Babson (Olin)

     

All Participating Schools

     
Babson (Olin) 231 Forest Street
Babson Park, MA, 02457-0310
United States
View A School Profile: Compare to Another School

Demographic Information

Number of full-time MBA students (2011): 

239

Number of part-time MBA students (2011): 

410

Total duration of full-time MBA program: 

21 months

MBA faculty (Fall 2010): 

210

Females as percent of student body: 

33%


Description of MBA Program: 

Babson College is a learning and living laboratory that shapes leaders who can envision and navigate change, accommodate ambiguity, surmount complexity, and motivate teams in a common purpose. Our students understand and embrace the world as it actually works, using strategies and skills to make their mark on it. We unleash their imaginations and they inspire us with their big dreams. The result of this engaged learning relationship is a new generation of innovators who can help shape the world in ways that we—and they—can barley imagine.

For 15 years, Babson College has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as the leading MBA program for entrepreneurship. Babson believes in the power of entrepreneurship to create both economic and societal value for individuals, their communities, regions, and the world. Central to Entrepreneurial Thought and Action® at Babson are social venturing, global development, and civic engagement, all of which are essential to preparing students to be social and environmental stewards.

Today more than ever, entrepreneurship is one of the most powerful tools for addressing the world’s toughest business and social challenges. Babson has had the distinction of being ranked No. 1 in entrepreneurship for 17 consecutive years. During the last two years, Babson has gained increased acknowledgment by the most respected business leaders for its success as well as recognition at the highest levels of government and social sector organizations.

In 2008, Babson received a gift of $10 million to build Babson’s capacity as a leader in social entrepreneurship. The funds seeded The Lewis Institute for Social Innovation. Shortly afterwards, Babson’s faculty voted to put Entrepreneurial Thought & Action (ET&A) and Social, Economic, Environmental Responsibility and Sustainability (SEERS) into the very fabric of its teaching in all functional areas. This bold strategic decision demonstrates that Babson faculty understands the changing role of business in society and the increasing demand from its students to provide a more responsive curriculum to address an increasingly complex, unpredictable world while still creating economic and social value.

Today, Babson is using the power of entrepreneurship to create strategies to solve big problems. More and more, both undergraduate and graduate students are looking for venues to learn outside the classroom, and to experience directly the complexities they yearn to help address.



How does the MBA program 'walk the talk' of social and environmental impact?: 

Babson has continually reduced trash output from 1,341 tons in 2005 to 1,156 tons in 2009, a reduction of nearly 14 percent. Another significant achievement has been the recycling of 75 percent of on-campus construction debris.

In the area of transportation, which represented 23 percent of Babson FY10 carbon footprint, Babson has purchased hybrid, high-MPG, and electric vehicles for use on campus; offers a car-sharing program and a free shuttle to students; and offers condensed work-week options to employees and preferred parking for carpoolers.

From 2005 to 2010, Babson College reduced water consumption per weighted campus user by 12 percent. Babson has converted our lawn fertilization program to be 100 percent organic and reduced lawn fertilizer nitrogen content by 75 percent. An organic garden was initiated by two faculty members in 2010; the faculty members work with students and staff to maintain the beds, which grow herbs, vegetables, and fruits, and use compost from the dining facilities.

All computer hardware purchased for the College is EPEAT Gold-rated, more than 60 percent of the cleaning agents used on campus are certified as “green,” and all paper for the new Canon Copy Center is made with 30 percent recycled content. The College has always used 30 percent recycled colored copy paper for our color needs. The Purchasing department always requests information on sustainability when dealing with vendors and Babson uses local businesses wherever possible.

The Sustainability Office opened in 2010 to centralize, expand, and communicate the College’s commitment to sustainability. A sustainability program manager leads the office in connecting and communicating existing initiatives and developing new programs. The office held the first annual Sustainability Fair to showcase sustainable businesses and business opportunities for students, staff, and administrators. The office revamped the Eco Reps program, now in its second year, which equips 12-14 students with tools and skills to become environmental change agents on campus. This year, the office also started an Eco Leaders program which facilitates collaboration between staff and faculty members from different departments to strategize sustainability for their offices. Eco Leaders are charged with working on at least one project to enhance sustainability in the Babson workplace. Lastly, the Sustainability Office holds campus-wide Eco Mini Challenges that are weeklong behavior challenges designed to raise awareness and increase sustainability participation from students and staff.

Student groups play a major role in incorporating responsible practices on campus. The graduate level Babson Energy and Environment Club and the undergraduate Green Tower were integral in encouraging the campus to switch to single stream recycling, which successfully occurred in 2010. Green Tower started the first bike-share program on campus in 2009, and has helped to reduce waste during move-out from the residence halls. The graduate level Babson Net Impact chapter also has a Campus Greening initiative, and the Alumni Green Forum stays informed and supportive of Babson’s efforts to be sustainable.

Babson is truly practicing sustainability from orientation to graduation. On the first day of the 2010-2011 academic year, students participated in a daylong event, From Day One: Making a Difference. The goal of the event was to set the tone for the year by emphasizing the importance of people, planet, and profit in business. Students spoke with corporate social responsibility executives and entrepreneurs, and volunteered in the community. The event has become an annual tradition and planning is underway to strengthen the graduate school's involvement in the program.

Babson commencement has also gone green since 2010. All Babson degree candidates wore eco-friendly caps and gowns made from 100 percent post-consumer, recycled plastic bottles. For 2010 commencement exercises, Babson reduced paper usage through its reliance on e-communications for commencement information, used biodegradable cups, plates, napkins, and cutlery at the receptions, and made water stations available around the commencement tent with biodegradable cups to decrease the number of water bottles used.
 

Academic Department

Course Name: 21st Century Entrepreneurship
Instructor: Jay Friedlander

Business has tremendous societal ramifications. Inventions and industries from the automobile to the internet impact everything from air quality to economic and political freedom.

Entrepreneurs, who are often at the forefront of business and thus societal innovation, are changing the way business is conducted by creating businesses that are beneficial to the bottom line, society and the environment.

Through cases, projects and present day examples, the course will challenge students to understand the impact of business on society and the challenges and pitfalls of creating a socially responsible venture.

In addition, it will offer new frameworks for creating entrepreneurial ventures which capitalize on social responsibility to gain competitive advantage, increase valuation while benefiting society and the environment.

The final deliverable for the course is an in-class presentation in which student teams will either: (1) present an outline business plan for a socially responsible business opportunity; (2) recommend ways to improve the social and environmental impacts of a company, while increasing competitive advantage and bottom line; (3) benchmark two industry competitors, a socially responsible company versus a traditional company.

Course Name: Business Intelligence and Applied Data Mining
Instructor: Elaine Allen

This course deals with the ethics of misusing data for certain purposes. It incorporates the uses for analytics and data mining in business and government environments.

Course Name: Consumer Behavior
Instructor: Keith Wilcox

In-depth analysis of factors that affect purchase decisions in the marketplace. Applies behavioral and social science concepts to the study of buyer behavior. Focuses on the use of knowledge of buyer behavior in marketing decisions. Emphasizes theory, application, and ultimate consumer and organizational buyer behavior. Special attention given to exploring and evaluating buyer behavior research, the role of models in explaining behavior, influence of buyer behavior on development of marketing programs, and issues of consumer protection as they affect marketing strategy.

Course Name: Crisis Communication
Instructor: Laura Foote

This course focuses on helping leaders and entrepreneurs become more effective communicators in unexpected, stressful situations demanding rapid, strategic interaction with key stakeholders such as employees, shareholders, customers or suppliers. Students will examine how leaders responded to real crisis situations such as: withdrawal of a major investor, discovery of a harmful product defect, or employees being put at risk due to political instability. Students will learn how effective crisis communication depends on a careful analysis of the potential impact on each stakeholder group, anticipation of immediate and ripple effects of the crisis, and timely and consistent response from the leadership team. We will also explore the ethical and legal dimensions of crisis communication, as well as how social media have become a channel for both information and mis-information in crisis situations. Case examples are drawn from a variety of industries and geographic areas, and are supplemented by relevant press releases and coverage in print, on the internet and other news media. Expected student deliverables include: a number of written assignments, active participation in case discussions, presentations of additional background to classmates, and taking part in a mock crisis situation requiring immediate written and spoken response.

Course Name: Culture, Society and Entrepreneurship in a Developing Economy: Ghana
Instructor: Stephen Deets

Academic course work on campus is linked with a service learning immersion experience in the cities of Takoradi, Sekondi and Cape Coast, Ghana. Students in the course, working in teams, will prepare and deliver training sessions on basic and specialized business skills to local secondary school and adult learners. The key element of the work in the secondary schools is developing entrepreneurship and personal skills within the Ghanaian student groups. The week culminates with a region-wide business plan competition attended by more than 2000 people last year. Babson student teams may also work with selected small businesses in the area to develop strategic plans and to foster their growth and development. We will continue our work on developing a community computer center and creating computer labs in some of the local secondary schools. With this center and these labs, we will strive to provide technology access to individuals that could not otherwise afford it. Over time, we also intend to work on building and developing a local library and implementing a small community-based microfinance program. Interested applicants should possess the willingness to live and work 'outside your comfort zone', stay in humble accommodations and work with a team of Babson students and advisors to make a social impact on a very welcoming community. Simply - be ready for a life altering experience!

Course Name: Customers, Markets and Marketing
Instructor: Kent Jones, Kankana Mukherjee, Yunwei Gai

The course provides an analytical approach to understanding customer needs and the market environment, exploring market opportunities, and creating, capturing, delivering, and communicating value within the firm's and market's economic structure. This cluster course is based on the fundamentals of marketing and microeconomics and focuses on managerial decisions about product or service management, pricing, distribution, and communication.

By the end of this course you should be able to systematically analyze customer behavior and the market environment for the firm. The in-depth understanding of the customer will enhance your ability to develop a marketing strategy and identify new market opportunities. You will be able to use your customer insights to develop an effective product or service offering for the target consumers. The offering will be a superior value for the consumer. You will be able to examine alternative production, distribution, communications and pricing strategies and select the best alternative to achieve the company’s objectives. You will be able to examine an existing marketing program and recommend improvements. You will be able to understand your firm’s demand and cost structures and what role they play in your firm’s strategy, and you will be able to evaluate your company’s competitive environment and its options in adjusting to changing market conditions. You will learn about ethics and the impact it can have on your marketing approach.

Course Name: Decisions
Instructor: Dwight L. Gertz, Thomas Davenport

MBA students are exposed to a wide variety of concepts and tools which should enable them to make intelligent decisions. However, the decision making performance of corporate managers, most of them trained in these concepts and tools, is very uneven.

This course will seek to enable a student to understand some key factors that can influence the quality of decision making. Using case examples from both business and government, the course will build on a basic understanding of analysis and decision making to expose participants to the circumstances that can limit the effectiveness of the techniques they have learned and help them understand the challenges they will face as members of leadership teams making complex choices throughout their careers. Students will also learn about the factors involved in providing information for decision-making, and the roles that information technology plays in decision situations.

At the conclusion of the course, students will have an appreciation for the factors they will encounter in leadership roles and the methods they can employ to ensure that they contribute to the making of good decisions. Their exposure to the broad topics presented should also acquaint them with areas which may draw their interest for more intensive study in specific academic disciplines.

Course Name: Developing International Ventures
Instructor: Stephen Allen

Draws upon and integrates insight from fields of strategy, entrepreneurship, and corporate finance to improve practice in developing, justifying, and managing international ventures (or strategic investments) in multinational corporations. Focuses on complexities unique to international ventures, e.g. differential inflation, changing exchange rates. host and home country controls, and incentives and how such factors influence risk-return tradeoffs among various form of cross-border business activity: licensing, export, greenfield investment, joint ventures, acquisitions and mergers,

and project finance. Cases are drawn from industry settings in both developed and developing economies.

Course Name: Entrepreneurship
Instructor: Caroline Daniels, Andrew Zacharakis

Interdisciplinary course that focuses on all aspects of starting a new business, with emphasis on the critical role of recognizing and creating opportunities. Topics include attributes of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial careers, evaluating opportunities, writing business plans, and financing the venture. This course incorporates pieces of our Giving Voice to Values curriculum, an innovative, cross-disciplinary business curriculum and action-oriented pedagogical approach for developing the skills, knowledge and commitment required to implement values-based leadership.

Course Name: Environmental Entrepreneurship
Instructor: Bradley George

The public's overall "environmental conscience" has soared, forcing the world's biggest companies to change quickly. Immense entrepreneurial opportunity is being created by a rapid shift in one of the biggest industries in human history: energy infrastructure and technology. This course looks at the main drivers of change, barriers to entry and opportunities for new business in the years to come.

Pages

Type of Offering

7th Annual Health Care and Life Sciences Forum
Date: March, 2010

The forum represented a diverse set of sectors, from suppliers (pharmaceuticals, biotech, and medical devices) to health care delivery and services, as well as a broad range of functions, from marketing to business development to investors. CEOs of Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Athenahealth served as keynote speakers.

LEED and Green Building Basics
Date: October, 2009

Katie Arruda, LEED AP, presented on LEED and green building basics.

Topics included what makes a building green, the core concepts and strategies behind the LEED rating system, and real-world examples of successful green building projects. The Babson Real Estate Club hosted the event.

2010 Haiti Entrepreneurship Forum
Date: October, 2010

The 2010 Haiti Entrepreneurship Forum, held in Port-au-Prince, aimed to spark an “entrepreneurial revolution to change the landscape of the Haitian economy.” The event provided Haitian entrepreneurs an opportunity to network and seek input on their business strategies. Panel topics included finance, telecommunications, and energy. Babson President Len Schlesinger delivered the keynote address, and Babson digitally broadcasted the event for MBA students and others to view. Babson was a main sponsor of the event.

2011 Babson Energy and Environment Conference
Date: March, 2011

2011 marks the 5th Annual Babson Energy and Environmental Conference at the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business, hosted by The Babson Energy and Environmental Club.

This year’s theme is “Entrepreneurship for a Sustainable Future,” and we will explore how innovation and entrepreneurship will play a pivotal role in shaping the new green economy in the years to come. We will hear several exciting keynotes from high-profile entrepreneurs:

Dr. Bart Riley, Co-founder, A123 Systems (NASDAQ: AONE),

Sheeraz Haji, CEO, Cleantech Group,

Nancy Floyd, Founder and Managing Director, Nth Power.

Our engaging panel sessions will focus on several main topics: Innovations in Cleantech and Renewable Energy, Sustainable Business Practices, Financing Strategies, New Energy Policy and Implications, and Responsible Consumption and Disposal of Food, Water, and Waste.

Our Entrepreneurs Showcase will give a glimpse of some of the newest innovators in the industry. Further, you will have the opportunity to listen to panelists from Enernoc, WholeFoods, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, CA Technologies, Diversey, and many more. Our goal is to show that sustainable business practices are not at odds with creating profit and growing a company.

Founder's Day
Type: Campus-wide Event
Date: March, 2011

A daylong community engagement program designed around Babson College’s founder, Roger Babson, and his four pillars of entrepreneurship, education, community, and giving back.

At the End of the Day Inaugural Forum
Date: February, 2010

This event was part of the speaker series entitled “At the End of the Day,” sponsored by the Lewis Institute at Babson.

The first forum, moderated by Professor Phyllis Schlesinger, focused on the unique issues in creating an enterprise for profit and purpose through a case study on Grand Circle Travel. It addressed the following questions:

• In the startup stage, what key challenges and opportunities arose as the founder embedded social purpose into the culture?

• What “Aha!” moments and/or mistakes were made?

• How do employees, customers, and suppliers experience the social/economic value nexus?

• What can we all learn about growing a business where social responsibility plays a key role?

2010 Babson Forum for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Date: November, 2010

The forum raised awareness of key opportunities and challenges facing entrepreneurs in an increasingly complex and global business world. During the full-day conference, 600 students and professionals gathered to hear four inspiring keynotes and 30 impressive speakers. The event also had a global reach. Hundreds of international guests were in attendance, and hundreds more abroad watched the event via live streaming video at universities throughout Latin America and Europe. Keynote speakers included Leonard Schlesinger, president, Babson College; Ben Fischman, president and CEO, Retail Convergence Inc. (Rue La La & SmartBargains.com); Mei Xu, co-founder and president, Chesapeake Bay Candle, creator and CEO, Blissliving Home; Marshall N. Carter, chairman, New York Stock Exchange Group; Colin Raney, head of business design, IDEO.

Dozens of entrepreneurs and business leaders spoke on the forum's panels, including a panel specifically focused on social entrepreneurship. Creating Social and Economic Value, facilitated by Cheryl Kiser of the Lewis Institute, featured Josh Biber, executive director, New England Region, Teach for America; Brett Juliano, Executive Director, Village Forward; and Joshua Zoia, founder and executive director of KIPP Academy Lynn. The forum also hosted a Next Big Idea Competition featuring several social enterprises competing for prizes to advance their businesses.

As a Community, How Can We Be More Global?
Date: November, 2009

This event was part of the MBA News Hour, a series of panels sponsored by the F.W. Olin Graduate School at Babson.

Look around. It is clear we are a diverse community—diverse in the geographies and ethnicities of our origins, societies of our upbringing, religions and/or beliefs of our practice, disciplines of our learning, paradigms of our thinking, realms of our hobbies and interests, norms of our conduct, and aspirations of our futures. Yes, we are a diverse lot.

And there is much to celebrate in our diversity.

Just as there is much to celebrate in our togetherness—a togetherness that creatively and respectfully weaves the rich diversity into an integral community that is truly global in the most energizing sense of the term.

As a community, how can we be more global?

Panelists included Farnaz Bakhtari M’10; Jay Govindarajan M’10 ; Professor Sam Hariharan, Management Division, Babson College; and Sarah Herchel, associate director, Graduate Student Affairs, Babson College. This session was moderated by Professor Anirudh Dhebar, Marketing, Babson College.

The Babson MBA's Credo - What Is It?
Date: October, 2009

This event was part of the MBA News Hour, a series of panels sponsored by the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson.

Every few years, the world of business and commerce is rocked by jaw-dropping ethical scandals, devastating analytical mistakes, woeful managerial incompetence, and serious lapses in judgment and leadership. Blame for this is often pinned on to business education—what is taught, how it is taught, the worship of “success” and the mocking of “failure,” conduct that is at best overlooked and at worst encouraged, and the culture that is fostered—and, by consequence, its products, the MBAs.

Now is such a time - a time for us to shine a questioning spotlight on ourselves, the graduate-school community at Babson. What beliefs, values, thoughts, and rules and modes of conduct guide us—should guide us—in our preparation for, conduct of, and follow-through after everything we do? In other words, what is our credo? Indeed, do we have one? Why should we have one – and live by it in all we do and the way we do everything?

Panelists included Edward Harvie MBA of ’10; Professor James Hoopes, History & Society, Babson College; and Dean Raghu Tadepalli, F.W. Graduate School of Business, Babson College. This session was moderated by Professor Anirudh Dhebar, Marketing, Babson College.

Responsible Business: An Alumni and Student Panel Focused on Sustainability, Environment, and Social Entrepreneurship
Date: October, 2010

Babson’s Net Impact and Energy and Environmental clubs co-hosted a student and alumni speaker panel focused on careers in green business, sustainability, and corporate social responsibility.

Google's World
Date: February, 2010

“Don’t be evil” is how Google likes to serve its users. But Google’s product-market scope is vast and the world complex. In China, in the form of digital books, in its relationships with Apple and media companies and mobile carriers, Google has woven a complex web and, in the wake of Bing, the Buzz has been anything but reassuring. What is Google’s world and what is its state?

Panelists included Professors Martin Anderson (Technology, Operations and Information Management), Bob Eng (Marketing), and Bala Iyer (Technology, Operations, and Information Management). This session was moderated by Professor Anirudh Dhebar (Marketing).

This event was part of the MBA News Hour, a series of panels sponsored by the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson.

Retail Reality
Date: April, 2010

The MBA Oath Club hosted a student discussion about the practice of destroying products instead of donating them.

Babson Energy and Environmental Club Speaker Series
Date: October, 2009

A series of speaking events covering different tracks in the cleantech, sustainability, and energy sectors. Speakers included Greg Andeck from the Environmental Defense Fund and Matt Smith from MIT.

Learning from Leaders: Conversations Around Corporate Social Responsibility
Date: February, 2011

Learning from Leaders is a webinar series co-hosted by the Lewis Institute and Net Impact. Each webinar is an interview-style conversation between a Net Impact member and a corporate social responsibility leader. The webinars allow students to gain direct access to leading companies and ask the questions that are most relevant to them. In addition to allowing a small group of MBA students to be in the studio to ask questions, webinars are streamed live so that any student can log in and ask questions online.

The Learning from Leaders series will begin in February 2011 and consist of five webinars. A different MBA student will lead each webinar and interviewees will include executives from leading companies around CSR.

Making a Difference: Difference Makers, Edgewalkers, and Intellectual Shamans
Date: October, 2010

How do entrepreneurs go about making change in the world? Common wisdom would have it that entrepreneurs are visionaries who see some aspect of the world as it might be and move forward through their entrepreneurship to make that vision real. But in reality, for many entrepreneurs, action comes before vision—and the vision becomes reality because of the actions that entrepreneurs take to build new businesses, institutions, and initiatives. Using the emerging infrastructure on corporate responsibility, which pressures large and small companies to become more responsible as a foundation, this panel explored the ways in which individual actions lead to new organizations, institutions, and, ultimately social change. The panel asked whether one person can make a difference in the world—and if so, how? How do you as a single individual—with or without a vision for change—make a difference in the world?

Panelists included Sandra Waddock, author of The Difference Makers: How Social and Institutional Entrepreneurs Created the Corporate Responsibility Movement, and professor at Boston College; Bill Valentino, vice president, corporate social responsibility, Bayer China; and Phil Mirvis, author, organizational psychologist, and CSR consultant.

This session was moderated by Cheryl Kiser, managing director of the Lewis Institute for Social Entrepreneurship.

Arise Africa 2010 Entrepreneurship Conference
Date: April, 2010

Hosted by the Babson Africa Business Forum (BABF), an organization founded in 2009 by graduate students to showcase opportunities that Africa has to offer entrepreneurs, Arise Africa provided a platform for sharing knowledge between professionals experienced with African businesses and MBA students. The forum also gave Babson students, alumni, and others in the Babson community an opportunity to network with similar organizations, as well as business, social, and political leaders from Africa or who are doing business there, and created awareness in the Babson community about African culture.

One of the panels, “Social Entrepreneurship in Africa: Measuring the impact and effectiveness of social enterprises in Africa,” featured distinguished panelists offering a diverse set of experiences, from creating and managing socially oriented enterprises to analyzing and investing in the projects of social entrepreneurs. The panel focused on themes such as sustainability and profit potential for social entrepreneurs in Africa, social results achieved using the for-profit model on the continent, and sources and methods of investment. Panelists included Amma Sefa-Dedeh M’09, executive director and co-founder, One Hen Inc.; Ssinyu Nutt-Birigwa, co-founder, Peace and Happiness Group; Maggi Alexander, Executive, Imagine Africa Alliance; Michael Strong, Chief Visionary Officer and Author , Conscious Capitalism and was moderated by Cheryl Kiser, managing director, Lewis Institute for Social Entrepreneurship.

The keynote speaker was Rwandan entrepreneur Eugene Nyagahene, founder and CEO of TELE10 Group, a company that provides digital TV services and Internet via satellite.

Net Impact National Conference Primer
Type: Conference Primer
Date: October, 2010

Students were presented with an overview of the 2010 conference and strategies for getting the most from their attendance at the conference.

Latin Entrepreneurship Forum
Date: April, 2010

The forum, hosted by the Babson Latin American Business Club, highlighted the expansion of local businesses into the global arena, and international corporations into Latin America.

Speakers included Vicente Fox, former president of Mexico; Dionisio Gutiérrez, founder, Pollo Campero; Xavier Lopez Ancona, president and founder, Kidzania; Eduardo Macia, founder, Crepes & Waffles; Juan Navarro, founder, The Exxel Group; Luis Barrios, co-founder and CEO, Hoteles City; Alberto Osio, co-founder, Angel Ventures; Guillermo Oropeza, founder, Docsolutions; Laura Elizondo Williams, founder, Lexium; Jorge L. Rodriguez, founder, Paciv; and Evaristo Treviño, founder and managing partner, LaNao Group.

2009 Net Impact National Conference
Date: October, 2009

More than 20 Babson MBA students attended the national Net Impact conference in Ithaca, New York. During the two-day conference, students, alumni, and innovative business leaders attended a wide array of keynotes, panels, case studies, simulations, and business plan competitions.

2010 Babson Business Plan Competition
Type: Competition
Date: April, 2010

Babson College was the first academic institution to hold a business plan competition for students. Each year, Babson alumni from around the world volunteer their time to evaluate student business plans. Based on their feedback, three finalists are chosen to compete in the Douglass Foundation Graduate Business Plan Competition.

Pages

A Gender Aware Framework for Women’s Entrepreneurship
Author(s): Brush, Candida

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer a new gender-aware framework to provide a springboard for furthering a holistic understanding of women's entrepreneurship. Design/methodology/approach – The paper builds on an existing framework articulating the “3Ms” (markets, money and management) required for entrepreneurs to launch and grow ventures. Drawing on institutional theory, it is argued that this “3M” framework needs further development and “motherhood” and “meso/macro environment” are added to extend and mediate the “3Ms” and construct a “5M” framework to enable the study of women's entrepreneurship in its own right. Findings – It was found that “Motherhood” is a metaphor representing the household and family context of female entrepreneurs, which might have a larger impact on women than men. The meso/macro environment captures considerations beyond the market, such as expectations of society and cultural norms (macro), and intermediate structures and institutions (meso). Practical implications – For the women entrepreneur, this analysis has implications for understanding the sources of the challenges they face by providing insights on the importance of the interplay of both individual and societal factors that impact on their enterprise. For policy makers, it turns the spotlight on the need for an integrated approach for fostering female entrepreneurs that is not blind to overarching institutionalised social structures and gender asymmetries. Originality/value – The framework helps lay a foundation for coherent research on women's entrepreneurship. It is unique in making explicit the social embeddedness of women entrepreneurs and considers the multiple levels of influence on their entrepreneurial actions.

Journal Title: International Journal of Gender & Entrepreneurship Volume: 1 Edition: Page Numbers: 8-23
Diana a Symbol of Women Entrepreneurs’ Hunt for Knowledge, Money and the Rewards of Entrepreneurship
Author(s): Brush, Candida; Greene, Patricia

This article discusses the questions and issues that prompted the founding of the Diana Project, a multi-university research program aimed at identifying factors that support and enable high growth in women-led ventures. Despite the fact that women business owners comprise a significant portion of the economy, women face challenges in acquiring the resources needed to expand their businesses. This article details both the myths and realities associated with women’s entrepreneurship in their quest for growth. In particular, we examine the strategies that women entrepreneurs use to position their firms for growth, especially those strategies related to growth capital. Our results show that women seeking venture capital (VC) have degrees, graduate degrees, and experience that should not preclude them from obtaining financing. We also found that even though women-led businesses are frequently clustered in industries less attractive to financiers, women seeking equity funding are in the appropriate industries. Further, women spend a considerable amount of time using both formal and informal networks in their search for capital and in seeking capital. Because of the importance of the VC industry as a provider of growth capital and its reliance on its network for investment referrals, we also examined the participation and role of women as decision-makers in industry. Women’s participation in the VC industry has not kept pace with industry growth, and women have exited the industry at a faster rate than men, thus creating a significant barrier for women entrepreneurs in that it is less likely that their networks will overlap with the financial supplier networks, despite any effort they may expend networking and seeking capital.

Journal Title: Small Business Economics Volume: 32 Edition: Page Numbers: 129-144
Feed Resource Recovery
Author(s): Zacharakis, Andrew

Shane Eten is passionate about being an entrepreneur and finds an opportunity in managing food waste; a Clean Technology startup. Shane develops a plan for an anaerobic digester that will convert grocery store food waste into energy and organic fertilizer. The case explores Shane's entrepreneurial journey, from working in a high tech startup, a low tech candle maker, an MBA student to gaining recognition in business plan competitions for the anaerobic digester. At the point in time of the case, Shane needs to raise some capital to develop a prototype and prove his concept. Shane struggles in identifying sources for the $250,000 he needs to launch his dream. Although Shane has garnered lots of interest from potential investors during his success in business plan competitions, his venture is too early and the capital needed is too small for venture capitalists. He could seek angel capital, but how can he identify these "hidden" angels? Friends and family are a possibility, but Shane isn't sure that his contacts have enough capital available for him. Besides, he would like to preserve as much ownership as possible at this point in time, because he recognizes that he'll need to raise more capital to build out the company if the prototype is successful. This is a good case to explore alternative sources of capital.

Journal Title: Harvard Business Review Volume: Edition: Page Numbers:
Keeping Your Colleagues Honest
Author(s): Gentile, Mary

The article focuses on behavior at work that compromises ethical corporate culture and how to promote honesty in the workplace. Examples are given of unethical behavior or situations and the potential consequences in terms of financial, social, or legal costs. The author refers to her research on social psychology and decision making and offers her insight on building a strong organization. Four rationalizations for why employees remain silent when they encounter an ethical problem include the ideas that the behavior is standard practice and it is not their responsibility to do anything about it. Advice is given to managers that will guide them in confronting a problem by treating it as a business matter and speaking up about it. INSETS: Cognitive Biases in Decision Making;Checklist for Action.

Journal Title: Harvard Business Review Volume: 88 Edition: Page Numbers: 114-117
Leveraging Women's Networks for Strategic Value
Author(s): Donnellon, Anne; Langowitz, Nan

Corporate women's networks have existed for more than 25 years, with varying results. Understanding how networks can be more effectively focused is important to talent management and professional development, particularly as women comprise an increasingly significant portion of the leadership pipeline. This study aims to provide new ways to assess and enhance the strategic value of women's networks in terms of both talent and business development. The authors bring more than 40 years combined experience to their survey of women's networks in 32 multinational corporations. A structured interview protocol was followed to gain an in-depth understanding of current women's network practice. This paper describes the range of current practice in the implementation of women's networks and suggests new tools for understanding how a women's network is currently positioned and might be focused for greater strategic impact, both for network participants and for the firm. Three tools are provided for assessing and potentially repositioning the focus and strategic objectives of women's networks in corporations. This paper should spur valuable discussion among network leaders as well as executive sponsors, diversity officers and CEOs about how to maximize network value; the tools are potentially transferable to other internal networks or affinity groups. Many firms use well-known turnkey tools to establish their women's network. This paper provides new tools targeted particularly to those networks and companies that are beyond the start-up phase.

Journal Title: Strategy & Leadership Volume: 37 Edition: Page Numbers: 29-36
Marketing Tactics Discouraging Price Search: Deception & Competition
Author(s): Petty, Ross

Retailers attempt to assure consumers that their deals are bargains using a variety of marketing tactics. Because consumers continue information and price searches until satisfied with the amount of the information to make a purchase, such bargain assurances (BAs) can change consumers' shopping behavior. This article identifies twelve common BAs and reviews extant marketing literature to derive evidence of how BAs affect consumers' purchasing behavior. It then examines how these practices are regulated to prevent consumer deception or a reduction in competition. This article concludes by offering three policy recommendations: BAs influence consumers and require regulation; the regulation of BAs demands a comprehensive rather than a piecemeal approach; and consumer policy should facilitate and encourage accurate price comparisons.

Journal Title: Journal of Business Research Volume: 64 Edition: Page Numbers: 67-73
Measuring Social Values in Philanthropic Foundations
Author(s): Whitman, John

Philanthropic foundations are seen as organizations that allocate resources to achieve their visions of a better world. Drawing on a sample of foundations in Canada, the United States, and Europe, this research undertakes to reveal the social values that constitute such visions and to measure the consistency between espoused social values and those conveyed by resource allocations. A social values identification and measurement instrument is described and tested. The social values that comprise the instrument are presented in a chart of social values. A methodology for measuring the consistency between social values espoused by a foundation and those actually conveyed by resource allocation decisions is described, tested, and critiqued. It is argued that the results of this research provide a basis on which to pursue development of a standardized vocabulary of social values that may enhance understanding and discourse regarding the purposes and work of foundations, as well as provide a basis for cross-cultural comparative analyses of foundations.

Journal Title: Nonprofit Management & Leadership Volume: 19 Edition: Page Numbers: 305-325
Startup Motivations and Growth Intentions of Minority Nascent Entrepreneurs
Author(s): Brush, Candida; Greene, Patricia

Firm growth is widely considered to be a measure of success for entrepreneurial businesses. Data indicate that there are systematic differences between minority and nonminority-owned firms with respect to growth. Black entrepreneurs are 50 percent more likely to engage in start-up activities than white entrepreneurs, however, black-owned firms are smaller and less profitable than their white-owned counterparts. Following the effort-performance-outcome-logic of expectancy theory and using data from the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics (PSED), our paper investigates the differences between black and white entrepreneurs' motivations to start and intentions to grow a new venture. Findings indicate that there are significant differences in motivations between black and white entrepreneurs both in starting and in their intentions to grow the new venture. Implications for future research are discussed.

Journal Title: Journal of Small Business Management Volume: 48 Edition: Page Numbers: 174-196
The New Marketing Myopia
Author(s): Gentile, Mary

During the past half century, in general, marketers have heeded Levitt's (1960) advice to avoid “marketing myopia” by focusing on customers. In this article, the authors argue that marketers have learned this lesson too well, resulting today in a new form of marketing myopia, which also causes distortions in strategic vision and can lead to business failure. This “new marketing myopia” stems from three related phenomena: (1) a single-minded focus on the customer to the exclusion of other stakeholders, (2) an overly narrow definition of the customer and his or her needs, and (3) a failure to recognize the changed societal context of business that necessitates addressing multiple stakeholders. The authors illustrate these phenomena and then offer a vision of marketing management as an activity that engages multiple stakeholders in value creation, suggesting that marketing can bring a particular expertise to bear. They offer five propositions for practice that will help marketers correct the myopia: (1) map the company's stakeholders, (2) determine stakeholder salience, (3) research stakeholder issues and expectations and measure impact, (4) engage with stakeholders, and (5) embed a stakeholder orientation. The authors conclude by noting the implications for research.

Journal Title: Journal of Public Policy & Marketing Volume: 29 Edition: Page Numbers: 4-11
Turning Values Into Action
Author(s): Gentile, Mary

Social innovators are usually motivated by their personal values, yet they don’t always act on them, because they are afraid it might lead to conflict. Even when they do act, it often ends badly. To remedy this, social innovators can learn how to articulate their values consistently and act on them in a way that is likely to lead to good outcomes.

Journal Title: Stanford Social Innovation Review Volume: 8 Edition: Page Numbers: 43-47