Strategy, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship
Strategy, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship are related fields of study that consider how managers undertake organization-level actions and deliver performance outcomes. The area has a reputation for thought leadership and award-winning teaching on these big picture issues that every manager needs to know: How are businesses developed and structured, especially around a new innovation? How are strategies formulated and implemented? How is superior firm performance derived and sustained? How should businesses respond to major external shocks and changes? How can businesses expand, diversify, and enter international markets? How should a complex multidivisional and multinational enterprise be managed?
“Our faculty are dedicated to equipping students with the innovative strategies, entrepreneurial mindset, and global leadership skills essential for thriving in today’s fast-evolving business environment.”
Arkadiy Sakhartov
Strategy, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Area Chair
Experiential Learning
Gies students have unique opportunities to gain hands-on experience working on real-world projects for organizations of all kinds. This type of experience means you graduate more prepared for the real world, more prepared to add value from day one, and more prepared to succeed in your career. Students can explore their interest in strategic management, entrepreneurship, and international business with organizations like EntreCorps, Illinois Business Consulting, Illinois Consulting Academy, iVenture, and the Origin Ventures Office of Entrepreneurship.
INQUIRE
The Initiative for Qualitative Research in Innovation and Entrepreneurship (INQUIRE) supports research that draws upon interviews, observations, and archival data to understand the complex social processes underlying the creation, development and growth of novel ideas, innovative business models, and new organizations.
Research
Faculty in the Strategy, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship area use multiple disciplinary and interdisciplinary lenses to research a diverse range of topics in their respective subfields. Research by our faculty has won multiple awards and recognitions from academic societies, and faculty regularly appear in the top journals in the field. Our faculty are also editors and members of the editorial boards of several leading journals in their fields. Our faculty pride themselves on pioneering new avenues of intellectual inquiry and developing budding scholars.
Programs
BS in Strategy, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship
Gies students majoring in Strategy, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship are leaders, decision makers, and insightful thinkers who aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo. Here those qualities will be supported and encouraged through a curriculum that trains you in the skills you need to develop and manage new businesses, either as independent startups or new business units within existing companies.
Minor in International Business
By minoring in international business, you will gain a clear understanding of the opportunities, challenges, and complexities involved with global business. Global managers face a diverse set of circumstances when engaging in cross-border business activities, and this minor prepares students to successfully navigate such complexities when engaging in global business, operating multinational enterprises, and completing international transactions.
Master of Science in Business Analytics
Learn to create and innovate using data with intention through our Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) program.
Master of Science in Technology Management (residential and online)
Learn to approach technology through a strategic business lens with our master’s in technology management (MSTM) program.
Master of Science in Management
Gain fundamental business skills that build on your undergraduate education with our Master of Science in Management (MSM) program designed for learners with undergraduate degrees outside of business.
Online MBA (iMBA)
The unmatched flexibility and affordability of our online MBA (iMBA) puts the degree within reach, and our highly engaging courses – taught by top University of Illinois faculty – are designed for real-time application to your job. The business theory you learn in class will be presented alongside current trends and practical applications – even examples that you and others share from work.
PhD in Business Administration
Flexible curriculum, ambitious research opportunities, strong faculty mentorship, and an unmatched community of scholarly collaboration will prepare you to be an innovative thought leader and authoritative instructor in your area of specialization.