Why overhaul a course that, for over a decade, has been engaging, highly rated by students, and has enlisted a set of extremely dedicated faculty? Most programs would rest on those laurels. The SM131 introductory class is essentially the gateway to the Questrom curriculum for freshman undergrads and about 1,400 students will take the class each year. It’s not hyperbole to say that in some ways, it frames – and provides a foundation for – the entire student experience. With the creation of the Mehrotra Institute for Business, Markets, & Society (MIBMS), however, Questrom saw an opportunity for positive change. The funding available through the Institute enabled Questrom to reconsider the course and rethink its role in the curriculum.
“We thought that reviewing the course would provide an opportunity to more fully introduce students to the fundamental principles of business and the interrelationship among business, markets, and society,” said Professor Jeff Furman, one of the architects of the new SM131. “Changing SM131 gave us the opportunity to create a distinctive course not offered at other business schools,” said Professor Nalin Kulatilaka, who worked on the redesign.
Previously, the intro course was designed much the same way a business is designed – into departments. Faculty from each of the academic specialties – for example, accounting, marketing, and finance – would provide lectures on their area of expertise. The new design emphasizes the historical evolution of businesses and the philosophical and economic underpinnings of businesses and markets. The aim is to provide an understanding of how firms operate within different political systems around the world. This includes the history of how capitalism first emerged out of feudal Britain and Europe. And how government, the representative of society, eventually had to step in to provide rules to make businesses and markets function effectively and provide needed guardrails to protect the public interest. Students learn about real world cases from the East India Company to IBM to Tik Tok and Taylor Swift. These companies all exist in different economic and political systems. Students learn about the history and economic underpinnings of business and markets, which provides a more complete understanding of the environments in which businesses operate, including who the players are. The goal of the course is to integrate that foundational knowledge with an understanding of the practical operations of a business, of its multiple functions, and its market and non-market relationships.
The hope is that once graduated and working, students will use this knowledge to make better business decisions and ultimately, improve how businesses are run.
Last summer, Questrom’s Kulatilaka, Jeff Furman, and Becky Nichols dug in to reimagine and reframe the intro course. The trio met regularly throughout the summer and the year, incorporating feedback from the Mehrotra Institute in the process of design and implementation, and adding Timothy Simcoe to the design and teaching team. “Our team continues to be engaged in a process of continual review to modify and upgrade the course content based on students’ experience in the class,” said Furman. The additional 16 faculty and 25 teaching assistants who comprise the SM131 teaching team have embraced the new curriculum and continue to contribute to its evolution as a signature course for the school.
The intent is that the lessons of SM131 will be reiterated in the higher-level courses that students take at Questrom. That goal is a work in progress, according to Kulatilaka.
