The William & Mary Online MBA

By choosing the Online MBA at William & Mary, you are opting to pursue an essential element of revolutionary leadership: design thinking. Design thinking is a method of tackling problems that does not presume a solution. It replaces a linear mindset that prioritizes completion over innovation with an iterative approach aimed at constant refinement and open to unexpected discoveries.

Design thinking is introduced in the Online MBA program’s first course, Renaissance Manager, through a framework derived from the Renaissance ideal of Leonardo da Vinci. Adapted for the modern business world, this ideal informs the decisions of effective design thinkers by driving them to:

• Approach new challenges with voracious intellectual curiosity
• Bring deep expertise in an enabling field to their work
• Develop and maintain broad knowledge and interests to transcend limitations
• Think systematically and logically to focus on creative, well-reasoned solutions

When you embrace design thinking as it is taught throughout the Online MBA curriculum, you will build the mental agility to accept new information openly, collaborate generously and innovate perpetually in search of meaningful improvements rather than finite solutions. You will join the revolutionary leaders who have graduated from our Online MBA program in focusing diverse ideas into sound strategy and facing a changing business landscape with confidence and poise.

Threaded throughout your Online MBA coursework is a “wicked problem” which you will select during the introductory Renaissance Manager course and explore in each subsequent course, up to and including the culminating Revolutionary Leader Practicum.

A wicked problem is defined by the following characteristics:

• An unknowable set of potential solutions
• No definitive agreement on the nature of the problem itself
• No way to know with absolute certainty that a chosen solution is best

By their very nature, wicked problems are best approached through design thinking, as their resistance to clear paths and easy answers demands an approach that seeks neither of those things. Instead, you will work to refine and improve a set of possible solutions, viewing each as a beta test and none as an endpoint.

Each course of the Online MBA program helps you add new skills and knowledge to your management toolkit which you can incorporate into your design thinking mindset, whether they be rooted in finance, marketing, business analytics or other business disciplines. As you progress through the program, you will compile a wicked problem portfolio to track your iterative engagements with your problem; this portfolio is shared with your classmates to provide opportunities for collaborative problem-solving and mutual growth.

This journey concludes with the Revolutionary Leader Practicum in which each Online MBA student delivers a TED-style “Tribe Talk” detailing ways they engaged with their wicked problem across their time in the program. By summarizing the steps you have taken toward unraveling your problem and identifying potential solutions, you will demonstrate the growth mindset required to lead with vision, openness and limitless potential.

Explore the Wicked Problem

William & Mary's academic calendar offers three unique start dates throughout the year, so you can enroll when the time is right for you and complete the Online MBA in as few as 24 months. All courses are accessed through our engaging online learning platform, which makes it easy for students to track their assignments, connect with faculty and peers, submit coursework, and view lectures—and all that’s required is an internet-connected computer or a mobile device.

We require that all admitted students complete a quantitative refresher course covering accounting, economics, finance, statistics and spreadsheets prior to entering the program to ensure preparedness for the quantitative coursework you will encounter throughout the MBA curriculum.

Waivers for this course are available to qualified students. Contact an Admissions Advisor for more information.

Please note: Course list and sequence are subject to change.