Management + Operations + Design

Successful companies produce a positive total experience for their clients and customers. This requires a holistic, multidisciplinary approach to problems of planning, strategy, design, and operations, whether the company offers products or services. Successful design, whether it be of a product or a service, requires attention to the full life cycle of the product — from first contact with the customer through smooth, efficient operations that produce the desired outcome with no delays, to end-of-life consideration — with a special emphasis on the creative, innovative thinking that has come to be called “Design Thinking.” Sustainability and efficient use of materials come naturally to this process. Designers attack root causes, thereby uncovering new opportunities. It is a true interdisciplinary effort.
MMM students learn to take a systems approach to the structure and operation of a company, ensuring a complete view of products and services from inception and design, through effortless delivery that incorporates efficient, invisible and seamless operations, through end-of-life considerations. As members of both the Kellogg and McCormick communities, MMM students work closely with faculty to couple management, technology, design and operations with sound business principles. This dynamic environment is complemented by a wealth of extracurricular activities that bring to life the lessons taught in the classroom.
The MMM program offers a world of resources within and beyond the classroom. In addition to a challenging curriculum and devoted professors, MMM students enjoy access to Northwestern University’s premier engineering facilities, including its biotechnology and nanotechnology research centers.

MMM Curriculum

The MMM curriculum focuses on what managers need to know in order to lead product- and service-driven companies to world-class performance through technology. In addition to studying the core topics of the Kellogg School's renowned management program, students also learn about key operating and design topics at McCormick, one of the country's leading engineering schools. Students receive two degrees: the Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Kellogg and the Master of Engineering Management (MEM) from McCormick. Within the MBA curriculum, students can choose any major, including popular areas such as finance, marketing or strategy. The MEM curriculum offers a choice of two majors: Operations or Design and Innovation. In MMM, students earn two degrees with one set of curricular requirements, in just two years.

Accelerated Study

In order to preserve maximum flexibility for advanced coursework, some study is accelerated to take advantage of the strong quantitative backgrounds of MMM students (e.g., MMMs take a single accelerated finance course in place of the Finance I and II courses that many Kellogg MBA students take). Furthermore, the program assumes that entering students have met prerequisites of Financial Accounting and Elementary Statistics. (Students who have not completed these courses should take them at a local institution before entering the program. Students who want to take advanced-level accounting courses at Kellogg must take an accounting course at a peer-level institution, or pass the Kellogg School’s accounting waiver exam, administered during Pre-Term.)

Innovative Coursework

The MMM program provides unique opportunities for students to build on their classroom learning through coursework and activities that apply the key concepts to real-world organizations. In addition to taking a variety of Kellogg and McCormick courses, the MMM coursework culminates in the Integration Project in which students put their studies into action, serving as consultants to leading companies or developing a business venture based on a new product or service. The MMM Integration Project, MMM Entrepreneurship Program, Global Initiatives in Management Program and the annual student-run Manufacturing Business Conference are just a few examples of such opportunities available to the MMM students.

MMM Core Requirements: 11 credits

Students must complete a minimum of 24.5 credits over six quarters. Core classes must be taken for a grade; one operations or design elective may be taken pass/no credit. The courses come from the core MBA requirements (6 credits), the required second-year Pre-Term (0.5 credits), the core MEM requirements (3.5 credits), the Integration project (or equivalent: 1 credit), the MEM major requirements (4 credits for each major), and 9.5 credits of unrestricted electives.

The MBA Core and Required Courses: 6.5 credits

ACCT 439 Accounting for Manufacturing Management
MORS 430 Managing and Leading Organizations (taken during the Pre-Term Program)
FINC 440 Turbo Finance (Finance I and Finance II may be substituted by using an elective course)
MECN 430 Microeconomic Analysis
MGMT 431 Business Strategy
MKTG 430 Marketing
SEEK-440A Values and Crisis Decision Making (required 0.5 credit)

The MEM Core: 3.5 credits

IE 471-1 Factory Physics I
IE 471-2 Factory Physics II
IDEA 490 Managing Product Innovation
One Design & Innovation mini-course (0.5 credit) from the following courses:

Note: The half-credit D&I course used to fulfill the core requirement cannot also be counted toward the requirements of either MEM major.

The Integration Project: 1 credit

The Integration Project is a one-quarter course that puts the classroom learning to practical application, most usually by working with a company. This may be satisfied through projects generated in the MMM program, either in manufacturing, design or service-oriented companies, through the Kellogg School's LEAP program, or through an approved continuation of the project started in Managing Product Innovation (IDEA 490). Integration projects should be selected to be consistent with the student's major.

The MEM Degree

In order to receive the MEM degree, students must complete four courses within MEM topic areas. Two majors are possible: Operations or Design & Innovation. Both majors have the same number of required courses, but the requirements differ somewhat. Students may complete both majors, but courses cannot be double-counted.

For the Operations Major: 4 credits

Students pursuing the MEM major in Operations must complete four credits from the courses in the "MEM Electives" list.

For the Design & Innovation Major: 4 credits

Students pursuing the MEM major in Design & Innovation must complete four credits from the courses in the "MEM Electives" list.

Unrestricted Electives: 9.5 credits

Students have considerable freedom to take elective courses from the other offerings of Kellogg, McCormick or other Northwestern University graduate schools. Nine and one-half credits (9.5) are required in order to bring the total units to the Kellogg School's requirement of 24.5.

McCormick Course Resources (partial list)

IDEA: Institute for Design Engineering and Applications course schedule
IEMS: Industrial Engineering and Management Science course schedule
MAT_SCI: Material Science course schedule
ME: Mechanical Engineering course schedule

MMM Students may register for any McCormick graduate-level courses through the MMM Program Office. Diane Rondeau, the MMM Program Assistant, will serve as your primary contact.

  1. Email Diane with the following information:
  2. Diane will then register you for this class in SES/Caesar. She will also inform the Kellogg Registrar on your behalf that you are taking this class.