Management of Innovation, Sustainability, and Technology (MIST), B.A.

The undergraduate major in Management of Innovation, Sustainability and Technology (MIST) combines fundamental coursework in leadership, communications, organizations, entrepreneurship, finance, policy, data analytics, technology management, and sustainable innovation. The resulting multi-dimensional skillset integrates core management skills with a broad understanding of how to develop innovative, sustainable and equitable solutions by way of teamwork and technology. It also enables students to understand where and why entrepreneurial opportunities exist, what constraints define them, how to identify marketable solutions, and how to develop an action plan grounded in the Triple Bottom Line principles that prioritize people and planet, in addition to the traditional bottom line of value generation for financial profit only.

UC MERCED MANAGEMENT OF INNOVATION, SUSTAINABILITY AND TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM

The program develops fundamentals skills of management with emphasis on the integrated roles of innovation, sustainability, and technology. Students will learn how modern-day problems – from climate change across global environmental systems, to other challenges associated with designing and managing social, food, and energy systems – require combining complementary understandings that combine into a wholistic perspective for developing potent solutions.

In particular, students will develop a systems thinking mindset for understanding where and why global crises emerge; an entrepreneurial technology management mindset for understanding how to design cutting-edge, scalable and equitable solutions that can generate value for stakeholders and society; and a digital mindset for harnessing the modern data analytics paradigm that is critical to decision-support, effective communication and inspiring action.

This combination of management and entrepreneurship fundamentals paired with applied skills in data analysis, operations, planning, communication and leadership will equip MIST graduates with a valuable array of skills for pursuing a wide range of careers in profit and not-for-profit organizations and public and private enterprises.