HBS Business Summit

HBS Past and Present

Date of Event:October 12, 2008
Speakers:Jay O. Light, Dean of HBS
F. Warren McFarlan, HBS Faculty

Executive Summary:

Eight enduring themes have characterized Harvard Business School from its earliest years, and remain as integral as ever to the way the School thinks and operates.

About Faculty in this Article:

HBS Faculty Member Jay O. Light

Jay Light is Dean of the Faculty at Harvard Business School and a George F. Baker Professor of Administration.

About Faculty in this Article:

HBS Faculty Member F. Warren McFarlan

F. Warren McFarlan is the Albert H. Gordon Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus, at Harvard Business School.

Editor's Note: This is a summary of an HBS Business Summit presentation. View a full summary and video of the event on the HBS Centennial Web site linked below.

From its tentative beginnings in 1908, Harvard Business School has grown into a teaching-, research-, and publishing-focused global enterprise with remarkably diverse students and faculty and highly accomplished alumni. Eight enduring themes have characterized Harvard Business School from its earliest years, and remain as integral as ever to the way the School thinks and operates.

Key concepts include:

Harvard Business School was founded on the idea of helping people make a decent profit, decently.

Eight common themes, rooted in HBS's history, characterize the institution still today:

  1. Making a decent profit, decently;
  2. Case-method research;
  3. Deep research impact on practice;
  4. Publishing outreach;
  5. Faculty from diverse backgrounds;
  6. Technology-friendly;
  7. Globalization;
  8. Remarkable leaders as alumni.

    9. Read the in-depth summary

For more coverage and video:
http://www.hbs.edu/centennial/businesssummit/past-present-future/hbs-past-and-present.html