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Strategy & Innovation

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  • QST SI 250: Ideas to Impact
    This course is required for the Innovation and Entrepreneurship minor. The goal of this course is to expose students to the conceptual frameworks that guide ideation and innovation. Thus it will include all five learning principles the guide design of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship minor. The course analyzes the conditions that foster innovation as well as the process by which ideas progress from conception to implementation and execution, and the creation of either economic or social impact. Students will be exposed to theories on the conditions that affect the generation and development of creativity and innovation within individuals, teams, cities, and regions. To foster experiential learning, the whole class will be structured around the process of innovation with a "live case" that focuses on creating social innovations for the City of Boston. When people think about great social challenges, they often look afar to distant countries. Yet, many social problems lie right around the corner from students' daily lives. Students will develop a toolkit comprised of brainstorming, design thinking, human centered design, prototyping, storyboarding and field research. Students will conduct original field research within the City of Boston and identify a challenge or problem to address which they will focus on for the duration of the course, culminating in final presentations. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, The Individual in Community, Creativity/Innovation.
    • Creativity/Innovation
    • Social Inquiry I
  • QST SI 340: Family Business Management
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: Sophomore standing - This course explores the dynamic and complex world of family businesses across the globe. The course is primarily intended for students who have experience of a family business as well as students who are considering joining a family-owned enterprise or starting one. It counts toward the Innovation and Entrepreneurship minor and the Questrom Business minor. Family business historically represents a significant part of the U.S. economy and an even larger proportion of the global economy. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking.
    • Critical Thinking
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Historical Consciousness
  • QST SI 344: Entrepreneurship: Solving Problems in a Dynamic World
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: QST SM131, or QST SI250, or QST SI480, or COM FT591, or SHA HF307; Sop homore standing - This course addresses the principles, processes, and frameworks that are the underpinnings of entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial spirit. This is a hands-on, experiential learning course that integrates previous coursework into a coherent picture and gives the student an understanding of the way that entrepreneurship can drive change, achievement, and value creation in commercial, societal, and philanthropic domains. Students will also be able to understand how the entrepreneurial mindset can spur achievement and strengthen performance in a wide variety of careers and pursuits. Students have the opportunity to form an idea and drive it through the entrepreneurial process, gaining both practical and theoretical experience in the art and science of entrepreneurship. 4 cr.
  • QST SI 360: Strategy Lab
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: QST FE323, QST MK323, QST OM323, and QST QM323 - This course is a project-focused experiential course for sophomores and juniors. The overarching goal is to provide students with an authentic look at what it is like to be an "associate consultant" inside a top consulting firm, an experience which also includes training on Strategy content elements. Course activities include a live project, introduction of relevant Strategy content, development of a "consulting toolkit," and an introduction to and perspectives on careers in consulting through talks with alumni guest speakers. 4 cr.
  • QST SI 422: Strategy, Innovation, and Global Competition
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: QST FE323, MK323, OM323, and QM323; First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - Provides students with a powerful set of tools which will prepare them to analyze, formulate, and implement business firm strategy with the aim of attaining sustainable competitive advantage. Adopts the perspective of the general manager, challenging student knowledge in each functional area in the effort to create integrative strategies that serve the needs of shareholders, as well as other stakeholders inside and outside the company. The course includes conceptual readings, which elucidate the fundamental concepts and frameworks of strategic management, as well as case analyses. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Writing-Intensive Course, Creativity/Innovation.
    • Creativity/Innovation
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • QST SI 430: Cleantech Venture Consulting Practicum
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: QST SM131; CAS EE150 or ENG EK225 - Required course for the Undergraduate Minor in Sustainable Energy. Serves as the capstone project providing students with a multidisciplinary experience that applies ALL three disciplines on the Undergraduate Minor in Sustainable Energy, i.e. Business, Environmental Sciences and Engineering. The practicum is offered in conjunction with a "sponsoring company" to provide students with a hands-on experience with a real-world sustainable energy project.
  • QST SI 432: Corporate Strategy: Formulation and Implementation
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (QSTSI422) - This course deepens students' understanding of why and how multi-business corporations can successfully expand their operations into new business areas. The course exposes students to the challenges associated with a range of strategies firms use to manage the vertical and horizontal scope of their activities. These strategies include vertical integration, partnering and supplier relationships, related and unrelated diversification, globalization, franchising, alliances, acquisitions and divestitures. Along with examining the formulation of these corporate strategies, the course also examines the implementation considerations in order to create successful conditions for the pursuit of these strategies. Topics addressed include questions related to the formal organization (i.e., reporting relationships, structural design, incentives, budgeting authority) as well as the informal organization (i.e. culture, dissent, networks) 4 cr.
  • QST SI 435: Entertainment Management
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (QSTFE323 & QSTMK323 & QSTOM323 & QSTQM323) - (Offered in Los Angeles) Surveys the application of management concepts and principles to the film, television, video, new media and music industry. This course examines administration and finance, development, production, and distribution, and introduces students to the organizations and people (such as studios, independent production companies, talent managers, and agents) who manage, invest, and eventually profit in this creative industry. Much of the class time is spent in discussion of current entertainment industry trends. Students gain the skills to achieve their own entertainment goals.
  • QST SI 438: Talent Representation and Management
    (Offered in Los Angeles) Using case studies and business models, students examine the manner in which critical players interact and attempt to work together in behalf of clients in an effort to make their "professional dreams" come to fruition. Participants will gain an understanding of the different areas of talent representation, how each one functions in the scope of a talent's career and what the responsibilities are for each position in each area of representation. Participants will also gain a clear view of what the business of Entertainment Representation has to offer as a chosen career. 4 cr.
  • QST SI 445: Managing a Growing Enterprise
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (QSTFE323 & QSTMK323 & QSTOM323 & QSTQM323) - Designed to help students understand the intricacies of running a small company. The course addresses the major challenges in small companies, including valuation, negotiation, deal structure, personnel and compensation, and marketing and financing. Exposes students to a wide range of business activities, emphasizing significant differences between large and small enterprises. The course uses a competitive computer simulation to provide students with the opportunity to "run" their own business. Please click here to watch a 1 minute video overview of the course.
  • QST SI 451: Organizing for Design and Innovation
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: QST SM131, or QST SI250, or QST SI480, or COM FT591, or SHA HF307; Jun ior standing - This course examines how managers and leaders can create the conditions for innovation at the individual, team and organizational levels and how those conditions differ for startup and mature organizations. Managing innovation includes the generation of ideas; the integration of those ideas into new product concepts; and the commercialization of those ideas. While core strategy courses address the questions of what innovations to pursue and whether and when those innovations will bring value, this course addresses the question of how managers can create organizations to deliver sustainable innovations of value.
  • QST SI 453: Strategies in Environmental Sustainability
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: QST SM131, or QST SI250, or QST SI480, or COM FT591, or SHA HF307; Jun ior standing - With the growing global call for climate action, firms are recognizing business imperatives for climate resiliency. This course broadens our vision of corporate strategy to incorporate environmental initiatives as a way to create value. If you are a student who embraces the power of the private sector to lead climate imperatives, you will find this course particularly applicable. You will leave this course with a clear and actionable framework for implementing sustainability initiatives at all levels of the firm. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Teamwork/Collaboration.
    • Digital/Multimedia Expression
    • Teamwork/Collaboration
  • QST SI 464: Intellectual Property Strategies
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (QSTSM131 OR QSTSI480) - This course looks at how companies can best use intellectual property (patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets) to protect their proprietary ideas and investments in knowledge assets, shape competition, and realize value from innovation.
  • QST SI 469: Real Estate Development
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: QST FE323, MK323, OM323, and QM323. Pre-req for SHA students: SHA HF41 0; HF260; HF307; HF478 - Real estate development is a process rather than a product. Too often, assumptions about occupancy, market absorption, rental income growth, valuation and competition are based on guesswork and interest in specific product types. The course reviews the underlying demographic market data that drives demand; utilizing data such as population and job growth, market and marketability analysis. The focus then shifts to site selection and feasibility analysis, the available methods of gaining site control and the process of assembling the professional team. Later, the course reviews the regulatory control process, along with budgeting and contract award and review of the construction control processes. The course is introductory in nature and assumes students have little or no knowledge about the development process.
  • QST SI 471: International Entrepreneurship
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: QST FE323, MK323, OM323, and QM323; or SI480 - Designed for students who may at some point be interested in pursuing managerial careers in the international entrepreneurial sector, and covers the development of skills to identify, evaluate, start, and manage ventures that are international in scope. Over the course of the semester, the class "travels" to more than fifteen countries on five continents, and analyze operations at each stage of the entrepreneurial process. The course covers market entry, forming alliances, negotiations, managing growth, and cross-border financing. Support from local governments, and the cultural, ethical, legal, and human resource issues facing the entrepreneur is also covered.

    Please click here to watch a 1 minute video overview of the course.
  • QST SI 480: The Business of Technology Innovation
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: ENG sophomores, juniors and seniors - Provides an introduction to entrepreneurship and business for the engineer. Topics include finding business ideas; recognizing good from bad; understanding the importance of business model; turning technology into a business, including what to sell and how to sell it; the role of engineering within a business; business financial statements; and startups and venture capital, including starting a company or joining a startup. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Social Inquiry I
  • QST SI 482: Strategy for Technology-Based Firms
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: QST FE323, MK323, OM323, and QM323; or QST SI 480 - Serves Questrom students concentrating in entrepreneurship or who are interested in high-technology sectors, and ENG students who have taken SI480. This interdisciplinary course covers technology life-cycles, the co-evolution of industries and technologies, strategies for commercialization of new technologies (appropriability, acquiring complementary assets and capabilities, managing technical teams, and impact of regulatory and other environmental factors on commercialization). Special emphasis is placed on joint learning and interdisciplinary teamwork by students across Engineering and Questrom.
  • QST SI 498: Directed Study in Strategy and Innovation
    Directed study in Strategy and Innovation. 2 or 4 cr. Application available on Undergraduate Program website.
  • QST SI 630: Cleantech Venture Consulting Practicum
    This course combines lectures on technology-based opportunity areas advancing environmental sustainability with an “Active Learning” consulting experience in which students work with a "sponsoring company" to address a real-world business issue affecting their potential success in the sustainability arena. In addition to being a requirement for students pursuing the dual MBA/MS Energy and Environment degree, the course will also appeal to students seeking to explore professional possibilities in management consulting, entrepreneurship, or the cleantech sector.
  • QST SI 750: Competition, Innovation, and Strategy
    Graduate Prerequisites: QST AC710 or AC711, QST MK723 or MK724, QST MO712 or MO713, QST OM725 or OM726 - "Competition, Innovation, and Strategy" is an integrative course designed to capitalize on your understanding of Finance, Operations Management, Marketing, and other functional issues. The course draws on a number of academic disciplines, especially economics, organization theory, and sociology, to build a fundamental understanding of how and why some firms achieve and sustain superior performance. We also study why some firms persistently generate returns that are lower than average. The course is analytically focused and requires that you evaluate both the external environment and the internal capabilities of organizations. Corporate diversification and global management are important topics that are also featured.

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