EPFL EMBA Program Curriculum, Calendar, Fees and Profiles

PROGRAM CONTENT

Our lecturers include not only academic experts in innovation and business domains, but also industry experts who bring their vast, practical knowledge base into the classroom. Our in-person class sessions are designed to be as dynamic and impactful as possible.

THE COURSES

Digital Transformation & New Technologies

Why is everyone talking about digitalization? What is it and where did it come from? In what ways is it changing the business, the business model and the business landscape? What are the risks and what can it do for an organization? Digitalization is not just an IT system, it is a new way of functioning.

Andrea Dunbar

Business Model Innovation

Business Model Innovation a dimension of innovation, different and yet complementary to more ‘normal’ dimensions of innovation, such as product, process, and organizational innovation. Innovating business models also represents one of the most complex innovation efforts for managers, entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs alike.

Lorenzo Massa

Responsible Supply Chain & Operations Management

In this module we depart from the traditional academic focus on the mechanics of operations management towards a more holistic view of the supply chain in the context of the organization as a whole, and its critical role as an enabler of the business strategy of an enterprise.

Deep Parekh

Launching New Ventures

This module provides an overview of all the elements necessary to turn an idea into a product or business.

Marc Gruber

Leadership

The Leadership module enhances the understanding of the interaction between leader and follower behavior, in teams and organizations. It assists the development of team leadership and future leaders in effective organizations with a competitive advantage.

John Antonakis

Creativity & Ideation

The objective of this course is to explore Design Thinking, develop imagination and break down barriers to evaluate and develop strategies to ensure buy-in from an organization. Participants will learn how to devise, design, develop, deliver and delight markets with new ideas.

Alistair Fee

IT Strategy

This module dives into the strategy, services, governance, and processes of an IT organization with the mission to support Business Innovation and the Digital transformation of an enterprise.

Ernest Gmunder

Corporate & Personal Branding

Brand management, especially in the digital age, is critical for success. Whether in a B2B or a B2C company, or even just thinking about your own personal brand, developing and projecting a well-developed brand is vital.

Youri Sawerschel

CSR and Organizational Ethics

Managers are confronted with a complex and unprecedented mix of social, environmental, and market issues and demands from a variety of stakeholders. The course addresses how corporations can manage rising stakeholder expectations and how managers can engage in responsible decision making and avoid ethical blindness.

Judith Schrempf-Stirling

Innovation Strategy

The Innovation Strategy module focusses on the economics and management of innovation by organizations. The intent is for participants to learn the core concepts that make innovation projects more successful and profitable, and to apply these concepts to real business cases of known successes and failures.

Chris Tucci

Organizational Dynamics

An unchanging organization is unlikely to reap the full benefits of innovation; this module explores how to harness innovation at the organization level. It will explore how to use a business’ organization (strategy, structures, people practices, processes and culture) and how to build agility, attract and retain talented people, and drive innovation.

Sasha Galbraith

Sustainable Innovation

As companies are shifting towards incorporating sustainability at the core of their businesses, innovation plays a key role in enabling the transformation of brands, products, services, and practices. In this course we explore how human-centered design, paired with technology and new business models can deliver superior sustainable innovations.

Principles of Accounting

This module will employ a refreshing mix of theory, case studies and practical real-life application to demonstrate why accounting matters to innovative firms.

Manuel Leuthold

Economics of Innovation

What are the larger factors that drive innovation and growth? How do larger economic indicaators signal trends and opportunities?

Dominique Foray

Global Economics

This course provides students with a unified framework and decision tools needed for taking financial and/or business decisions and evaluating investment opportunities in a global economy.

Luisa Lambertini

Presentation Skills

In the world of international business, the ability to effectively communicate your message and make a professional presentation is indispensable. In this module participants will “learn-by-doing” how to deliver an impactful presentation with a focus on selling their business ideas and themselves.

Christopher Lübbers

Intellectual Property Strategy

It’s important to have a strategy not only for protecting innovative ideas, but also for profiting from them. We explore how there is not just one IP strategy for all situations, and how patents may not be the most important factor.

Gaetan de Rassenfosse

Marketing in a Digital World

The course is designed to give participants an understanding of how organisations can fully exploit the marketing toolkit to develop a competitive advantage in a digital world.

Omar Merlo

Strategic Decision-making

Sometimes, the right decision is to step outside the normal patterns that bind many of our decisions. By drawing on foundational work and latest insights from the behavioral sciences, and with a special focus on biases, heuristics and social cognition, the course will provide participants with pragmatic “think tools” which help to avoid the pitfalls of human bounded rationality.

Nicole Hinrichs

Corporate Innovation & Strategy

This module focusses on how to manage innovation in corporates. The intent is for participants to learn the core concepts that make innovation projects more successful and profitable, and to apply these concepts to real business cases of known successes and failures.

Bart Clarysse

Executing & Securing Sales

Selling innovative products requires different skills and techniques; this module shows how to tailor the process to address the needs of the customer while providing benefit to the company.

Gopal RajGuru

Managerial Finance

What are the key innovations in finance, and how do you finance innovation? These are key questions this module addresses in the framework on innovative firms.

Rüdiger Fahlenbrach

Business Law

New products and services may require a fresh look at existing structures and agreements. This module examines what considerations may be paramount for innovative firms.

Alexandre Gachet

Business Innovation Challenge

The Business Innovation Challenge is designed to provide participants with the opportunity to integrate the course learnings in an applied context. Participants work on real-life cases wherein companies are facing an innovation challenge that integrates several, if not all, of the dimensions, enabling companies to test its proposed strategy and brainstorm the revenue opportunities innovation generates.

Andrea Dunbar

Change Management

Digital Transformation fundamentally changes the way how to do things within and across organizations. In the majority of cases, it will affect established dynamics between people and the required core skill set for existing roles and business functions. Change on this scale causes discomfort by protagonists on all hierarchical levels. Successful companies overcome this discomfort and thereby benefit from sustainable commitment.

Phllipp Rosenthal

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THE PROJECTS

Business Venture Project

A VITAL ELEMENT OF THE EPFL EMBA IS LEARNING TO ADDRESS ALL NECESSARY STRATEGIC AND OPERATIONAL ACTIVITIES THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT OF A BUSINESS PLAN.

It requires participants to produce a realistic and detailed multi-year action plan that identifies risks and addresses how to mitigate them. Working in teams allows participants to experience issues related to leadership, collaboration, motivation, and personal differences, and encourages groups to solve these issues to ensure the optimal outcome.

Strategic & Innovative Project

THE HIGHLY PRACTICAL STRATEGIC AND INNOVATIVE PROJECT (SIP) IS AN APPLICATION-IN-CONTEXT OF KNOWLEDGE GENERATED OVER THE COURSE OF THE EPFL EMBA PROGRAM.

This individual thesis work is usually conducted at and for the company where each participant is employed. The SIP can be an analysis of a new process, product or service, or the evaluation of transitioning an existing product or service into a new market. Alternatively, the SIP can be a detailed analysis of an existing business or planned strategy to project future performance that offers enhanced or alternative solutions. Most importantly, the SIP is intended to have practical relevance to the participant’s firm.

International Study Trip

A HIGHLIGHT OF THE EPFL EMBA PROGRAM IS THE INTERNATIONAL STUDY TRIP IN CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA.

It is an opportunity for participants to combine and apply all the learnings of this executive program in a practical setting while understanding how diverse cultural influences impact businesses. A key benefit is that participants learn that there are business opportunities in alternative markets.

Participants work in small teams, each with a young, dynamic company or organization in the Cape Town area, to help solve a current business challenge facing the company.

Accommodation, most meals, and organized activities are all included as part of the program fee, however participants are required to purchase their own flights to Cape Town.

Note: The Cape Town destination is dependent on (COVID) health & safety. Should it be necessary, the study trip’s destination may be changed.

JOIN THE AUGUST 2023 CLASS

Applications for 2023 now open.

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EPFL EMBA: HARNESSING INNOVATION