SES2000 Socio-Ecological Systems

4 Credits

Special Topic Descriptions: https://babson.sharepoint.com/:w:/s/SESTeachingFaculty/EWYrFfzN_uZDhS_m8w-TmAcBP35aZg1XkbeRQAjsQ7HapQ?e=pc4LSt&CID=4F7F0C1A-ED6A-4E61-9AB9-A0476C8E2B98

This co-taught course will integrate across the social sciences and ecological sciences to focus on socio-ecological systems(SES), which are linked systems of people with nature, emphasizing that humans must be seen as a part of, not apart from nature. These connected systems are complex, adaptive, and are governed by feedbacks within and between social and bio-physical processes. Studying SES allows for the development of important skills desperately needed for future business leaders, such as approaches for incorporating uncertainty, nonlinearity, and self-reorganization from instability. Students will be taught systems thinking and how to identify and develop an understanding of the interdependent and interrelated structures and feedbacks of dynamic systems. Transdisciplinary approaches will be employed to address complex temporal, spatial, and organizational scales to investigate real world challenges. Beyond just social impact businesses or corporate social responsibility, teaching system dynamics for sustainability allows students to develop as system change leaders.

This course will directly address the new integrated sustainability theme and will provide a strong background for all of our students in integrative systems thinking, ecological integrity, and structural injustice. Students will be introduced to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Planetary Boundaries Framework, resilience strategies, and leverage points for systems-based change for sustainability. Students will also learn concept mapping techniques as a way of visually representing complex systems, their relationships, and indirect connections and feedback effects. The skills learned can then be expanded and built from in subsequent elective courses. There are multiple content versions of this course including Climate Systems, Food Systems, Natural Disaster and Resilience Systems, Prairie Systems, Urban Systems, and Water Systems that are offered across different semesters.

Prerequisites: NST 10XX and FCI 1000 and WRT 1001

QTM2622 Sports Applications of Mathematics
4 Advanced Liberal Arts CreditsMathematicians and statisticians are playing an increasing role in shaping how athletic contests are played and how they are judged. This course examines some of the underlying quantitative principles that are routinely used. Students will apply some statistical techniques (expectations, probability and risk/reward judgments) and some that are deterministic (optimization, ranking and validation.) A variety of software packages will be used to demonstrate the many ways that a mathematical point of view can inform athletes, trainers, administrators and fans.

Prerequisites: QTM1010 or AQM2000

OIM3573 Supply Chain Management
(Formerly MOB3573)
4 Advanced Management Credits

Students who took this course as MOB3573 cannot register for this course

Supply chain management (SCM) is an integrated approach to managing the flow of goods/services, information and financials from the raw materials to the consumer (throughout the supply chain) to satisfy customers' expectations and achieve profitability. Demand Chain management (DCM) takes a more customer focused approach to SCM. This course is designed to provide undergraduate students with an integrated perspective of SCM & DCM to develop the capability to analyze current supply chain operations, to reconfigure the structure of supply chain, and to develop competitive supply chains. Students will identify major barrier to effective supply and demand chain management, recognize best practices in supply and demand chain management, and assess the effect of advanced technologies on supply chain implementation.

Prerequisites: (SME2001 or ACC2002) and (SME2002 or OIM2001)

NST2040 Case Studies in Sustainable Food Systems
4 Intermediate Liberal Arts CreditsWhat is food - where does it come from, how is it grown, what resources does it use, what's the difference between a GMO and an organic product, what do labels mean, is it sustainable? This course looks to take a scientific and systems based look at the food we eat and deeply examine all of the steps that occur between "farm to table". We need food to survive and food must be grown, cultivated, harvested, processed, and distributed so that we can benefit from it. These steps take place in different ways all across the globe, across the country, and among our neighbors. In this class, we'll look at what it means to be a sustainable food system, look at historical approaches that worked to meet/deviate from this goal, and look at how the future aims to feed a growing world with increasingly diminishing resources.

By the end of this course, you will recognize the importance of sustainable food systems and know the different areas that comprise this system. You will be able to distinguish between sustainable and non-sustainable food systems. Through this design, this course meets the college learning goals of Rhetoric, Quantitative and Information Analysis, Ethics and SEERS, and Critical and Integrative Thinking.

Prerequisites: NST10%%

OIM3522 Sustainable Operations and Innovation
(Formerly MOB3522 Leading and Managing Sustainability)
4 Advanced Management Credits

**Students who took this as MOB3522 cannot register for this course**

The purpose of this course is to provide an understanding of the concept of sustainability thinking and the practical process of sustainability-oriented innovations. Sustainability thinking challenges entrepreneurial leaders to enable the transition to a sustainable economic system, by identifying business opportunities and leading transformation of business culture. Students will learn about the systemic view of sustainability on how organizations can create social value while simultaneously delivering realistic economic returns: repurpose, stakeholder involvement, design & implementation of innovations and metrics development. Students will develop practical knowledge and skillset from design thinking and systems thinking as integral disciplines to manage human, financial, and other resources in innovations that transform businesses. Our goal is to provide the basis for a common language and understanding of the intersection between environmental/social issues and sustainability, innovation and entrepreneurship, business strategy, and organizational culture. Ultimately, students will develop their understanding of how to lead the transformation of a conventional business into a sustainable business.

The course is composed of four parts. The first part will give students an overview of the sustainability thinking and allied strategy and the tools for designing the process through which it happens: what dimensions and questions might be considered to evaluate and guide sustainability. Having identified both the challenges and tools associated with sustainability, the second part will make the case for making a product or service sustainable. The third part will shift the discussion to making an organization sustainable and characteristics of sustainability leaders. Finally, the fourth part will reflect on making your life sustainable. Students will explore how to apply ideas from the course to a more sustainable way of living.

Prerequisites: (SME2002 or OIM2001) or SUS1201

OIM2001 Technology Operations Management

4 Credits

**This course is equivalent to SME2002. Students who took SME2002 cannot take this course.**

This course focuses on the processes and management systems required for entrepreneurial leaders and managers to successfully test and actualize business strategy. To be effective, leaders must accurately interpret customer value through new product development & service system design. They must create, manage and make investments to improve the conversion of resources into delivered value. Ultimately a venture's Operating Model must conform to the business's objectives and tightly link all activities tailored to its strategy such that the intent and the actions achieve the desired results in an ethical and sustainable manner.

The structure of this course builds the critical thinking skills and introduces the managerial methods needed to become entrepreneurial leaders and managers in all operating environments, independent of industry or scope. Students will discover how the design of operations impacts measured performance and affects customer satisfaction. The course further instructs how the digital modeling of expected results before action is taken leads to improved operational decisions.

Managing operations is vital to every type of organization, for it is only through effective and efficient utilization of resources that an organization can be successful in the long run. This is especially true in a globally-networked economy, when we see that significant competitive advantages accrue to those firms that manage their operations effectively. We define operations in the broadest sense, not confining the focus within the boundaries of the firm but defining the scope to the intentions and activities considered in the supply of goods and services from their conception to their consumption.

In the classroom, students will have case-based learning and hands-on experience to apply operating theories and managerial tools to make well-informed decisions. Students engage in project & group activity and assessment to help supplement individual learning throughout this course.

Prerequisites: FME 1000

OIM3610 The Mobile App
(Formerly MIS3610)
2 Advanced Liberal Arts Credits

**Students who took this as MIS3610 cannot register for this course**

Have you ever considered building a mobile app as an entrepreneurial venture or for a firm you hope to work for? Do you have an app in process that you would like to make stronger? Are you interested in honing your skills in design thinking, agile methodology and other modern-day approaches to project management and development? Do you want to better understand what it takes to successfully move an application from idea to market? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, this course is for you!*

This project-based course will guide you and your team through the process of producing a strong app idea, assessing the feasibility and viability of that idea, prototyping your app, building a requirements list to hand off to development, entering into a successful development relationship, packaging your app for commercial distribution and marketing your app.

During each session, you will learn about your next project step. You will then apply the learnings both inside and outside of class to advance your project.

You will begin your project with a design thinking exercise. You will then move through your project applying agile principles. We conclude the course with "app pitches" to outside experts who will give you professional feedback on your idea.

*Note: This is not a coding class. Instead, student teams will create app mock-ups in preparation for development and then learn how to form and manage successful development relationships.

Prerequisites: SME2012 or OIM2000

QTM3615 Time Series and Forecasting
4 Advanced Liberal Arts CreditsThis course is about the analysis of time series data in the context of various real-life forecasting situations pertaining to business and non-business areas, such as sales, banking, healthcare, sports, and global warming. The objectives of the course are: to provide practical experience with time series data to predict future outcomes; to provide a framework for comparing alternative models in terms of predictive accuracy; to cultivate an appreciation of various types of times series modeling approaches; to provide advanced exposure and experience in programming to build, test, and apply time series models; and to develop skills at communicating results effectively. The software used throughout the course will be Excel and R/RStudio. Effective teamwork and professional presentation of analyses and recommendations will be required during this course.

Prerequisites: AQM2000 or QTM2000 or permission from instructor

SCN3601: Triumphs and Trials of the Pharmaceutical Industry

4 advanced liberal arts credits

In 2022, the US pharmaceutical market was valued at over $1.2 trillion, forecasted to reach more than $2 trillion dollars by the year 2025. Bringing a new drug or therapeutic agent to the market is a complex process that can take upwards of a decade with a hefty price tag upwards of $2 billion dollars. The United States pharma industry spends about $60 billion yearly on drug research and development, generating approximately half of the $1.2 trillion market. As a result of this significant investment, the pharma industry has made great strides in the treatment of many diseases and developed therapies that have changed the world, including the development of antibiotics to treat infection and drugs like insulin, which have saved hundreds of thousands of lives Research, technological advances and development have led to new and innovative approaches to treat cancer, has reduced HIV infection from a 100% mortality rate to a chronic illness in the US and led to the development of a vaccine against COVID19 in record time. Despite making many significant scientific strides, public opinion of the industry is lower than ever before. It has been plagued with controversy after controversy about questionable practices including intellectual property arguments, skyrocketing costs, exorbitant executive payouts and inequitable vaccine access across the world. Additionally, a seemingly arbitrary drug pricing system and the indisputable role the pharma industry played in the opioid crisis, have fed into the significant public relations problem the industry currently faces. This course will focus on real world considerations that drive both the good and the bad of the pharmaceutical industry. We will discuss the triumphs and challenges that occur in bringing a drug from bench to bedside, and explore some of the questionable practices that have been connected to the industry. We will discuss the process and impacts of new drug development, translational medicine, and drug pricing models, investigating the ethics of balancing patient access, scientific innovation and the sustainability of a complex and often inefficient system. By the end of this course, students will appreciate the complexity of drug development system and understand the critical scientific and ethical challenges the pharmaceutical industry faces in bringing a drug to market.

Prerequisites: Any NST1XXX course

OIM3650 UI/UX Design for Web and App Development
4 Advanced Liberal Arts Credits

Are you an aspiring designer? Are you interested in more coding and development skills? Do you want to know how to make better decisions with your website, mobile apps, and more? OIM3650 takes a deep dive into user interface design for web-based projects, apps and sites. In this hands-on 14 week course, students will learn the key aspects of what makes a solid and usable interface on a desktop, tablet, and mobile device. Over the course of the semester, students will create a web-based or mobile project and continually iterate the design and interface based on feedback from fellow classmates, the professor, and self-feedback utilizing leading-edge user experience techniques and tools. This course will explore advanced techniques in cascading style sheets (CSS), as well as leverage JavaScript frameworks and libraries such as Bootstrap. As part of the course, students will learn about the principles of design, how these principles relate to solid interface design, the importance of the UI as it relates to generating and maintaining your business, and key differences between User Interface Design and User Experience (UX). The course will also introduce the concepts and tools used to make working prototypes and wireframes, including the Adobe Creative Suite, in particular Photoshop and Adobe XD. This course will underscore the importance of UI for all types of web-based projects, looking at theory as well as taking a hands-on approach. It is designed for those who are interested in how the choices you make as a designer can impact your business as well as those who are interested in taking web-based projects to the next level.

For more information about this course, please review this video: https://babson.instructuremedia.com/embed/b8eebad7-34b3-40fb-8968-435917022326

Prerequisite: OIM3690 or experience in HTML and CSS