ECN7515 Business Model Innovation to Compete in the Digital Economy

3 Elective Credits

Recent surveys to Top Management Teams show that business model innovation is at the forefront of their thoughts and challenges, both in startups and established companies. This course provides the tools to design and operate innovative business models.

The tools to be learned should help students understand how to think about business model innovation, respond to the entry of disruptive business models, and decide whether the company should operate single or multiple business models. We also analyze business model transformation and innovation in entrepreneurial organizations and how these organizations can use business model innovation to challenge established companies even in mature industries.

Examples of questions to be asked in the course are: How can a startup disrupt industries such as dairy, pharmaceutical, retail, financial, wine, and biotechnology? What are the fundamental issues to consider when designing business models that require different customer groups simultaneously? How to build sustainable models? What are the conditions to implement a business model innovation in an organization? How can the simultaneous operation of more than one business model promote a hard-to-imitate competitive advantage?

Regardless of your intended career path, understanding business models is essential. In investment banking or private equity, you need to understand the "engine" (i.e., the business model) that produces profits. In consulting, you need to solve organizational problems, which is very hard without understanding how the business model works. In industry, regardless of the company, economic sector, and position, you need to understand the context in which you operate and how your actions fit into the firm's policies, assets, and decision-making. In entrepreneurship, business model innovation is a powerful tool to succeed.

Prerequisites: None

ECN 7575 Business Models, Competitiveness, and the Changing European Environment
3 Elective Abroad CreditsProgram fee is paid to Glavin Office - program fee includes: accommodations, breakfast, ground transportation, program planned meals and cultural excursions. Not included: tuition, international flight, single room supplement (additional $500), visa costs, additional meals and personal expenses.

ECN 7575 explores competitive and strategic dimensions of companies doing business in the European Union (EU) in the context of EU competitiveness, institutions, policies, history and culture. This course studies ways that companies organize and define core competencies to build successful global brands. It further examines emerging trends, opportunities, and challenges for business and business creation in Italy and in the EU. ECN7575 explores how companies adapt and take advantage of business model disruptions, such as changes in technology and EU regulation, in light of current market dynamics. This course is grounded in economic fundamentals of relevant market definition, competitiveness in different geographies, firm behavior and performance, and provides students with opportunities to evaluate how companies position themselves for success in global markets based on their business model and strategic choices.

ECN 7575 is divided into two parts: two on-campus lectures (WebEx available for Blended Learning students) and a week-long site visit to Italy. In Italy, students will visit 5-6 companies to study challenges and opportunities they are facing in the context of the EU, its institutions, and global competition. Past company visits include among others: Amazon, PayPal, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Ducati, Ermenegildo Zegna, Armani, Eataly, Brembo and DHL. In addition, several faculty from Bocconi University will offer lectures and case discussions pertaining to the current developments in the EU and the European Competitiveness court and relate them to relevant company visits. Applications discussed will also include luxury brand management, integrated supply chains, and consequences of specific business model choices for valuation, revenue potential, and brand equity objectives. Last but not least, several activities are planned that will allow students to engage in and embrace Italian history and culture. Past excursions include a night at La Scala, a guided tour of Milan, a viewing of Leonardo DaVinci's The Last Supper, and attending a soccer game at San Siro.

Prerequisites: ECN7200, ECN7201, ECN7500 or ECN7505

SEN1321 Business Opportunities in the Circular Economy(Senior Instructor: Reino Hyyppa) Economic development over the past century has been reliant on a linear model of "take, make, dispose" that requires a constant and inexpensive supply of materials and energy, which has contributed to climate change, pollution and environmental degradation. Entrepreneurs and business leaders are currently tasked with transitioning to a more sustainable economy, which decouples economic growth from finite resource consumption. A transition to a Circular Economy, which is both restorative and regenerative in design, will reduce our dependence on earth's finite resources. We will be able to optimize the yields from natural resources by circulating products and materials at their highest utility throughout our economy. A circular economy reduces the environmental impacts of global development and could create an economic benefit of $1.8 trillion, in Europe alone, by 2030 through innovation and new job opportunities.
Students in this course will analyze case studies on how circular economies have been successfully implemented into urban economies and businesses. The seminar will incorporate an example of sustainable food production that uses indoor gardening technologies, as well as takeaways from the panel on circular economies at the 2017 Net Impact Conference. Finally, working within teams, students will be challenged to identify an environmental problem facing Babson College and to develop a solution using circular economics.

Course Schedule:
Class 1 - Wednesday, Jan 31
Class 2 - Wednesday, Feb 7
Class 3 - Wednesday, Feb 14
Class 4 - Wednesday, Feb 21
Class 5 - Wednesday, Feb 28
Class 6/Showcase - Wednesday, March 7

Senior-Led Seminars are free, non-credit courses that are taught by seniors at Babson. Upon successful completion of a seminar, students will receive a grade of non-credit pass (NCP) and the course will appear on your transcript at the end of the semester. These courses are made possible by a generous gift of the Donald W. White, Sr. '50 Family.

COM3511 Business Presentations
(Formerly MOB3511)
2 General CreditsIf you took and passed MOB3511, you cannot register for COM3511, as these two courses are equivalent

This is a performance course designed to build upon basic presentation skills and concepts. Focus will be directed toward presentation strategies for informative and persuasive speeches for business settings. Students will present virtual and in-class, high-impact presentations. The course will enforce communication concepts to allow students to become effective critical thinkers as creators and consumers of messages.

Prerequisites: RHT II

COM3500 Business Storytelling
4 Advanced Management Credits

This 4-credit course provides students with the opportunity to research and explore areas of business interest by engaging with and re-telling the stories of entrepreneurs. In this course, students will have the opportunity to learn about an area of entrepreneurial interest directly from entrepreneurs through guest lectures, one-on-one interviews, and secondary research. The goal of this course is to immerse students in the stories of entrepreneurs and to provide them with the business communication competence to retell these stories to a wider business audience.

Students will attend guest lectures by entrepreneurial leaders who will discuss their experiences and provide students with material to help them find and craft effective entrepreneurial stories. Students will develop skills in project planning, interview technique, recording and transcribing, and they will explore the ethical and legal considerations of presenting the stories and ideas of others. Students will complete 4-6 blog posts of varying length and topic to a predetermined business audience. Students will complete shorter activities (background subject research, designing interview protocols, peer review, editing exercises, business audience analysis) to support their business blog portfolio. Students will also consider how digital writing environments help writers address multiple audiences.

The course will culminate in the public presentation of their pieces as part of a digital takeover of one of Babson's storytelling channels.

Prerequisites: SME Courses

COM3511: Business Presentations
(Previously MOB3511: Business Presentations)
2 credit general credit**Students who took this as MOB3511 cannot register for this course**

This is a performance course designed to build upon basic presentation skills and concepts. Focus will be directed toward presentation strategies for informative and persuasive speeches for business settings. Students will present virtual and in-class, high-impact presentations. The course will enforce communication concepts to allow students to become effective critical thinkers as creators and consumers of messages.

Prerequisite: RHT1001 or WRT2000

COM3522 Business Writing

4 Advanced Management Credits

Business Writing is an interdisciplinary writing course designed to improve the business communication competency of undergraduate students. In this course students will gain the tools necessary to produce effective business writing in a variety of multi-modal contexts. Students will read, discuss, and respond to materials that provide historical context for business communication norms and genres and present research-driven strategies for communicating effectively to a variety of audiences. Students will complete practice cases where they will be expected to apply a problem-solving approach to producing audience-driven, goal-oriented business communication genres. These cases will build toward a larger service learning project with an external partner in order to deepen their understanding of business norms and practices.

Prerequisites: MKT2000

EPS7545 The Entrepreneurial Extension: Buying a Small Business

1.5 CreditsThis course will delve deeply into the challenges, process, and risks of buying a small business. Students will explore the intricacies of planning, evaluating and negotiating to buy a small business from a family-controlled or privately-owned enterprise. All aspects of financing and equity structure alternatives plus the industry peculiarities of acquiring a small business will be explored via cases, discussion, and an individual research paper.

This course is geared specifically to buying a small business and links with EPS7530 (M&A for Entrepreneurs) which focuses on a broad understanding of middle-market company M&A and is geared to students looking to buy a business in the future or students entering the corporate or advisory world.

Prerequisites: None

**It is recommended that students also take EPS7530 (M&A for Entrepreneurs) in order to develop a deep understanding of the M&A process**

EPS7546 Buying a Small Business: The Search Experience

1.5 CreditsThis course compliments EPS 7545 (Buying a Small Business) and EPS 7530 (M&A for Entrepreneurs) by allowing students interested in buying a business the opportunity to conduct a live search under the supervision of their Professor. Enrollment in or successful completion of either of the courses listed above is a prerequisite for this course.

The latter stage of the MBA program is an excellent time to conduct a business search. Students can learn from their experiences, share lessons with fellow students and actually find a serious business acquisition opportunity within a three-month semester.

The course will include group seminars and private sessions with the Professor for planning and review of the individual search plan. Students are expected to spend 30-40 hours during the semester conducting a serious search.

Group seminars will cover the following areas:
- Self Assessment
- Definition of the Search Objectives
- Preparation of a Business Plan for the Search
- Preparation of a Communications and Target Plan
- Opportunity Risk and Opportunity Process
- Strategies for Information, Due Diligence & Negotiations
- Keeping the Deal Alive
- The Closing Process

Prerequisites: Students who enroll in this course must be currently enrolled in EPS7530 or EPS7545 or have completed one of these courses in a prior semester AND also have completed EPS7200 or equivalent core

SEN1313 By Design

(Senior Instructor: Gabe Diaz-Barriga) The natural world (governed by chance) stands in contrast to the built environment (governed by design). In this entry-level course, we will seek to better understand design by comparing some of the many competing definitions of the word. We will go beyond "the way things look" to examine "why things work in that way" and even consider "the way things ought to be." Next, we will apply human-centered design (a set of methods and a mindset) to a central design challenge: How might we improve the Babson student experience? In small teams, we will use the tools and techniques pioneered by leading practitioners like IDEO and the d.school at Stanford to wrestle with this question and produce solutions.

Course Schedule:
Class 1 - Wednesday, January 27
Class 2 - Wednesday, February 3
Class 3 - Wednesday, February 10
Class 4 - Wednesday, February 17
Class 5 - Wednesday, February 24
Class 6 - Senior Seminar Showcase: Tuesday or Wednesday evening, 3/1 or 3/2. Details to be confirmed by first day of class.