EPS3542: Innovation Ecosystems of Spain

4 advanced management credits (Elective Abroad)

Startup Ecosystems of Spain is a study abroad course designed to introduce Babson undergraduate students to the diverse Spanish economy with emphasis on the regional innovation ecosystems of Madrid and Barcelona. It examines the challenges that Spain has faced in recovering from the global financial crisis and evolving after the global pandemic COVID-19. It involves a multidisciplinary orientation at Babson followed by a 10-day study tour to Madrid and Barcelona. Students will meet on-site with executives from some of the top startup and multinational organizations in Spain.

Prerequisite: Application through Glavin Office

OIM3578 Integrated Product Design
(Formerly MOB3578)
4 Advanced Management Credits

**Students who took this as MOB3578 cannot register for this course**

You will work with industrial design students from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design (in Boston) and engineering students from Olin College of Engineering to develop new products through projects that are student-generated. Students learn first-hand about the techniques and contributions different disciplines bring to product design and practice collaboration common in professional design settings. This course provides valuable multidisciplinary preparation for students interested to work in innovation projects in established firms or develop and launch their own consumer products. Class will be held once a week and rotate between all three campuses.

Babson students should enroll in MOB3578.

Interested Wellesley students should cross-register in this course at Olin under ENGR3250.

Prerequisites: (SME2001 and SME2002) and EPS4515 or EPS4527 or DES3600

Students must have completed ONE (1) of the following courses.

Students who have completed a course from Olin College, from the prerequisite course list, must contact the Registrar for a Pre-Requisite Waiver.

ENGR 2250 (Olin College) User-oriented Collaborative Design
ENGR 1200 (Olin College) Design Nature
ENGR 2199 (Olin College) Engineering for Humanity
ENGR 3220 (Olin College) Human Factors and Interface Design

EPS1110 Introduction to the Entrepreneurial Experience

4 Credits

The Online Babson Summer Study program is designed to help high school students (primarily rising juniors and seniors in high school), like you, cultivate core career skills and a sharp entrepreneurial mindset for overcoming challenges in any setting, in any role. You will participate in interactive online sessions with Babson faculty, entrepreneurship experts, and Babson near-peer students, work on team-based projects with peers from around the world, learn how to apply Entrepreneurial Thought and Action , and understand the competencies needed to start your own venture.

EPS3541 Launch - Grow Your Existing Venture
4 CreditsThis course is designed for undergraduate students who are actively pursuing a venture that has progressed well beyond the Explore stage of development - already launched or launch-imminent. The course will support students in their active quest to achieve major development milestones in all aspects of their businesses, including but not limited to, products and services, revenue, organization, geographical expansion, distribution, partnerships, funding, profitability/sustainability, pivots, and social initiatives.

To enroll, instructor permission is needed. Email Mary Gale for an application: mgale@babson.edu

Prerequisites: FME or (MOB1000 and MOB1010) and permission from instructor (application and interview-based)

EPS4530: Launch Your Venture

(Previously titled Living the Entrepreneurial Experience)
4 Advanced Management Credits

Living the Entrepreneurial Experience is about being an entrepreneur in action, and "living" the experience of being an entrepreneur through this course. Building on foundations from EPS 3501, students will engage in Entrepreneurial Thought and Action by developing, taking and building on key action steps to advance their own ventures or on projects for existing enterprises. Key elements of the process involve secondary research and engaging experts, stakeholders, analogous/complementary ventures, and investors/donors to enrich your understanding of the entrepreneurship ecosystem and test ideas. Course readings and cases will provide supplemental background. Core to the class experience is the question - how do you build and lead your venture? Students will set milestones to move their venture forward. The core is "action based learning" which will result in pivoting your venture based on information gained in experimenting and testing assumptions. The course has multiple deliverables related to key actions and decisions in marketing, finance, customer service and operations. Students are expected to work independently as well as interdependently with other entrepreneurs in the course.

Contact time for this course will be split between in-class sessions and out-of-class individual meetings with the instructor.

Prerequisites: EPS3501 or permission from instructor

EPS4530 (formerly EPS3530), EPS4525, EPS4531, EPS4532, EPS4533 and EPS4534 are equivalent courses. Students can only take one of these courses.

OIM4520 Leading Innovation: At Gorillas, Chimps and Monkeys

(Formerly Innovation Dynamics & Disruption)
2 Advanced Management Credits

IBM was the largest firm (a Gorilla) in the mainframe computer industry. However, a startup (a Monkey) called Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) came and displaced IBM in the next generation of products called mini-computers. Then, another Monkey called Apple created an entirely new personal computer industry. IBM, the Gorilla, was fast becoming obsolete. Yet, IBM avoided disruption by also entering the PC industry in 1981 and then dominating it. However, by the early 1990s, many more Monkeys and Gorillas - Compaq, Dell, HP, and others - entered the PC industry with lower prices and more profitable business models. In 1993, IBM posted the then-biggest loss in history of corporate America - $8 billion. The game between Gorillas, Chimps and Monkeys is never ending and the dynamics of competition and innovation between them changes the world that we live in. This course goes deep into: (1) How Monkeys can beat Gorillas. (2) How Gorillas will fight back. (3) How Chimps can succeed in the middle. (4) How entrepreneurial leaders navigate uncertainty and lead change. (5) How innovation can change the dynamics of competition.

Prerequisites: None

EPS3524 Made in Japan: Culture & Opportunities

4 Elective Abroad Credits

This course is built on two major themes:
1. Cultural excursion
Provide students to have an in-­depth look and a chance to experience Japan's culture, in other words, its institutional environment (i.e., formal and informal rules of the game)
-­ Students will have opportunities to examine this through various dimensions that constitute the diversity and complexity of the country's cultural/institutional environment today:
o Metropolitan vs. suburban
o Modern-­contemporary vs. old-­fashioned
o Young-­emerging vs. mature-­established
o High vs. low tech, etc.

2. Entrepreneurial opportunities
Encourage students to practice Entrepreneurial Thought and Action (ET&A) within the cultural/institutional environment in Japan.
-­ Students will work in teams to conduct observations, identify problems and opportunities, design an entrepreneurial initiative, and assess its impact (including stakeholder analysis) and feasibility - in various contexts/perspectives:
o Location-­based
o Industry-­based
o Interest/theme-­based, etc.

The entire course is designed on the concept of interactive learning through site visits, mini projects, and individual/group research.

EPS3520 Managing Growing Businesses
4 General CreditsThis course covers the growth phase of an entrepreneurial business, focusing on the nature and challenges of entrepreneurial businesses as they move beyond startup. The primary task for entrepreneurial firms in their growth phase is to build an organization capable of managing this growth, and then ensure the organization can sustain growth as the market and competitive environment changes. The entrepreneur needs to create a professional organization both responsive to external change and entrepreneurial enough to continually create new businesses through innovative thinking.

Issues of particular importance to rapidly growing companies include: getting the right people and systems in place, managing with limited resources, cash flow planning, leadership and delegation, professional zing the business, turning around a troubled business, establishing and communicating culture, and creating a vision to drive the organization toward the future.

Prerequisites: SME and EPS350%

SME2012 Managing Information Technology and Systems
3 Intermediate Management CreditsDescription: Managing Information Technology and Systems (MITS), part of the second year management curriculum, is designed to introduce students to the foundational concepts in Information Technology and Systems (ITS) and their application in managing innovation, ITS infrastructure, and organizational partners (suppliers/customers) in the context of a medium/large business. The course will integrate primarily with Marketing and Operations using common/linked cases and joint exercises. The pre-requisites for the course is FME (Foundation of Management and Entrepreneurship).

Prerequisites: FME1000

OIM2645 Modeling with Excel
2 Advanced Liberal Arts Credits

Students who took this as MIS2645 cannot register for this course

Today's employment market requires students to have good Excel modeling skills. Potential employees want newly minted graduates to hit the ground running and this means knowing how to skillfully operate with Spreadsheets. This class will teach intermediate Excel skills using real case studies and hands-on exercises. In particular, you will learn how to use Excel to manage large data sets by using functions like Pivot tables, Vlookup and others.

Prerequisites: None