Online + Global Residencies
Lead at the highest levels with the D'Amore-McKim MS x: Strategic Technology Leadership.
Technology and the digital economy have transformed how we work, presenting complex challenges for business leaders. If you want to lead at the C-level or start your own venture, you need to know how to skillfully develop and manage digital and technological strategies across the enterprise that can launch and sustain competitive business initiatives.
In Northeastern's MS x: Strategic Technology Leadership Program, you'll develop a comprehensive approach to implementing tech-based solutions and form a powerful network among technology leaders that you can tap for support and insight. You'll choose your focus areas and complete the program in just 15 months.
Experience a hybrid format that combines in-person residencies and mentorship with live interactive classes, including three electives.
Participate in three four-day, dynamic residencies in Boston and London, where you'll build your network and dive deep into innovation topics.
Connect with a dedicated executive mentor in your industry who will shape your project and guide your professional development.
Develop a business plan to solve complex challenges related to your professional role and present at critical stages to an executive panel of technology thought leaders.
Build your network with exclusive access to events, workshops, and panels hosted by the Center for Technology Management and Digital Leadership.
Northeastern values a holistic approach to evaluating applications, considering factors such as academic performance, life as a global citizen, and a commitment to lifelong learning. Our admission decisions consider various aspects, including test scores (if provided), professional achievements, engagement with diversity and inclusion, essays, leadership, entrepreneurial pursuits, personal qualities, and overall fit. While these elements are not equally weighted, they collectively form the basis of our holistic review process. For more information, review our admissions policies. International students: This program admits students worldwide. Since the instruction is primarily online, it does not offer new F-1 or J-1 visas and won't make you eligible to apply for Optional Practical Training (OPT). You're encouraged to consult with your academic advisor to select your residency courses.
Who is an ideal candidate for this program? If you have experience using technology to further business goals, a strong record of professional achievement, and leadership potential, this program is for you. Most applicants have ten or more years of work experience after earning an undergraduate degree.
Program structure
Classes
Weekly live, online courses
Residencies
Three in Boston & London
Class begins: September & January
Time to complete: 15-20 months*
This a hybrid format features live, online interactive classes and three in-person residencies in Boston and London. Core coursework will deepen your strategic expertise as you learn to leverage technology to lead in today's digital economy. You'll choose electives and a focus area in analytics, cybersecurity, entrepreneurship, metaverse, or sustainability.
You'll develop expertise solving challenges as you prepare for an executive leadership role. You'll turn a raw idea for a transformational technology initiative into a fully developed business plan through intensive work with a dedicated executive mentor. You'll defend each phase of your business plan to a faculty and executive panel of the world's premier thinkers in technology. Over 15 months, you'll create an asset that can move your career forward immediately—with potential benefits continuing long after you complete the program.
*For students who begin in September, the program is 15 months long. For those who start in January, it lasts 20 months.
Required courses (21 credit hours)
Offers three executive seminars in which students build “chapters” that comprise their Integrated and Applied Technology Leadership (IATL) project. Primarily examines the technical and managerial challenges of implementing complex technology-based products—from system modeling, integration of modules, requirements verification, and formal specifications to the definition and overall coordination of the development team's efforts. Covers multiple product environments. Pairs students with mentors based on initial project proposal. Regular meetings with mentors offer students opportunities to refine the project and reinforce the business needs. May be repeated once.
INNO 6250 | 3 Hours
Examines how organizations invest in new technologies to gain a competitive edge. Exposes students to different methods used to improve core business performance through strategic planning, technology road mapping, and market analysis. Offers students an opportunity for hands-on experience with formulating and implementing strategic plans.
INNO 6240 | 1 Hour
Emphasizes the importance of how to market and sell new products or services, both for internal and external applications. Offers students an opportunity to acquire a comprehensive understanding of how to design strategic revenue strategies that focus on how value is determined and revenues are matched against expense investments. Guides students to explore the challenges and solutions to implementing new innovation processes that leverage digital technologies and collaborative cultures. Includes a mix of research topics, cases, and hands-on learning.
INNO 6241 | 1 Hour
Explores the policies and procedures germane to the internal operation of a technology-driven organization. Emphasizes the principles of risk management and quality control, training and documentation requirements, standards design, and IT support systems. Focuses on choosing, developing, and using operational metrics and analytics to govern a technology-driven operation and mining business intelligence from internal and external sources for use in running that operation.
INNO 6242 | 1 Hour
Introduces how to measure, analyze, and evaluate the profit impact of marketing actions (MAP) by bringing together marketing, strategy, and finance. Your organization is going to spend millions on a new marketing or strategic initiative, but how will you know if it is working? Marketing performance measurement and feedback systems enable managers to take smarter risks by assessing experimental projects and forecasting the profit potential of bigger, bolder initiatives. Offers students an opportunity to explore systems that summarize marketing productivity and suggest steps for performance improvement in marketing strategy and tactics.
MKTG 6230 | 3 Hours
Examines data mining perspectives and methods in a business context. Introduces the theoretical foundations for major data mining methods and studies how to select and use the appropriate data mining method and the major advantages for each. Students use contemporary data mining software applications and practice basic programming skills. Focuses on solving real-world problems, which require data cleaning, data transformation, and data modeling.
MISM 6212 | 3 Hours
Reviews the key theories and tools needed to understand how technological change creates new markets and prompts new business models, how technology-based firms can outcompete rivals in fast-growing markets characterized by high uncertainty, and how the evolution of technology in an industry affects the type of firm capabilities needed to succeed over time.
ENTR 6222 | 3 Hours
Seeks to help students build the cross-cultural skills necessary to comfortably and effectively work in different cultures and with people from different cultures. Discusses the alignment between the firm's business strategy and the leader's responses in a multicultural environment along with the methods for leadership effectiveness in multicultural teams and virtual environments. Using online, experiential, and discussion-based methods, offers students an opportunity to gain the self-awareness needed to generate a plan for their own global leadership development.
INTB 6226 | 3 Hours
Trains managers to understand the competitive implications of global economic policies, the business effects of technological change, and the commercial imperatives of alternative political systems at a macro level. At a micro level, it creates a framework for industry analysis in a global setting that combines economic analysis, competitive analysis, and business decision-making skills.
MECN 6200 | 3 Hours
Electives (9 credit hours)
In consultation with your advisor, you'll expand on your required courses with electives in technology-focused themes such as analytics, cybersecurity, entrepreneurship, the metaverse, and sustainability.
The required and elective courses listed above is sample curriculum and subject to change. Enrolled students should reference the academic catalog for current program requirements.
Three Global Residencies
Engage your colleagues and industry experts in Boston & London
You'll visit Boston and London for three in-person residencies, each four and a half days long. The chance to meet with colleagues, faculty, and technology though leaders is one of the most popular components of this program.
Coming together in these global residencies makes a powerful impact on each student. We'll explore issues shaping your ability to lead and up-to-the-minute perspectives you can't get anywhere else. You'll get pure and constructive honesty on your master's business plan meant to help you grow into a C-level role. Each residency will change the way you think.
Art Langer, Associate Vice Provost and Professor of Practice
Strategic Disruption Residency
The Strategic Disruption residency addresses market dynamics and planning for investment in new technologies. Attend in either Boston or London.
Innovation Leaders Studio
The Innovation Leaders Studio examines the challenges of implementing new products and services. Attend in either Boston or London.
Executive Operations Summit
The Executive Operations Summit explores managing operations for a technology-driven organization. Join your entire cohort in Boston.
Executive mentors
Work with a dedicated executive mentor in your field.
When a high-level leader takes a keen interest in your professional development, it can change your career trajectory. The right mentor is a trusted adviser, a sounding board for complex decisions, and a connection to a broader world of thought leaders who can shape your future.
That's why mentorship is integral to this program. An experienced industry executive with direct experience in your industry or project area will choose to pair with you as your mentor. Your mentor will be a member of our outstanding network of technology executives at Northeastern's Center for Technology Management and Digital Leadership (CTMDL).
Your mentor will…
- Help shape your master's project business plan from raw idea into a viable initiative
- Meet with you at least once a month and fuel your project's progress
- Help you build your network with other leaders who are relevant to your project or career
- Guide and prepare you for life in the C-Suite
220+
executive mentors worldwide across 30+ industries
Dedicated Mentors + Powerful Network
The Center for Technology Management & Digital Learning
Through a mix of courses, workshops, and networking opportunities, CTMDL creates agile leaders ready to make an impact in business and technology. Access is normally through a paid membership. But as an MS x: Strategic Technology Leadership student, you'll enjoy exclusive access to invitation only events and workshops. As a graduate, you'll be eligible for ongoing membership.
Master's business plan
Build a career-changing asset + C-level expertise
Our MS x: Strategic Technology Leadership Program centers on a master's project that spans the duration of the 15-month program. You'll design a technology solution that solves a complex business challenge related directly to your current professional position or proposed business venture; making an immediate impact and giving you a testing ground for new strategies in managing technology adoption. You'll walk away with a valuable professional asset and experience immediately applicable to your career—and a portable tool that can benefit you long after you complete the program.
What you'll do
- Choose a transformative technology project
- Collaborate with your mentor to shape it into a detailed business plan
- Incorporate feedback from your mentor, classmates, faculty, and executives
- Deliver an oral defense at each project phase
How you'll benefit
- Gain direct experience producing effective business plans
- Leave the program with a comprehensive professional asset
- Build a working relationsip with your mentor and other executives
In the first semester, you'll jumpstart your transformative business plan and begin honing the pitch with your mentor. Your first global residency is a chance to meet colleagues and industry insiders. You'll focus on:
- Craft and share your project pitch
- Meet your mentor
- Develop Phase 1 of your business plan with guidance from your mentor, outlining your approach for harnessing technology to elevate your business
- Attend your first global residency in Boston or London to learn how to gain a competitive edge by investing in technology
- During the residency, present an oral defense for Phase 1 to a panel of faculty and leading technology executives
Spring work includes:
- Begin work on Phase 2 of your business plan, defining the components of your execution strategy
- Attend your second global residency in Boston or London to examine management issues related to developing new technology products or services
- During the residency, present an oral defense of Phase 2
Summer work includes:
- Continue work on your project plan
At this stage, your business plan is nearing completion and the final residency in Boston is a chance to see your growing professional network in the full. You'll focus on:
- Begin work on Phase 3 of your business plan, describing the long-term infrastructure you'll build to support your fully implemented initiative
- Attend the final global residency in Boston to explore the policies and procedures necessary to lead a tech-driven organization
- During the residency, present an oral defense of Phase 3
- Finalize your business plan
- Graduate with a fully portable asset, a new network including some of the world's most prominent technology thought leaders, and a mentor whose input you can seek as you advance your career
Featured faculty
Discover unparalleled business education at the D'Amore-McKim School of Business, where world-class faculty members bring a wealth of expertise to the forefront. These professors are among the many who bring a commitment to cutting-edge research, real-world application, and immersive learning experiences.
Arthur M. Langer
Tucker Marion
Fernando F. Suarez
Samina Karim
Kevin Boudreau
Stine Grodal
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Next steps
Questions? Get in touch.
Jin Hi Rheem
j.rheem@northeastern.edu
How to apply
- Application form
- Application fee ($100)
- A personal statement (<=500 words) and a short essay (<=300 words)
- Resumé
- Two letters of recommendation
- Academic transcript(s) from all undergraduate and graduate schools attended
- Optional GMAT/GRE test scores (for more information, review our admissions policies)
- TOEFL, IELTS, Duolingo, or PTE Academic (for international students only, view more information and waiver eligibility in our admissions policies)
- Passport or permanent residency card (if applicable)