MBA programs for top design consultancies

Ross.
Anything in particular that you might be looking for?
Test Strategy?
Websites?
Books?
Application process?

Just adding this link in here for others. Financial Times has some good metrics and may help during your research phase.
http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/global-mba-rankings

Or if you want (this was helpful for me), here is a compilation of rankings of the top thirty schools by four publication: Financial Times, Business Week, Forbes, and US News – I’m working on something a little more interactive, but this will have to do for now:

http://blog.cavancanavan.com/?page_id=636

Each publication has their own criteria for ranking the schools,so it’s important to learn which criteria is the most important/useful to you.

I’m not really sure what I would like to see. I use the GMATclub for a lot of my information. http://gmatclub.com/

One thing that would be nice is to take some of the information that I have started to compile in this thread and make a much larger scale version of it. Mainly noting which schools have a design curriculum component to their MBA. It would nice to know of any partnerships between schools and companies that allow you to work on real world products.

Hey,
I am have an undergraduate degree(B.Tech in Information and Communication Technology). I am interested in design and would like to do an MBA.Currently I am working as a Business analyst. Will my MBA help me to get into Design Consultancies given that I have no experience in the design field?

I’d add the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota in MPLS. I’ve been looking into it for similar reasons, and they actually have an Enterprise path that focuses more on interdisciplinary projects and new product development. My understanding is their placement rate, even in the recession, is over 90%.

Best of luck, but don’t count out a solid MFA or MID program with a focus on design thinking. Remember an education is what you make of it, and at the end of the day, you better have a comprehensive portfolio if you want to be considered for any design position.

This article is worth a click- “The MFA is the new MBA”

Design Management Masters program at the Savannah College of Art and Design, created and taught by Bob Fee, one of the greatest living design educators in the world.

It’s worth taking a close look at Babson. They typically rank #1 for entrepreneurship, which is a great match for design. It is a super rigorous program, but you would learn a lot of the fundamental business concepts for bringing a design to market. I just finished the program there and would be happy to chat about it.

I am looking at similar programs, although I am trying to find an even more specific MBA program that focuses on design AND development and/or sustainability. It seems like I can find MBA programs that focus on sustainability/development and MBA programs that focus on design but not both. JHU has a great Global MBA program and they have a new Design MBA through MICA and JHU, both through Carey Business School. I think you should add that program to your list. CCA’s Design Strategy is interesting because it does include a sustainability studio, but that is one course during ONE semester. If anyone has any info, please let me know. I am also looking at Carnegie Mellon.

In terms of MBAs with a focus on development/sustainability I’m checking out Miami’s Farmer Business School, Oxford’s MBA focusing on social enterprise, Duke, INSEAD, PSU and a few others.

Please let me know if you know of a more interdisciplinary MBA that includes sustainability and design or social entrepreneurship and design. Thank you!

So I am guessing GMAT or GRE scores are a must to go down this route :sunglasses:

Hi Ross

You just spoke my mind out there. I made the same list while looking for my masters. The Businessweek’s top 30 design programs contributed majorly. Have you made a final decision for it? I’ve got admission in Domus Academy, the MBD course. But I’m still in my dilemma for the course too. The description for the course,however, is like destiny calling.


I’m not a forum person, but just for your thread, I felt like signing up, so thanks for starting this convo with the aim to brainstorm our way to the right career path, cheers :slight_smile:

me at prateekbatra dot com

Any advice for Bachelor programs that teach Design Thinking? Canada schools would be best but I am willing to go anywhere and pay to learn from the best. THANK YOU SOO MUCH IN ADVANCE!!!

Hi,
by design thinking do you mean a process of user centered design that starts with empathetic research (loosely based in the social sciences), that leads to a cross-functional team developing concepts towards production?
I’d suggest you first ask each school if that’s how they teach design, who teaches the research methods and where the other functions get involved in a school projects completion.
second, read up on the death of design thinking and review the answers you got with a healthy skepticism (knowing that each school said what they think will get you to apply)
third, realize that while you can understand the entire process, it’s much too complex to be good at all of it. choose where in that process your interests lie and excel there.

best of luck at school

Hey, thanks so much for the advice!

Yes, your definition of design thinking is the way I interpret it as well. I am really interested in the linking the ideation to the reality (i.e. how to make an idea fulfill a need) part of the design process. From my research I found that design thinking is what the most innovative companies are using to make the worlds best products and make the most change in the world so that is why I am looking for a undergraduate degree that teaches some sort of user centered design. I am studying Systems Design Engineering but find I am learning specific skills to just work as an employee at a desk. My dream get into social innovation and work on solving the world’s most pressing problems (e.g. health, education) whether that be in a large corporation or non-profit in developing countries (e.g. ideo.org).

Based on my interests would you happen know of any specific undergraduate programs where I can learn more these areas?? Doing research on programs around the world I found programs that teach ‘Product Design Engineering’/‘Industrial Design’/‘Business Design’ would be the most fitting. Stanford’s Product Design Engineering’ is a top consideration but is a very competitive program, are there any similar or other degree suggestions that you could suggest?

Thank you so much once again for this help, I feel very lost at the moment, and I appreciate any advice.

sounds like the Stanford Dschool is perfect for you

Would you happen to know of any other undergraduate programs like stanford’s dschool or any other programs that would lead to a career in this innovation field?

it would be easier to ask which programs don’t.
since any accredited program will cover human centered design and innovation methodology, it’s going to be more of a question of how motivated you are to pursue extra effort in your interests.
design education will be a split between the incremental innovations that earn us our bread and butter and blue sky projects that are only hypothetically feasible.
the path to becoming a great innovator has more to do with dogged passion around a specific idea, regardless of feasibility or usefulness. nobody can teach you that

MMM Program at Kellogg School of Management and McCormick School of Engineering at Northwestern University
Degree: MBA + MS in Design Innovation

Another great program that has faculty and advisors from the likes of gravitytank, Doblin, IDEO, frog, and Continuum.

In Toronto we have the Strategic Foresight and Innovation Program at http://www.ocadu.ca/.

Take a look at http://www2.ocadu.ca/feature/9313/five-reasons-a-masters-in-strategic-foresight-and-innovation-is-the-new-mba for some explanation.

The program has been running now for 6 years and we have both full and part time options with a max of 22 students in each new cohort.