
Making. Keynote speakers included Rick Ridgeway, vice president of environmental
initiatives at Patagonia; Katherine Gajewski, director of the Mayor’s Ofce of
Sustainability in Philadelphia; and acclaimed glacier photographer James Balog whose
work is featured in the flm Chasing Ice.
Several sustainability simulations were ofered during the academic year, including
CleanStart: Simulating a Clean Energy Startup. In this live, web-based simulation,
students played the role of the founder of a startup company in the clean technology
sector and then collaborated on developing this technology into a successful company.
Other simulations involved such industries as solar photovoltaics and commercial
fshing. Another engaged students in negotiating international agreements to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions.
Thanks to two major donor gifts, the program’s staf was enlarged with the appointment
of an associate director.
Outreach and Visibility
International Programs
A notable achievement for the Ofce of International Programs in FY2013 was the
opening of the MIT Sloan Latin America Ofce in Santiago, Chile. The new ofce,
funded by a generous donor gift, exemplifes MIT Sloan’s interests in expanding and
enhancing its activities in Latin America. MIT and MIT Sloan have deep ties to Chile.
More than 300 MIT alumni live and work in the country, of whom 125 are graduates
of MIT Sloan. Located in the heart of the capital city’s thriving business district, the
ofce promotes MIT Sloan programs to potential students in the region and facilitates
enhanced research and outreach.
The second cohort of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women project graduated in
FY2013. The project is a $100 million, fve-year, global-scale initiative to provide
management education to 10,000 underserved women in emerging markets. The 76
female entrepreneur graduates marked a signifcant increase from the 43 women who
graduated the prior year.
As part of the Goldman Sachs initiative, MIT Sloan and Yunnan University created the
Women’s Entrepreneur Program in FY2013. Based at Yunnan University in Kunming,
China, the program integrates action learning and related workshops with courses in
such foundational areas as business plan development, marketing, and accounting.
MIT Sloan faculty members train their China-based counterparts in business and
management science to develop female students’ entrepreneurial capabilities.
Dean, MIT Sloan School of Management
11 MIT Reports to the President 2012–2013
Faculty from MIT Sloan and Yunnan University’s School of Business and Tourism
Management co-developed the program curriculum, which addresses the specifc
challenges faced by female entrepreneurs in China. These challenges include employee
retention, expansion into new regions, and establishment of an efective leadership
style and company culture. Investing in the education of women has a signifcant
multiplier efect by reducing poverty, increasing economic growth, and fostering overall
community prosperity.
Beyond a practical skill set, the program seeks to equip women entrepreneurs with
a robust network of emerging and established businesspeople in their felds, thereby
providing a support system for female-run businesses throughout China. Previous
graduates have launched several successful businesses, including a hedge fund, a
housekeeping service, and a company that manufactures embalming fuids to preserve
fowers.
Executive Education
MIT Sloan ofers open enrollment and custom executive education programs to
high-potential managers and midcareer senior executives worldwide. The Executive
Education program comprises more than 30 two-day to weeklong programs led by
internationally renowned experts from MIT Sloan and other MIT schools and research
centers.
The portfolio of courses focuses on a range of management topics in three areas of
concentration: strategy and innovation; technology, operations, and value chain
management; and management and leadership. Graduates are presented an MIT Sloan
executive education certifcate. The overarching goal is to provide business professionals
with a fexible means to achieve their career development goals while simultaneously
positioning their organizations for future growth.
Executive Education ofered 112 open enrollment and custom programs ranging from
two days to six weeks in duration (406 days in total), with a total enrollment of more
than 5,000 executives from 92 countries. Close to 3,700 participants atended open
enrollment programs, with individuals atending 1.6 programs on average.
In some cases, courses were customized to address a particular organization’s specifc
business challenges. Custom programs during the academic year were ofered in
conjunction with many leading companies and other institutions, including Harvard
Hospitals, The Fung Group, Aker Solutions, China Mobile, and OCP. The later program
was particularly exceptional, as OCP, a large Moroccan phosphate company that
accounts for 3.5% of the country’s gross domestic product, had recently transitioned
from a government enterprise to a private company. Its current CEO, Dr. Mostafa
Terrab, an MIT alumnus, was brought in to help lead this transition.
Among the new, highly innovative open enrollment programs was Big Data: Making
Complex Things Simpler. Initially, the plan was to present the program in a pure
classroom environment, but Superstorm Sandy disrupted these intentions. Instead of
canceling the course, MIT Sloan quickly leveraged a blended online/ofine platform
12 MIT Reports to the President 2012–2013
Dean, MIT Sloan School of Management
using avatars to teach the seminar to approximately 50 students in a virtual classroom,
in addition to about 100 students in a real classroom. This alternative was so well
received that the blended course format will return in FY2014 for this class and other
courses, some relying exclusively on the online model of instruction.
During the year, REAP (Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program) workshops
were held in Scotland and New Zealand. REAP, a capstone global initiative at MIT,
is designed to help regions accelerate economic growth and job creation through
innovation-driven entrepreneurship. Partner regions form multi-disciplinary teams and
commit to a two-year learning engagement with MIT, working with faculty on a series
of experiential learning activities to create a regional strategy for enhancing innovation-
driven ecosystems.
Forty senior business leaders from the local region and the chamber of commerce
participated in the Executive Leadership Institute, which is cosponsored by MIT Sloan
and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Executive
students are provided the opportunity to interact with C-level peers in business and
government while learning from both schools’ faculty members in half-day sessions
focusing on important management and leadership issues.
Media Relations
MIT Sloan Media Relations supports institutional branding and marketing initiatives
and oversees the creation of content for the MIT Sloan Experts Blogs, which are featured
on the home page of the MIT Sloan website. A total of 79 blogs were posted by Sloan
experts in FY2013, with 40 placed in a variety of external publications. Blog visitors
totaled 12,784. MIT Sloan consistently ranks in third place among peer schools in the
number of media citations in major business publications, with most of the faculty eager
to share their research. MIT Sloan maintained this position in FY2013 and ranked second
in Asia.
The eighth annual Big Idea campaign brought together faculty, staf, and students
from across the campus to engage in the campaign’s theme of “Driving Innovation,
Transforming the World Economy.” The theme spotlights cuting-edge faculty research,
international student initiatives, and alumni startups that are transforming the global
economy and how companies conduct business.
MIT Sloan Management Review
In FY2013, the MIT Sloan Management Review (SMR) continued to operate as a self-
sustaining enterprise (in the black) for the third successive year, executing renewal
contracts with SAS, the Boston Consulting Group, the Shanghai Lian Technology
Management Company, and Deloite and signing a new contract with Capgemini
Consulting. A licensing agreement was signed with the Borger International Media and
Technology Group in China for the co-branded publication of all SMR-owned content.
Advertising sales continued on an upswing, and a successful direct mail campaign for
subscription sales was conducted. FY2013 revenue totaled $3.39 million, up more than
$250,000 from the prior year’s revenue.
Dean, MIT Sloan School of Management
13 MIT Reports to the President 2012–2013
The SMR website was successfully redesigned to present content in a more user-focused
and interactive manner. This content is now available on mobile devices such as tablets
and smartphones, guiding substantial increases in both trafc and user engagement.
The tablet app version of the new website was a fnalist for the Editorial and Design
Awards presented by Media Industry News. Sloan Management Review produced a video
introducing the new website and explaining its advanced search, intuitive navigation,
and other functions.
Two webinars were broadcast by SMR to a high number of registrants and atendees,
and a test advertising campaign was initiated to compare the responses from target
channels. SMR continued to publish Big Ideas, streams of content in such areas as
sustainability, data analytics, social business, and digital transformation, with many
published stories promoting the contributions of MIT Sloan faculty and staf. Project
Red, a yearlong initiative to transform SMR’s digital oferings and enable a digital-frst
publishing strategy, also commenced during the academic year.
Offce of External Relations
During FY2013, the MIT Sloan Ofce of External Relations (OER) continued to play a
critical role in supporting MIT Sloan’s mission of developing principled, innovative
leaders who improve the world and generating ideas that advance management
practice. Working closely with School-wide leadership to identify the philanthropic
priorities that will drive support over the course of the capital campaign for MIT, the
ofce focused on three overarching goals:
• Motivating donors to support MIT Sloan through steady and growing gifts to
both the MIT Sloan Annual Fund and restricted gift funds
• Engaging current and future donors and volunteers through proactive and
targeted communication, events, and outreach
• Developing systems and processes to more efciently and efectively track our
donor, alumni, and student populations, with particular atention paid to their
MIT Sloan activities, areas of interest, and contact information
These goals guided the ofce’s approach to events, engagement opportunities, prospect
cultivation, and stewardship in FY2013. OER worked to expand MIT Sloan’s global
impact, developed opportunities to engage and support the alumni network, and
generated new levels of funding in support of the School’s philanthropic priorities.
OER raised a total of $29.5 million in new gifts and pledges from individuals and
corporations, including $25.7 million in restricted funds. The MIT Sloan Annual Fund
raised $3.8 million in unrestricted giving, exceeding the FY2013 goal of $3.5 million. The
Annual Fund total represents an 8.7% increase in gifts from FY2012 to FY2013.
The Dean’s Circle (which recognizes individuals who make donations of $1,000 or more
to the Annual Fund) grew to 825 members in FY2013, representing a 10% increase from
FY2012. In FY2013, OER increased the number of cultivation and stewardship events for
Dean’s Circle members, hosting seven events (fve domestic and two international) with
over 200 atendees. OER also had a record number of atendees (180) at this year’s Sloan
appreciation dinner, which draws many Dean’s Circle members.
14 MIT Reports to the President 2012–2013
Dean, MIT Sloan School of Management
OER partnered with EMBA, Leaders for Global Operations , and MSMS students on the
MIT Sloan Student Class Gift campaign, which raised $420,946 in cash and pledges with
an 87% participation rate from these three programs. Of particular note, the EMBA class
of 2013 had 100% participation in the class gift.
OER organized 13 international and 36 domestic trips in FY2013. Countries visited
included England, France, Switerland, Brazil, China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Korea,
Saudi Arabia, and India. Of particular note, the ofce partnered with faculty across the
School to host a digital economy symposium in San Francisco (January) and a fnance
forum in London (June). These events built on the success of activities in FY2012.
High-level cultivation of philanthropic prospects continued to be a priority. OER
facilitated more than 215 meetings between deans and senior-level executives, both on
campus and around the world. In addition, OER hosted four regional executive board
meetings and one all-board meeting in Cambridge. During FY2013, annual fund gift
participation from board members increased from 50% to 60%, and total dollars raised
increased from $1.09 million to $1.31 million.
OER launched the Alumni-Student Mentoring Program in FY2013. During the initial
trial, OER partnered EMBA students (mentors) with MBA students (mentees).
With regard to communications and outreach, OER took over publication of the MIT
Sloan alumni magazine, completed an entire redesign of the magazine, and added a
third issue focused on faculty research to the yearly publication schedule. OER managed
a complete redesign of all alumni and development communications materials,
including the suite of materials for reunions, the alumni e-newsleter, all alumni
relations materials, the branding for the Alumni-Student Mentoring Program, and all
OER printables and related development pieces.
Looking toward the future, OER devoted signifcant resources to campaign preparation
in FY2013. The ofce partnered closely with colleagues in the Resource Development
Campaign Ofce to understand Institute planning and strategy. In partnership with the
dean, the group identifed MIT Sloan’s philanthropic priorities for the campaign and
prepared dollar goals for each priority. Finally, staf partnered with faculty at MIT Sloan
to identify specifc giving/recognition opportunities for priority initiatives, to prepare
development marketing materials, and to provide opportunities to expose prospects to
these priorities.
David C. Schmitlein
Dean, Sloan School of Management
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