MENA Lab

15.248 & 15.S66 MENA Lab: Promoting Innovation & Entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North Africa

This course is an experiential study of the entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem in the Middle East and North Africa, leveraging the historic Abraham Accords. The course provides context about regional players —Israel, UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, Egypt and Jordan—and social and geopolitical issues, as they pertain to doing business. We will explore the roles of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, multinational corporations, universities, and governments by hearing directly from key stakeholders. We will learn the McKinsey process for successful consulting engagements and what makes for high performing teams.

Student teams travel to the Middle East to work with their host companies on strategic managerial issues in tech industries such as:

• Advanced life sciences
• Agtech
• AI and machine learning
• Analytics and big data
• Cybersecurity
• Fintech
• Quantum computing
• Robotics 
• Web 3.0

Students will have an opportunity to work with executives at startup ventures looking to scale their businesses and to engage with their venture capitalist backers. 

 

The class

Teams work for their host organizations on a semester-long project engagement.  The organizations collaborate with their student teams to define the project scope, develop work plans, and determine the deliverables the teams will create. MENA Lab teams deliver significant, concrete value to their host organizations. Equally important are the unprecedented opportunities for students to apply their leading-edge classroom learning to complex issues of innovation and entrepreneurship in real time. 

How to enroll

This course is divided into two sections. MIT Sloan MBAs and students taking most other degree programs should bid for 15.248 MENA Lab, which is offered in the fall. MIT Executive MBAs need to bid for 15.S66 MENA Lab, which is offered in the spring. Bidding for 15.248 starts in early May, and bidding for 15.S66 starts in early December. 

Benefits of becoming a host organization

Our enthusiastic MENA Lab teams deliver measurable impact to host companies in a wide variety of industries.

MENA Lab is a unique opportunity for hosts:

• to work with a team of skilled, business-savvy MIT students, ranging from young professionals to mid-career executives on specific issues startups are facing
• to collaborate to find concrete, implementable solutions through research, analysis, and knowledge sharing
• to gain insights and guidance from a student team with wide-ranging skills, work experiences, and cultural backgrounds

Project scope

When selecting their project scope, host companies can choose from a broad spectrum of business challenges, such as strategic growth, new market entry, pricing, marketing, benchmarking, VC and fundraising, and financial strategy.

MENA Lab strongly emphasizes concrete “leave-behinds” as a primary component of the teams’ project deliverables. For example, student teams may deliver tools such as financial models, potential customer/investor/partner pipelines and screens, and go-to-market roadmaps.

Student teams

MENA Lab teams are typically comprised of MIT students representing a range of backgrounds and expertise, from management consulting and financial services to engineering, technology, and operations. Each team works with a MENA Lab mentor who meets with the team and oversees the team’s progress, both logistically and substantively. The team, however, is in charge of building and managing the relationship with their host company.

Options

1. Fall MBA session: Hosts work with a team of four MBAs from September to December. The team will travel to work full time onsite for two weeks in January.
2. Spring Executive MBA session: Hosts work with a team of four to six mid-career Executive MBAs (EMBAs) from January to April. The team will travel to work onsite for one week in mid-March. Please keep in mind that EMBA students are also full-time working executives. 

Project calendar

Teams work for their host organizations on a semester-long project engagement. Potential host organizations submit online questionnaires in which they describe the scope of the challenges they are facing and the solutions they would like a MENA Lab team to work on. We ask potential hosts to detail the skillsets and expertise they believe would be most useful for team members to possess. MENA Lab faculty and mentors are available to assist organizations in shaping and defining their project scope for the questionnaire.

MENA Lab faculty match approved host organizations with the best-qualified teams. Throughout the fall or spring semester, the teams work with their hosts from campus to finalize the scope and agree on a work plan, and then undertake research, interviews, and analysis. Host organizations and teams build their working relationships through online collaboration and regular conference calls throughout this remote phase.

For the fall MBA session, teams travel to work full-time onsite with their host for two consecutive weeks in January.** For the spring EMBA session, teams work onsite with their host for one week in mid-March. The teams’ final deliverables include a formal presentation and, more importantly, a concrete analysis that host organizations can begin to use immediately.

**We ask that you allow your team time away from work for cultural activities that MIT Sloan coordinates for the student group. The dates of these activities will be communicated to host companies in advance.

Host company obligations

Host organizations receive optimal results when the CEO or other senior managers are available to devote focused time and energy to the project and to working directly with the MENA Lab team, especially while teams are working full-time. Please make sure that the appropriate leaders will be available to work with and guide the student team.

Host companies should be comprised of at least 15 employees. Hosts should provide a clear project statement, strategic objectives, and access to people and data. 

How to apply

In order to participate, companies will complete the MENA Lab new project questionnaire. If you are interested in becoming a host company for MENA Lab, please contact Jake Cohen with your questions or ideas.