Innovation and Entrepreneurship (MA)

The curriculum for the degree consists of ten three-credit courses for a total of 30 credits. Exceptions to the sequence are granted at the discretion of the program chair.

MIE6001  Creative Thinking and Practice

Students will explore ways to develop creative talent in themselves, individuals, teams, and at the organizational level and how to develop skills in building work environments that support creative and divergent thinking.  Students will use creativity diagnostics. Students will explore case studies, storytelling, global and industry trends, as well as the research on creative thinking. Emphasis is placed on understanding how the concept of creativity has evolved overtime and its influence on the digital workplace. (First course)

MIE6002  Leading Innovation in the Digital Age

This course sharpens students’ innovation, design thinking, and leadership skills including how to lead innovative projects.  Students will examine leadership theories and styles that foster innovation, learning how, when, and why to take risks and to reward risk and failure as well as success in others.  Focus is on how leading and encouraging innovative thinking and innovation helps create a high impact culture that accelerates growth by developing a diverse, technically adept, and global minded workforce for the digital age. Prerequisite: MIE6001.

MIE6003  Entrepreneurship for the Global Society

Students will study entrepreneurship as a global societal and business phenomenon and gain perspective regarding why and how entrepreneurs start new ventures or pursue innovation, how they are funded, managed, and led in a global context. Students will analyze existing industries and global markets for gaps and opportunities, learning how to evaluate the opportunities, as well as how to manage and lead projects across national and cultural borders through the creation and implementation process as applied to project management. Prerequisite: MIE6002. 

MBAE6265  Prototyping/Co-Designing Solutions

This [hands on course] provides an experiential application of prototyping concepts to evaluate new product and/or service opportunities. The course synthesizes learning gained from working with beta-test customers and/or vendors to design and rapidly prototype physical solutions to determine a final unique value proposition. Finally, this course will help students determine an optimal way to capitalize on an entrepreneurial or innovation opportunity. Prerequisites: MIE6001, 6002, 6003.

MBAD6115  Social Media Marketing Communications   

This course is designed to help students understand how marketing communications has (and has not) changed due to the rise of social media. More importantly, the course will equip students with appropriate knowledge, perspectives, technical, and practical skills for leveraging the opportunities inherent in social media and consumer-to-consumer social interactions for achieving business and marketing goals.

MBAL6020 Agents of Change

In this course students will examine the various roles and processes in organizational intervention as they relate to identifying, implementing and sustaining change. Organizational culture, climate, communication practices, mental models and change theories will be explored.

MIE6004  Financial Accounting for the Entrepreneurial Firm

Students, whether self-employed or working for an entrepreneurial firm, should be able to understand financial information so they can interact with accountants, CFOs, controllers, and financial managers, read and interpret financial statements for business diagnostics.

MBAC6050  Ethics, Law and Communication in Decision Making

This course introduces the legal and ethical obligations in business. Knowledge of law and ethics must be included into managerial decisions.  Students will learn to apply and communicate ethical frameworks to business decisions, with a lens on social responsibility. Proactive and effective communication can provide a competitive edge to organizations, reducing risk and liability.

MBAC6250  Strategy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

This course challenges students to think about how they can create and build an organization through sound leadership and management theories, personal relationships, creative and critical thinking, as well as how design thinking and innovation principles can be used to create strategic value.

MIE 6990  Capstone: Innovation and Entrepreneurship

The capstone is the convergence of creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship, and leadership study and is designed to help students synthesize and apply learning from this program in a real-world entrepreneurial or innovation-related experience. The outcome of this course could be the launching of a new product or new business venture, and also provide marketable experience to prospective employers or investors. Note: This is the final course of the program and should be taken after all other courses are completed.

Admission Criteria

• Application for Admission
• Objective Statement
  Provide information on your future educational goals and/or objectives and their relationship to pursuing graduate work at Concordia University Chicago. This is part of the online application.
• Transcripts
  Provide one official, sealed transcript from each institution through which a degree was earned.
• International Transcripts
• Two letters of recommendation
  Letters should be from individuals able to comment on the applicant's academic proficiency, personal character and competence and effectiveness in professional work.

GPA Requirements

Applicant's must show evidence of ability to achieve success in a graduate program through the following:

• Full Admission
  To be considered for Full Admission, candidates will present a cumulative grade point average above 2.85 or will have earned a master’s degree with a 3.0 GPA or higher.
• Probationary Admission
  To be considered for Probationary Admission, one or more of the following special conditions may exist:
  1) a cumulative GPA between 2.25 and 2.84 (on a 4.0 scale);
  2) holding a master’s degree with a cumulative GPA below 3.0; and/or
  3) credentials/documents that raise cause for reservation for admission.
  Students admitted on probationary status must earn a 3.0 GPA in graduate course work within their first semester of enrollment to continue in the program.
• Provisional Admission (available only to US residents and citizens)
  To be considered for Provisional Admission candidates will present credentials that generally satisfy full admission requirements, but need to satisfy additional admission requirements such as special program prerequisites. All admission requirements must be satisfied by the end of the candidate’s first semester of enrollment to continue in the program.

Seminar in Higher Education (EDU 6015)

In addition to the base program curriculum, international students attending face-to-face classes on the CUC campus are required to take the Seminar in Higher Education, a 3-credit course. This requirement will not apply to international DBA students studying exclusively online.