Half-Course: Building Business in the Context of a Life

Course Number 1645

Professor Howard H. Stevenson
Early Winter, 15 session half-course
1.5 credits
Exam
Enrollment: Students may choose FSS: BBCL for 3 credits or HC: BBCL for 1.5 credits

Course Requirements

Half-course: Building Business in the Context of a Life is a half-course earning 1.5 credits requiring attendance in 15 sessions during the first half of the winter term, plus a self-scheduled exam.

Students who wish to explore a course topic in greater depth should enroll in the full course, Field Study Seminar on Building a Business in the Context of a Life. Students enrolled in the seminar will attend the same 15 sessions as enrollees in the half course, but instead of a final exam, they will complete (individually or in teams with other seminar enrollees, at the student’s option) a field-based project.

Career Focus

This course is designed for students who plan to start an organization at some point in their careers (whether for-profit or non-profit) and who are interested in exploring opportunities for successful integration of work and life.

Educational Objectives

  • Develop an understanding of the unique opportunities, challenges, and rewards of entrepreneurial management.
  • Develop skills required for starting and running an entrepreneurial venture.
  • Develop multiple models and a personal theory of successful integration of work and life.
  • Create a network of faculty, alumnae, business leaders, and HBS students interested in in developing personal models of success.

Course Content and Organization

Classroom sessions will address:

  • Multiple definitions of entrepreneurship
  • Job and career decisions/Choosing an entrepreneurial path
  • Developing creative business concepts
  • Developing managerial resources/Choosing partners
  • Financing considerations and choices
  • Creating new products and getting to market
  • Growth strategies
  • Resolving conflict between business and personal goals and developing an integrated approach to work/life issues
  • Developing a personal financial plan