- 04 Mar 2013
- Lessons from the Classroom
Lessons from Running GM’s OnStar
Before teaching at Harvard Business School, Chet Huber ran the General Motors telematics subsidiary OnStar. Huber discusses how the lessons he learned in the field mesh with the lessons he teaches to students. Open for comment; 4 Comment(s) posted.
- 07 Jan 2013
- Lessons from the Classroom
Culture Changers: Managing High-Impact Entrepreneurs
In her new Harvard Business School course, Creative High-Impact Ventures: Entrepreneurs Who Changed the World, professor Mukti Khaire looks at ways managers can team with creative talent in six "culture industries": publishing, fashion, art-design, film, music, and food. Closed for comment; 13 Comment(s) posted.
- 20 Jun 2012
- Lessons from the Classroom
Teaching Leadership: What We Know
The field of leadership education has reached a critical stage. After several decades of experimentation, "The Handbook for Teaching Leadership," Scott A. Snook, Rakesh Khurana, and Nitin Nohria, is intended to be a foundational reference for educators facing this increasingly important challenge. Open for comment; 13 Comment(s) posted.
- 13 Oct 2011
- Lessons from the Classroom
Building a Business in the Context of a Life
Careers rarely run on a track from Point A to Point B—life experiences often change our goals. At Harvard Business School, Senior Lecturer Janet J. Kraus teaches students to take a life plan as seriously as they would a business plan. Key concepts include: Students and practitioners must evaluate what's important to them both personally and professionally and create a "life plan" for getting where they want to go. Students reflect on experiences and explore visions for where they see their lives going, taking into account not only career ideas but also family life, hobbies, community, spirituality, and other interests. The ideal is for students to find their "flow"—experiencing such enjoyment from an activity that they feel time, space and friction melt away. Open for comment; 13 Comment(s) posted.
- 18 Aug 2011
- Lessons from the Classroom
Business Plan Contest: 15 Years of Building Better Entrepreneurs
Since 1997, Hundreds of student-entrepreneurs have tested their ideas at Harvard Business School's annual Business Plan Contest. Here is what they have learned about success, failure, and themselves. From the HBS Alumni Bulletin. Open for comment; 2 Comment(s) posted.
- 11 Aug 2011
- Lessons from the Classroom
Perfecting the Project Pitch
Entrepreneurs may be great innovators, but not necessarily great presenters. Associate Professor Thomas Steenburgh teaches them the fine art of product pitching. Key concepts include: Crafting a compelling product pitch can be a difficult process for entrepreneurs who have a technical, engineering, or non-sales background, or another non-sales discipline. A pitch can go awry when the presenter gets too wrapped up in details rather than concentrating on the central idea, or has not thought through the idea enough to really understand it. An audience will give presenters 60 seconds to capture their attention—then they tune out. A key for entrepreneurs pitching their plans is to show passion for the idea and for the audience. Open for comment; 8 Comment(s) posted.
- 20 Jun 2011
- Lessons from the Classroom
Fame, Faith, and Social Activism: Business Lessons from Bono
Many executives struggle to balance work, family, and community, but for rock star Bono the effort is spread across the globe. In the HBS case "Bono and U2," professor Nancy F. Koehn discusses key business lessons to be learned from the famous band. Key concepts include: Take stock of how you are using your funds, your authority, and your people. A leader's mission and purpose isn't static; it evolves. The mission of the CEO should be related to the organization's performance. Who you are and what you stand for as an organization have great relevance to the people who buy your product. Closed for comment; 20 Comment(s) posted.
- 08 Jun 2011
- Lessons from the Classroom
Twenty-first Century Skill: Trading Carbon Credits
As cap and trade becomes an increasingly popular mechanism for governments to cut corporate pollution, students at Harvard Business School use a simulation to learn how it works. An interview with professor Peter Coles. Key concepts include: The simulation provides a classroom experience for students to see the impact of different design principles in the cap-and-trade mechanism. Open for comment; 7 Comment(s) posted.
- 11 Apr 2011
- Lessons from the Classroom
Teaching a ‘Lean Startup’ Strategy
Most startups fail because they waste too much time and money building the wrong product before realizing what the right product should have been, says HBS entrepreneurial management professor Thomas R. Eisenmann. Closed for comment; 56 Comment(s) posted.
- 07 Feb 2011
- Lessons from the Classroom
Creating the Founders’ Dilemmas Course
In HBS professor Noam Wasserman's second-year MBA course, Founders' Dilemmas, students study quandaries that virtually all entrepreneurs face when trying to realize the dream of launching a startup—from deciding when to start the company to learning how to make a graceful exit. Guest speakers discussing their experiences include All-Star pitcher-turned-entrepreneur Curt Schilling and Tom & Tom, the Nantucket Nectars guys. Closed for comment; 12 Comment(s) posted.
- 16 Nov 2010
- Lessons from the Classroom
Data.gov: Matching Government Data with Rapid Innovation
Data.gov is a young initiative of President Barack Obama for making raw data available on the Web. In an HBS executive education class for technology specialists, professor Karim Lakhani and the US Chief Information Officer, Vivek Kundra, sparked dialogue about new routes to innovation. Key concepts include: Data.gov makes government data--as long as it does not compromise national security or individual privacy--available on the Web in raw, machine-readable format. Data.gov is part of the Open Government initiative launched by President Barack Obama on his first day in office. As a lean organization with a mandate to move fast, Data.gov posted the first datasets five months later. Its goals are transparency, participation, collaboration, and management of systems and processes. The HBS case study of Data.gov, coauthored by professor Karim R. Lakhani, highlights a number of useful applications sparked by the Web site. One in particular creates benefits for taxpayers by sharing information between the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Education. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.
- 18 Oct 2010
- Lessons from the Classroom
Venture Capital’s Disconnect with Clean Tech
Clean-tech start-ups depend on patience and public policy to thrive—the Internet models for VC funding don't apply. That's why Harvard Business School professor Joseph Lassiter is making an unusual recommendation to his entrepreneurship students: Spend a few years serving time in a government job. Key concepts include: MBA students and young venture capitalists often assume that all promising start-ups can grow and exit as fast as Internet start-ups, but they're mistaken. Clean-tech start-ups are often stymied by a "valley of death"—that precarious stage between researching and developing a product and going to market. The success of clean-tech companies often is dependent on public policy, so it behooves budding VCs and entrepreneurs to spend a few years learning the ropes in a government or corporate job. Closed for comment; 18 Comment(s) posted.
- 16 Aug 2010
- Lessons from the Classroom
HBS Introduces Marketing Analysis Tools for Managers
These tools can help managers make informed decisions on market analysis, breakeven analysis, customer lifetime value, profit and pricing, and analyzing the competitive environment. Interview with Tom Steenburgh. Key concepts include: Immense changes in marketing are driving an increasing need for data analysis. The five HBS-developed tools provide decision-making support for market analysis, breakeven analysis, customer lifetime value, profit and pricing, and analyzing the competitive environment. Open for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.
- 28 Oct 2009
- Lessons from the Classroom
HBS Begins Teaching Consumer Finance
Last spring HBS became the first top-ranked U.S. business school to offer a course in consumer finance. Professor Peter Tufano talks about the course and his determination to make consumer finance a broadly accepted academic pursuit. From the HBS Alumni Bulletin. Key concepts include: The household sector in America represents approximately $61 trillion of assets. The course helps students understand consumers and the financial service firms that serve them. Four functions are studied: payments, movements of money from today to tomorrow (savings and investing), movements of money from tomorrow back to today (borrowing), and managing risk. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.
- 17 Dec 2008
- Lessons from the Classroom
‘Ted Levitt Changed My Life’
Many students say legendary Harvard Business School marketing professor Ted Levitt changed their lives inside his classroom and out. "Ted Levitt was the most influential and imaginative professor in marketing history," HBS professor and senior associate dean John Quelch eulogized on the occasion of Levitt's death in 2006. Colleagues and students remember a life and times. From HBS Alumni Bulletin. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.
- 01 Dec 2008
- Lessons from the Classroom
How Many U.S. Jobs Are ‘Offshorable’?
Some 900 Harvard Business School students were asked to recreate a study assessing the potential "offshorability" of more than 800 occupations in the United States. Their findings: It might be a larger number than we thought. Key concepts include: Management students are likely tomorrow to face an unprecedented array of options concerning what they can do where. Increasingly, jobs are being viewed as groups of tasks that can be bundled, unbundled, and sent to different places. Offshoring could come to an end just as quickly as it began. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.
- 16 Apr 2008
- Lessons from the Classroom
Chris Christensen: Legend of the Classroom
Professor C. Roland ("Chris") Christensen was the maestro of Harvard Business School's case method of teaching. Over a career spanning half a century, Christensen made his colleagues better teachers, and his students better leaders. From the HBS Alumni Bulletin. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.
- 19 Nov 2007
- Lessons from the Classroom
Teaching The Moral Leader
In The Moral Leader course at Harvard Business School, students exchange their business management case studies to discuss some of the great protagonists in literature. Sandra Sucher discusses how we all can find our own definition of moral leadership. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.
- 25 Jul 2007
- Lessons from the Classroom
The Evolution of Apple
Apple's continuing development from computer maker to consumer electronics pioneer is rich material in a number of Harvard Business School classrooms. Professor David Yoffie discusses his latest case study of Apple, the 5th update in 14 years, which challenges students to think strategically about Apple's successes and failures in the past, and opportunities and challenges in the future. Key concepts include: Apple has an undeniable hit with the iPod, yet faces the question of whether the growth of that business and Apple overall can be sustained. Looking at Apple through the lens of the company's previous chief executives gives students insights into why Apple lost its way after Steve Jobs left the company. Student opinion of Apple tends to be excessively positive or excessively negative, depending on the company's current fortunes. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.
Built for Global Competition from the Start
Building a startup as a global business requires managers with skills and strategy much different from their predecessors of even a generation ago, says William R. Kerr. Closed for comment; 2 Comment(s) posted.