Three Self-Paced, Online Courses Offer Flexible Pathways to Master Innovation
PHILADELPHIA, November 6, 2025 – Wharton Online today announced the launch of its new Innovation Strategy and Design Thinking Certificate, a fully online, self-paced credential designed to help professionals master innovation from idea generation through execution.
Developed and led by Wharton professors Christian Terwiesch and Karl Ulrich, global authorities on innovation management, the certificate brings together three in-depth online courses that can be taken individually or as part of the full program:
- Introduction to Innovation: Everyone Is an Innovator – Build foundational literacy and learn to identify and evaluate innovation opportunities using structured, AI-enabled methods.
- Innovation Tournaments and the Process View – Learn to design and run live innovation tournaments that surface and scale winning ideas.
- Design Thinking: Developing the Solution Concept – Apply customer-centered design frameworks to turn insights into tested, actionable solutions.
“Innovation isn’t a matter of luck or genius,” said Professor Christian Terwiesch, professor of operations, information and decisions and co-director of the Mack Institute for Innovation Management. “It’s a discipline that can be learned and applied systematically. This certificate gives professionals the structure and confidence to design and lead innovation efforts that deliver measurable results.”
Participants can enroll in any of the three courses individually or complete all three to earn the Innovation Strategy and Design Thinking Certificate, a Wharton credential that signals the ability to lead innovation initiatives strategically and systematically.
Each course features 16–24 hours of content across four to five modules, blending research-based frameworks, practical exercises, and case-based learning. Learners earn a digital badge upon completion of each course and a formal certificate upon completing all three.
“Our goal was to design an innovation system that anyone can adopt,” said Professor Karl Ulrich, CIBC Endowed Professor at Wharton. “The flexibility of the program allows participants to start where they are, whether they’re new to innovation or scaling it across their organization.”
The certificate is designed for professionals across industries, including individual contributors, team leaders, and executives seeking to embed innovation into their organizations’ culture and strategy.
Enrollment for the Innovation Strategy and Design Thinking Certificate and each individual course is now open.
About Wharton Online
Wharton Online, the Wharton School’s digital learning platform, makes high-quality business education available to learners anytime and anywhere. From certificate programs that issue Continuing Education Units to specializations across a variety of business and management topics, Wharton Online’s offerings equip learners to advance their careers. And with 100K certificate-earning learners and more than one million total learners who have accessed courses, Wharton Online boasts an impressive network of business leaders around the globe.
About the Wharton School
Founded in 1881 as the world’s first collegiate business school, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is shaping the future of business by incubating ideas, driving insights, and creating leaders who change the world. With a faculty of more than 235 renowned professors, Wharton has 5,000 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students. Each year 100,000 professionals from around the world advance their careers through Wharton Executive Education’s individual, company-customized, and online programs, and thousands of pre-collegiate students explore business concepts through Wharton’s Global Youth Program. More than 105,000 Wharton alumni form a powerful global network of leaders who transform business every day. For more information, visit www.wharton.upenn.edu.
###
