This is how HWS does business

At Hobart and William Smith, you’ll prepare for a career in business by first developing the critical thinking and problem solving skills that define the liberal arts curriculum. You’ll learn the basic accounting, finance and managerial practices from caring, expert faculty while also considering business holistically. You’ll create a springboard to your career in business and, like many of our alums, go on to lead in the industry of your choosing.

The program gives you the freedom to explore concentrations in:

  • Ecopreneurship
  • Music Administration
  • Dance Administration
  • Spanish for Management and Entrepreneurship
  • German for Management and Entrepreneurship
  • Data Analytics 
  • Gender, Sexuality, and Intersectional Justice
  • Politics
  • Food and Culture

As a Management and Entrepreneurship major, you’ll go beyond the basics of business administration and ready yourself to address the challenges that will impact the future of industry.

 

 

Experiential EducationFuture-Focused Experiences

Compete for $10,000 to start your own venture, be mentored by alums in finance and real estate or take trips to Boston and Wall Street to get one-on-one experience from alums in the business, finance and economic industries. 

student experience

Here are some examples of students experiencing the worlds of business, finance, economics and entrepreneurship:

  • Gillian Parret '23 - Gillian spent 10 weeks at CitiGroup where she assisted in offering customized private banking to help clients protect and grow their wealth.
  • Sreyan Kanungo '23 - With the help of mentorship and refining during the 2022 Pitch Contest, Sreyan has created and developed Utime, an automated scheduling system. 
  • Payton McMahon '23 - Payton aided the subscription finance team in choosing loans to distribute to several highly competitive funds in her internship at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.
  • Seamus Galvin '23 - Experiences from internships in analytical roles at businesses AML RightSource, Dassian and DocuSign provided the experience needed to secure a position at IBM.

entrepreneurial endeavors 

Hear alums' opinions on building the businesses and non-profits they wish to see in the world in the podcast Entrepreneurial Endeavors. Hosted by Matt Nusom ’23 and produced and edited by Seamus Galvin ’23, HWS alums share a fresh, front-line perspective on launching business ventures.


GRADUATE WITH LEADERSHIP DISTINCTION

Amplify your Management and Entrepreneurship degree with the skills, knowledge and ethical foundation needed to be a leader in the 21st century. In partnership with the Centennial Center for Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, our department offers the opportunity to engage in leadership development that culminates in a degree with leadership distinction and provides a competitive edge when applying to internships, jobs and graduate or professional school.

To graduate with leadership distinction, you will complete a series of foundational, action-oriented and reflective milestones within the Management and Entrepreneurship and Leadership curriculum. We encourage you to begin your leadership journey as early as your second semester on campus. 

 

$intro-image[2]/descendant::img/@alt

No Borders:Global Education

Learn and work with social enterprises in Scotland or develop a cultural understanding of food in Argentina.

Wherever you go, our top-ranked global education program will allow you to apply classroom knowledge, develop cultural understanding and build global connections that expand your personal capacity and sense of purpose. 

Argentina

 

Gain the skills to lead an enterprise while developing a topic of interest. Concentrations focus on Ecopreneurship; Music Administration; Dance Administration; Spanish for Management and Entrepreneurship; German for Management and Entrepreneurship; Data Analytics; Gender, Sexuality, and Intersectional Justice; Politics; Food and Culture. 

Courses include:  

MGMT 101 - entrepreneurial leadership

Examine the attributes required of successful entrepreneurs in contemporary leadership roles. You will learn how to take an idea to impact and consider important concepts, such as ethics, sustainability, economic Darwinism, and managing uncertainty. You will discuss product invention, service implementation, economic choice, risk and return, scale and scope, value creation, and small business generation. As a significant course assignment, you will develop a strategic plan for a product, service, startup or organization that is worthy of implementation.

MGMT 120 - economic principles or principles of economics 

Gain a foundational understanding of microeconomic theory necessary to pursue entrepreneurial enterprises in contemporary markets. You will acquire the analytical tools for solving complex organizational or policy issues. Key topics will include: economic principles guiding various types of organizations; rational behavior; competition vs. monopoly power; simple game theory; pricing strategies; and production costs and behavior in the short and long-term. This course will be more applied than a traditional intro to economics class, relying on entrepreneurial case studies and news reports as appropriate.

MGMT 201 - quantitative tools 

Learn the the basic accounting, statistical, and Excel skills necessary for success. All of the examples will be done using Excel. The accounting techniques covered will include: accounting terminology; the accounting equation; how to prepare and analyze financial statements (the balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows): operational costing considerations; cost behavior and cost-volume-profit analysis; differential analysis and product pricing; and budgeting.

MGMT 203 - doing well and doing good: ethical perspectives of entrepreneurship

Pursue such questions as: How do we act with ethical awareness in entrepreneurial activity? What lessons can we learn from historical experience? How might ethical writings inform our entrepreneurial ventures? Narratives include: the racial integration of Major League Baseball; the global expansion of McDonald's hamburgers; the founding of Genentech and the biotech industry; the management of difficult emotions in family businesses; the domination of cigarettes in U.S. cultural history; the construction of the worldwide pornography industry.

MGMT 210 - Fundamentals of Marketing

Learn and hone your skills to manage successful marketing campaigns. Topics address customer and market analysis segmentation, targeting and positioning, product pricing and placement, social media strategies, regulation, ethical considerations, and communication strategies. After completing this course, you will appreciate how marketing strategies have changed over time, whether because of cultural norms or advances in technology and will demonstrate the design of effective and ethical marketing strategies.

MGMT 215 - managerial accounting 

Explore the need and purpose of accounting information systems for any type of organization. Emphasis is placed on the interpretation of financial statements, terms, and accounting theories utilized by management to effectively participate in managerial activities such as long-range planning, capital budgeting, investments, internal control and various managerial scenarios. The class also covers key regulatory agencies and requirements, including the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

MGMT 310 – managerial finance 

Develop the fundamental skills necessary to analyze and understand how businesses make investment and finance decisions. Topics covered include:  the concept of present value, discounted cash flow analysis, valuation techniques, capital structure, capital management and investment priorities, risk management, short- and long-term financing, and selected topics in international finance.

MGMT 315 - organizational management  

Engage with materials that will enhance your knowledge of the art and science of management across sectors (i.e., for-profit, nonprofit, public, etc.). The course covers the many roles of managers across enterprises and begins with foundational/historical components of enterprise administration (e.g., Fayol’s planning, organizing, coordinating, commanding, and controlling). The course continues with contemporary theories and practices in management (e.g., diversity, equity, and inclusion; lean management; sustainability; flexible work arrangements; data-driven decision-making; learning organizations; intrapreneurship; among others).

MGMT 400capstone 

Identify a problem and learn how to apply creative solutions. Projects may include the development and launch of a product, service or organization (for-profit, non-profit, low-profit, hybrid, government service, etc.). Projects are required to demonstrate positive social and environmental impact regardless of legal structure and demonstrate an awareness of ethical considerations. You are required to make connections between their concentration area and the broader goals of the capstone. For example, students with a concentration in Ecopreneurship must propose projects focused on environmental issues.

Explore business at hws

 

 

Belonging, Equity and Diversity

Business programs, especially those with a heavy emphasis on economics courses, have historically lacked diversity. By requiring interdisciplinary concentrations, Management and Entrepreneurship expands the lens of business, inviting all viewpoints, questioning norms and thinking of new ways to overcome modern social, economic and global challenges.

 

Alum ImpactShaping the Leaders of Tomorrow

moritz marchart '22

Having won the Todd Feldman '89 and Family Pitch Contest, Mortiz is making the landscaping industry more sustainable with his company Fibrworks, which creates hemp-based composites that will replace the plastic components of today’s landscaping equipment. 

 

Shayna riggins '22

Shayna took part in seven internships as a student, working for businesses like Paine Lake Global, The DreamCatchers Foundation and eventually ViacomCBS. These experiences helped her land her current position at Merkley+Partners. 

 

 

kelsie worth '22

Kelsie excelled in the classroom and on the lacrosse field while at HWS, providing valuable knowledge and skills that helped land her a position at Bloomberg.

 

 

 

Jake preston '20

Thanks to skills developed on the basketball court and from internships, Jake was able to secure a full time position at Mastercard following graduation.

 

 

 

HWS Alums leading their industries 

Linda Arrington '88 - Arrington's role as CMO of commercial banking at JP Morgan has her creating and running commercial banking marketing strategy, expanding the bank’s existing relationships and attracting new clients.
Michael Barlow ‘11 - Through his subscription-based furniture rental service Fernish, Barlow provides young professionals access to stylish home décor at affordable rates.
Ato Bentsi-Enchill ’17 - Bentsi-Enchill provides financial consultancy to growing companies in Africa. 
Jane Erickson ’07 - Erickson serves as the project director at the Rippel Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to investing in cancer-addressing initiatives.
Pamela Harrington ’89 - Harrington oversees the non-profit Bring Change to Mind, an organization dedicated to ending the stigma around mental illness.
Ayesha Hassan '96 - The vice president and executive creative director for R/GA Chicago, Hassan has worked on groundbreaking campaigns that have made significant impacts on the advertising world.
Scott Keogh '91 - Keogh has spent his career in the automotive industry, serving in administrative roles for Mercedes-Benz USA, serving as president of Audi of America and Volkswagen of America, and now CEO and president of Scout Motors.  
Mattie Mead '13 - Mead's business, Hempitecture, provides hemp based construction material as an alternative to non-sustainable materials.
Dan Rosensweig ’83 - Rosensweig’s journey through the business world has seen him take on roles as COO of Yahoo!, president of CNET, CEO of ZDNET, president and CEO of RedOctane, and most recently as the president and CEO of Chegg, a digital resource hub for college students.
Shaun Ryan ’91 - As the senior vice president and deputy general counsel for Moderna, Ryan worked with governments and negotiated research and manufacturing contracts throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hasan Stephens ’00 - Stephens is the founder of the Good Life Foundation, which coaches kids to see their potential in part through the power of hip-hop.
Craig Stine ’81 - Stine serves in one of the world’s largest banks as vice chairman of the global financial institutions group with Barclays.
Sara Wroblewski ’13 One Bead, a nonprofit founded by Wroblewski, provides young students with mentorship, education and access to new opportunities through leadership programming.
Ruiwan Xu ’11 - The CEO and founder of CareerTu, Xu’s business helps provide instruction in digital marketing, data analysis and product designed to help people unlock their potential.
Feven Yohannes '04 - Yohannes co-founded 2.4.1 Cosmetics, which works to empower women by enhancing their natural beauty.

companies that employ our graduates

HWS alums work in all sectors of banking, finance and accounting. Many of them are highly successful entrepreneurs. These graduates have gone on to pursue positions at many top ranked institutions and firms across the country, including the following:

  • ACLU
  • Bank of America
  • Barclays 
  • Bristol-Myers Squibb
  • CBS Sports
  • Charles Schwab
  • Chegg
  • Dell
  • Department of the Treasury
  • DFS Hong Kong
  • Fidelity Investments
  • IBM
  • ING
  • J.P. Morgan Chase
  • Merrill Lynch
  • MGM Studios, Inc.
  • New York State Health Dept.
  • New York Yankees
  • U.S. Dept. of Commerce
  • U.S. Dept. of State
  • United States Embassy
  • Wells Fargo
 

Master of Science in ManagementSupercharge Your Undergraduate Degree

Regardless of your aspirations, enhance your skill set and career outlook with a Master of Science in Management (MSM) degree. The MSM program builds on the value of your undergraduate education, providing you with the additional skills, knowledge, and insight necessary to build a rewarding career and live a consequential life. Our program blends essential theory with practical insights, making it especially beneficial for individuals contemplating careers in business, nonprofits, or government. 

3+1 Master of Science in Management

With advanced planning, you can graduate with a bachelor’s and a master’s in four years at the same cost as a standard bachelor’s degree. To take advantage of this accelerated degree program, students should plan to transfer at least 4 credits to HWS at time of enrollment. Reach out to Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship Thomas Drennen to learn more.

You have two flexible pathways for completion: An accelerated 3+1 track or a traditional 4+1 track. Both paths come paired with a dedicated Career Coordinator from our nationally recognized Salisbury Center for Career Services to assist you along your career pathway as you complete the program and beyond.