Program Overview

Encompassing courses in design thinking and business management, the Master of Professional Studies in Design Management (M.P.S.) degree at the Shintaro Akatsu School of Design (SASD) prepares design managers to lead creative teams in a variety of design-based industries. The outstanding faculty – both resident and visiting – help develop disruptive thinking using design as the fulcrum for increasing customer delight.

Design represents a valuable strategic asset – the tools and the processes to problem-solve and innovate. The management of that asset, the ability to understand, optimize, and steer that energy is becoming vital to an organization’s internal and external success. Category-leading companies like Apple, GE, Johnson & Johnson, Bose, and Schick know this to be a marketable truth. The MPS in Design Management program at SASD is a two-year intensive program for design professionals of all disciplines.

Courses are specifically tailored to real-world issues facing designers and are taught by leading design management professionals. The team-based assignments focus on practical and actionable problem solving, preparing students to immediately use the information and skills they learn. Design Managers who graduate from SASD leave with the core skills and tools to apply design thinking to solve the most pressing business issues of our time: sustainability, social responsibility, and profitability.

Learning Outcomes

Design Management study prepares graduates to create, manage, and lead design in process-driven organizations by providing perspectives on business, operations, sustainability, management, leadership, entrepreneurship, design innovation, and design research.

Classes provide experiences of designing, managing, and improving design-intensive firms and develop students’ capacity to inspire and lead creative teams. Our curriculum develops strategic management skills in six specific areas: operations; finance; marketing; organization and human resources; innovation and change; and suppliers, distributors, and markets.

Our program is designed for recent graduates and early to mid-career professionals seeking to complement their design and business skills with new industry contexts and practices. Our two-year program helps craft creative leaders, those who can bridge the disciplines of design and business and nurture collaborative innovation with a sustainable strategic advantage.

SASD is known for its long-standing strength in industrial design. The DM program is an outgrowth of that base and the flexibility and excellence of the School of Business, staffed by faculty drawn from the ranks Fairfield County, CT resident business persons. The two-year program of study requires 42 credits to complete and leads to an accredited academic degree, the Master of Professional Studies (MPS) in Design Management. 42% of credits earned are courses in the Business School. The remaining 58% of credits are earned in DM courses at SASD