Overview

Participants in Design Thinking and Innovation are eligible for a Certificate of Completion from Harvard Business School Online. As part of this course, we expect all participants to complete coursework in a thoughtful and timely manner and actively contribute to peer learning.

To earn the certificate, participants must meet all certificate requirements. Participants who fail to complete the certificate requirements will not receive a certificate and will not be eligible to retake the program. Read on or utilize the navigation buttons below to view the detailed certificate requirements and further information about awarding certificates. 

Detailed Certificate Requirements

1. Thoughtful and timely completion of all coursework. With the guidance of the course calendar, and support from the HBS Online team, you will need to schedule enough time for yourself to thoughtfully consider the course materials and meet all of your deadlines:
    
   • Complete modules by their associated deadlines. As you move through the course and exercises, you will soon discover how important it is for participants to be doing so at a similar pace. While you will have a great deal of flexibility to work on modules on your own time, we are very firm that all work in a given module must be completed by its deadline. We require this to ensure the social and group elements of the course (such as Peer Help) function as intended. Simply put, you won't be able to contribute to the discussion of your peers if you are far behind them in the course. If you do not complete a module on time, you will not earn a certificate for the course.
   • Submit all three assignments by their associated deadlines. You will receive more information about each assignment – the Module 2 Project: Clarify, the Peer Review Assignment, and the Module 5 Project: Ideate – as you progress through the course. Please note that all three of these assignments are specially located within the course's Assignments tab. If you do not complete your assignments before their deadlines, you will not be eligible to earn a Certificate of Completion for the course.
   • Originality of responses and use of outside sources. Though we do not expect that participants will always be able to provide a correct response to every question, you are expected to answer in your own words and to the best of your ability, which is an essential component of the HBS Online learning process. Skipping questions by providing insufficient responses such as Yes, Okay, or other one-word responses is considered incomplete participation. Citations are expected to be applied to your responses whenever you include outside information that is not from your personal knowledge, such as a website or Generative AI. This includes facts, statistics, definitions, and company information such as descriptions, earnings, and accounts. Please review the HBS Citation Guide for assistance with citing your sources. Improper citations or unauthorized use of Generative AI are considered a violation of the HBS Online Honor Code and are strictly prohibited. For more information regarding responses, properly cited sources, and acceptable Generative AI use, please consult the Academic Honesty Guidelines page. 
2. Active contributions to your peers' learning. Following the HBS Online learning model, we believe learning should be social. Our goal is for this course to be an interactive and social learning experience and a chance for you to meet other school leaders from whom you can learn and seek advice. To get the most out of the course, every participant must commit to teaching and learning from one another. Your cohort’s diversity provides a unique opportunity to consider new perspectives and strengthen your own learning. You should be a problem-solving colleague for and with your peers. There are several ways you can show your participation:
    
   • Comment on other participants' postings. Throughout the course you will be able to see the reflections and insights from other participants. We encourage you to read these postings and "star" or comment on them. The Activity Feed – accessible via the homepage – includes "stars" and comments you receive on your postings.
   • Post to Peer Help. The Peer Help functionality gives you the opportunity to ask questions, share your observations, and respond to others’ ideas while you are working through the course. While we do not have a specific number of comments that we expect from each participant, we value the quality of each contribution. Participants who do not exhibit engagement in the collective conversation will not be eligible for a Certificate of Completion.

Awarding the Certificate of Completion

Following the final deadline in Design Thinking and Innovation, our team will begin the process of reviewing all coursework to determine each participant's eligibility for the Certificate of Completion. Certificate eligibility is determined within 30 days of the final deadline of the course. At present, Harvard Business School Online issues digital and printed certificates.

All participants who successfully meet each deadline and fulfill all course learning requirements will earn the Certificate of Completion and become distinguished leaders in our growing community of HBS Online past participants. This community offers wonderful opportunities for networking, whether through community events or the official LinkedIn group, and provides access to previews of new content and other exciting initiatives underway at HBS Online.