17 undergraduate courses in the 2024–25 Undergraduate Calendar, and 16 graduate courses in the Spring 2025 Graduate Calendar.
Undergraduate
BET 100Foundations of Entrepreneurial Practice0.50 units
Successful entrepreneurs combine intellectual rigour with innovation to create solutions that have impact. It is a process that starts with a search for "big ideas" using tools such as research, observation, and appreciative inquiry. Next, entrepreneurs analyze situations and apply creativity techniques to develop solutions. Finally, solutions are tested against business drivers including customer value propositions, customer identification, channel selection, and resource needs. This course covers the three steps that form the foundation of all entrepreneurial success: big ideas, solutions, and testing. Because of its broad scope, the course is valuable to students from different academic backgrounds, entrepreneurship interests, and program level.
BET 210Business Technology and Infrastructure0.50 units
Modern organizations increasingly rely on a technological infrastructure that informs what can be accomplished, the prospects for long-term growth, and its overall competitiveness. In this course, students will learn about underlying technologies, gain insights into planning for new technologies, evaluate existing systems, and understand the various roles and issues related to corporate information systems management.
This course provides students with an introduction to the processes involved in moving an idea for a new venture from concept through to launch. The theoretical knowledge and practical skills needed to create a successful small entrepreneurial enterprise are developed. Topics include definition and evaluation of entrepreneurial opportunities, business planning, funding strategies and early-stage revenue models, legal issues, and intellectual property protection.
Once your "big idea" has been formulated, what is the best way to realize its potential? With whom should you partner? How do you protect your intellectual property? What is the optimal business model? The objective of this course is to provide an understanding of the commercialization process, with a specific focus on assessment of opportunities and development of an entrepreneurial business plan. Course content includes the importance of strategic partnerships, understanding the bases of competition, conducting industry and market level analyses, evaluating innovative ideas for commercial potential, business planning in a corporate context, intellectual property strategy, and strategic tools needed for launching new ideas.
It is recommended that students should take BET 100 prior to this course.
BET 340Essentials of Entrepreneurial Planning and Execution0.50 units
Entrepreneurial success starts with finding a solution to a problem and then creating the right strategy to bring it to market. The final step in the process is explored in this course, the disciplined execution of strategy. A broad range of skills are required to do this including understanding founder and team dynamics, hiring and firing, cash flow management, project management, developing suitable equity structures and compensation, pitching, fundraising, internal and external communications, and people skills. This course explores the business skills and knowledge needed to take a new venture, whether it is a start-up or part of an existing organization, from strategy to market.
It is recommended that students should take BET 100 and BET 320 prior to this course.
In this course, entrepreneurial students will learn the principles and tools of customer experience (CX) design and how developing an exceptional experience for the customer fits into an overall business strategy. Not only will students develop a conceptual understanding of user experience and user-centered design, they will also learn how to deeply understand the needs of the customer and develop engaging and innovative products and services. Topics include visual design principles, design thinking, user experience research, experience mapping, sketching and storyboards, interactive prototypes, and usability testing.
BET 360Design Frameworks for Social Ventures0.50 units
In this course, students will explore several design frameworks as they relate to complex problems; assess the impacts of these frameworks in recent entrepreneurial applications; and determine how to apply these concepts in the design of the social impact aspects of ventures and cross-industry collaborations. In parallel, students will be encouraged to develop skills, reflect on their own mindsets, and further their learning through workshops and studio sessions. Several frameworks will be explored, including human-centred design, life-centred design, equity-centred design, and inclusive design.
BET 400Marketing Foundations for Early-Stage Ventures0.50 units
This course develops the theoretical knowledge and practical skills needed to develop a marketing strategy for early-stage ventures. Topics include managing product development, marketing and brand development, segmentation and targeting, competitor analysis, and positioning.
BET 405Digital Leadership and Transformation0.50 units
Firms must continuously evolve and adapt in rapidly changing competitive environments. While investments in new technology are important, this is not the only aspect of successful digital transformation. It requires an understanding of the implications for the firm's products and services as well as its business model, culture, and operations. In this course we examine some of the implications for organizations as they continuously evolve and transform themselves to become and remain responsive and competitive.
Prerequisites
Complete 1 of the following
Must have completed the following:
BET210 - Business Technology and Infrastructure (0.50)
This course, taken concurrently with a capstone project or entrepreneurial milestone, consists of workshops, seminars, and online content. Topics can include goal setting and project planning, team building, understanding your competitive landscape and customers, patents and patent searches, commercialization options and developing a business model, legal issues, creating a business case for the capstone project, presentation skills and "pitching", post-mortem and root cause analysis.
BET 412Advanced Topics in Entrepreneurship0.50 units
This course will be taken by students in the corporate entrepreneurship track of the Entrepreneurship Minor, and approved by the program co-ordinator in order to meet the experiential component requirements in the minor with special projects as assigned.
BET 420Entrepreneurship for Social Impact0.50 units
This course explores how innovative approaches can address social problems, create organizations that make positive change, have significant social impact, and be sustainable and economically viable. Topics include the principles of social entrepreneurship, design thinking applied to identifying significant problems, innovative solutions for social impact, and identifying opportunities for social change. Students develop skills and tools for refining and implementing their ideas as well as measuring the success and value of mission-driven organizations. Through case studies, lectures, and workshops, students also develop skills in strategic thinking with a socially conscious business mindset to create high-impact ventures.
The one thing every new venture needs whether small or large, not-for-profit or for-profit, startup or part of an already mature business, is sales. This course is designed to help create and grow a successful business venture through personal marketing and sales efforts. Coursework examines key sales technologies, networking techniques, the use of marketing in sales, the sales process, and assessing the value of a particular sale from both the perspective of customer impact and the financial and strategic impact on the organization.
Leaders make things happen. Leaders make things possible. This course explores the relevant concepts, theories, and skills needed to lead successfully in any environment, from new ventures to change management in large corporations, government, and not-for-profits. Course topics include leadership and followership, group and team dynamics, change management, interpersonal dynamics, and supporting leadership skills such as self-awareness, conflict management, and communications. Course topics will be enriched through a critical study of leadership exemplars in popular media.
Antirequisites
Complete all of the following
Not completed nor concurrently enrolled in any of the following:
COMMST204 - Leadership, Teams, and Communication (0.50)
We negotiate every day with potential employers, coworkers, merchants, service providers, customers, and suppliers. Negotiation is the art and science of securing agreements between two or more independent parties. It is a craft that must hold co-operation and competition in creative tension, and even the most experienced negotiators often fall prey to common biases and errors in judgment. This course is highly experiential; therefore, students will practise, reflect, analyze, and practice again.
This course explores the business practices needed to manage, run, and work for family-owned ventures. The focus will be on those issues unique to family-businesses such as the interaction between family, management, and ownership. Family-controlled businesses are also characterized by challenges that put their continuity in serious jeopardy; and leadership and succession crises are the norm. Topics include, but are not limited to, the strengths and weaknesses of family businesses, managing family-business conflict, succession planning, professionalization, communication, new opportunity development, and strategic planning.
This course is useful for anyone considering working as a consultant, either for a consulting firm, as an independent entrepreneurial consultant, or as an internal consultant to large organizations. Some of the competencies skilled consultants have include understanding business needs from a holistic perspective, developing innovative ideas, expert people skills, influence, and change management. Course topics may also include key stages in the consulting process, issue diagnosis, managing difficult clients, consulting frameworks, analytical approaches to solving complex problems, engagement management, building a consulting toolset, change management processes, negotiation, and advanced presentation techniques. We will also cover aspects of the business of consulting.
BET 600Applied Business Leadership Skills for Entrepreneurs0.50 units
The course provides students with the opportunity to develop a range of soft skills and the business acumen necessary to maximize the likelihood of success in an entrepreneurial environment. Topics include communication and interpersonal skills, leadership, and negotiation skills. A range of applied approaches are used, including integrated cases, simulations, and interaction with the local business community. Most activities are team based.
BET 601Strategically Managing the Entrepreneurial Organization0.50 units
This course provides insight into the role of strategy in the setup and growth of new ventures. It will discuss the strategic issues faced by new ventures and explore ways to shape and evaluate the viability of new ventures by understanding key industry, market and competitive factors. Different strategic analysis techniques will be used as a means to identify and analyze issues and as input into the design of the business strategy. This course will also explore how cognitive aspects influence entrepreneurial decisions and also discuss frameworks to generate and recognize new opportunities.
BET 602Marketing Strategies for New Technology-based Ventures0.50 units
Market-based management practices and the key relationships that enable businesses to attract, satisfy and retain customers, and grow their profits are examined. The contribution of marketing strategy to the creation of value for both customers and shareholders is emphasized. Particular attention is paid to the unique contexts of marketing knowledge-intensive products and services, new and rapidly growing markets and business markets. Familiarity is developed with the marketing activities typical for each of the seed/concept, product development and market execution stages of a new venture.
BET 603Entrepreneurial Finance for the Technology-based Enterprise0.50 units
This course will provide entrepreneurs and enterprise intrapreneurs with an understanding of financing practices and principles relevant to entrepreneurial opportunities. Classes will feature a combination of theory and "real world" practices drawing from the instructor's experiences.
BET 604New Technology-based Venture Creation0.50 units
The creation of new ventures is a defining attribute of entrepreneurs. While the specific focus will be on creating new independent ventures, the theory and principles discussed in this course can be applied to creating new ventures within existing corporation and to new social ventures. The MBET program is an experiential program that combines knowing and doing. BET 604 provides the framework for doing. It affords the opportunity to apply what is learned in other BET courses to a new venture of each student's choosing.
BET 605Essential Accounting for Entrepreneurs0.50 units
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to how accounting information can be used by entrepreneurs and enterprise intrapreneurs to manage an enterprise, improve decision making, and implement organizational strategy as the venture proceeds from start-up to SME to maturity. The course is split into two parts: Financial accounting (external use of financial information) and Management Accounting (the internal use of financial information).
BET 607Managing Technological Innovation0.50 units
Management of technological innovation requires an understanding of the interaction of technology with all aspects of the organization to build and maintain a sustainable competitive advantage. The focus of this course is the creation of new products and services from concept through to launch. Evaluating new technologies, product development and deployment strategies are key topics.
This course is designed to leverage the high-potential complementarities between MBET entrepreneurship students and University of Waterloo and Waterloo region ventures. The objectives are: 1. High-potential business models and licensing plans to facilitate the launch of knowledge-based commercial or social ventures and technology commercialization. 2. Enriched linkages between MBET students and University of Waterloo and Waterloo region entrepreneurs. 3. Experience in networking, partnership development, opportunity assessment, stakeholder validation, and working in and managing diverse teams. 4. An opportunity to reflect on the opportunities and challenges faced by a venture that you know well, but about which you can be objective.
The objective of the course is to equip students to better design, manage and navigate organizations as entrepreneurs and in effective entrepreneurial ways. This includes consideration of ethical behavior in business and organizational contexts, organizational form and design, building and managing entrepreneurial talent and capacity, and acting as an effective agent of entrepreneurial change in prganizations.
BET 615Corporate Innovation and Consulting0.50 units
This course gives students an opportunity to develop and exercise the skills to help businesses explore strategic opportunities and threats using the same frameworks used in start-up environments. It includes identifying problems, assessing opportunities and developing creative solutions in an existing corporate context. The course will involve a mix of theory and practice in the form of lectures, group work, cases, guest speakers, and an innovation consulting team project with an established firm.
In search of new solutions to complex problems around the world, entrepreneurs are developing novel strategies that leverage the market system to achieve social impact and social change. This course is designed to help students gain actionable insight on the nexus between economic and social value creation. Through a design thinking and systems thinking lens, students will be exposed to the entrepreneurial pursuit of social impact and innovation while encouraging students to think deeper and more critically about some of the more complex problems facing our world.
This course will offer insights into the main theories and issues in the studies of entre-/intrapreneurship and innovation. It will also discuss the complex and dynamic reality of the entrepreneur and the innovating organization as well as explore research traditions, methodologies, and approaches in entrepreneurship research.
This course will offer an understanding of classic and contemporary issues in organizational behavior, with an emphasis on their study in entrepreneurial contexts. Drawing on theory and research in psychology, social psychology, and organizational behavior, this course will explore individual, interpersonal, and group processes in work organizations.
This course will examine the current state of knowledge in strategic management. Topics may include the sources of competitive advantage, the role of industry evolution and technology, the organization of top management, and managerial decision-making and cognition. It will also cover alternative theoretical perspectives and available empirical evidence related to these topics. Emphasis will be placed on the study of strategy in entrepreneurial contexts
The course will examine the different stages in the research process beginning with how to frame research questions, speculate hypotheses, understand the merits of alternative research methods, and cover topics and provide examples in areas such as experimental design, survey design, case studies, and archival research. By the end of the course, students will be prepared to critically evaluate research method and design choices for their own research.