OIM3517 Design Thinking and Problem Solving for Business Impact

4 Advanced Management Credits

This course enables you to work directly with the senior management at Blount Fine Foods.

Blount Fine Foods is a family-owned and operated manufacturer, marketer, and developer of fresh prepared foods. While best known for soup, the company produces hundreds of premium prepared food products for restaurants, retailers, and club stores nationwide.

Students will have the opportunity to work on new product development across the company. Examples of current product lines include the preparation and delivery of prepackaged food items such as: soups, meal bowls, side dishes, and mac & cheese. The course content will include expanding student knowledge on product lines, capabilities, pricing, consumer preferences as well as their go to market strategy. It is ideal for any students wanting to develop their consulting skills in product development, technology, operations, and management.

Skills learned include tactical approaches (such as project management) and business problem solving models as well as strategic tools and processes (design thinking and competitive assessments). This innovative, action-learning course gives you the opportunity to work with senior leaders at a very successful company using the newest Design Thinking and Problem-Solving methods. There will be a pitch competition at the end of the course.

Prerequisites: FME1000 and FME1001 or EPS1000 and MOB1010

EPS4515 Design Justice Studio

(Formerly Affordable Design and Entrepreneurship (ADE))
4 General Credits

Students must be Juniors or Seniors to take this course

This course engages students in community-based, participatory design and action. Teams partner with communities and organizations to achieve positive social and environmental impact with a strong justice framing, working for change in areas like air quality, community development, food processing, global health, and rights and privacy (addressing mass incarceration) over several semesters.

Guided by an experienced faculty advisor, teams make change through design for impact, social entrepreneurship, community organizing, participatory research, political advocacy and other practices. All teams practice social benefit analysis, theory of change, assumption testing, cross-cultural engagement tools, dissemination of innovation methods, and ethical norms.

Students regularly engage stakeholders in inclusive processes, in person and virtually, to observe, strategize, plan, co-design, prototype, test, and implement approaches supported by a significant project budget and student fundraising. There are often opportunities to travel locally, nationally, or internationally to work with partners.

Students are exposed to mindsets and dispositions for working with integrity and responsibility in their stakeholders' contexts through guided exercises, case studies, guest speakers, readings, and reflections. Students learn and apply changemaking practices through project work and gain essential experience building relationships across difference and developing their own self- and cultural awareness.

This course is part of the BOW collaboration, offered jointly between Babson and Olin, and open to

Wellesley students. Prerequisites: FME1000, Junior standing (students must be juniors or seniors to take the course).

Prerequisites: FME1000

OIM2000 Digital Technology for Entrepreneurs

(Formerly Technology and Business Innovation)

4 Intermediate Management Credits

This course introduces Babson's business students to foundational digital technology concepts, how this technology is used to capture, manage, and create value from data, and the significant role that technology and data play in new product, service, and process innovation.

Participants in the global workplace are increasingly expected to comfortably work with modern technology tools and data. Business leaders will further be expected to leverage the influx of new business models and opportunities as digital, physical, and biological spheres come together in exciting new ways. Related to these changes will be a continuous and ever-expanding deluge of data that needs to be managed, leveraged, and protected by all.

Being tech and data savvy will enable you to build stronger relationships with your customers, partners, and suppliers, and to increase your value in the workplace.

Prerequisites: FME1000

OIM3525 Enterprise 2.0: Building Social Networks to Improve Business Performance
4 Advanced Management Credits

Enterprise 2.0 is the term to describe organizations that use social media technologies (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, YouTube), strategies, and business practices that enable emergent collaboration. Many organizations are now interested in capturing, distributing and applying the knowledge of their employees for business benefit. Also, companies need to keep track of knowledge outside of their corporate walls, for example, understanding market trends and being aware of what customers are saying about their products. Ultimately, the goal of Enterprise 2.0 is to break down traditional information silos and allow employees and managers to tap into the right people and expertise when they need it.

In this course we will discuss the current state of the Enterprise 2.0 movement. We will also explore how social collaboration tools (often referred to as social media and Web 2.0) are being used by organizations to leverage the "wisdom of the crowds." Organizations are increasingly using tools such as blogs, wikis, social tagging, and social networking tools to achieve emergent collaboration and to break down information silos. Knowledge workers are also using social technologies to build their personal brand and personal network.

Student projects will emphasize a "hands-on" approach to understanding the latest social technologies. We will use social network analysis (SNA) software, a methodology to analyze the structure of social networks, or the people-to-people connections in organizations. SNA is an increasingly popular application used by both management consultants and internal organizational practices (e.g., knowledge management, IS, HR, R&D) to understand information flows and "influencers" inside and outside a company. Another project will have students create a social media campaign for an organization, including providing metrics on how to evaluate the success of the campaign. We will also experiment with mobile applications, such as location-based services (e.g., Foursquare, SCVNGR) on smartphones.

Prerequisites: FME1000 & FME1001

EPS3551 Entrepreneurial Families
(Formerly Family Entrepreneurship Amplifier)
4 General Elective CreditsIf you come from a family business or have an interest in starting a business with a family member or members, this course is designed for you. The course is like no other offered at Babson or elsewhere in the world. In this course, you will work directly with your family as part of the learning process. Together you will learn about how and why families are responsible for over 75% of global entrepreneurial activity and how your family can be more successful in its entrepreneurial efforts. You will learn about succession, ownership structures, family business strategy, family and business governance, conflict management and communication. You will strengthen your ability to work with your family, build your confidence and increase your family's understanding of the value you can bring to the business. You will also learn from your peers and their families establishing relationships that will endure long after you graduate. If you know that you want to lead the family business, this course will provide a foundation for your future. If you are uncertain about joining the family business, this course will help provide clarity for your decision. If you have no desire to join the family business and prefer creating your own venture or opportunity, this course will help you to leverage the knowledge and resources within your family in order to increase the likelihood of your success.

To get the most out of this class, students should have a connection to a family entrepreneurial activity, such as a family business, a family non-profit venture, a family-related start-up, etc. Students with family businesses or other entrepreneurial ventures of all sizes, ranging from very small to large in scale, are encouraged to register.

For more information, please watch this video.

Prerequisites: FME or equivalent

EPS4510 Entrepreneurial Finance

(Formerly EPS3511)
4 General CreditsHow much money should I raise? Who should I raise it from and how? What do I do with the money once I have it? This course focuses on the various aspects of funding and managing entrepreneurial ventures through the various stages of business growth. The class will utilize videos, cases, simulation and experiential learning techniques to explain how to finance the entrepreneurial firm, investment analysis and decision making, and managing company finances through growth, crisis and harvesting. Frequent guests ranging from entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, banking and legal professionals will bring the entrepreneurial experience to life in this course which utilizes the "flipped classroom" methodology of teaching.

Prerequisites: (SME2001 and SME2002 and SME2011 and SME2012 and SME2021 and SME2031) or (ACC2002 and OIM2001 and MKT2000 and OIM2000 and FIN2000 and ECN2002)

EPS1220 Entrepreneurial Leadership Field Studies
4 Free Elective Credits

This course is designed specifically for Arthur M. Blank School of Entrepreneurial Leadership Scholars (AMBSEL Scholars) and for other Scholars (e.g., Weisman, Presidential, Posse, etc.) by instructor consent.

Entrepreneurial leadership theories and frameworks, considered to be distinct from other forms of leadership, are still at the nascent stage of development. Babson Professor Scott Taylor and his colleagues are currently developing an entrepreneurial leadership model that includes the following constructs: "leader internal clarity", "leader opportunity seeking behavior", "leader outward focus", "follower motivation effect", and "recognizing and exploiting entrepreneurial opportunities". Each of these constructs will be explored by students through discussions of assigned readings and qualitative research in the form of entrepreneur interviews and a case research project which includes a written case and teaching note. Students will develop qualitative research skills (e.g., interview techniques) through in class lectures and asynchronous videos that have already been produced by Professor Shay. The learning-focused activities and assignments, especially the field-based entrepreneur interview and case research project, are designed to enhance student (and the field's) understanding of the unique nature of entrepreneurial leadership and to develop the student's own entrepreneurial leadership skills. Student course deliverables (entrepreneur interview and case study) will provide insights to advance our understanding of entrepreneurial leadership as well as teaching materials for classroom use. The entrepreneur interviews and case studies will be submitted for inclusion in Babson's case resources and possibly for publication in peer-reviewed journals such as Case Research Journal.

EPS3543: Entrepreneurial Opportunities in AI

4 advanced managements credits

This experiential seminar explores the rapidly evolving field of artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential for creating new business opportunities. Students will learn about cutting-edge technologies in AI, such as machine learning, computer vision, neural networks, and natural language processing. We will also cover recent developments in the AI industry and the impact of venture capital investment on AI startups. Throughout the course, students will have the opportunity to experiment with AI technologies and develop their own innovative projects. By the end of the course, students will have a deep understanding of the current state of AI and the potential for new business opportunities in this field. This course is ideal for students interested in the intersection of entrepreneurship and technology.

EPS3501 Entrepreneurship and Opportunity
4 General CreditsEPS3501, EPS3502, EPS3503, EPS3530, EPS3508 and EPS4520 are all equivalent courses. Students can take only ONE of these courses.

Before spending time and money on launching a new venture, it is important to understand if you should launch that particular venture. In fact, some of the main causes of new venture failure are the lack of product-market fit and cash flow problems resulting from underestimating the costs of the venture. This course concentrates on identifying and evaluating opportunities for new business to ensure that the venture has the potential to meet the individual entrepreneur's goals. Students will work on venture ideas to learn how to determine if there is a sufficient market, what that market requires to be willing to pay for a solution and what it will take for the entrepreneur to deliver that solution. Students will gain first-hand experience with market and customer research as well as a better understanding of what they need to do to determine if an idea represents a true opportunity for them. Students will leave the class being better able to understand their own personal entrepreneurial capacity and the process and tools that they can use for evaluating any venture idea that they may have in the future. Student teams will conduct both primary and secondary research on a venture idea of their choice.

Prerequisites: (SME2021 or FIN2000) and (SME2011 or MKT2000) and (SME2031 or ECN2002)

EPS3513 Entrepreneurship in Fashion
4 CreditsEntrepreneurship in fashion explores the challenges to entrepreneurs in the fashion industry with a view toward understanding opportunities, the changing nature of design to distribution technologies and processes, and the resources required to successfully launch and grow new ventures and corporate innovations. This course will examine past, current, and leading-edge business models while building entrepreneurial thought and action skills in the fashion context to create economic and social value. Students will focus on areas of interest in the fashion industry and design business models around opportunity spaces. The course examines current business cases. Speakers from the fashion industry will be invited to converse with students about experience and opportunities in fashion.

Prerequisites: FME1001