Designers are optimists, at heart. We look toward the future and everything we do is aimed at making an improvement in some way: in someone's life, in a process, in a product, in the world, etc. Unfortunately, we aren't always successful. What we create may miss the mark but, more often, we're not able to convince others of our vision, whether it's our clients or our peers within a company. Designers are often naive about the way businesses and other organizations work and get frustrated when others don’t see what we do.

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A question I hear often now is: "what is the difference between an MBA and a Masters in Design or a Masters in Design Management?"

The latter two degrees are fairly common--especially in Europe--but the MBA is brand new and still rare (for now).

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Because of CES last week and MacWorld this week, there were several articles in the business press discussing how computer and consumer electronics companies were planning to counter Apple Inc.’s dominance of their product categories. Apple’s success is now the model to follow for manufacturers of everything from music players and music download systems to computers, phones, even retail stores.

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In conversations with the program's advisors and faculty, the question inevitably comes-up "How is this program different from all of the other MBA programs out there?"

The short answer is that we're building a unique program with a focus on design and innovation principles core to every class. In addition, sustainable business is a focus of the program since it represents the future of business, both for-profit and non-profit (more on that later).

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