Business & Finance

Have a great idea for a startup but don’t know where to begin? This certificate program is designed to give military service members the skills needed to evaluate the viability of business concepts and markets, navigate the pitching process, and ultimately gain an understanding of how to receive and invest from a variety of sources. This program will cover investments from equity investors, angel investors, venture capitalists, crowdfunders, economic development centers, and grants. Veterans and active service members bring resourcefulness, strategic decision making, and mission-focused leadership to entrepreneurship; these skills are invaluable for identifying opportunities, overcoming challenges, and building resilient businesses in fast-changing environments. In this certificate program, you will discover how to find the right match for your opportunity or investment style as well as what goes into delivering and assessing a successful business pitch. You will also explore how to protect your interests as the company is being structured, how to assign a fair valuation to the opportunity, and how to perform due diligence as the financing process moves from investor interest to actually closing the deal. Finally, you will examine the strategies for keeping entrepreneur/investor relations alive and healthy long after the deal has closed. Beyond building entrepreneurial expertise, this program fosters collaboration by bringing together veterans and professionals from diverse industries, allowing you to expand your network, share perspectives, and build relationships with others who share your career aspirations. This program includes two years of free access to Symposium! These events feature several days of live, highly participatory virtual Zoom sessions with Cornell faculty and experts to explore the most pressing leadership topics. Symposium events are held several times throughout the year. Once enrolled in your program, you will receive information about upcoming events. Throughout the year, you may participate in as many sessions as you wish. Attending Symposium sessions is not required to successfully complete the certificate program.

Accounting is one of today’s fast-growing professions, with numerous career path options. This certificate program will help you establish an in-depth understanding of foundational accounting principles and how to apply them in practice. In the courses, you will construct and interpret accounts of revenue, accounts receivable, inventory, assets, long-term debt, and equity. You will have the opportunity to examine the rules for financial statements and learn how the field of financial accounting has evolved over time to meet the needs of businesses. This understanding of core financial accounting principles will enable you to independently analyze an organization’s financial standing and viability as well as understand when organizations are using gaps in accounting rules to their financial advantage. Upon completion of the program, you will be able to converse confidently in the language of finance and present a company’s financial performance to internal stakeholders as well as investors, creditors, suppliers, and customers. This knowledge will help you inform the strategic decision-making process using concise and relevant financial data appropriate to your audience in any industry. Please note this program references US Financial Accounting guidelines. As such, all forms may not be exact for those who reside or conduct business outside the United States, however the principles remain the same. The courses in this certificate program are required to be completed in the order that they appear.

Contracts can make or break a business. Successfully preparing and interpreting a contract allows both parties to clearly define expectations under the protection of the law. This certificate program explores the many different aspects of contracts. You will investigate the creation of enforceable agreements that clearly and precisely set forth the rights and obligations of parties in order to achieve business objectives with acceptable levels of risk. Throughout the courses, you’ll have the opportunity to spend time breaking down the different types of law, procedures, and elements that make up contracts, as well as investigate strategies to mitigate risk and minimize consequences in the event that a contract is breached. You will also demystify legal jargon relating to contract law in order to enhance collaboration between businesspeople and their counsel. By the end of this program, you will have gained a set of tools that will enable you to create and manage contracts in your business confidently and effectively, as well as be a more active and informed partner to your legal team. The courses in this certificate program are required to be completed in the order that they appear.

For over six decades, Cornell’s Food Executive Program has been the gold standard for transformational learning in the food and consumables sector. This isn't just another executive program—it's a career-defining experience designed for those ready to lead the future of food. Join us for an interactive, five-day program exploring the latest industry trends, personal leadership development, work-life balance strategies, and cutting-edge retail tactics, all set against the backdrop of Cornell's stunning campus in Ithaca, NY. This program is your chance to break away from the daily grind and dive deep into what really matters for your career and your company. You'll be rubbing shoulders with world-class instructors and thought leaders, engaging in high-stakes simulations, and participating in group activities that will challenge and inspire you. This isn't just about learning—it's about transformation. You'll leave with new skills, fresh perspectives, and a network of the brightest minds in the industry. Ready to disrupt the status quo and make a lasting impact? Join us at Cornell’s Food Executive Program and be part of a legacy of innovation and excellence. This is where the future of food leadership begins.

The nonprofit world is changing fast. While competition for donors and clients heats up, organizations are being asked to focus on results. Because of this, demand is high in the nonprofit sector for financial leadership. The Financial Success for Nonprofits Certificate prepares nonprofit leaders and aspiring leaders to focus on mission while achieving financial sustainability. Whether you're working at a well-established nonprofit or a startup, Professor Grasso’s experience as a nonprofit leader prepares you to use financial statements and ratios, establish board governance and strategic leadership, raise funds and generate alternative revenue sources, and make strategic programmatic changes. For the best experience in this program it is recommended to take these courses in the order that they appear.

Regulations affect virtually every corner of business. In this certificate program, you will investigate the regulatory environment in which your business operates and how the rules, orders, and guidelines that regulatory bodies issue may affect your industry. You’ll also have the chance to explore U.S. antitrust laws, which focus on preventing three categories of behavior: agreements that restrain trade, monopolies, and mergers that restrict competition. Partnering with your legal team, you’ll examine ways to influence and challenge adverse regulatory policies issued in your industry as well as coordinate responses to actions taken by regulatory bodies. By the end of the program, you will have gained a set of tools that will enable you to be a more active and informed partner to your legal team so that together you can navigate the regulatory landscape and advance the business interests of your organization. The courses in this certificate program are required to be completed in the order that they appear.

Food is one of the largest industries in the world. Expectations of customers continue to evolve and create opportunities for new products. In this certificate program, you will be guided through the iterative process of bringing a new food product or innovation to market. The first course starts with defining and testing the feasibility of your food product. You will proceed through the process of creating protocepts, conducting and incorporating consumer research, refining your initial concept, and determining how the product will meet safety requirements and quality expectations. Throughout the courses, you will also address the regulatory requirements associated with food products, investigate different manufacturing and production options, and create a framework for bringing your product to market. Each course includes a project in which you will have the opportunity to apply what you have studied to your own food idea. By the end of this certificate program, you will be able to navigate the science and business processes to successfully develop safe, high-quality food or beverage products. For the best experience in this program, it is strongly recommended to take these courses in the order that they appear.

As the corporate landscape continues to evolve at an unprecedented pace, staying ahead of major developing technologies, regulatory trends, and geopolitical shifts is crucial for corporate boards. Join us for an interactive, two-day program in New York City, coupled with virtual pre-work. Three of Cornell University’s colleges and schools – Cornell Tech, the Law School, and the SC Johnson College of Business – have come together to create this can’t-miss learning and networking experience focused on preparing you to lead in high-risk, real-world scenarios. Designed specifically for board members and senior c-suite leaders, this unique executive program will equip participants with the knowledge and tools necessary to navigate a rapidly evolving global business and technology environment. Through engagement with seasoned business and legal practitioners, former senior government regulators, and directors of public and private companies, you’ll come away better prepared to capture the upside and effectively manage the disruptions presented by major developing technologies and international dynamics. In addition to presentations and panel discussions, you’ll have the opportunity to participate in peer-to-peer sessions to share experiences and explore practical ways to implement best practices for complex decision-making in the boardroom. Ultimately, this certificate program aims to enhance the capabilities of corporate boards in strategically leading their organizations into a future with resilience, innovation, and sustainable growth. Dual Accreditation with the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) Through the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), this program provides 21.5 hours of recertification credits for directors maintaining their NACD Directorship Certification®. The NACD Directorship Certification, the nation’s premier certification for board directors, provides a tangible assessment of a director’s understanding of the essential knowledge required to lead in today’s boardrooms. All participants will receive a prestigious 2025 Board of Directors Forum at Cornell Tech and 24 Professional Development Hours. This dual accreditation ensures the program meets the highest standards of excellence in corporate governance education.

Mastering the fundamentals of business management is critical to success in any industry, whether you work in a large organization or run your own small business. No matter the size of your budget or staff, you need to manage your money well, market your product effectively, and make sure the right people are motivated and supported to help achieve your goals. Perhaps most importantly, you need to be able to adapt based on new information and ever-changing market conditions. The courses in this program are designed to give you a broad view of the key functions at the heart of any organization so you can make better decisions and accelerate your growth as a leader. You’ll come away with a strong foundational understanding of business that you can apply to your work, whether you’re starting your career, changing your current career, or even creating a new career. The courses in this certificate program are required to be completed in the order that they appear.

We live in a volatile, ever-changing world and yet the organizations in which we work are typically slow to evolve. How organizations are structured and how successful they are in adapting to change has a significant impact on the organizational health of the enterprise, and on the people within it. In this certificate program, you will be introduced to the field of organizational design, discovering how to identify different organizational structures and examine how they may be restructured to become more agile and successful amid industry, societal, and environmental change. Through these courses, you’ll explore conceptual frameworks and adopt the terminology used by professionals as you examine the array of organizations you interact with in your life. Practical projects will enable you to dive deeper as you analyze your own organization through these lenses. You will also gain perspective on the process of redesign and the ecosystems in which organizations are seated, assessing industry classification systems along with the roles of collaboration and competition. By applying different models of organizational design, you will be able to quantify and benchmark formal structural attributes of an organizational unit. Finally, you will practice integrating management systems, people practices, and culture with an organizational structure to achieve desired outcomes in your current role and beyond. The courses in this certificate program are required to be completed in the order that they appear.

This certificate program provides you with the tools to analyze and improve the operational performance of any organization. Courses focus on key concepts in four essential areas of operations management: process analysis, service operations, quality management, and inventory management. You will begin by implementing process analysis tools to create a flow diagram and explore performance measures that can be used to measure the effectiveness of current processes within an organization. Next, you’ll have the opportunity to practice using statistical analysis to evaluate the efficiency of service operations in a variety of contexts, including in person and virtual. You will also be introduced to process control as a tool for evaluating and improving the quality control of systems and processes. Finally, you will look at different methods for tracking inventory and implementing strategies to improve business performance. Upon completing this program, you will possess the tools and skills to successfully manage and optimize operations in your industry. This program requires the use of Microsoft Excel (desktop or online). While advanced skills aren’t necessary, students with some prior experience in Excel will be most successful. Throughout the courses, you’ll apply basic functions such as SUM, AVERAGE, MAX, and MIN, create and adjust tables and graphs, and work with provided formulas. The courses in this certificate program are required to be completed in the order that they appear.

Modern shoppers are increasingly drawn to retailers and brands who deliver integrated, personalized experiences across every touchpoint. In today’s connected commerce ecosystem, companies that struggle with disconnected systems, outdated technology, and friction-filled customer journeys are left behind. Omnichannel commerce is rapidly becoming the essential framework for retailers and brands aiming to deliver seamless customer experiences with measurable performance at each point of engagement. Forward-thinking companies are increasingly integrating their stores, digital platforms, marketplaces, and fulfillment operations to create cohesive experiences that meet customers wherever they are. Embedded within this ecosystem, retail media — featuring inventory-aware search, targeted onsite and offsite advertising, and intelligent in-store displays — enables retailers to personalize discovery, drive conversion, and measure outcomes throughout the entire customer journey. To address this critical evolution, Cornell University has partnered with the CPG Guys and leading industry visionaries to create OmniCommerce Leadership. This interactive in-person experience brings together thought leaders and renowned Cornell faculty to share best practices for building integrated commerce platforms that put customers first. By the end of the program, you will have gained a comprehensive understanding of the unified commerce ecosystem as well as how Retail, CPG and service providers can accelerate transformation and build a frictionless future.

In today’s increasingly competitive market, a strong procurement strategy can give your company a distinct advantage. In this certificate program, you will examine and apply various approaches to procurement and inventory management. You will explore how you can reduce costs by standardizing approaches and applying best practices used by large and small organizations in multiple industries, including, but not limited to, retail, manufacturing, and service. Devising purchasing specifications that align with organizational goals is the first step. Next, you will apply standard inventory analysis methods, such as economic order quantity calculations, to generate the best quantity and reorder point for your organization. You will also explore how to implement category management and develop buying strategies for goods and services your organization uses while strategically managing costs. Finally, you will have the opportunity to practice how to negotiate effectively with suppliers, implementing win-win strategies that enable long-term productive relationships. Throughout the courses, you will utilize a number of Excel tools that you can apply to your workplace, both now and in the future. For the best experience in this program it is recommended to take these courses in the order that they appear.

One of the key ways to secure your financial future is through investing. Yet investing is complex: It can feel as though there are endless options to choose from, and the risks can be substantial. So how can you cut through the noise? In this certificate program, you will explore strategies to help guide your approach to investing. You’ll begin by developing a fundamental understanding of financial documents which will allow you to interpret financial information and increase your personal and professional decision-making capacities. You will then apply your financial statement knowledge to the stock market, where you will discover how to analyze stocks and identify those that are profitable and worth your investment. Diving deeper, you will determine how to manage your investment portfolio by examining different asset classes, sectors, styles, and diversification options. To complete your certificate, you will delve into a more modern investment vehicle: cryptocurrency. You’ll explore the function of blockchains by examining the design of a cryptocurrency and practice using a Bitcoin wallet to better understand how the blockchain can be used to transfer value from person to person. By the end of this program, you will have the knowledge and confidence to make investment decisions that will help you reach your financial goals, gaining applicable skills along the way. To be successful in these courses, you should be comfortable working with Excel, including writing formulas and creating charts.

Speaking and understanding the language of finance are essential skills for leaders and managers throughout an organization; smart business decisions rest on this fundamental knowledge. Without a clear understanding of financial analysis and management, you lack credibility with finance managers and business leaders. This certificate in financial management consists of courses that demystify financial terminology and concepts, giving you the tools you need to communicate fluently with finance managers and articulate business investment and project proposals to decision makers. Upon completion of the financial management program, you will have a solid foundation in finance that will serve you throughout your career. Participants in this certificate need one of the following financial calculators to complete four of the required courses:  Hewlett-Packard 12C or Texas Instruments BA II Plus. Both are available for purchase directly from Amazon.com. While waiting for the physical calculator to arrive, you may wish to try this online emulator of the HP 12C. The courses in this certificate program are required to be completed in the order that they appear.

This five-course certificate provides sales managers with the skills needed to build an actionable roadmap for driving sales growth. Learn how to conduct micro-market analysis to find hidden and unique opportunities, discover strategies to streamline your go-to-market process to increase face time with the highest-priority clients, and focus your value proposition for higher conversion rates. Based on the book Sales Growth: Five Proven Strategies from the World’s Sales Leaders, authored by experts at McKinsey & Company, the courses translate insights from 150 sales leaders into clear and practical guidelines for action. These tools and strategies provide a foundation in key frontline sales concepts to drive real growth in your company. For the best experience in this program it is recommended to take these courses in the order that they appear.

Have you ever seen a stunning piece of clothing in a store window or on a runway that took your breath away? Have you ever wanted to be a part of making trendsetting fashion products? Fashion is ready for innovation; the time has never been better for newcomers to disrupt the market as fashion brands seek out inventive new ways to sell products, promote diversity, and emphasize sustainability practices. Whether your goal is to be a designer, trend forecaster, merchandiser, buyer, or production manager, this certificate program provides an overview of the fashion industry that combines consumer and industry knowledge with business and economics. The courses in the program cover four major areas of fashion design management: trend forecasting, product line development, production planning, and distribution and marketing. After examining current trends, you will have the opportunity to conceptually design your own six-product fashion line that considers style, silhouette, color, and fabric choices. From there, you will explore the world of production planning and how factories are chosen to manufacture items for fashion brands. Finally, you’ll create a marketing and distribution plan to determine how to best bring your fashion line to market. Once you’ve completed the program, you’ll have gained a strong foundation in how the business of fashion operates that can help you launch or grow your career in the industry. The courses in this certificate program are required to be completed in the order that they appear.

Want to gain a competitive advantage for your business? This certificate program will help you address today’s most pressing strategic business questions and design a strategy for your own organization. Using game theory to enhance your view of the marketplace, you will examine change, disruption, and uncertainty in your industry, and devise strategies to respond to these variables effectively. As part of this strategy, you’ll have the opportunity to assess possible internal roadblocks to overcome and create a plan to surmount them. Evaluating a series of approaches including M&A, strategic alliances, and organic growth, you will also identify potential synergies to boost your organization’s value creation and profitability and develop the necessary skills to optimize the web of relationships that drive your business. Finally, you will explore ways to leverage the power of digital platforms to grow your organization, through in-house development or advantageous interactions with outside platforms. Throughout the program, you’ll engage with many detailed real-world examples and practical exercises that will help you see the world differently and ultimately develop savvier strategies to create sustained business success. For the best experience in this program it is recommended to take these courses in the order that they appear. This program includes two years of free access to Symposium! These events feature several days of live, highly participatory virtual Zoom sessions with Cornell faculty and experts to explore the most pressing leadership topics. Symposium events are held several times throughout the year. Once enrolled in your program, you will receive information about upcoming events. Throughout the year, you may participate in as many sessions as you wish. Attending Symposium sessions is not required to successfully complete the certificate program.

Translating complex data into clear, impactful visuals is essential for decision making in today’s data-driven landscape. Organizations seek professionals who can transform raw numbers into compelling stories that inspire understanding and action. In this certificate program, you will build a strong foundation in visualization principles then advance your skills using Tableau to design accurate and engaging graphics. You’ll explore fundamental, geographic, and advanced visualization techniques, mastering how to present complex information clearly and persuasively. Through hands-on projects, you’ll discover how to create interactive dashboards and persuasive data narratives tailored to your audience’s needs. By completing this certificate, you will be prepared to deliver professional visualizations and insights that influence strategy and drive results across any industry. The courses in this certificate program are required to be completed in the order that they appear. System requirements: To complete this certificate program, you will need to install Tableau Desktop Public on your local device. While this software is free, you’ll need to create an online Tableau Public account to download the Tableau Desktop Public package. You‘ll also need administrative privileges to install this software on your device. Refer to Tableau's System Requirements for up-to-date information on supported devices to check your device compatibility.

Are you spending hours analyzing Excel spreadsheets, searching for insights? With Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), you can streamline repetitive tasks and make data analysis faster and more efficient. In this certificate program, you will develop skills in Excel programming and VBA to make better business decisions and improve operational processes. Throughout the courses, you will gain the skills needed to automate tasks, enhance productivity, and manipulate data effectively. As you progress from recording and running Excel macros to writing your own VBA code, you will make decisions using conditional statements, create user-defined functions, and design user forms. You will practice combining these skills in a variety of ways to create unique business solutions for any task using Excel workbooks. By the conclusion of the program, you will be equipped to customize Excel functionality to your needs and unlock new possibilities in data management. Please note: This certificate requires Microsoft Excel for Windows. You must have access to a Windows version to successfully complete the program. Microsoft Excel for Mac does not offer the comprehensive VBA functionality necessary to complete the program. The courses in this certificate program are required to be completed in the order that they appear.

Have a great idea for a startup but don’t know where to begin? This certificate program is designed to give both entrepreneurs and new investors the skills needed to evaluate the viability of business concepts and markets, navigate the pitching process, and ultimately gain an understanding of how to receive and invest from a variety of sources. This program will cover investments from equity investors, angel investors, venture capitalists, crowdfunders, economic development centers, and grants. In this certificate program, you will learn how to find the right match for your opportunity or investment style, and what goes into delivering and assessing a successful business pitch. You will also explore how to protect your interests as the company is being structured, how to assign a fair valuation to the opportunity, and how to perform due diligence as the financing process moves from investor interest to actually closing the deal. Finally, you will examine the strategies for keeping entrepreneur/investor relations alive and healthy long after the deal has closed. The courses in this certificate program are required to be completed in the order that they appear.

To succeed in your career, it is crucial to become an effective workplace writer. Developing your skills in business writing can help support your goals and influence decision making. In this certificate program, you will discover how to apply key tools and principles that will help you prepare messages to accomplish your professional objectives by meeting your readers’ needs and expectations, impressing your audience along the way. You will identify and reinforce your writing strengths as well as remedy any key weaknesses that reduce the clarity and overall success of your message. As you engage with topics such as persuasive writing or presentation writing, you will gain applicable best practices to use in business settings and beyond. By the end of the program, you will be able to not only identify and reinforce your writing strengths but also develop new writing habits that will enable you to be more self-confident, efficient, and versatile as you plan, draft, and revise your workplace communications. The core courses in this certificate program are required to be completed in the order that they appear.

Communication is often the cornerstone of success in any modern organization. Whether you are persuading an audience to embrace a new initiative, mediating a conflict between team members, or crafting compelling visual presentations, your ability to communicate effectively will directly impact your professional growth and the success of your organization. In today’s fast-paced global environment, communication skills stretch far beyond in-person conversations; they now encompass virtual presentations, crisis communication, generative AI-assisted writing, and more. Mastering these diverse communication modes will help you confidently navigate rapidly evolving business contexts and achieve your goals. Communication 360 is a comprehensive, 14-course program designed to equip you with a 360-degree view of professional communication strategies, tools, and techniques. Through foundational courses, you will sharpen your writing, presentation, and critical thinking skills. From there, you will explore specialized topics including cross-cultural and crisis communication, persuasion, mediation, and the latest innovations in AI-driven writing. This program includes two years of free access to Symposium! These events feature several days of live, highly participatory virtual Zoom sessions with Cornell faculty and experts to explore pressing industry topics. Symposium events are held several times throughout the year. Once enrolled in your program, you will receive information about upcoming sessions. Throughout the year, you may participate in as many sessions as you wish. Attending Symposium sessions is not required to successfully complete the certificate program.

Organizations and their leaders have diverse obligations: business, social, and moral obligations to customers, suppliers, employees, investors, regulators, and the public. To live up to these obligations, leaders need systems that cascade responsibility throughout the organization and hold everyone accountable. In this certificate program, you will discover how to diagnose common accountability problems and lead deliberations to best address them. You will focus on improving several different facets of performance, from improving margins, capacity investment and use, efficiency, coordination, and motivation to the increasingly important obligations that organizations owe to their employees, their communities, and the environment. You’ll have the chance to discuss the new opportunities and challenges that come with the burgeoning “Fourth Industrial Revolution”: engaging employees, assigning obligations to artificially intelligent agents while holding them accountable, and accountability with independent contractors and remote employees. Overall, you will gain understanding through a comprehensive framework that allows you to utilize the power of accountability systems wherever your organization is falling short of their obligations. To be successful in this program, you will need to be familiar with the basics of financial accounting (applying credits and debits to appropriate accounts) and have fundamental Excel skills (writing simple formulas and creating basic graphs). The courses in this certificate program are required to be completed in the order that they appear.

In today’s global business landscape, the ability to communicate with impact can set you apart. Whether you’re presenting to executives, collaborating with global teams, or creating high-stakes client proposals, this certificate program will help you build the skills you need to deliver messages that drive results. In the program, you will begin with three core courses where you’ll develop strategies to craft compelling slide decks and reports, adapt messaging for cross-cultural contexts, and harness the power of generative AI as a writing partner to enhance and streamline your written communication. To further tailor your experience, you will then have the opportunity to select three elective courses designed to refine and expand your communication toolkit. You may focus on mastering persuasive writing, delivering effective presentations, excelling in unscripted interactions, or confidently engaging audiences in virtual environments. Through these courses, you’ll develop the flexibility to adapt your communication style to a wide range of professional scenarios. By the end of this program, you will have gained the confidence and expertise to craft targeted messages, foster trust with diverse stakeholders, and communicate in a way that inspires action. This program includes two years of free access to Symposium! These events feature several days of live, highly participatory virtual Zoom sessions with Cornell faculty and experts to explore pressing industry topics. Symposium events are held several times throughout the year. Once enrolled in your program, you will receive information about upcoming sessions. Throughout the year, you may participate in as many sessions as you wish. Attending Symposium sessions is not required to successfully complete the certificate program.

This certificate program will enable you to navigate the dense thicket of regulations governing U.S. financial institutions. You will be introduced to the objectives and strategies of financial regulation, the various types of financial institutions to which regulation applies, the key features of the regulatory frameworks governing these institutions, and the primary challenges facing financial regulators. Beginning with conventional deposit-taking banks, you will examine the risks embedded within the business of banking and how regulation seeks to manage these risks. You‘ll then explore several other forms of “non-bank” financial intermediation, including investment banks, insurance companies, wholesale funding markets, structured finance markets, money market and other investment funds, and financial market infrastructure. Upon the completion of this program, you’ll have explored the broader role of financial institutions and their regulations in society. You will be required to purchase the following two textbooks to complete your coursework: ”Principles of Financial Regulation” (2016) by John Armour, Dan Awrey, Paul Davies, Luca Enriques, Jeffrey N. Gordon, Colin Mayer, and Jennifer Payne ”Financial Regulation: Law and Policy” (3rd ed. 2021) by Michael S. Barr, Howell E. Jackson, and Margaret E. Tahyar You’ll have six months to complete the required elements for this certificate program, but this flexible approach allows you to finish sooner based on your schedule.

Designed for higher education administrators, the Higher Education Leadership Program, offered by Cornell University in collaboration with the Eastern Association of College and University Business Officers (EACUBO), empowers you to lead with confidence in an era of unprecedented change. This forward-looking program sharpens your managerial expertise, equips you with cutting-edge strategies, and prepares you to address the evolving demands of colleges and universities in today’s dynamic environment. This intensive experience blends compelling faculty-led presentations with deep-dive discussions guided by senior administrators and innovative leaders from across the higher education landscape. Through interactive sessions, case studies, and peer collaboration, you’ll tackle pressing topics—from exploring sustainable ancillary revenue strategies to strengthening leadership, negotiation, and team management capabilities. Join us on Cornell’s stunning Ithaca, NY campus to expand your professional network, uncover best practices, and engage in thought-provoking sessions that bridge theory and real-world application. The Higher Education Leadership Program builds on decades of collaboration between Cornell and EACUBO, delivering timely insights and essential tools tailored for a rapidly changing field. Schedule subject to change.

Many professionals initially build a career based on expertise in a specific functional domain. Yet to advance to more senior levels of management, it is often necessary to gain exposure to a more expansive view of business operations. In this certificate program, you will build a broad foundation of business language in seven essential areas of business management specifically important for those in technology, science, and engineering. As you progress through courses in accounting, finance, human capital, sales, marketing, strategy, and legal concepts, you’ll have the opportunity to apply key business approaches in real time in your organization to deepen your understanding of these core business topics through a technology-focused lens. By the time you complete this program, you will have gained the confidence to engage in business conversations and ultimately be better prepared to make the leap to a management role. This program draws on examples especially relevant to the science and technology industries and is a great fit for tech professionals. For the best experience in this program it is recommended to take these courses in the order that they appear.

This comprehensive stackable certificate program gives you the opportunity to build a broad foundation in seven essential areas of business management. With courses in leadership, marketing, finance, strategy, and more, you’ll have the opportunity to learn from the same faculty who teach in Cornell University’s MBA programs and apply key business concepts in real-time in your job. Whether you’re striving to become a better people manager, fill in gaps in your financial acumen, or operate at a more strategic level, this program is a great way to gain the breadth of skills you need to drive business success. This program is designed to meet the needs of busy working professionals by allowing you to work on each focus area individually over time. The courses in this certificate program are required to be completed in the order that they appear.

Supply and demand. Cost-benefit analysis. Resource allocation. In this certificate program, you will explore the applications of key microeconomic concepts to build the critical business foundation every manager needs to make effective decisions. You’ll gain a deeper understanding of international trade, labor markets, loan markets, and currency markets, as well as competition between companies. You’ll have the opportunity to make predictions about how prices and quantities will change when market conditions fluctuate and discover different models for pricing, production, and market analysis. Whether you’re a business consultant or analyst, an emerging leader or a experienced executive, you’ll come away with core economic tools you can apply to position your business for success in today’s evolving market landscape. The courses in this certificate program are required to be completed in the order that they appear.

For a business to stay competitive in today’s market, it must digitize business operations and harness the power of that gathered data. In this certificate program, you will explore strategies, methods, and techniques designed to transform your company into a digital, data-driven operation. You will explore the required elements of digital operations by analyzing examples from the manufacturing, service, and retail industries. Throughout the courses, you’ll apply new methods and techniques to design and analyze experiments to assess market demand; improve customer service; and develop products, services, and innovations. You’ll have the opportunity to practice and develop demand-forecasting skills to tackle complex time-series data sets that include seasonality and trends as well as causal or regression-based forecasting methods. Finally, you will practice prescriptive analytics to optimize capacity-planning and pricing decisions, explore the drivers of important financial metrics, and evaluate how they respond to operational improvements. Whether you’re a manager, executive, consultant, or business analyst, this program will help you develop the critical analytical and technical skills needed to digitize operations and ultimately maximize business performance. The courses in this certificate program are required to be completed in the order that they appear. Experience using Excel to build formulas, plot data, and manipulate data along with previous coursework in algebra or calculus is needed to successfully complete this certificate.

In today’s data-driven world, you can’t afford to be the only one at the table who lacks analytical knowledge. This certificate program is designed for professionals who need to elevate their ability to communicate about data with colleagues — without becoming math mavens or Excel experts. In the program, you will first strengthen your statistical vocabulary and understanding of quantitative fundamentals. Then you will use that foundation and critical tools to evaluate the validity of statistical summaries and choose statistical tests that meet your business needs. Finally, you will experiment with reporting, employ resources to interpret real-world data, and create meaningful presentations that tell the stories behind the numbers. After completing the program, you’ll possess a more analytical mindset and increased confidence in using data to drive performance and decision-making in your organization. The courses in this certificate program must be completed in the order they appear.

There are many great ideas about how to solve problems, but it takes a special set of skills to determine which ideas can become inventions and which of those inventions are commercially viable. In this certificate program, you will explore strategies to help gauge the market for an invention. To gain practice in identifying the best intellectual property or bioproperty strategies for your needs, you’ll use several custom tools to help clearly define uniqueness, competitiveness, and viability. As you prepare for the next steps in the process, these tools will also support you in drafting a summary to describe the invention to key stakeholders, exploring different commercialization pathways for inventions, and mastering best practices for navigating each pathway. Finally, you will have the opportunity to examine recommendations for creating an invention management system for your team and for fostering an invention management mindset. By the end of this program, you‘ll have developed insight into processes to better create and execute the management of commercially viable inventions. You’ll have six months to complete the required elements for this certificate program, but this flexible approach allows you to finish sooner based on your schedule.

Decision-making can be a challenge. Whether large or small, using a framework to guide your process can provide comfort and confidence. In this certificate program, you will use the AREA Method to make both personal and professional decisions with conviction. You will focus first on your own strengths and challenges based on your Problem-Solver Profile. You will evaluate cognitive biases and apply remedies, then use this approach to strengthen your ability to work effectively with other decision-making stakeholders. With your profile in hand, you’ll begin to identify, frame, and break down a problem using the AREA Method. You will leverage a perspective-taking system to control for and counteract bias, use inversion to begin solving a problem, and look at the problem from the perspective of your Absolute Targets. You will then explore strategies for research and interviewing for decision-making. You’ll start by putting your problem into context and identifying sources for interviewing. After you have conducted your interviews, you will complete several exercises to practice evaluating your research and making a decision. As this program concludes, you will put the AREA Method to work to serve you as an operating system in the world by applying aspects of the method in a variety of situations. You’ll address myths to strengthen your decision-making and look for evidence of AREA at work in the world. Note: This program includes a copy of Cheryl Strauss Einhorn's e-book, “Problem Solved” (New Jersey: Career Press, 2017). You will receive instructions about how to access the e-book when you join the course. If you prefer to purchase a hard copy of the book, we suggest you do so before the start of the course. The book is available for purchase online or at other retailers. The courses in this certificate program are required to be completed in the order that they appear.

FinTech, or financial technology, encompasses a range of rapidly emerging technological changes in the financial services sector. Anyone involved in the world of traditional financial institutions, asset management, or loans — or even tangentially involved with newer options like crowdfunding, mobile payments, blockchain, and cryptocurrency — has reason to be interested in FinTech. In this certificate program, you will get an inside look at the key disruptions in the current FinTech industry landscape. Using these insights, you will apply the lessons of disruption to a challenge facing your organization and perform a Porter’s Five Forces analysis on one of your own products or services or someone else’s. You will also delve into the five major financial verticals, including wealthtech (robo advising), alternative (peer-to-peer) lending, insurance tech, currency and payment tech, and regulatory tech. You will then apply a framework of analysis to help you pinpoint opportunities for disruption within each of these verticals. Finally, you will move on to the study of blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and cryptography, where you will investigate how cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin make use of the blockchain to facilitate peer-to-peer digital transactions. The courses in this certificate program are required to be completed in the order that they appear.

Personal data is a tremendous asset for many organizations doing business in today's global digital economy. This data can also become a major liability for organizations that may be subject to vulnerabilities within their security systems. One of the biggest challenges businesses face is safeguarding personally identifiable information collected from customers by creating a sustainable framework for securing this data for decades to come. In this certificate program, you will go through the steps you can take as a privacy professional charged with the responsibility of protecting private data. You’ll discover how a strategy of the three Fs – find it, face it, fix it – will help protect your private data from the threat of malware, ransomware, and other cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Starting from an understanding of your organization’s current protection system, you’ll build on that framework, taking valuable tools back to your teams in support of preparing for the unexpected. Throughout this certificate program, you will delve into case studies and industry examples showcasing how organizations can deal with privacy incidents, overcome them, and become stronger following security attacks. As the business world continuously evolves, so does the exposure to new cybersecurity threats. While you may not be able to avoid every vulnerability, this program will show you how to prepare for the unexpected and plan an effective response to almost any cybersecurity crisis. By the end of the program, you’ll be set up to effect change at your organization, thereby reducing your risk, preparing for crisis management, and instilling a culture of cybersecurity throughout your teams and beyond. You’ll have six months to complete the required elements for this certificate program, but this flexible approach allows you to finish sooner based on your schedule.

Emerging markets have become key players in the global economy, but their ability to transform into developed markets is often hindered by a lack of funding. In this certificate program, you will explore the tremendous opportunities for investing in underfunded markets as well as some unique challenges that arise when investing in developing economies. Because innovation is a major driver in emerging markets, you will discover the strategies that different emerging markets use to gain a competitive advantage at individual, team, and organizational levels. You’ll also examine a framework designed to help evaluate those risks as they are categorized in six dimensions. Through this detailed risk-scoring system, you will gain the skills to rank and compare emerging markets by each dimension of risk. By the end of the program, you will have additional perspective on the opportunities, challenges, and key elements of investing in emerging markets, including valuable insights to apply in your own work. You’ll have six months to complete the required elements for this certificate program, but this flexible approach allows you to finish sooner based on your schedule.

This live faculty-led program meets weekly on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 7PM to 9PM ET. The AI in Finance certificate prepares professionals to confidently apply AI technologies in the financial industry, connecting new tools to practical impact in their work. Taught by Cornell faculty and industry practitioners with expertise in engineering and business, the program is designed as a step-by-step progression that moves from foundational knowledge to applications, responsible AI practices, and strategic leadership. It concludes with a week-long leadership series that integrates insights from across the modules, enabling professionals to assess organizational readiness, identify opportunities, and design practical roadmaps for AI adoption. View Full Program Description & Schedule

Blockchain has recently become synonymous with cryptocurrency, but its applications go far beyond financial transactions. Companies in every industry are just now beginning to understand how to apply blockchain-based solutions to solve business problems. In this certificate series, you will delve into the world of blockchain technology and its cryptographic underpinnings to demystify the technology and the promise it holds for business. Learning from world-renowned blockchain experts from Cornell Tech, you will begin by studying how cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin make use of the blockchain to facilitate peer-to-peer digital transactions. Then, with a solid understanding of the mechanics of the Bitcoin blockchain protocol, you will discover the problems blockchain technologies aim to solve and determine how they can support your business goals. Ultimately, you will walk away with a proposal for an application of blockchain technology in your organization. The courses in this certificate program are required to be completed in the order that they appear.

Business problems need solutions based on data, not intuition. Yet most organizations struggle to translate the abundance of data they have today into meaningful business insights. Now more than ever, data analytics, approached with a business management mindset, is an essential function for successful decision -making in every industry. It can help frame problems, create comparisons, forecast outcomes, and make predictions. And the people who can make meaning from data in a way that stakeholders and executives can easily understand often become some of the most valued people in a company. In this certificate program, you will learn effective methods to analyze data and make better, more informed business decisions. Working with Excel as your go-to tool, you will master real-world spreadsheet modeling concepts, examine data cleaning methods to improve accuracy, and explore ways to manage data using Excel’s math and logic capabilities to their full potential. You will get a chance to visualize your data into compelling charts and dashboards to communicate your findings, and make simulated predictions based on what the data reveals. Whether you’re a manager or executive responsible for financial or functional reporting, an analyst, or an entrepreneur, this program will help you develop the kind of mission-critical business analytics skill set that will make you invaluable to any team. Students are required to use a Desktop (PC or Mac) version of Microsoft Excel (2016 or later) to complete some assignments in this program; Excel for Web (Online) and Excel for Mobile will not suffice. Please note that this course was designed specifically for PC users. Students with some familiarity in Excel will be most successful in this program, but those using Microsoft Excel for Mac will likely require external support given the differences inherent to Excel for PC vs. Mac.

Exploring your personal take on the ethics of business and fostering standards for your organization can improve decision making, fortify team culture, and enable you to avoid potential issues and dysfunctions in various business settings. This certificate program will give you the tools to apply the ethics of business to your organization. Throughout the program, you will break down the role ethics play in society and decision making. By using ethical reasoning, you will be able to anticipate issues that arise in business settings and create plans for avoiding them. You will then determine how to recognize psychological factors in yourself and others that interfere with making good ethical decisions and apply strategies to mitigate them. The program will culminate in the discussion of research-based blockers that negatively affect work culture ethics at the personal and organizational levels. You will examine responsive strategies for the most common social and organizational factors that exacerbate the human tendency to overlook or misapply ethical analysis. By the end of the program, you’ll be prepared to foster the development of a responsible organizational culture and address potential legal and ethical issues, supporting your team in today’s complex and ever-changing business landscape. For the best experience in this program it is recommended to take these courses in the order that they appear.

Success in business requires a basic understanding of law and the ability to partner with lawyers to address legal issues, set up new businesses, make business and property deals, and navigate laws and regulations. The first of four courses begins with a look at foundational legal concepts, including business structures and the legal responsibilities of corporate directors and officers.The second course examines how contracts and business agreements are ideally structured. The third course delves into specialty areas of law, including employment, real property, tax planning, litigation and startups. The series ends with a focus on partnering with lawyers to navigate legal obstacles and accomplish business goals. With content provided by ten Cornell Law School professors and five practicing attorneys, this series offers rich legal insight and practical approaches to real-life business situations. Animated videos, downloadable tools, carefully planned course projects and engaging activities make for a compelling and result-focused learning experience. For the best experience in this program it is recommended to take these courses in the order that they appear. This program includes two years of free access to Symposium! These events feature several days of live, highly participatory virtual Zoom sessions with Cornell faculty and experts to explore the most pressing leadership topics. Symposium events are held several times throughout the year. Once enrolled in your program, you will receive information about upcoming events. Throughout the year, you may participate in as many sessions as you wish. Attending Symposium sessions is not required to successfully complete the certificate program.

Leading organizations understand the value of data: it can transform operations, maintain agility, and create a competitive edge. Without it, you’re flying blind. Yet in order to integrate data into your decision-making processes, you need a set of tools to transform raw data into a valuable asset. The primary tool set every data-driven decision maker needs is statistics. As the foundation of any data-driven decision, statistics helps you make sense of your data. This certificate program is designed to help you not only gain a strong working knowledge of statistical concepts but also the ability to apply them to your data to make better business decisions. Experience creating basic Excel functions and charts is needed to successfully complete this certificate. Familiarity with Excel PivotTables is useful, but not required. This program includes a year of free access to Symposium! These events feature several days of live, highly participatory virtual Zoom sessions with Cornell faculty and experts to explore the Data Science industry’s most pressing topics. Symposium events are held several times throughout the year. Once enrolled in your program, you will receive information about upcoming events. Throughout the year, you may participate in as many sessions as you wish. Attending Symposium sessions is not required to successfully complete the certificate program.

When it comes to corporate governance, it is crucial to have a thorough and applicable understanding of the roles, rights, and interactions at play. This certificate program provides an overview of the different types of business organizations, including limited liability companies, partnerships, and corporations, covering key elements of corporate governance law in order to enable you to understand, anticipate, and respond to the concerns of various stakeholders within your organization. You will analyze the roles and duties of corporate directors, management, and shareholders, then apply the laws surrounding fiduciary duties and the business judgment rule to various simulated corporate transactions or decisions. You will then determine how to avoid and reduce the risk of criminal liability arising within an organizational setting and apply this practical knowledge to business decisions. You’ll establish ways to minimize potential disruptions, honing the ability to navigate internal and external investigations into possible wrongdoing to a successful and efficient close. Ultimately, by building a plan to respond to anticipated questions and concerns from all types of stakeholders, you will be prepared to put your newfound knowledge into practice in your organization and beyond. The courses in this certificate program are required to be completed in the order that they appear.

AI is everywhere, and it’s revolutionizing the business world. You have the opportunity to be at the forefront of this change. What products should you build? What are the best AI applications for your business? How can you harness the power of AI ethically and responsibly? With the explosion of generative AI applications, organizations now have access to many different tools to build products and services driven by AI. From generative AI to language models to deep neural networks to agentic workflows, this certificate program will give you all the tools you need to build AI-based solutions without any coding experience. Join us on a fun journey where you will explore engaging AI case studies from a variety of industries, including healthcare, media, and finance. As you discover the power of AI innovation in the real world, the courses provide a hands-on deep dive into prompt engineering and machine learning applications, as well as data handling, ethics, and compliance. You'll gain understanding and hands-on experience with agent-base frameworks, and you’ll have the opportunity to put AI into action by prototyping, developing, and fine-tuning models for your own AI-driven products, harnessing some of the most transformative technologies available today. A helpful ChatGPT-enabled co-pilot will be available 24/7 to assist you. By the end of the program, you’ll develop a strong foundation in traditional AI, neural networks, and generative AI, preparing you to capitalize on the new opportunities AI presents and lead in today’s rapidly evolving business landscape. No coding or technical experience is necessary to successfully complete the program; you will have copilots such as ChatGPT and other AI tools (including an AI-cloned professor!) to assist you with the coursework. Refer to this GitHub repository for all Jupyter notebooks, datasets, and supporting materials for Designing and Building AI Solutions. The courses in this certificate program are required to be completed in the order that they appear. To be successful in these courses, you should have a basic knowledge of statistical concepts. This certificate includes two years of free access to Symposium! These events feature live, highly participatory virtual Zoom sessions with Cornell faculty and experts to explore today’s most pressing topics. Throughout the year, you may participate in as many sessions as you wish. Attending a Symposium is not required to successfully complete the certificate program.

In the dynamic entertainment industry, understanding the legal landscape is essential for protecting your own work or managing projects effectively. Whether you're a creative, an agent, or an executive, this comprehensive certificate program provides the legal insights and practical tools you need to navigate a complex and evolving field. Throughout the program, you will examine real-world scenarios and fact patterns to assess key aspects of entertainment law. You’ll discover how to advocate for fair compensation, negotiate effectively with legal professionals, and distinguish between rights of reservation and reservation of rights. By evaluating diverse works, you'll gain a deeper understanding of how rights and credit shape production outcomes and industry relationships. You'll also strengthen your ability to identify and apply intellectual property rights across a variety of contexts, from individual creations to collaborative productions. The final course prepares you for the future by exploring the legal implications of AI in entertainment, ensuring you're ready to adapt as technology reshapes the industry. For the best experience in this program, it is recommended to take these courses in the order that they appear.

Knowledge is power but it’s only half the battle. Sharing knowledge — that is, effectively communicating complex concepts to your audience — is the real strength. This certificate program is designed to help you design, build, and deliver impactful in-person and virtual presentations to an array of internal and external audiences. The courses will provide you with an opportunity to examine, reevaluate, and collect rich insights into best practices for business, technical, and scientific presentations. Throughout this program, you will reevaluate current and past presentation practices that do not achieve the intended goals in order to help you refine your ability to deliver an effective message. You will practice techniques that can be adapted to meet specific communication needs including sharing highly technical information. Most importantly, you will have many opportunities to apply and experiment with the course concepts in your work. You will be required to purchase Traci Nathans-Kelly’s book “Slide Rules” to complete your coursework. For the best experience in this program, it is strongly recommended to take these courses in the order that they appear.

Supply chain analytics is an essential tool for organizations to improve efficiency and gain a competitive advantage. How can you optimize this area of your business? In this program, you will be introduced to analytical methods for supply chain demand forecasting, inventory optimization, and production capacity allocation. You will also have the opportunity to explore advanced topics in supply chain finance, coordination strategies, and sustainability. These topics will be accompanied by practical Excel tools and activities designed to help you apply the concepts to your role and beyond. By bridging the gap between concepts and practice, you will set your team up for success in today’s ever-changing market. To be successful in this program, fundamental Excel skills (writing simple formulas and creating basic graphs) and basic knowledge of statistical analysis are essential. The courses in this certificate program are required to be completed in the order that they appear.

Family businesses represent the dominant form of business ownership worldwide. Leadership in family organizations requires a dynamic mix of courage, candor, and emotional maturity to navigate the often complex relationships that exist among family members, business, and ownership. In this certificate program, you will explore the particular challenges that family-owned businesses face and gain strategies to help you navigate these challenges effectively. You’ll have the opportunity to analyze how family, business, and ownership overlap to identify where confusion or tension may arise among them. You will also address emotional and habitual patterns that govern familial and business relationships and discover how to encourage a shared sense of belonging that can sustain both the family and the business across generations. By the end of this program, you will have new tools and strategies to help lead a thriving family business. For the best experience in this program it is recommended to take these courses in the order that they appear. This certificate includes a year of free access to Symposium! These events feature live, highly participatory virtual Zoom sessions with Cornell faculty and experts to explore today’s most pressing leadership topics. Throughout the year, you may participate in as many sessions as you wish. Attending a Symposium is not required to successfully complete the certificate program.

As sustainability issues become increasingly pressing, consumers are demanding more responsibility, transparency, and accountability from organizations. By weaving sustainability efforts into the fabric of your everyday goals and situating them at the forefront of value creation, your organization can successfully adapt to this demanding and rapidly changing landscape. This certificate program will prepare you to evaluate your organization’s current sustainability efforts, identify gaps and opportunities, and create unique solutions to drive organizational value. You will gain insights into your organization’s competitive approach by assessing environmental and social sustainability throughout the life cycle of a product or service and leveraging research-based frameworks and methodologies to ideate solutions that turn sustainability problems into market opportunities. You will also explore how aligning stakeholder relationships enhances your ability to achieve profitability and sustainability goals. With these strategies and best practices, you will be uniquely positioned to create a sustainability implementation plan tailored to your organization’s specific needs. For the best experience in this program it is recommended to take these courses in the order that they appear.

As sustainability becomes a key component of today’s decision-making processes, corporations must respond by developing initiatives and making business decisions that illustrate their commitment to sustainable business activity. This certificate program is designed to help you think about sustainability as a vital part of your business strategy. In this certificate, you will frame this challenge and assess your company’s sustainability practices relative to industry standards. You will use this initial assessment to inform implementation of sustainability initiatives, and develop a future-focused sustainability strategy that capitalizes on market opportunities. To begin, you will critically examine the sustainability-based interactions among corporate entities, their peers, regulators, the public, and other stakeholders in order to identify opportunities for improving the outcomes of these interactions. You will then assess the ways that corporations manage reputational risk by communicating their sustainability efforts and propose initiatives that bolster your organization’s sustainability credentials. Finally, you will focus on building a business case by proposing specific ways your company can capitalize on sustainable opportunities. By the end of this certificate program, you will be well equipped to lead your teams toward sustainable solutions that enable your organization to thrive.

From the hiring process to privacy and compensation, employment law is a critical component of the relationship between organizations and workers. Contrary to popular belief, however, the law does not have all the answers to today’s tricky business situations. This certificate program draws attention both to the aspects of the law that involve specific legal protections and constraints, as well as to the zones of discretion within which employers and employees can act. You will start in the first course by developing a solid foundation in U.S. employment law: what you need to know and what you need to keep in mind in your business in order to avoid litigation. Subsequent courses cover specific areas of interest in the workplace, such as employee privacy, wages and benefits, anti-discrimination policies, and intellectual property rights. In each of these courses, you will begin with the basic outlines of the most important laws that relate to the topic under discussion. After you gain a baseline understanding, you’ll go beyond it to explore the discretionary areas within the law. This program gives you the opportunity to study real-world cases which challenged and in some cases divided the courts. You’ll read the cases, compare your assessments with those of your peers, then read the judges’ decisions. Throughout the program, projects will give you the opportunity to explore how each topic area relates to your own workplace. The courses in this certificate program are required to be completed in the order that they appear. The information provided in this course should not be used as a substitute for legal advice.