International Master in Strategic Design for Innovation and Transformation

Course

Duration: 1 year – next intake: March 2025

Format: Digital Learning + 2 face-to-face weeks

Language: English

“A new breed of design leader can help companies unleash their business potentials by meaningful innovations.”

In a complex world awash with technology, fast-moving socio-cultural changes, and ultra-competitive business challenges, executives are asked to unlock a step change in business performance.

Envisioning meaningful innovations, leading human-centric transformations and engaging employees through responsible purposes represent the ultimate goals to address.

The cultural project at the basis of the International Master in Strategic Design for Innovation and Transformation (SDIT), developed jointly by POLIMI GSoM and POLI.design, aims to prepare designers and managers for navigating and driving the actual complex challenges and for intercepting the growing demand – by big corporations and enterprises that operate in business management consulting – of professional profiles capable of combining design attitude and abilities with classical analytical-managerial skills. This entails planning, coordinating, and implementing consistent design operations and processes to meet the design direction, the strategic framework, and performances targets.

For further information download the brochure: DOWNLOAD.

You can apply at the following link: https://apply.gsom.polimi.it/login

Documentation should be sent to:
POLIMI Graduate School of Management
20156 MILAN (MI)
Phone: +39 02 23992820
Email: infoexecutivemasters@gsom.polimi.it

Didactics

Attendance

Attendance is compulsory for the 2 face-to-face weeks. For what concerns the Live Sessions, it is possible to attend 50% of them asynchronously, i.e. recorded.

Training objectives

The Master SDIT aims to prepare designers and managers for navigating and driving the current complex challenges, which means being able to:

• imagine meaningful innovations able to improve human wellbeing and to impact society;
• inspire colleagues and stakeholders to pursue strategic transformation;
• lead design projects activating virtuous employee engagement and breaking the culture of silos among different business areas;
• exploit the opportunities provided by digital technologies through the interplay between artificial intelligence and human intuition as well as big and thick data;
• stimulate entrepreneurial mindsets to activate and promote agile projects;
• organise the creative process to favour the integration with operations.

Didactic Plan

The International Master in Strategic Design for Innovation and Transformation (SDIT) is a 1-year programme. The academic structure is divided into 4 main blocks and ends with a final Project Work.

This programme includes a combination of different initiatives: face-to-face experiences such as company visits to meet innovation and design managers, a cultural tour to witness the Italian evolution of design, and a visit to professional Labs of modern masters of design. Furthermore, during the Master course, candidates will participate in two Digital Bootcamps: remote workshop sessions promoted by leading design-driven companies.

A typical week for our students is structured as follows:

• WEEK type A: Video Clips available on the Digital Platform (max 16) + One Live session (2.5 hours)

OR

• WEEK type B: Two live sessions (2.5 hours each)

Each course will last for two weeks and can combine the two structures (A+B) or include two live sessions for each week (B+B).

Live sessions are held online on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7.00 until 9.30 PM CET.

Didactic Modules

The teaching project is divided into 4 main blocks:

• Innovation and Design

The “Innovation and Design” block interprets strategy making as a process strongly affected by the development of innovation and the role that design plays in the organisation. Mainly, it provides an overview of strategy-making concepts related to a specific industrial setting where creativity management and design represent key assets. On the other hand, the block treats Corporate Entrepreneurship and Organisation Transformation as fundamental components to sustain continuous renewal and align the organisational posture to the strategic purposes.

• Leadership and Engagement

The “Leadership and Engagement” block provides an overview of theories and actional behaviours to illustrate leadership to create a culture of innovation, inspiring the team and stakeholders and activating a virtuous process of engagement across organisational silos. This part of the Master presents the different nature of Leadership: effectively developing capabilities to manage change and innovation in organisational contexts. The block connects Decision-Making approaches with an in-depth review of the constructs of Organisational Behaviour and Business Process Management. Furthermore, the conclusive part presents the overlapping area between Design culture and Organisational culture.

• Data and Creativity

The “Data and Creativity” block is hinged on the central theme of data. Over the last twenty years, the subject of data has profoundly changed how companies create strategies, generate innovations, and interface with users. While Big Data provides immediate market feedback on consumer preferences and trends, creativity often works with other data: it analyses the dataset differently from the way in which data mining systems can. Creativity feeds on ‘weak’ data, peripheral data that is not collected globally, but derived from a specific context of use. After a general overview of the role of Big Data in innovation strategies and processes, the block will focus on how to conduct User research and gather qualitative data to generate valuable insights. Thus, the content will present how to transform services leveraging multiple data sources and how data can be grasped

• Design Ops and Transformation

The “Design Ops and Transformation” block aims to break down the myth of the designer and his chaotic work outside the organisational rules and business procedures. After an overview of open innovation and collaborative mechanisms logic, the block focuses on modern creative project management methodologies: agile methodologies, design methods and the organisational rules underlying UX/UI projects. The modules in this block articulate advanced didactic methods that see the cohabitation of the discussion of case studies, the development of group projects, and the introduction of some software related to the management of DesignOps. 

During the second half of the Master, participants are required to carry out a Project Work, which will be discussed at the end of the course. The objective of the Project Work is to develop a consultancy project with the support of the MIP Politecnico di Milano Faculty.

Working closely with Politecnico di Milano professors and researchers, participants in the programme will have the opportunity to apply the tools and methods learned during the SDIT Master to tackle issues of interest to companies and build relationships of great value to their professional careers.

Title Released

At the end of the course, upon passing the final examination, the first level university Master’s degree “International Master in Strategic Design for Innovation and Transformation FLEX” will be awarded in English.

Employment Opportunities

The professional figure, once achieved, may occupy positions and cover roles traditionally linked to the development of product-service innovation, such as Design Manager, Design Strategist, Innovation Manager, Product or Brand Manager. Alternatively, given the increasing recourse to design by business management companies, the figure created may be employed as Design Consultant or Design Specialist in medium and large design agencies and design consultancies.

Admission

Requirements

The ideal candidate is a professional, graduated in Design-related degrees, including Engineering and Architecture, or Social Sciences, with at least 3 years of work experience, who want to combine design attitude and abilities with classical analytical-managerial skills. This entails planning, coordinating, and implementing consistent design operations and processes to meet the design direction, the strategic framework, and performances targets.

Deadlines

Applications are processed on a rolling basis. Since the number of seats in class is limited, candidates are encouraged to apply as early as possible. Should the course become fully subscribed before the deadline dates, applications will close earlier.

You can apply at the following link: https://apply.gsom.polimi.it/login

Documentation should be sent to:
POLIMI Graduate School of Management
20156 MILAN (MI)
Phone: +39 02 23992820
Email: infoexecutivemasters@gsom.polimi.it

Price

For individuals the cost of the Specializing Master is €17,500.00 broken down as follows:
• €500 – Politecnico di Milano enrolment fee
• €17,000.00 – attendance fee

For those sponsored by a company the tuition fee amounts to €20.500.

The cost of the 2 face-to-face experiences is included in the tuition fee with the exclusion of living expenses (travel, accommodation, lunch and dinner).

MIP Politecnico di Milano awards contributions to deserving participants in the SDIT programme. The contributions are in recognition of outstanding merit or achievement in both the academic and professional fields. The criteria for each contribution is diverse, with some of them open to all applicants, whilst others are specifically designed for applicants based on individual circumstance.

Candidates should indicate in the application form if they would like to apply for financial aid at the time of application. Later requests for financial aid will not be considered.

Participants sponsored by their company are kindly requested to write to infoexecutivemasters@gsom.polimi.it for further details.

HOW DOES THE FINANCIAL AID PROGRAM WORK?

1. Submit your application online and tick the option that you are interested in POLIMI GSoM financial aid
2. Fill out the Financial Aid Request Form you will receive via e-mail and upload it on the online platform.

COUNTRY BASED CONTRIBUTIONS

POLIMI GSoM offers partial waivers up to 30% of the tuition fee to talented individuals from various countries in order to promote international diversity within the class.

To be eligible for this contribution, you must meet the admission requirements and submit at the application stage a small passage (no more than 500 words) on the following topic:

“How do you think your cultural background can add value to the SDIT class?”

POLIMI4WOMEN

At POLIMI GSoM we actively promote gender equality, which is why we made this contribution to allow women greater accessibility to the programme, and in doing so to increase class diversity.

if you have shown outstanding merit and achievement in an academic or professional sense, you might be eligible for these contributions of up to €4,000 each.

If you’d like to try out for this competition, you need to meet the admission requirements and send us a small passage (no more than 500 words) at the application stage. Write about the following topic:

“When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful.”
Malala Yousafzai – 2014 Nobel Peace Prize Winner

Tell us about the biggest challenge you have lived in your professional or private life as a woman.

POLIMI GSoM ALUMNI WAIVER

Contributions on the tuition fee are available for Alumni of various programs at POLIMI GSoM:

– Alumni who completed a Master program, an MBA or an Executive MBA are entitled to a discount of 25%;
– Alumni who completed an Executive Path (Management Academy) are entitled to a discount of 10%.

Please note that in case of company sponsorship, if partial, the Alumni Waiver is applied proportionally on the individual fee. If the company sponsorship is full, the Alumni Waiver will not be applied.
For information on how to apply for this contribution, please write to infoexecutivemasters@gsom.polimi.it

POLIMI ALUMNI WAIVER

Alumni of Politecnico di Milano who have previously shown a strong commitment to their studies and a desire to further their professional development through continued education are entitled to a contribution from MIP of € 2,000.

For information on how to apply for this contribution, please write to infoexecutivemasters@gsom.polimi.it

CLASS TUTOR CONTRIBUTION

Are you willing to act as a Class Representative or Tutor? If so, you could receive a contribution of up to 35%. We are offering this to two of our International Master in Strategic Design for Innovation and Transformation candidates.

Find out more.

For more information, please write to us at infoexecutivemasters@gsom.polimi.it

LOANS

If you are an international candidate or Italian candidate, you can access student loans to cover your tuition fee and other expenses.
Please write to us at infoexecutivemasters@gsom.polimi.it for more details.

DEUTSCHE BILDUNG.
THE ALTERNATIVE TO A STUDENT LOAN.

Access a completely flexible loan with Deutsche Bildung, which finances almost all programmes and subjects in Germany and abroad. They’ve been providing monthly as well as single and returning payments to motivated students since 2007. You also have access to the extra-curricular-program WissenPlus, which focuses on the improvement of important social and professional skills. The repayments are income-linked, meaning that you pay back a fixed percentage over a certain time once you’ve started your first job.

You can do the online application anytime throughout the year at www.deutsche-bildung.de.

Faculty

The Faculty is made up of professors of Design and Management from POLI.design and POLIMI GSoM.

SDIT can also boast of a collaboration with professionals with consolidated experience in the field of design who are able to transmit the lessons learned and best practices derived from their work experience. This translates into a highly hands-on approach based on lessons with real cases, exercises, group work and project work supervised by professors.