- 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 Comments.
- 24 Nov 2008
- Research & Ideas
Harvard Business School Discusses Future of the MBA
The MBA industry is in turmoil. Many business schools are revisiting their offerings to see if they still have relevance in the 21st century. And HBS is using its centennial year to convene worldwide experts on business education and plot its directions for the next 100 years. From HBS Alumni Bulletin. Key concepts include: Critics claim MBA programs put too much emphasis on theory and not enough on leadership in a global environment. A number of top MBA programs have retooled their offerings. HBS is looking at several change proposals, including the development in students of "soft skills." Whatever curriculum changes HBS ultimately adopts, the School will remain committed to the case method. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 17 Sep 2008
- Working Paper Summaries
Secrets of the Academy: The Drivers of University Endowment Success
University endowments are important and interesting institutions both in the investing community and society at large. They play a role in maintaining the academic excellence of many universities that rely heavily on income from their endowments. In contrast, poor finances can undermine a school's ability to provide academic services altogether. Endowments have also received much attention recently for their superior investment returns compared with other institutional investors. In this study, the authors document the trends in college and university endowment returns and investments in the United States between 1992 and 2005. Key concepts include: Many unanswered questions remain about university endowments. Results suggest that endowment sizes are skewed, with the rich universities getting richer while other schools fall behind. Much of the growth in endowment size has been driven by investment performance. The top endowments posted impressive returns in 2005, averaging a net real return of 12.3 percent compared with 4.4 percent posted by the Standard & Poor's 500 index in the same year. Across endowments, institutional characteristics such as endowment size and admissions selectivity are better predictors of success than the allocation to risky asset classes. Moreover, top endowments seem to possess superior asset selection ability beyond their strategies for allocating funds to certain asset classes. Ordinary investors could not necessarily achieve similar results by mimicking the strategies of top endowments. Indeed, the same strategies that have worked so well for the endowments in the past two decades may not do so in the future. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 05 Sep 2008
- What Do You Think?
Is Case Method Instruction Due for an Overhaul?
Online forum now closed. The case method of teaching business management has come under criticism on a number of fronts as educators rethink how to incorporate new teaching tools and methods made available by technology. Responses to Professor Jim Heskett's recent column, however, suggest that the case method might even be gaining relevance over time. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 18 Aug 2008
- Research & Ideas
How Disruptive Innovation Changes Education
HBS professor Clayton M. Christensen, who developed the theory of disruptive innovation, joins colleagues Michael B. Horn and Curtis W. Johnson to advocate for ways in which ideas around innovation can spur much-needed improvements in public education. A Q&A with the authors of Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns. Key concepts include: As an industry, education has certain elements that have made the market difficult to penetrate and lasting reform hard to come by. As a general rule, the most promising areas for innovation are pockets or areas that appear unattractive or inconsequential to industry incumbents and where there are people who would like to do something but cannot access the available offering. To improve education as an industry, businesspeople might consider investing in technological platforms that will allow for robust educational user networks to emerge. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 14 Jul 2008
- Research & Ideas
HBS Cases: Reforming New Orleans Schools After Katrina
The New Orleans public school system, ravaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, is now getting a boost from charter schools—today about half of the city's 80 schools are charter schools, says HBS lecturer and senior researcher Stacey M. Childress. She explains what New Orleans represents for entrepreneurial opportunities in U.S. public education. Key concepts include: Charter schools are public schools of choice that operate outside the governance and policies of their local school districts. Prior to the hurricane, the New Orleans school district was one of the worst in the country. Today no other large school district in the United States has such a high percentage of charter schools as does New Orleans. The organization New Schools for New Orleans (NSNO), the subject of an HBS case study, aims to create networks of schools to receive shared support services while avoiding the dysfunctions of a large urban district. NSNO developed a strategy to focus on a subset of charter schools that it believed could be helped most. Was it the right strategy? Or should NSNO support all schools, not just charter schools? Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 07 May 2008
- Research & Ideas
The Intellectual History of Harvard Business School
This colloquium held at HBS in April looked at key developments in the areas of entrepreneurship, organizational behavior, accounting, and strategy, among others. HBS professor Richard S. Tedlow describes the highlights. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 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 Comments.
- 25 Mar 2008
- Working Paper Summaries
Incompatible Assumptions: Barriers to Producing Multidisciplinary Knowledge in Communities of Scholarship
Just as flows of knowledge within and across communities of practice improve the quality of new products, knowledge sharing among knowledge workers within interdisciplinary communities may be critical for new discoveries and for a more comprehensive and accurate understanding of phenomena. In spite of this, biologists tend to talk to biologists, economists tend to talk to economists, and lawyers tend to talk to lawyers. This paper argues that producing and disseminating knowledge within a multidisciplinary community of practice is enhanced when knowledge workers hold compatible assumptions, even when the form and content of knowledge generation across those workers varies. Key concepts include: Generating multidisciplinary knowledge may require communities of scholarship to acknowledge the presence and limitations of their assumptions. Within a community of scholarship, interpretive barriers to sharing knowledge arise when subgroups hold contrary assumptions about the appropriate questions to be asked or the fundamental nature of the phenomenon under investigation. Cross-discipline understanding may stem from the potential for members to recognize the relevance of others' findings to their own scholarship. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 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 Comments.
- 08 Oct 2007
- Research & Ideas
Management Education’s Unanswered Questions
Managers want the status of professionals, but not all managers want the constraints that go along with professions. Why? For more than 100 years, business education at the top universities has been searching for its soul. HBS professor Rakesh Khurana, author of a new book, says business school education is at a turning point. Key concepts include: Is management a profession? After more than a century of business education, it remains an open question. The founders of today's top business schools envisioned a world in which managers served the best interests of society, not narrow self-interests. Management education is closely linked with the prevailing winds of society. Elite business schools today are at a crossroads, especially since the rise of business education in China and India. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 27 Jun 2007
- Lessons from the Classroom
Learning to Make the Move to CEO
Even experienced managers need to learn more if they hope to ascend to the C-Suite. In a program created by Harvard Business School Executive Education, participants learn new techniques and perspectives not only from faculty but from their cohorts as well. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 07 May 2007
- Research & Ideas
Rediscovering Schumpeter: The Power of Capitalism
Economist Joseph Schumpeter was perhaps the most powerful thinker ever on innovation, entrepreneurship, and capitalism. He was also one of the most unusual personalities of the 20th century, as Harvard Business School professor emeritus Thomas K. McCraw shows in a new biography. Read our interview and book excerpt. Key concepts include: Schumpeter's ideas on capitalism, entrepreneurship, and innovation still have great resonance to students and businesspeople today. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 12 Feb 2007
- Lessons from the Classroom
‘UpTick’ Brings Wall Street Pressure to Students
Money managers work in a stressful, competitive pressure cooker that's hard to appreciate from the safety of a business management classroom. That's why HBS professors Joshua Coval and Erik Stafford invented upTick—a market simulation program that has students sweating and strategizing as they recreate classic market scenarios. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 18 Oct 2006
- Research & Ideas
New at the Helm: A Talk with HBS Dean Light
As Harvard Business School's ninth Dean, Jay Light takes control at a critical point in time. Light discusses the opportunities brought by globalism, challenges in recruiting and developing faculty, and program innovation needed to meet the needs of 21st-century business leaders. Key concepts include: Preparing students to lead in a globalized world is one of the largest challenges and opportunities facing Harvard Business School. Like many companies and institutions, the School is looking at innovative ways to attract and train faculty, while trying to keep faculty near retirement involved in the School. Healthcare is an extremely fertile area for business management research and collaboration with other parts of Harvard University. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 06 Sep 2006
- Lessons from the Classroom
Mixing Students and Scientists in the Classroom
In his course on commercializing science and technology, Lee Fleming combines students from business, engineering, law, science, and medicine. The result: Ideas for products from scale-eating bacteria to quantum dot cancer treatments. Key concepts include: Unique approaches and perspectives are crucial when exploring opportunities occurring at the intersection of business, science, and technology. The first step in mixing teams from diverse disciplines is often to break through preconceptions each group has about the other. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 28 Jul 2006
- Research & Ideas
Meeting China’s Need for Management Education
On a recent trip to China, Steven C. Wheelwright noted an increasing interest in entrepreneurship, globalization, and competitiveness. Most of all, the Chinese have an increasing thirst for management education. Key concepts include: Local knowledge and contacts are essential for foreign firms doing business in China. Chinese agencies and companies recognize the importance of becoming global players, and they're taking steps to increase China's competitiveness on the international stage. China lacks a tradition of strong business management education but recognizes the need to nurture managerial talent for the future. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 17 Jul 2006
- Lessons from the Classroom
Developing a Strategy for Digital Convergence
Technology was getting dull earlier this decade, says David Yoffie. But the sudden arrival of digital convergence has turned the tech world upside down. What are the right bets to place? Key concepts include: Digital convergence has arrived, creating entirely new products, services, and collaboration opportunities. The technology industry is tilting to horizontal. Players need to learn to complement each other as well as compete. Network effects create strong market advantages for companies that can capitalize on them. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 05 Jul 2006
- Working Paper Summaries
Promoting a Management Revolution in Public Education
Public school districts are difficult to lead and manage, and the idea of applying business principles to school reform is popular. But is it practical? This paper describes the work of Harvard's Public Education Leadership Program as it helps school districts grapple with performance challenges, including student achievement that compares unfavorably with other countries, and a significant performance gap between white and minority students. Complicating the picture: The concept of managing for accountability is new in education. The authors studied the effects of improved management on public school student performance by comparing fifteen large urban school districts with similar peer districts. Key concepts include: There is a connection between improved management and better educational outcomes. Districts that organized activities more coherently and focused efforts on the "core business" of student performance and classroom instruction outperformed other school districts suffering similar constraints. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
Smart Money: The Effect of Education, Cognitive Ability, and Financial Literacy on Financial Market Participation
(Previously titled "If You Are So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich? The Effects of Education, Financial Literacy and Cognitive Ability on Financial Market Participation.") Individuals face an increasingly complex menu of financial product choices. The shift from defined benefit to defined contribution pension plans, and the growing importance of private retirement accounts, require individuals to choose the amount they save, as well as the mix of assets in which they invest. Yet, participation in financial markets is far from universal in the United States. Moreover, researchers have only a limited understanding of what factors cause participation. Cole and Shastry use a very large dataset new to the literature in order to study the important determinants of financial market participation. They find that higher levels of education and cognitive ability cause increased participation—however, financial literacy education does not. Key concepts include: The relationship between education and savings is difficult to measure, because both are affected by many factors (motivation, ability, etc.). This paper documents an important causal relationship between education and financial market participation. A set of financial literacy education programs, mandated by state governments, did not have an effect on individual savings decisions. It is imperative to conduct rigorous evaluations of financial literacy education programs to measure their efficacy. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.