Curious about what's inside the DMBA program? Read how former Levis executive and CCA professor Tim Smith is taking core components from both systems thinking and design strategy to inform students about how choosing the right process will lead to more impactful business solutions.
Process Leads to Impact
Tim Smith is an Assistant Professor at the California College of the Arts. He teaches Business Models & Stakeholders in the spring semester and Operations & Systems in the fall semester. He has over three decades of experience working for socially responsible companies in the areas of Merchandising, Product Marketing, Strategic Planning, Market Research, Business Development, and Sustainable Development. During his years as the Merchandise Manager of Fashion Jeans for Levi Strauss & Company and as the Senior Director for Shaklee Corporation, he helped achieve higher efficiency and profitability along with stronger competitive positions. The key to these achievements was applying the processes of deep customer interaction, systems thinking, and prototyping.
The MBA in Design Strategy program at the California College of the Arts is unique and effective in developing leaders who embrace innovation and sustainability to manage today's complex business environment. For example, the Brand Strategy course teaches students about professional processes and techniques of building, transforming, and managing brands. In the Operations and Systems course, students learn about processes such as supply chain management, quality assurance, process design and improvement, service ecology management, facilities, and human resources. Students master professional design tools in Innovation Studio and hone their communication, negotiation, and leadership skills in the Leadership by Design course.
The Student Annual is a magazine designed by current DMBA students that illustrates and documents the students' skills, including examples of projects from various courses. The genius of the Design Strategy program is how it fosters collaboration among students to strengthen their skills while still encouraging individuality and creativity. Readers will gain insight into how students learn processes and seek out opportunities to develop alternative scenarios that are innovative, necessary, profitable, and sustainable.
Understanding and applying process to various situations and opportunities leads to impact. Prototyping based on meaningful research and strategic thinking (systems thinking) helps to remove uncertainty and ensure the desired outcomes. Impact comes from designing technologically appropriate and socially responsive solutions to offerings of products, services, and experiences. Process leads to impact when all stakeholders (customers, communities, and investors) have been served and the world is better off socially, environmentally, and culturally.