Principal Investigator Stuart Krusell
Co-investigators John Grant , Joseph Battat , Charles Kane , Hiram Samel
Project Website http://mitsloan.mit.edu/actionlearning/labs/go-lab.php
GO-Lab, MIT Sloan’s executive-level action learning program, helps international companies solve cross-border management challenges.
GO-Lab teams are composed of 5-6 carefully selected MIT Executive MBA (EMBA) students, averaging 17 years of work experience. GO-Lab projects run for six months (November-May) with one week for international field study travel at one or more sites outside of North America. GO-Lab teams often travel to domestic sites prior to the international travel week.
Leveraging their executive experience, MIT’s analytical tool kit, and best practices during an executive advisory engagement, the EMBAs develop a focused set of recommendations for company leadership teams. Each GO-Lab project team spends approximately 6 months on the project and one week in field research at one or more company sites worldwide. Each team is mentored by a senior MIT Sloan faculty member.
An engaged executive sponsor is the single most important factor for a successful project. GO-Lab projects require a senior-level executive sponsor who can provide the strategic context for the project and make resources accessible for a GO-Lab team. The executive sponsor can be supplemented by a project sponsor (in larger entities), plus a facilitator (“River Guide”) for each site who will provide access to data and people. Project sponsors and facilitators engage with their teams on a weekly/bi-weekly basis. The time commitment for executive sponsors is relatively minimal once the project has launched.