Program Enhancements

The Simmons MBA is no ordinary MBA. Our program reflects our commitment to meeting the distinct needs of ambitious, successful women. But while we recognize the advantage of having an MBA from Simmons, we also know that different women have different aspirations. Therefore, we offer an MBA Certificate in Entrepreneurship as an optional component to further enhance your degree. See below for details.

MBA Certificate in Entrepreneurship

There are more than 6.2 million women-owned firms in the United States, employing 9.2 million people and generating sales of $1.15 trillion. Each day more and more women are joining the entrepreneurial ranks, as women continue to open businesses at more than twice the rate of men.

At Simmons School of Management, women can now earn an MBA Certificate in Entrepreneurship designed specifically for female entrepreneurs. Whether you plan to launch your own business or return to work in an existing organization, you’ll learn how to apply skills for creating and sustaining ventures that are profitable and competitive.

At Simmons, our focus is on women entrepreneurs and on the challenges they face, whether these are in establishing credibility, securing financing, or negotiating the best terms with clients. Also, while other business schools focus mostly on theory, Simmons focuses on implementation and execution — from identifying new market opportunities, to writing a business plan that attracts funding, and on to managing growth and
future expansion.

Certificate Overview

The Certificate will involve the following, sequenced curriculum:
  • Stage 1: Pathways to New Ventures: Identifying and Exploiting New Business Opportunities
    You will gain an overview of the opportunity identification process by examining how people, the industry, and the social environment interact as you identify and/or create and shape entrepreneurial and organizational opportunities. You will be introduced to entrepreneurial strategies for information gathering and analysis as well as strategies for developing the entrepreneur's network of intellectual, social, and financial support. In this course, you will learn the processes of identifying and evaluating potential business opportunities.
  • Stage 2: Entrepreneurship and New Venture Management
    This course is designed to guide you in the preparation of a business plan, with the emphasis on attracting outside funding and resources for the business. Using readings and “live” entrepreneurial cases, you will also learn to make recommendations appropriate to the various phases of the management of a start-up. Analysis of business successes and failures will help identify the challenges of starting a totally new activity or enhancing an existing venture.
  • Stage 3: Growth Strategies for the Emerging Enterprise
    This course focuses on growth strategies of emerging ventures to determine challenges that may arise at different stages of the business life cycle. Using a case and field study methodology, you will analyze and gather information on a series of strategic development challenges of a growing venture (i.e. strategic planning, resource allocation). The course will emphasize how to effectively apply this process to an entrepreneurial enterprise and, specifically, how to thoroughly critique the operations of the business at various growth stages. Finally, in this course, you will be introduced to how growth can be managed and how a successful exit can be achieved.
  • Stage 4: Entrepreneurship Practicum
    By working directly in an entrepreneurial firm, you will have the opportunity to bridge theory and practice in a three-month fellowship. Through this practicum, you will gain valuable insight and learning into the complexities of launching and managing a new venture that can be later leveraged when you start your own business and become operational. Further, you will be provided with opportunities to directly apply and develop your entrepreneurial leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills, as it directly relates to a woman-led venture.

Through the completion of the MBA Certificate in Entrepreneurship, you will have an increased capacity to:

  • Create and grow new ventures, either independently or within existing organizations. These ventures will have a sustainable, profitable, and competitive advantage.
  • Return to an existing organization or family-owned business and successfully manage and grow the business.
  • Import the entrepreneurial way of thinking and acting in existing corporations, non-profits, or governmental institutions.

The MBA Certificate in Health Care Management

With advances in medical technology occurring at a phenomenal rate, and the demand for quality health care on the rise, the need for strong, knowledgeable leaders in health care is more critical than ever before. Simmons developed the MBA Certificate in Health Care Management (CHCM) specifically to meet this critical need.

In collaboration with the Simmons School of Health Sciences (SHS), the School of Management (SOM) offers this specialized program to prepare MBA students and MBA degree holders to address the unique and demanding requirements of health care management.  By augmenting the rigorous business skills of an MBA with the knowledge gained from the Simmons nationally accredited Health Care Management program, the CHCM graduate will be well equipped to tackle the challenges facing health care managers today.

Like the Simmons MBA, the CHCM program is flexible, offering full- and part-time options to meet the need of the busy student or business professional. Through a mix of hands on coursework, individual and group projects, and practicum experience, students are immersed in real-world issues related to health care decision-making and economics. They are also exposed to best practice business modes, providing them with the tools needed to be leaders in the field.

To complete the MBA program with the CHCM, a total of 54 credits is required. A stand-alone CHCM is available to SOM MBA alumnae and to others who have received their MBA from AACSB-accredited institutions.

For more information or to apply to the MBA Certificate in Health Care Management program, please call 617-521-3839 or email healthcare@simmons.edu.

PDF of the full CHCM brochure is also available here.

 

 

 

 

FIND OUT IF A SIMMONS MBA IS RIGHT FOR YOU

Students may take up to two courses in either September or January before fully enrolling in the MBA Program. 

Find Out More

Contact the Admissions Office for course schedules and admission to this program.

Certificate Highlights

Business Plan Competition
The Certificate Program will help prepare you to enter our Silverman Business Plan Competition to be held in the Fall. The award for the winner will be $10,000.

Fellowships and Tuition Waivers
Fellowships and scholarships, including tuition waivers, are available to support students earning the Certificate. In addition, in partnership with the John Hancock Foundation and the Commonwealth Institute, we are currently awarding fellowships for students during Stages 3 and 4, including the placement of fellows with women of color entrepreneurs.