OIM2000 Digital Technology for Entrepreneurs

(Previously titled Technology and Business Innovation)

4 Intermediate Management Credits

**This course is equivalent to SME2012. Students who took SME2012 cannot take this course.**

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

SCN3602: Eclipses on Earth

4 Advanced Liberal Arts Credits

This course will involve an in-depth exploration of the Sun-Earth-Moon system and how that system results in eclipses. From understanding how the relationship between the Sun, Earth, and Moon generate eclipses, we will discuss the different types of eclipses, and explore the prediction of eclipses. We will consider the historical explanations and uses of eclipses in both the social and scientific realms. We will also examine the history of solar observations to understand safe solar viewing practices. This course is designed to fulfill the advanced experiential component of the curriculum as well. In teams you will work with local teachers and libraries to develop ways of teaching about eclipses to K-12 students and a general audience. You will also assist in developing safe solar viewing plans for your external "clients" on the eclipse day.

Prerequisites: NST 10XX

SCN3615 Ecology of Animal Behavior
4 Advanced Lib Arts CreditsThe study of the nature, variety and function of the fundamental types of animal behaviors. Communication, habitat selection, predation and antipredator defense, reproductive strategies, tactics and mating systems, and play and social behaviors will be compared and analyzed, and applications to human behavior will be discussed.

Prerequisites: NST10%
% - Wildcard

SCN3630 Economics Botany
Advanced Liberal ArtsThis course will investigate the relationship between plants and society. Without plants and plant products humans would be hungry, naked, and lacking oxygen to breath. We will begin by exploring the basics of different plant parts and how plants grow and reproduce. We will then examine plants as sources of food, materials, perfumes, drugs, and medicines. Throughout the course we will discuss the role plants have played in influencing economics, language, politics, and religion. Current topics of particular interest for this course include the debate over genetically engineered crops, the development of new pharmaceutical medicines, the changes in human diet, and the use of plant products in new technologies. This course will emphasize the development of skills in critical thinking, synthesis of information, science literacy, hand-on exercises, and current topical issues in plant biology.

Prerequisites: NST I

NST1030 Electronics
4 Foundation Liberal Arts CreditsElectronic devices transform the way people work and communicate. This course will focus on understanding the inner workings of those devices to provide a background on what they can and cannot do. We will also explore the impact of resource limitations on electronics, and how electronics can contribute to solving some resource issues.

Prerequisites: None

NST1020 Energy and the Environment
4 CreditsAs the world's current energy demand continues to rise, it is critical to understand the causes, impacts, and possible solutions to our current global energy crisis. This course will focus on the technologies associated with renewable forms of energy and their potential for future success.

Prerequisites: None

OIM3525 Enterprise 2.0: Building Social Networks to Improve Business Performance
(Formerly MIS3525)
4 Advanced Management Credits

Students who took this as MIS3525 cannot take this course

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

QTM3625 Financial Modeling Using Simulation and Optimization with Applications to Finance, Marketing, and Management
4 Advanced Liberal Arts CreditsThis course is an introduction to quantitative techniques that enable marketing, finance, and management professionals to make optimal decisions under uncertainty. While theoretical background for these techniques is provided, the focus is on their applications and mastering software that is widely used in industry, such as Excel, Solver, @RISK, and MATLAB. Topics include simulation of important probability distributions, bootstrapping, random walks, linear and nonlinear optimization. Lectures draw on examples such as asset allocation under different definitions of risk; index tracking; scenario approaches to project and portfolio management; hedging and arbitrage; and derivative pricing.

Prerequisites: QTM1010 or AQM2000

AQM1000 Foundations of Business Analytics
4 Foundation Liberal Arts Credits

The course introduces the necessary quantitative methods that are prerequisites to follow-on courses in AQM and in Babson's integrated core business offerings. Statistical software and the use of spreadsheets are integrated throughout so that students better appreciate the importance of using modern technological tools for effective model building and decision-making. The initial third of the course focuses on basic frequentist statistical methods, their conceptual underpinning, such as variability and uncertainty, and their use in the real world. Topics include data visualization, data collection, descriptive statistics, elementary probability rules and distributions, sampling distributions, confidence intervals, and hypothesis testing. The remainder of the course is dedicated to decision-making problems in a managerial context using algebraic, spreadsheet, graphical, and statistical models. Topics include introductions to linear regression, time series analysis, and simulation. The course emphasizes the effective communication of quantitative results through written, visual, and oral means.

OIM3508 Foundations of Project Management
(Formerly MOB3508)
2 Advanced Management Credits

**Students who took this as MOB3508 cannot register for this course**

This course is an approved elective for the Operations Management concentration. Students taking this foundational course may not also register for MOB 3509, given course content overlap.

According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), there are nearly 250,000 open project

management jobs each year across seven project-intensive industries: business services, construction, finance and insurance, information services, manufacturing, oil and gas, and utilities. As more work becomes project-based, projects grow in complexity, and clients demand accountability and efficiency, graduates with project management skills will be in increasingly high demand. In this course, you will learn foundational skills for leading cross functional teams using up-to-date PM best practices, methodologies, and tools. This course is applicable across career paths such as consulting, information technology, entrepreneurship, new product development and many others. Students will be exposed to both the technical and behavioral skills required to effectively lead project teams -- whether as an official "Project Manager" or an unofficial leader temporarily charged with leading a project implementation.

Foundations of Project Management focuses on what is often referred to as the traditional or "waterfall" approach to project management. Taught primarily via case study discussion, course content is consistent with PMP (Project Management Professional) certification principles. CIO magazine ranked the PMP as the top project management certification, as it demonstrates candidates have the specific skills and experience employers seek. This course satisfies 22 of the 23 educational hours required by PMI to apply for the junior-level PMP certification exam (known as the CAPM); the other hour was satisfied by the PM-related content in the SME prerequisites (below).

Foundations of Project Management makes an attractive future pairing with the "Foundations of Agile" course offering.

Prerequisites: SME2001 and SME2002 and SME2011 and SME2012