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Detailed Certificate Requirements
To earn the certificate, you must meet all of the following requirements.
— Timely & Thoughtful 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 the required deadline:
Complete all coursework by the required deadline. As you move through Strategy Execution, you will soon discover how important it is for participants to be moving through the course 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 all modules must be completed by the required 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 all modules by the required deadline, you will not earn a certificate 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.
Submit the Course Capstone by the required deadline. Complete the Course Capstone by the required deadline. Throughout the course, we will ask you to analyze and apply concepts through the lens of a business you know well. These activities are designed to culminate in a Course Capstone activity. In this guided activity, you will evaluate each of the four levers of control at this business. Then, you will identify which lever is most in need of urgent improvement. You will write a brief (300- to 500-word) proposal in which you suggest improvements to this lever and send it to a colleague or peer for review. After a 30-minute discussion with this colleague or peer, we will ask you to reflect on what you learned from what the discussion and what you might change in your proposal. You will receive more information about the Course Capstone as you progress through the course. Please note that we scan all Course Capstone submissions for plagiarism. We expect that your executive summary will primarily be written in your own words and that you will cite any outside sources you reference. Remember that external sources should only be used to support your own thoughts and analysis. Most of your paper must be original. Copying and pasting text from the internet or other sources without a proper citation may result in you being deemed ineligible for your Certificate of Completion. If you do not complete your modules and the Course Capstone on time, you will not be eligible to earn a Certificate of Completion for the course.
— 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 peers 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. Participants who do not exhibit engagement in the collective conversation will not be eligible for a Certificate of Completion. 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.
Participate in team-based assignments. At various points in the flow of the course, you will be asked to work with one or more course participants to complete an assignment. Everyone involved will benefit from active and engaged participation to complete these course requirements.
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.
Please note: Participants who fail to meet all certificate requirements will not receive a certificate and will not be eligible to retake the program. | 
