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Program Details

Developing Leaders in a Digital World

DeGroote’s EMBA in Digital Transformation will provide you with the tools necessary to be an adaptive leader in a continuously disrupted world by new technology and advancements.

Over 14 months, as you complete this program you will develop the following skills:

  • Understanding of core EMBA topics such as finance, marketing and strategy along with data literacy, data science and business analytics.
  • Using data for insight development in making strategic decisions, mitigating risk and driving business innovation.

Our continuously evolving curriculum and custom, integrated cases are developed around current and emerging business and technology trends.

Program Details 1
Program Details 2

More than Just a High Performer

DeGroote provides every EMBA student with one-on-one coaching as part of our Personal Leadership Effectiveness program.

You will enter this program as a high performer in your current role, adept at leading teams through projects. Still, you will emerge as a leader prepared to handle the challenges and opportunities of a digital future. As a strategic thinker, you will become a leader increasingly relied upon to navigate organizations through current and future challenges and opportunities.

The Curriculum

The Executive MBA in Digital Transformation has a continuously changing curriculum and custom, integrated cases developed around current and emerging business and technology trends.

Foundations

The rapidly growing volume, variety, and velocity of data, along with the emergence of new digitally-driven innovations and technologies presents significant and novel opportunities and challenges to businesses. The primary goal of Module 1 is to provide students with both a foundation in core management concepts and help them draw on this knowledge. Students will ask the right questions better, generate and communicate insights from analyses, and translate them into actions.

Location: Burlington and Toronto, Ontario

Executive MBA students will be introduced to foundational concepts in accounting and finance and will be presented the conceptual frameworks to guide critical and practical decisions in a digital context. The course will lead candidates through discussion and analysis of integrated materials, including financial statements, markets, value creation and destruction, and the nature of risk-management.

T714

Instructor: Arshad Ahmad and Kevin Veenstra

This course provides an overview of the art and science of extracting information from data. Beginning with the basic elements of data analysis, students will be exposed to real-world data and will work to harness the power of R for practical experience in the world of data modelling. Topics in this course will form the backbone of analytics used throughout the Executive MBA program.

T711

Instructor: Mahmut Parlar

Understanding the role that information systems have in an organization is key to supporting evidence-based management and operations. This course is designed to ensure that Executive MBA students are equipped with the knowledge to make informed decisions involving these systems and better understand their strategic and transformative role across various business functions. Using a variety of learning approaches, including case studies, workshops, and a group consulting project, candidates will gain exposure first-hand to the opportunities and challenges facing businesses today.

T713

Instructor: Khaled Hassanein

This course introduces core principles of strategic marketing through experiential learning, ensuring that both newcomers to the field and seasoned marketers alike will gain fresh perspective and practical tools to apply in their work. Topics covered range from core marketing concepts through to analysis and decision-making skills, with the goal of ensuring Executive MBA students are better equipped to make data-driven, strategic decisions.

T712

Instructor: Manish Kacker

The Leadership Coaching program helps you gain insights into how your own leadership thinking styles and behavioral approaches may be either facilitating or impeding your leadership effectiveness in both your professional and personal lives. By taking part in a Transformative Learning Experience (TLE) embedded within the entire program, you will be given the opportunity to identify and make changes directed at helping you move closer to the leader you wish to be — something you will be asked to articulate up front in a personalized leadership vision statement.

Instructor: Teal McAteer

Entrepreneurship & Marketing Analytics

Whether launching a new organization or extending an existing one in new directions, firms are increasingly drawing on the value-creating potential of digitally-driven innovations, technologies and Big Data/Data Analytics insights.

This module will examine how these factors are reshaping the world of marketing and offering new opportunities for entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs to create new business ventures. This module will introduce students to the established firms and the start-ups who are transforming the digital landscape.

Location: Burlington and Toronto, Ontario

Increasingly, large corporations are reaching into start-up communities to build their innovation strategies based on the principles of how early-stage innovation is designed and delivered. Meanwhile, start-ups are moving away from a focus on big, front-end product design processes by applying Lean Startup principles to rapidly iterate minimum viable products. This course will take Executive MBAstudents on a high-level journey, learning how to apply these principles and methodologies – in an experiential setting with start-up partners – to become the next generation of entrepreneurs.

T721

Instructor: Michael Hartmann and Stuart Sherman

A world once dominated by “madmen” now belongs to the “mathmen.” This course is designed around the science behind getting the right message to the right customer at the right time in the right channel. Covering topics including predictive analytics, data visualization, big data, machine learning, and data mining, this course provides Executive MBA candidates with hands-on learning through site visits, case studies, and projects. Candidates will leave with the tools necessary not only to make informed, data-driven decisions, but they will also be able to visualize and communicate them in an effective way.

T722

Instructor: Paul Tedesco

This course provides evidence-based knowledge as the platform for aligning talent management policies and practices with an organization’s strategic priorities in a time when digital transformation is disrupting the way business and services are provided. Candidates will cover core topics in talent management and talent analytics, gaining a big picture appreciation of current analytics practices and applications. Leaders will walk away better equipped to “ask the right questions” of their talent management and data scientist teams, and contribute to building an inspired, agile workforce.

T731

Instructor: Rick Hackett

The role, responsibilities, and attributes of leaders have changed when it comes to innovation within an organization, particularly in large “legacy” organizations. This course will equip Executive MBA students with the tools to assess and overcome organizational barriers to innovation, specifically when that innovation has the potential to disrupt established models, practices, and norms. Candidates will be introduced to techniques like design thinking and its focus on user-centric insights, and will be challenged to think critically about current leadership and innovation models.

T734

Instructor: Michael Hartmann

The Leadership Coaching program helps you gain insights into how your own leadership thinking styles and behavioral approaches may be either facilitating or impeding your leadership effectiveness in both your professional and personal lives. By taking part in a Transformative Learning Experience (TLE) embedded within the entire program, you will be given the opportunity to identify and make changes directed at helping you move closer to the leader you wish to be — something you will be asked to articulate up front in a personalized leadership vision statement.

Instructor: Teal McAteer

Under the guidance of the faculty instructor, supervisors and industry sponsors, students will work on a capstone project where they will apply program learnings in a consulting capacity at an external organization. Students will gain tangible experiences and insights with the opportunities and challenges associated with the digital transformation of organizations. This will be accomplished by completing projects that are relevant and meaningful to the themes and topics of the program. Students will gain an understanding of how emerging technologies can revolutionize the way decision makers formulate business, innovation, and digital strategies. Students will also gain practical experience in leadership, teamwork and stakeholder management.

T710

Instructor: Dean Foerter

Thinking & Leading Beyond the Bytes

This module will help students explore the organizational leadership challenges of building direction, alignment, and commitment within a fast-moving ecosystem of technology partners. Students will develop a critical “Big Data” mindset to understand how and when to leverage data analytics to support talent management decisions. They will draw on other modes of inquiry, such as Design Thinking, to support creative problem-solving and new business innovation. Students will also complete their Personal Effectiveness course with a focus on practical communication skills and strategies.

Please note: Due to US holidays, dates are subject to rescheduling.

Location: Silicon Valley, California

This course questions and critiques the idea of “conventional” management thinking and evaluates the nature of the evidence on which managers base (or at least justify) their decisions. Topics covered include organizational culture and structure, leadership styles, cultural values, and ultimately decision-making. Executive MBA students will be challenged to view organizations from a different perspective and learn how one can best manage, lead, and develop the capacity to extrapolate meaning from experience.

T732

Instructor: David Hurst

Teams and organizations are reflections of their leaders, therefore understanding discretion and impact as a leader is a critical strategic asset. This course focuses on the characteristics and actions of leaders, and the strategic processes through which they shape organizational change and performance. Executive MBA students will analyze case studies, undergo a leadership assessment, and learn to craft and deliver a vision statement as part of a visionary leadership workshop.

T733

Instructor: Yair Berson

The role, responsibilities, and attributes of leaders have changed when it comes to innovation within an organization, particularly in large “legacy” organizations. This course will equip Executive MBA students with the tools to assess and overcome organizational barriers to innovation, specifically when that innovation has the potential to disrupt established models, practices, and norms. Candidates will be introduced to techniques like design thinking and its focus on user-centric insights, and will be challenged to think critically about current leadership and innovation models.

T734

Instructor: Michael Hartmann

The Leadership Coaching program helps you gain insights into how your own leadership thinking styles and behavioral approaches may be either facilitating or impeding your leadership effectiveness in both your professional and personal lives. By taking part in a Transformative Learning Experience (TLE) embedded within the entire program, you will be given the opportunity to identify and make changes directed at helping you move closer to the leader you wish to be — something you will be asked to articulate up front in a personalized leadership vision statement.

Instructor: Leadership Coaching

Under the guidance of the faculty instructor, supervisors and industry sponsors, students will work on a capstone project where they will apply program learnings in a consulting capacity at an external organization. Students will gain tangible experiences and insights with the opportunities and challenges associated with the digital transformation of organizations. This will be accomplished by completing projects that are relevant and meaningful to the themes and topics of the program. Students will gain an understanding of how emerging technologies can revolutionize the way decision makers formulate business, innovation, and digital strategies. Students will also gain practical experience in leadership, teamwork and stakeholder management.

T710

Instructor: Dean Foerter

Value Disruption in the Digital Age

This integrative module weaves together concepts and content from the preceding modules and the program’s digital transformation themes. DeGroote will equip students will be equipped with the strategic knowledge and tools needed to leverage the firm’s dynamic capabilities and partners’ ecosystem to create value. Faculty will draw on industry cases to illustrate examples of how businesses have both succeeded and failed in their attempts to leverage digitally-driven innovations, technologies, and insights.

This course will highlight timely and relevant topics emanating from digital transformation. Students will critically analyze innovation trends to help adapt their organization’s strategy and decision-making activities to a continuously changing digital environment. Additionally, the team projects will culminate in a Capstone report and presentation. Students have an opportunity to apply, in a team context, what they have learned to a real digital transformation issue. This unique learning experience will provide tangible value to their organizations.

Location: Burlington and Toronto, Ontario

This course will enhance your capacity as an executive digital strategist, and will provide the knowledge and tools necessary for the development of a clear digital vision, and a cogent understanding of how an organization creates value for existing and potential customers. Focusing specifically on organizations in technology-intensive industries, Executive MBA students will strengthen their ability to make strategic decisions, and learn how to gain a competitive advantage by leveraging both digital and human assets.

T741

Instructor: Nick Bontis

Understanding the valuation of intangible assets is a key financial component of digital organizations. Executive MBA students will explore the strategic assumptions, theoretical underpinnings, and the practical applications of contemporary valuation theory, with the goal of evaluating company’s strategic position and its ability to adjust to new conditions.

T742

Instructor: Anna Danielova

Changing from year to year based on recent trends and Executive MBA student preferences, this course will introduce students to emerging issues drawn developing digital challenges and opportunities. Candidates will be prepared to adapt their organization’s strategy and decision-making activities to a continuously changing environment. Past topics have included: Artificial Intelligence, Electric Vehicles and Blockchain.

T743

Instructor: Milena Head

The Leadership Coaching program helps you gain insights into how your own leadership thinking styles and behavioral approaches may be either facilitating or impeding your leadership effectiveness in both your professional and personal lives. By taking part in a Transformative Learning Experience (TLE) embedded within the entire program, you will be given the opportunity to identify and make changes directed at helping you move closer to the leader you wish to be — something you will be asked to articulate up front in a personalized leadership vision statement.

Instructor: Teal McAteer

Under the guidance of the faculty instructor, supervisors and industry sponsors, students will work on a capstone project where they will apply program learnings in a consulting capacity at an external organization. Students will gain tangible experiences and insights with the opportunities and challenges associated with the digital transformation of organizations. This will be accomplished by completing projects that are relevant and meaningful to the themes and topics of the program. Students will gain an understanding of how emerging technologies can revolutionize the way decision makers formulate business, innovation, and digital strategies. Students will also gain practical experience in leadership, teamwork and stakeholder management.

T710

Instructor: Dean Foerter

The Fine Print

Here is what you need to know as you begin comparing DeGroote’s EMBA to other programs:

  • 14 months in length
  • It begins virtually every July and is built around four in-person residencies (one per module)
  • Residencies take place in September, February, May, and September (dates are confirmed at the start of the program)
  • Each residency in Burlington is 12 days long and is held at the Ron Joyce Centre in Burlington, Ontario
  • The Silicon Valley residency, which is eight days long, takes place in May and is held in and around Palo Alto, California
  • EMBA candidates participate in online work in between residencies (approximately 20 hours per week)

Next Steps

Are you interested in the EMBA program? We encourage you to contact us. Subscribe to our mailing list to receive the latest updates to our program, or if you are ready to start the process, let us begin the conversation by reviewing your experience.

Review My Experience

The EMBA in Digital Transformation is 14-months in length, beginning online every July, and is built around four residencies, one per module. Concentrating classroom requirements into these residencies makes travel and scheduling more practical for candidates who are working full-time. Each residency is 8-12 days long and they take place in September, February, May, and September. The May residency takes place in Silicon Valley, California, with the rest held at our campus in Burlington, Ontario. Candidates participate in online work between residencies. 

As an EMBA in Digital Transformation student, you will:

  • Study core EMBA topics such as finance, marketing, and strategy, while also learning technical content more often associated with master-level courses in data science and business analytics.
  • Learn how to use data to make strategic decisions, mitigate risk, and drive business innovation.
  • Broaden your technical and managerial knowledge while deepening your strategic thinking skills and leadership capabilities.

The Executive MBA in Digital Transformation has a continuously changing curriculum and custom, integrated cases developed around current and emerging business and technology trends. Students will also participate in a Personal Leadership Effectiveness program, which will provide one-on-one coaching throughout their studies.