The course is designed in a way that facilitates your internalization of the System for Learning and Development (L&D) Excellence (i.e. Preparation → Participation → Review & Reflection).

Trusting the process and embracing the System for Learning and Development (L&D) Excellence not only enhances your learning experience in the course but also equips you to excel in business meetings by applying the same principles of preparation, participation, and reflection.

Additionally, this system fosters your growth as a more effective professional, instilling lifelong learning skills that empower you to stay at the forefront of management theory and practice.

Please see the Course Design section below for additional insights on how the System for Learning and Development (L&D) Excellence is applied in this course.

Learning Teams are small groups of learners (approximately five members per team) who collaborate throughout the course to enhance their learning experience.

In this course, everyone joins a Learning Team. Individuals are responsible for preparing before class Sessions so they can forge close bonds while collaborating with their Learning Team members to complete assignments during and after most class Sessions.

The purpose of a Learning Team is to simulate real-world team dynamics, create a supportive network for academic and professional growth, and provide a hands-on opportunity to learn how to work effectively within a group to achieve common goals. Along the way, Learning Teams can make learning more social, joyful, and fun—strengthening motivation and deepening engagement.

Accordingly, Learning Teams serve as a platform for practicing key skills such as collaboration, communication, problem-solving, and decision-making—critical abilities for future leaders.

Equivalent to a semester-long MBA-level course—including self-paced onboarding and pre-work in March—the Entrepreneurship course runs from April through July, with weekly class Sessions. This weekly pacing gives you time to learn new tools, apply them right away, and steadily build your business idea with your team.

In principle, this course is a certificate course and people who successfully complete the course will receive a Certificate of Completion.

In this course, participants who successfully complete the course and earn a Certificate of Completion have accomplished the following:

• ATTENDANCE: Attended and actively participated in a minimum of 9 Class Sessions.
• POINTS: Earned a minimum of 60% of the points available in the course.

In this course, learners engage in a dynamic sequence of readings, lectures, and team-based experiential exercises to learn about and practice the key activities of entrepreneurship: generating business ideas, articulating business concepts, designing business models, and crafting go-to-market strategies. Every element of the course is intentionally designed to mirror the real-world challenges of launching and leading new ventures.

Additionally, the course brings to life the Knowing–Being–Doing approach to Human Capital Development:

The Entrepreneurship course is intentionally rigorous and you and your Learning Team will need to dedicate significant time outside of class to maximize your opportunities to learn.

The course is designed for use in MBA Programs and—although the Center does not offer degree-granting Programs and Courses or issue credits—the Entrepreneurship course is the functional equivalent of a 3-credit hour course.

To support the learning process, we leverage world-class content from Harvard Business School Publishing, highly structured lesson plans, and clearly defined deliverables. Our Learning Management System (LMS) uses rubrics to align assignments with feedback, assuring a seamless learning experience.

Consistent with best practices, we intentionally nudge learners out of their comfort zone and into their learning zone. While this can feel uncomfortable, it is an essential part of the learning process. The reward for pushing through the discomfort — an improved ability to generate business ideas, articulate business concepts, and search for a business model — is an essential skill for entrepreneurial managers.

Finally, the level of rigor in this course is reinforced by the opportunity to submit a Mid-Term Short Paper after Session 06, and a Final Deliverable within two weeks of the final class Session. Although Mid-Terms and Finals are rarely included in Executive Education offerings, at the Center we believe that all learners become more emotionally invested in the learning process when opportunities to consolidate and crystalize learning are made available.