Northwestern is the only institution worldwide with two degree programs included in BusinessWeek’s recently released list of “World’s Best Design Programs.”
Both the MMM program, a joint two-year degree from the Kellogg School of Management and McCormick School of Engineering, and McCormick’s Master’s in Product Development earned spots on the unranked list, which featured 30 schools that aim to use “design for strategy.”
“We believe that design offers a competitive advantage for the country,” said McCormick Dean Julio Ottino of the MMM program. “When you flip an iPod around, it says it’s made in China but it also says designed in the USA, so the new ideas associated with design offer a competitive advantage here.”
The McCormick Master’s in Product Development program is a part-time program focusing on leadership and product development. While in MMM, students obtain a double degree – an MBA and a Master’s in Engineering Management – in just two years. Although the program began in 1990, it was reorganized two years ago to focus more on design aspects coupled with operations. Every year, 60 students are accepted into the program.
The joint-degree program has so far been “very successful,” and students have been excited about the design component, said Don Norman, the program co-director.
“It’s amazing in this short period of time BusinessWeek recognized how good we were,” Norman said.
Students take a range of courses in the business-engineering-design curriculum of the program, with an emphasis on design. The program specializes in operations, design and innovation, which all overlap within the business and engineering worlds.
“Business people and engineers are really good at solving problems, but how do they know it’s the right problem?” Norman said. “What we teach is design thinking and what a designer always does is say, ‘What is the real problem I’m trying to solve?'”
Ottino said students need a well-rounded education in order to “expand (their) horizons.””Most schools of engineering in the U.S. are completely in the left brain side,” Ottino said.”What we are doing here is adding the right brain component. Design is one way that allows you to do this.”
After college, students with the degree enter a variety of professions, from financial consulting to design or manufacturing companies.
“Everything we do is design, and so learning how to think about the real purpose, learning how to understand the real needs of the people – that’s what’s so important,” Norman said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re working in a bank, or in a factory, or in a store … just thinking is invaluable.”
Associate Director Steven Fischer said graduates “understand both sides of the equation: design and operations.” Fischer added that alumnus Matthew S. Levatich, president of Harley-Davidson Motor Company, is an example of a graduate who entered a managerial position that utilizes both areas of knowledge.
“We are really a pioneer as far as major MBA programs that are also focusing on design now, so the combination of design and operations is unique,” Fischer said.
