Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship Undergraduate Major

Information for students who are interested in or majoring in Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

The Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIENT) major is designed to help you develop problem solving and creative thinking skills, along with the ability to spot trends, recognize opportunities, and develop plans to capitalize on high-potential ideas.  Emerging entrepreneurs and innovative managers of small to large businesses must be competent in various mediums of communication, have good negotiation skills, lead with ethics and integrity, and be grounded in business aspects of planning, capital investing, goal setting, and decision making.

Course Requirements

The courses listed below are accompanied by videos from both student and professor perspectives. Click on the course titles to watch the videos. 

Core CIENT Courses

Students are required to take all of the following courses (9 credits):

Course Professor Video Student Video
MGMT 425 - New Venture Creation https://vimeo.com/663426042 https://vimeo.com/641187012/bc47849f95
MGMT 453 - Creativity and Innovation https://vimeo.com/808779530/4462857e6b https://vimeo.com/641621812/4bdcf128fe
MGMT 457W - Strategic Management of Innovation and Technologies   https://vimeo.com/636369259/040d6bcf36

CIENT Electives

Students are required to select three of the following courses (9 credits):

Course Professor Video Student Video
MGMT 365 - Social Entrepreneurship https://vimeo.com/663444219  
MGMT 420 - Negotiation and Conflict Management https://vimeo.com/663425124  
MGMT 427 - Managing an Entrepreneurial Start-Up Company https://vimeo.com/663426303 https://vimeo.com/641189990/4369465033
MGMT 480 - Business Transformation Consulting https://vimeo.com/808742532/9f07db117c https://vimeo.com/641623243/0616562389
MGMT 485 - Entrepreneurial Opportunity Creativity https://vimeo.com/663428561 https://vimeo.com/636382985/f400838adf
MGMT 486 - Entrepreneurial Investment and Resource Acquisition https://vimeo.com/663428561 https://vimeo.com/636382985/f400838adf

Two-Piece Sequence

Smeal students are required to select two courses from one of the areas listed below (6 credits) or complete an approved University minor:

  • Accounting
  • Business Law
  • Business Sustainability
  • Corporate Diversity
  • Economics
  • Finance
  • Information Systems Management
  • International Business
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • Real Estate
  • Risk Management
  • Supply Chain and Information Systems

Recommended Course Sequence

Visit the CIENT webpage to view the sequence

Careers in CIENT

The CIENT major is designed for students interested in managing innovation, re-inventing current businesses, supporting a family business, or starting up new businesses with the intent of growing the economy, and providing jobs for a diverse workforce. By taking this major, students may prepare themselves to launch a new company or pursue professional employment in one of the following business domains:

Corporate Innovation Entrepreneurship
Consulting Start a New Venture
Project Management Work for a Small Business
Business Operations Further a Family Business
Customer Development Work for a Company Investing in Small Business
Innovation   

CIENT Highlights

Consider some of the other factors that help to enhance the environment for CIENT students in the Smeal College of Business. Click the titles to learn more about each organization:

Interested in learning more about the CIENT Major? Watch our recorded information sessions - CIENT Journey & Opportunities Night 1 and CIENT Career Paths Night 2.

 

Contacts

Department Chair

Vilmos Misangyi

Professor of Strategic Management, Earl P. Strong Professorship of Executive Education in Business Administration, Chair of Management and Organization Department

vfm10@psu.edu

CIENT Undergraduate Major Coordinator

Jeanette Miller

Assistant Clinical Professor

jkm358@psu.edu