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Managing Innovation
Learn how to lead innovation in a world where creativity, disruption, and strategic execution define competitive advantage guided by Ivey faculty Rob Austin.
Price
$1990.00 CAD $1890.00 CAD
Upcoming Cohorts
Starting January 7, 2026
5 weeks 
Online Cohort January 7, 2026
Online Cohort
5 weeks
$1990.00 CAD
$1890.00 CAD
Innovation is no longer optional, it’s how organizations survive and thrive in a rapidly changing world. In this cohort-based course, Professor Rob Austin guides you to understand how innovation works, why it matters, and what it takes to manage it effectively.
Through live sessions, case-based learning, simulations, and collaborative assignments, you’ll explore the principles, processes, and practices that drive innovation. You’ll learn how to navigate disruption, foster creativity, and move ideas to market. You’ll also examine the challenges of managing innovation in mature organizations, creative industries, and platform-based business models.
If you’re ready to lead innovation, not just talk about it, this course will give you the frameworks, tools, and confidence to act.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
- Analyze innovation-based competition and distinguish it from traditional industrial models
- Apply frameworks for managing creativity, disruption, and organizational change
- Evaluate innovation processes and identify barriers to execution
- Understand platform dynamics, architectural disruption, and diffusion models
- Design strategies for taking innovations to market and managing creative product portfolios
- Lead innovation in complex environments, balancing exploration and exploitation
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5 weeks
This five-week cohort-based course includes approximately 30 to 40 hours of content. You’ll engage through weekly live sessions, case discussions, simulations, and a project.
Course Roadmap
Week1: Innovation-Based Competition
Explore how innovation shifts the basis of competition and how organizations can respond to different types of disruption, including platform and architectural change.
Week 2: Managing Creativity and Variation
Learn how to foster creativity within teams and organizations. Examine the role of variation in innovation and how to manage it effectively.
Week 3: Innovation Processes and Barriers
Understand how innovation unfolds within organizations. Identify common barriers to execution and explore strategies for overcoming them.
Week 4: Taking Innovation to Market
Analyze how innovations diffuse through markets. Learn how to design go-to-market strategies and manage creative product portfolios.
Week 5: Leading Innovation in Complex Systems
Examine how leaders can balance exploration and exploitation, manage innovation in mature organizations, and lead change across complex systems.
Dates & Fees
Next cohort begins: January 1, 2025
Duration: 5 weeks (~40 hours total)
Learning Method: Online Cohort
Tuition: $2,000 CAD
Certificate: Digital credential upon completion
You’ll engage through weekly virtual Learning Manager led live sessions, collaborative activities, and a final project. Enrollment closes two weeks before the start date, with access beginning 7 days prior to the start of the course. Spots are limited and filled on a first-come, first-served basis.
This course is designed for professionals who want to lead innovation in their organizations or industries. It’s especially relevant for those navigating disruption, managing creative teams, or launching new products and services.
Ideal participants include:
- Mid- to senior-level managers responsible for innovation, strategy, or product development
- Entrepreneurs and founders scaling creative or tech-driven ventures
- Consultants and advisors supporting clients through transformation
- Professionals in industries facing rapid change or platform competition
- Individuals preparing for leadership roles in innovation-intensive environment
Rob Austin
Professor, Information Systems
Rob Austin is a Professor of Innovation and Information Systems, and an affiliated faculty member at Harvard Medical School and Aarhus School of Business and Social Sciences. He has worked extensively with corporate clients, including BP, CIBC, Citrix Systems, Hewlett Packard, IBM, LL Bean, Maersk Oil and Gas, Microsoft, Pfizer, Roche, Symantec, UPS, and the United States House of Representatives.
Rob is the author of nine books and has published widely in both academic and professional journals, such as Harvard Business Review, Information Systems Research, MIT Sloan Management Review, Organization Science, Organization Studies, and the Wall Street Journal. He also is the author of more than 50 published cases and notes, three Harvard online products, and two popular Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs) running on the Coursera platform.
Courses
Cohorts will continue to occur on a rolling basis, select a cohort start time that works for you.
| Date | Length | Learning Method | Tuition Fees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting January 7, 2026 | 40 hours over 5 weeks | Online Cohort |
$1990.00 CAD $1890.00 CAD |
Please note the deadline to enroll in the program is two weeks before the start date. Spots will be reserved on a first come first served basis.
Enrollment and Payment FAQs
Click “Enroll Now” on the course page and follow the prompts to complete your registration.
We accept major credit cards. You’ll be prompted to select your preferred method during checkout.
Yes. You can forward the payment link or invoice to your employer, or contact us for assistance with corporate enrollment.
- For Cohort programs - 30 Days Before Program Start
- Cancellation: You will receive a full refund of the program fee.
- Transfer to a Later Date: No fees apply.
- Less than 30 Days Before Program Start
- Cancellation: Incurs a 25% cancellation fee.
- Transfer to a Later Date: Incurs a 15% transfer fee.
- Compassionate exceptions: Fees may be waived on compassionate grounds, please contract (Operations email).
- Unredeemed transfers: If not used within 12 months, the full program fee is forfeited.
No, the purchaser and the person taking the course must match to ensure the digital credential is given to the correct person.
Yes, please contact (Operations email) and they will set up a group invoice.
Certification and Credentials
Yes. You’ll receive a digital certificate from Ivey Business School upon successful completion of the course.
Ivey’s certificates are widely respected and can be added to your LinkedIn profile or resume.
Upon completion, you’ll receive a secure digital credential directly to your email, that can be shared and verified online.
Cohort Course Structure and Experience
This is a cohort-based, five-week online course with weekly modules, virtual live sessions, and peer collaboration. The course will be run by a Learning Manager that you can contact with questions. You’ll complete a final project based on everything you learned by the end.
For Cohort courses access will begin 7 days prior to the start of the course and conclude 90 days following the date of access.
Plan for approximately 8 hours per week, totaling 40 hours over five weeks.
There are no exams. You’ll complete weekly activities and submit a final project.
Yes. You’ll engage with your cohort through live virtual sessions, discussion boards, and peer feedback activities.
