The C.V. Starr Program in Business, Entrepreneurship, and Organizations is an interdisciplinary academic program that supports research, teaching and practice in the field of commerce. Its sponsoring departments of Economics and Sociology and the School of Engineering provide a unique scholarly foundation based upon economics, organizational studies, and entrepreneurship and technology management. Without a business school at Brown, the Business, Entrepreneurship and Organizations Program allows faculty and students a unique perspective on the critical issues facing businesses and organizations today.
An important component of BEO is a multidisciplinary, multi-track undergraduate concentration. This program:
- Provides students with a rigorous and synergistic program in the study of commercial activity grounded in Economics, Sociology and Engineering.
- Focuses on the formation, growth, and organization of new ventures, innovation in commercial applications, financial markets and the marketplace, globalization, and management and organizational theory.
- Connects vibrant practice-oriented co-curricular activities to the curriculum, including mentoring by entrepreneurs and other practitioners in the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors, domestic and international internships, the student-run Entrepreneurship Program, and its business plan competition.
- Is supported by interdisciplinary research that provides an academic grounding for the curriculum and keeps it innovative and fresh.
- Culminates senior year with a team-based capstone project focusing on solving a strategic, organizational, financial or marketing challenge with a sponsor company or organization.
For more information, please visit the BEO website.
BEO 1930A. BEO Capstone I: Organizational Studies Track.
The first in a two-semester Capstone for BEO Organizational Studies track seniors, open to all BEO seniors. Capstone builds upon concepts covered in BEO courses, specifically concepts from SOC 1311 and 1315. Students will synthesize knowledge at several levels: across disciplines, across theoretical understanding and practical application, and across private and public sector experiences of entrepreneurship and innovation. Students will be organized into client-mentored teams for social entrepreneurship and social innovation projects. BEO 1930A (fall) required; 1940A (spring) strongly advised for all Organizational Studies track seniors. Application required to match students to projects. Project team meetings required outside scheduled lectures.
BEO 1930B. BEO Capstone I: Entrepreneurship and Technology Management Track.
The first in a two-semester Capstone required of BEO Tech track seniors. Student teams from Engineering, BEO and other technical and non-technical disciplines form simulated high tech start-up companies working on mentor-defined opportunities. Concepts reviewed in class include: product commercialization, intellectual property, marketing, product requirements documentation, team building, safety, environmental and legal requirements. BEO Tech track concentrators should complete ENGN 1010 prior to course. Enrollment is limited. Students must complete formal application (BEO Tech track seniors automatically approved). Project team meetings required outside scheduled lectures. Non-BEO concentrators require instructor permission.
BEO 1930C. BEO Capstone I: Business Economics Track.
Designed for BEO Business Economics track seniors, this capstone is open to all BEO students, and builds upon BEO concepts in economics, finance, strategy and markets. Students form teams to solve existing business problems, simulating groups of consultants. Projects range from recommending appropriate finance for new investments to project evaluation and pricing of new services. Student teams have client-mentors. Students apply analytical frameworks of BEO disciplines to hone writing, presentational, leadership and organizational skills. Application required to match students to projects. Project team meetings required outside scheduled lectures.
BEO 1940A. BEO Capstone II: Organizational Studies Track.
Continuation of Semester 1, BEO Capstone I: Organizational Studies Track (BEO 1930A). This course involves the completion of team projects begun in fall semester.
BEO 1940B. BEO Capstone II: Entrepreneurship and Technology Management Track.
Continuation of Semester 1, BEO Capstone I: Entrepreneurship and Technology Management Track (BEO 1930B). This course involves the completion of team projects begun in fall semester. Non-BEO concentrators require instructor permission.
BEO 1970. Independent Study.
Course allows concentrators to complete BEO 1930 as an independent study due to scheduling conflicts.
Business, Entrepreneurship and Organizations
Business, Entrepreneurship and Organizations (BEO) is a multidisciplinary concentration that provides a rigorous and synergistic program in the study of commercial activity grounded in economics, sociology and engineering. BEO focuses on the formation, growth, and organization of new ventures, innovation in commercial applications, financial markets and the marketplace, and management and organizational theory. Concentrators seek to understand the basic principles, approaches and vocabulary relevant to the study of entrepreneurship from the disciplines of economics, organizational sociology and engineering. Building on this multidisciplinary base, students develop specialized expertise in one of the three disciplinary approaches, with special emphasis on critical reasoning and quantitative research methods. In senior year capstone projects, students apply and integrate multi-disciplinary learning by working in groups on real world projects, including the creation of new ventures. BEO students interested in the theory and practice of addressing social challenges might consider the Engaged Scholars Program.
The Business, Entrepreneurship, and Organizations concentration is open only to students admitted in the fall of 2019 or prior.
The three tracks of the concentration are as follows:
- Business Economics
- Organizational Studies
- Entrepreneurship and Technology Management
Upon completion of all concentration requirements, students receive the Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) degree in Business, Entrepreneurship and Organizations.
The Curriculum
Business Economics Track
| Foundation Requirements (foundation requirements must be completed before taking the capstone in fall of senior year) | ||
| ECON 0110 | Principles of Economics | 1 |
| ECON 1110 | Intermediate Microeconomics | 1 |
| Any two of the following three courses: | 2 | |
| Organizations and Society | ||
| Micro-Organizational Theory: Social Behavior in Organizations | ||
| Macro-Organizational Theory: Organizations in Social Context | ||
| ENGN 0020 | Transforming Society-Technology and Choices for the Future | 1 |
| or ENGN 0030 | Introduction to Engineering | |
| ENGN 1010 | The Entrepreneurial Process | 1 |
| Math and Statistics Requirements | ||
| MATH 0100 | Single Variable Calculus, Part II | 1 |
| or MATH 0170 | Single Variable Calculus, Part II (Accelerated) | |
| or ECON 0170 | Essential Mathematics for Economics | |
Or AP BC Calculus score of 4 or higher | ||
Or IB High-level Math minimum score of 5 (IB Standard-level not accepted) | ||
| ECON 1620 | Introduction to Econometrics | 1 |
| Track Requirements | ||
| ECON 0710 | Financial Accounting | 1 |
| ECON 1210 | Intermediate Macroeconomics | 1 |
| ECON 1629 | Applied Research Methods for Economists | 1 |
| ECON 1710 | Investments I | 1 |
| ECON 1720 | Corporate Finance | 1 |
| One 1000-level economics course. | 1 | |
| Capstone: one-semester required (must be taken fall of senior year) 1 | 1 | |
| BEO Capstone I: Business Economics Track | ||
| Total Credits | 15 | |
Organizational Studies Track
| Foundation Requirements (foundation requirements must be completed before taking the capstone in fall of senior year) | ||
| ECON 0110 | Principles of Economics | 1 |
| ECON 1110 | Intermediate Microeconomics | 1 |
| ENGN 0020 | Transforming Society-Technology and Choices for the Future | 1 |
| or ENGN 0030 | Introduction to Engineering | |
| ENGN 1010 | The Entrepreneurial Process | 1 |
| Any two of the following three courses: | 2 | |
| Organizations and Society | ||
| Micro-Organizational Theory: Social Behavior in Organizations | ||
| Macro-Organizational Theory: Organizations in Social Context | ||
| Math and Statistics Requirements | ||
| MATH 0100 | Single Variable Calculus, Part II | 1 |
| or MATH 0170 | Single Variable Calculus, Part II (Accelerated) | |
| or ECON 0170 | Essential Mathematics for Economics | |
Or AP BC Calculus with a score of 4 or higher | ||
Or IB High-level Math with a minumum score of 5 (IB Standard-level is not accepted) | ||
| SOC 1100 | Introductory Statistics for Social Research | 1 |
| or APMA 0650 | Essential Statistics | |
| or ECON 1620 | Introduction to Econometrics | |
| Track Requirements | ||
| One Introduction to Research Methods course (selected from the following): | 1 | |
| Methods of Social Research | ||
| Two Organization-Relevant Electives (OREs) Not all of the courses listed here will be offered in any given semester, and others are sometimes added. The following are approved examples-please consult with Courses@Brown/Brown.edu/BEO website for current offerings: | 2 | |
| ORE courses allow students to deepen and/or broaden their exposure to topics and settings that are either strongly determined by, or strongly determining of, organizational activities and outcomes. An ORE course will have a clear linkage to commerce, organizations and/or entrepreneurship, and it will incorporate organizational phenomena and perspectives in a significant portion of its coursework. | ||
Any from the Advanced Research Methods or Advanced Organization-Studies lists; or | ||
| American Advertising: History and Consequences | ||
| Human Factors | ||
| csciStartup | ||
| Industrial Organization | ||
| Economic Organizations and Economic Systems | ||
| Financial Institutions | ||
| Sociology of Education | ||
| The American Teacher: How Policy Shapes the Profession | ||
| Education, the Economy and School Reform | ||
| Entrepreneurship Practicum: Starting, Running, and Scaling Ventures | ||
| Social Entrepreneurship | ||
| Prosperity: The Ethics and Economics of Wealth Creation | ||
| Law and Society | ||
| Eco-Entrepreneurship | ||
| The Real Estate Development Process: An Entrepreneurial Lens | ||
| One Advanced Organization Studies course (AOS). Not all of the courses listed here will be offered in any given semester, and others are sometimes added. The following are approved EXAMPLES-please consult with the Courses@Brown and the Brown.edu/BEO website for current offerings: | 1 | |
| AOS courses directly employ and extend the theories and perspectives introduced by the foundational Organizational Studies courses. They are either taught by core Organization Studies faculty or vetted on a regular basis by the Organization Studies track advisor, to ensure that they thoroughly incorporate Organization Studies perspectives and focus primarily on organizational processes and phenomena. | ||
| Psychology in Business and Economics | ||
| Health Policy Challenges | ||
| Nonprofit Organizations | ||
| Leadership in Organizations | ||
| Migrants, Refugees and the Mediterranean | ||
| Investing in Social Change | ||
| Law, Innovation and Entrepreneurship | ||
| Sociology of FIRE: Finance, Insurance, + Real Estate | ||
| One Advanced Research Methods course (ARM). Not all of the courses listed here will be offered in any given semester, and others are sometimes added. The following are approved examples-please consult with Courses@Brown and the brown.edu/BEO website for current offerings: | 1 | |
| ARM courses allow students to deepen and/or broaden their expertise in one or more methods of empirical inquiry. | ||
| Ethnographic Research Methods | ||
| Mathematical Econometrics I | ||
| Applied Statistics for Ed Research and Policy Analysis | ||
| Focus Groups for Market and Social Research | ||
| Context Research for Innovation | ||
| Market Research in Public and Private Sectors | ||
| Principles and Methods of Geographic Information Systems | ||
| Capstone: two-semesters required 1 | 2 | |
| BEO Capstone I: Organizational Studies Track and BEO Capstone II: Organizational Studies Track | ||
| Total Credits | 15 | |
| 1 | If a student in the Organizational Studies track completes only the fall semester of the capstone course (BEO 1930A), she/he must take one additional ARM or AOS course. |
Entrepreneurship and Technology Management Track
| Foundation Requirements (foundation requirements must be completed before taking the capstone in fall of senior year) | ||
| ECON 0110 | Principles of Economics | 1 |
| ECON 1110 | Intermediate Microeconomics | 1 |
| Any two of the following three courses: | 2 | |
SOC 0300 | Organizations and Society | |
| Micro-Organizational Theory: Social Behavior in Organizations | ||
| Macro-Organizational Theory: Organizations in Social Context | ||
| ENGN 0030 | Introduction to Engineering | 1 |
| ENGN 1010 | The Entrepreneurial Process | 1 |
| Math and Statistics Requirements | ||
| MATH 0200 | Multivariable Calculus (Physics/Engineering) | 1 |
| or APMA 0330 | Methods of Applied Mathematics I | |
| SOC 1100 | Introductory Statistics for Social Research | 1 |
| or APMA 0650 | Essential Statistics | |
| or ECON 1620 | Introduction to Econometrics | |
| Track Requirements | ||
| One gateway course in Engineering or another physical science 1 | 1 | |
| Five courses that develop expertise in a technical subfield 1, 2 | 5 | |
| Capstone: two-semesters required (must be taken in fall and spring of senior year) | 2 | |
| BEO Capstone I: Entrepreneurship and Technology Management Track | ||
| BEO Capstone II: Entrepreneurship and Technology Management Track | ||
| Total Credits | 16 | |
| 1 | For specific gateway and subfield courses, refer to the BEO website. |
| 2 | Technical subfields include Biotechnology/Biomaterials, Information Technology and Computer Engineering, Energy and the Environment, and others. |