Industry Perspectives

Industry Perspectives features coursework that spans a diversity of disciplines and explores some of the most pertinent challenges facing industry today. Designed by leading faculty members, industry experts and the Corporate and Executive Education team, these immersive experiences are designed to enhance your business acumen and sharpen your existing skillsets.

Course Descriptions, April 2026

Executing Strategy in a Fragmented World: : A Systems Perspective on Geopolitical Management

Date: Friday, April 10, 2026

Location/Format: Drexel University City Campus, In Person Delivery

Instructor: Rajiv Nag, PhD, Clinical Professor, Management

Course Description:

Geopolitical forces are increasingly shaping organizational strategies. Trade tensions, regulatory shifts, technological restrictions, and regional instability now influence how strategies are implemented, how operations run, and how decisions get made across functions and geographies. For most leaders, geopolitics does not appear as foreign policy — it shows up as operational and execution challenges. This one-day EMBA residency takes a practical, systems-oriented view of geopolitical management. The focus is on understanding how external disruptions move through the enterprise and affect coordination, decision rights, workflows, and performance. Participants examine how seemingly external events create internal friction—and how leaders respond when assumptions underlying execution suddenly change. Using applied discussion, cases, and an AI-enabled stakeholder simulation, participants work through a live organizational scenario shaped by emerging geopolitical pressures. The emphasis is on interpretation, alignment, and action rather than analysis alone. Designed for EMBA participants, the residency provides a grounded framework for making sense of uncertainty and leading effectively when global dynamics begin to reshape local organizational realities.

Strategic Economics: Thriving in Turbulent Times

Date: Saturday, April 11, 2026

Location/Format: Drexel University City Campus, In Person Delivery

Instructor: Mark Stehr, PhD, Professor, Economics

Course Description:

In today’s highly interconnected global economy, shocks in one part of the world can quickly ripple across industries and national borders, profoundly shaping a company’s performance. Events such as the Great Recession, the European Debt Crisis of the early 2010s, and the Covid‑19 downturn illustrate how deeply firms are affected by large‑scale macroeconomic disruptions. To navigate these challenges—and seize the opportunities they create—business leaders must understand the economic forces and institutional dynamics that define their operating environment.

This course uses a predominantly case‑driven approach to explore macroeconomic concepts in action. We will investigate the Great Depression and the Covid‑19 Recession to develop a practical framework for interpreting major economic events. Students will then apply these insights through a hands‑on macroeconomic policy simulation and examine how one firm leveraged its understanding of macroeconomics to steer successfully through the Venezuelan hyperinflation of 2018–19. By analyzing these episodes within a coherent analytical structure, executives will build the strategic insight needed to gain a meaningful competitive advantage.