Driven by continuous pedagogical innovation and a desire to equip students with important 21^st century skills, Singapore Polytechnic School of Business piloted its first sandbox program, a year-long module called Business Essentials Through Action (BETA). Taking reference from Babson’s FME program, BETA is designed for first year Bachelor’s degree students to learn the fundamentals of marketing, negotiation management and human resources in the context of venture creation.

BETA is unique in that it incorporates the engineering framework of Conceive, Design, Implement and Operate (CDIO), with students undergoing a semester of activity-driven lessons introducing them to design thinking and marketing foundations. Through ethnographic studies, students design solutions that address problems of specific user groups, with the objective of creating social and economic value. As students progress into the second semester, they have the opportunity to implement their business idea and operate it like a start-up under the supervision and guidance of lecturers.

Students in the BETA program have been observed as taking greater ownership in their learning, which is aligned with institutional goals to promote self-direction and personal effectiveness. There are plans to scale BETA and include it in more first year classes in the School of Business. The synopsis for BETA 1 has been added to the Academic Content Library. BETA 2 will run October 2020 to February 2021. For more information, please contact Roland Soh.

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The 41st Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference (BCERC) and Doctoral Consortium will be held at Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany, June 9–12, 2021. The conference will focus on cutting-edge empirical research in progress that will significantly advance the field of entrepreneurship.

BCERC provides a dynamic venue where academics and real-world practitioners engage in spirited dialogue and link theory and practice. Each year, the conference attracts more than 350 entrepreneurial scholars who come to hear the presentations of more than 220 papers. Click here for details on the 2021 BCERC abstract submission process.

Abstract Submission Deadline: October 14, 2020

The 2021 BCERC Doctoral Consortium provides twenty-five doctoral students pursuing research and teaching careers an opportunity to attend and participate in BCERC.

Doctoral Consortium Application Deadline: December 2, 2020