COURSE NUMBER: MBA 294.3

COURSE TITLE: DISC Speaker Series

UNITS OF CREDIT: 1

INSTRUCTOR: Sara Beckman

STUDENT ORGANIZER: Noa Elan and Sandra Gueorguieva

E-MAIL ADDRESSES: noa_elan@mba.berkeley.edu; sandra_gueorguieva@mba.berkeley.edu

CLASS WEB PAGE LOCATION:

MEETING DAY(S)/TIME: Tuesdays, 6:00-8:00PM during Fall B

This class will meet on the following dates: 10/29, 11/5, 11/12, 11/19, 11/26, 12/3, 12/10.

PREREQUISITE(S): None

CLASS FORMAT: Guest speakers from the design and innovation space sharing their personal paths and their company's story.

REQUIRED READINGS: Materials prepared by guest speakers and/or fellow classmates

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE: Attendance and class participation. For each class, 1-2 students will be asked to prepare a few slides about each one of the speakers and their company and to introduce them at the beginning of the class.

ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:

What does it mean to work in innovation and design-focused roles? Are such careers only open to artistically-minded individuals? Are there opportunities for us, as MBAs, to join this world?

Every week, two or more guest speakers who use design and innovation as part of their daily careers will come and share how design and innovation strategy is helping their organizations stay ahead of the game, what the opportunities and challenges of this industry are today, as well as their unique career path charting how they got to where they are today.

This one-unit course aims to educate Haas students about the numerous and diverse roles which exist within the space of ‘design thinking and innovation strategy’, across a range of industries. The course will bring in speakers from a large variety of design and innovation focused roles and companies, ranging from non-profit and for-profit design consultancies to in-house innovation departments in CPG and tech companies.

Our objective is to inform students seeking less conventional careers of the wide range of opportunities available and for all students, even those not necessarily interested in pursuing a career in this space, to have a wider and more open minded appreciation of the different touch points in which design and innovation thinking comes to life and how it can be used to further an organization within any function.

Following each class, a small group of students will join the speakers for dinner at the Faculty Club and will have the opportunity to network in a more intimate setting. These students will be asked to prepare a few slides to introduce the speakers and companies in question at the beginning of the class.

SPEAKER LIST: Speakers we have confirmed as of mid-August include: Tim Morey (AVP Innovation Strategy Group, Frog Designs); Jon Pittman & Bill O'Connor (VP Corporate Strategy, Autodesk); John Zeratsky (Design Partner, Google Ventures); Patrick O'Loughlin (Innovation Business Leader, Clorox), Henry Chesbrough (Faculty Director Centre for Open Innovation, Haas).

We are also in the process of confirming speakers from the following companies: Tesla, Samsung Innovation Lab, ideo.org, Capital One Labs, Jump Associates, Adobe.