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Harvard Business School

Coordinates: 42°22′02″N 71°07′21″W / 42.36722°N 71.12253°W / 42.36722; -71.12253
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Harvard Business School
File:Harvard shield-Business.png
TypePrivate business school
Established1908
EndowmentUS$2.7 billion (2012)[1]
DeanNitin Nohria
Academic staff
200
Students2,017
(1,917 in MBA)
(100 in Ph.D.)
Location
Boston
,
Massachusetts
,
U.S.

42°22′02″N 71°07′21″W / 42.36722°N 71.12253°W / 42.36722; -71.12253
CampusUrban
AffiliationsHarvard University
WebsiteHBS.edu

Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The school offers a large full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, and many executive education programs. It owns Harvard Business School Publishing, which publishes business books, leadership articles, online management tools for corporate learning, case studies, and the monthly Harvard Business Review.

History

Aerial of the Harvard Business School campus

Founded in 1908, HBS started with 59 students. Once it innovated the case method of research and teaching in 1920, HBS ramped up the class size which reached 500 students during the decade. In 1926, the school moved from the Cambridge side of the Charles River to its present location in Allston (part of Boston)—hence the custom of faculty and students referring to the rest of Harvard University as "across the river." Women were first admitted to its regular two-year Master in Business Administration (MBA) program with the Class of 1965.

Campus

Hawes Hall at Harvard Business School.

The HBS campus is located in Allston, across the Charles River from the main Harvard campus in Cambridge. Many of the buildings have red-brick exteriors, as do many buildings in Harvard Yard. HBS maintains a number of facilities, including a sports center and The Class of 1959 Chapel, that are dedicated for the exclusive use of its community. A series of underground tunnels connects the basements of nearly every building on the campus, with the noticeable exception of the more recent student housing facilities that are SFP (Soldier Field Park) and OWA (One Western Avenue) buildings. Spangler Hall is widely considered HBS' main building with student lounges, meeting rooms, administrative offices and dining facilities. Most classrooms are located in Aldrich and Hawes, most of which are 100-student "amphi-theatre" rooms with approximately five rows in a half circle. This design facilitates the teaching of the case method. Baker Library was reopened in 2005 after several years of renovation. The new building features student study spaces and faculty offices. The fitness center is located in Shad Hall, across from Morgan Hall, which houses the majority of the faculty. Shad Hall is also the location of the Computer Lab for Experimental Research (CLER) where many business research studies are conducted. Closest to Charles River are MacArthur Hall and Baker Hall, which accommodate the Executive Education programs, and several student dormitories.

MBA program

HBS, as seen from across the Charles River. In the background is the steeple of Baker Library.

HBS offers a two-year full-time MBA program, which consists of one year of mandatory courses (Required Curriculum) and one year of unrestricted course selection (Elective Curriculum). Some students are also invited to attend two three-week pre-MBA programs that take place at the end of the summer before the Required Curriulum. Admission is highly selective, with an admissions rate of 12% for the class of 2010.[2] The student body is international and diverse, with 67% of students who are citizens of the United States.[3] Women comprise 38% of the class of 2010.[2] Graduates of the Harvard Business graduate with a general management degree and not a particular specialization in a field.

The Required Curriculum consists of two semesters. The first semester focuses primarily on the internal aspects of the company and includes the courses Technology and Operations Management, Marketing, Financial Reporting and Control, Leadership and Organizational Behaviour, and Finance I. The second semester focuses on the external aspects and includes the courses Business, Government, and the International Economy, Strategy, The Entrepreneurial Manager, Negotiations, Finance II, and Leadership and Corporate Accountability.[4][5]

The Elective Curriculum can be chosen from among 96 courses. The diverse selection includes courses such as: Agribusiness, Doing Business in China, Building and Sustaining a Successful Enterprise, Managing in the Information Age, The Moral Leader, Entrepreneurship in Education Reform, Venture Capital and Private Equity, Business at the Base of the Pyramid, Consumer Marketing, Retailing, Power and Influence, Managing Medicine, Supply Chain Management, and Corporate Strategy.[6] The students assign each course a priority and the courses are filled through a lottery system based on student priority and class availability. Elective curriculum students can also complete a field study or independent student research project in lieu of a class. Field studies allow students to work together in a team closely with faculty members to launch a product, develop a new business, or research a real world issue. Independent student research projects provide an opportunity for a student to work with a faculty member to develop deep insights on a particular topic of interest. These options allow students to create a second year curriculum that is aligned with their personal and professional interests.

Baker Library, 2009

Current MBA classes have a size of approximately 900 students, divided into ten sections (A–J) of 90 students. Each section takes classes together the first year, with the intention of forming deep social bonds. At the beginning of the first year, all students are assigned to learning teams consisting of six students from different sections. These learning teams are intended to meet daily throughout the first year to prepare each day's class assignment; however, many learning teams stop meeting before the end of the second semester. Graduation rates are approximately 98%. Teaching is almost exclusively (95%) done through case teaching (also referred to as the Socratic method), where the students prepare teaching cases and discuss them in class, with a professor as moderator and facilitator. There is an Education Representative role in each section whose role it is to develop an appropriate learning environment and effective relationships between the students and faculty and between students themselves given the diversity within the section (students from a broad range of industries, undergraduate schools, ethnic backgrounds, geographies, etc.)

MBA students at Harvard are graded on a curve. In most courses, the grade consists of roughly 50% class participation and 50% final exam or paper. In a few cases (primarily in the RC year), there may be a few brief exercises or a midterm that typically account for no more than 20% of final grade in a given course. The top 15–20% of the class receive "1s" (instead of A's), the middle 70–75% receive "2s", and the bottom 10% receive "3s". If a student receives more than a certain number of "3s" in the first semester of the Required Curriculum, he or she receives an academic warning. The student is offered help, in the form of academic counseling and tutors to improve their academic performance.

Academic honors

The top academic honor at HBS is the Baker Scholar designation (High Distinction), given to the top 5% of the graduating MBA class. In a typical year a Baker Scholar will have achieved "1s" in approximately 70–75% of his or her course credits. Students receiving honors (top 20%) in both their first and second years are awarded the MBA degree with Distinction.

The student who receives the highest grades in each year of the program is awarded the Henry Ford II scholarship and is known as the Ford Scholar. Typically the student who attains this honor achieves the highest available grade in each of the eleven MBA classes during the first year of the program. Other academic distinctions include the Thomas M. and Edna E. Wolfe Award, given to recognize scholastic excellence (generally to the student with the highest grade in the class) and the Loeb prize given for the most outstanding performance in finance.

Until 2005, HBS also awarded the Siebel Scholarship to each of the top five students in the first year of the program. However, for reasons that were not publicized, it was withdrawn.

Rankings

Business School
International Rankings
U.S. MBA Ranking
Bloomberg (2024)[7]2
U.S. News & World Report (2024)[8]1
Global MBA Ranking
Financial Times (2024)[9]1

HBS is consistently ranked one of the best business schools in the United States and the world. It is ranked #1 among U.S. business schools by U.S. News & World Report.[10] #1 by the QS Global 200 Business Schools Report,[11] #2 by Bloomberg BusinessWeek, #1 by Forbes, and #14 by The Wall Street Journal. Internationally, HBS is ranked #1 in the world by América Economía, #1 in the world by CNN Expansion, #1 in the world by the Financial Times,[12] #5 in the world by The Economist, and #21 in the world by The Wall Street Journal.

In the most recent aggregated "ranking of rankings" of US business schools, HBS ranked #5 in the Financial Times and #1 with Poets&Quants. Each of these rankings is a composite of five major MBA rankings published by Bloomberg BusinessWeek, The Economist, The Financial Times, Forbes, Wall Street Journal and/or U.S. News & World Report which is meant to eliminate anomalies and other statistical distortions that are often present in any single ranking.[13][14]

Student life

Students can join one or more of the more than 75 clubs on campus. The clubs invite speakers to campus, organize trips, social events, and help forming bonds between students of similar interests. The Student Association (SA) is the main interface between the MBA student body and the faculty/administration. It is led by a four-person Executive Committee (two Co-Presidents, CFO and COO). The decision power rests with the Senate, which is composed of one senator from each section (a total of ten), the Executive Committee, and various committees made up of section officers. Intramurals are also a major part of the student life, especially in the first year. Sections form teams and compete with each other in basketball, flag football, volleyball, soccer and many other inter-mural sports.

The rigorous schedule of class work is often tempered by high energy social functions and perennial events such as the cross-dressing Priscilla Ball, the spring Newport Ball held at a Newport, RI, mansion, and the winter Hollidazzle Ball usually held in Boston, MA.[15]

Immersion experience

HBS offers immersion programs to supplement in-class room academic experience. These programs are designed to integrate educational objectives with other elements that the student-led treks offer. Through this experience, students are "immersed" in academic, cultural, and organization fieldwork around the world. There are two types of immersion experiences. For the first-year students, FIELD offers students to work in teams of six on consulting-like projects in emerging markets such as China, India, Brazil, South Africa, Vietnam and many more. For the second-year students, IXP (Immersion Experience Programs) typically span an intensive twelve- to sixteen-day period during January. These are led by a faculty member. Trip topics for 2013 included Japan Disaster Rebuilding Efforts, Entrepreneurship In China, and Sustainability in South Africa. Supplemental financial aid is available to eligible students.

The Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship

The Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship was made possible through the generosity of pioneering venture capitalist Arthur Rock (MBA 51). In 2003, Rock donated $25 million to HBS to support faculty and their research, fellowships for MBA and doctoral students, entrepreneurship symposia and conferences, and new outreach efforts to extend the impact of the School's work.

Business Plan Contest

The HBS Business Plan Contest is jointly sponsored by HBS's Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship, the HBS Entrepreneurship Club and the Social Enterprise Club. The contest consists of the "traditional" for-profit track and the "social enterprise" track, for those plans with an explicitly social agenda. Teams are required to contain at least one current HBS student in the MBA program. All teams that meet the entry criteria are eligible for reimbursement of up to $1,000 for basic costs associated with preparing their plans. The winner of the traditional track contest wins the Dubilier Prize, including $25,000 in cash, $25,000 of in-kind (legal and accounting) services, and free office space in Cambridge for 100 days.[16] The winner of the social enterprise track also receives the Peter M. Sacerdote Prize, including $25,000 in cash and $25,000 in-kind services. Three runners-up from the traditional track each receive the Satchu-Burgstone Entrepreneurship Award, including $10,000 in cash and $10,000 in-kind services. One runner up from the social enterprise track receives $10,000 in cash and $10,000 in-kind services. In certain cases, a "specialty plan" prize may be awarded to a plan in the traditional track that may simply require less capital — and be targeting a smaller market, if such a plan is not already among the winners. These winners also receive $10,000 in cash and $10,000 in-kind services. The contest was started in 1997 and has had a number of prominent companies among its finalists, including Potentia Pharmaceuticals in 2001, Brontes Technologies in 2003, Diagnostics For All in 2008, CloudFlare in 2009, RelayRides in 2010, and Vaxess Technologies in 2012.[17]

Initiatives

HBS has outlined several initiatives for developing MBAs, including environmental sustainability, healthcare, globalization, leadership, and social enterprise.

The Business and Environment Initiative (BEI) states that its mission is "to deepen business leaders' understanding of today's environmental challenges and to assist them in developing effective solutions."[18] The BEI works with MBA students, including the Energy & Environment Club, to organize extra-curricular programs and career resources for students interested in careers with environmental impact. In addition, the BEI works with faculty to promote research, writing, and curriculum integration on a variety of environment-related topics.

The Healthcare Initiative is a multidisciplinary program dedicated to innovative thinking in the healthcare industry. Launched in 2005, the Initiative brings together the research, thought leadership, and interest in the business and management of healthcare at HBS. In addition to the Healthcare Initiative, the student-run Healthcare Club is the second largest—and most active—club at HBS. The mission of the Healthcare Club is to provide a forum for students to learn about the business of healthcare, to interact with other students who are interested in healthcare, and to meet with leaders in the healthcare industry.

Established in 1996, the Global Initiative builds on a legacy of global engagement by supporting the HBS community of faculty, students, and alumni in their work, encouraging a global outlook in research, study, and practice. To facilitate faculty research and case development on an international scale, HBS has established six Global Research Centers in key regions around the world: Asia-Pacific (Hong Kong and Japan), Europe, India, Latin America, and California. The Global Research Centers strengthen faculty connections with businesses, people, and ideas beyond our borders. This far-reaching network not only is unprecedented in higher education, [citation needed] but also is a vital element in the creation of the School's intellectual capital. At any given time HBS researchers are active in more than 40 countries.

Inside a Harvard Business School classroom

A research-based initiative that bridges the gap between leadership theory and practice, the Leadership Initiative was created as a catalyst to achieve the School's mission "to educate leaders who make a difference in the world." Since its inception, HBS has been committed to shaping business leaders with the integrity and capabilities to build world-class organizations. Today, the Leadership Initiative seeks to ensure that HBS remains at the forefront of leadership research and development for the 21st century and beyond.

Grounded in HBS's mission to educate leaders who make a difference in the world, the Social Enterprise Initiative aims to inspire, educate, and support current and emerging leaders in all sectors to apply management skills to create social value. Through an integrated approach to social enterprise-related teaching, research, and activities at HBS, the Social Enterprise Initiative engages with leaders in the nonprofit, for–profit, and public sectors to generate and disseminate practicable resources, tools, and knowledge with the ultimate goal of bettering society. The Initiative was formed in 1993 by former Dean John H. McArthur and interested faculty and staff with the initial support of John C. Whitehead (MBA '47), whose career has spanned leadership positions in the private, for–profit, and nonprofit sectors. Subsequent support from numerous alumni has enabled the Social Enterprise Initiative to flourish at the School.

Doctoral programs

The mission of HBS's Doctoral Programs is to develop outstanding scholars for careers in research and teaching at leading business schools and universities. To ensure a solid foundation in management, all students (without an MBA degree) are required to take at least five courses in the MBA curriculum. A deep knowledge of management practice—not only in general, but also specific to a student's area of specialization—is a critical component of business doctoral education. These courses provide a valuable source of research topics and institutional knowledge that will be important for future research and teaching success in business schools. At the same time, a broad knowledge of business ensures that students fully appreciate the interdependencies and complexity of management problems and may introduce them to the possibility of interdisciplinary research.

All students are admitted for full-time degree programs, beginning in September. Students, however, may begin the program in July, conducting research with an HBS faculty member. A minimum of two years in residence is required, and it is expected that students will complete their program in four to five years. Students typically spend two to two-and-a-half years on course work, and another two years on their dissertation.

Executive education

In addition to Master's and Doctoral degrees, HBS offers certificate executive programs which confer alumni status to graduates:

  • Advanced Management Program (AMP)
  • Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)
  • General Management Program (GMP)
  • Joint Program with Harvard Kennedy School (MPP/MBA and MBA* MPA/ID)
  • Joint Program with Harvard Law School /Master of Business Administration (JD/MBA)
  • Joint Program with Harvard Medical School /Master of Business Administration (MD/MBA)
  • Master of Business Administration (MBA)
  • Owner/President Management Program (OPM)
  • PhD in Business Economics (PhDBE or PhDBusEc)
  • PhD in Information, Technology, and Management (PhDITM)
  • PhD in Organizational Behavior (PhDOB)
  • PhD in Science, Technology, and Management (PhDSTM)
  • President's Program in Leadership (PPL)
  • Program for Leadership Development (plus completion of 10 open* enrollment program days) (PLDA)

Other Executive Education programs at HBS also award certificates to attendees, but unlike those above do not confer alumni status.

Source: http://www.exed.hbs.edu/programs/opm/Pages/admissions.aspx

Academic units

The school's faculty are divided into ten academic units: Accounting and Management; Business, Government and the International Economy; Entrepreneurial Management; Finance; General Management; Marketing; Negotiation, Organizations & Markets; Organizational Behavior; Strategy; and Technology and Operations Management.

Admission

HBS MBA looks for candidates who exhibit leadership potential, capacity for intellectual growth, and the drive to make a difference in their communities. The school aims to attract students representing a wide range of interests, perspectives and experiences as reflected by its highly diverse student body. Each year, students representing more than seventy countries and a wide range of backgrounds - ranging from professional sports, medicine and military to consulting and investment banking - are selected at HBS.

To be considered for MBA admission, a candidate must submit the following:

  • Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) or GRE scores
  • Responses to the application essay questions
  • Resume
  • Recommendations
  • Undergraduate academic transcript
  • TOEFL or IELTS score, if applicable
  • Nonrefundable U.S. $250 application fee (College seniors pay a reduced fee of $100)
  • There is no minimum work experience required, though work experience is highly recommended to gain successful admission

Donor programs

In fall 2010, the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, and the Tata Education and Development Trust, which are philanthropic arms of the Tata Group gave HBS its biggest ever international donation of $50 million. This donation is funding Tata Hall, named after Ratan Tata (AMP ’75), the chairman of Tata Sons Ltd.[19] The facility will be devoted to the Harvard Business School’s mid-career Executive Education program. It will be seven or eight stories tall with about 150,000 gross square feet. It will house approximately 180 bedrooms in addition to academic and multi-purpose spaces.[20]

Located in the northeast corner of the HBS campus, Tata Hall will complete the Executive Education quad, which currently includes McArthur, Baker, and Mellon Halls (residence), McCollum and Hawes (classroom), Kresge (dining), and Glass (administration). Its construction started in December 5, 2011 and its completion is scheduled for December 2013.[21]

Notable alumni

Main article: List of Harvard University people

References

  1. ^ "Annual Report 2012" (PDF). HBS.edu.
  2. ^ a b Harvard Business School Website: MBA Program Statistics [1].
  3. ^ "Harvard Business School Website: Class Profile". Hbs.edu. Retrieved 2011-01-04.
  4. ^ "Harvard Business School Website: Required Curriculum Term 1". Hbs.edu. Retrieved 2011-01-04.
  5. ^ "Harvard Business School Website: Required Curriculum Term 2". Hbs.edu. Retrieved 2011-01-04.
  6. ^ "Harvard Business School Website: Elective Curriculum Courses". Hbs.edu. 2010-11-18. Retrieved 2011-01-04.
  7. ^ "Best B-Schools". Bloomberg Businessweek.
  8. ^ "2023 Best Business Schools Rankings". U.S. News & World Report.
  9. ^ "Global MBA Ranking 2024". Financial Times. 11 February 2024.
  10. ^ [2]. U.S. News & World Report, 2011. Retrieved on March 17, 2011.
  11. ^ "QS Global 200 Business Schools Report 2010 North America".
  12. ^ "FT Global MBA Rankings 2013". Retrieved August 27, 2013.. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  13. ^ "Financial Times Ranking of Rankings" (PDF). The Financial Times. 2007. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  14. ^ "Poets&Quants' Top 100 MBA Programs in the U.S." Poets&Quants. 2011. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  15. ^ "Ain't no Party like an HBS Party".
  16. ^ Business Plan Contest Judging and Prizes [3] & Frequently Asked Questions [4]
  17. ^ "Previous Winners". Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  18. ^ Business and Environment Initiative website, accessed February 11, 2013 at http://www.hbs.edu/environment/mission-and-impact/Pages/initiative-overview.aspx
  19. ^ "Business School announces Tata gift; two initiatives". Harvard Gazette. 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2012-05-10.
  20. ^ "Tata Hall Construction Pushes Ahead of Schedule". The Harvard Crimson. 2012-04-29. Retrieved 2012-05-10.
  21. ^ "Tata Hall". www.hbs.edu. Retrieved 2012-05-10.
  22. ^ Evans, Suzy. "Jennifer Hyman and Jennifer Fleiss". 2011 Most Influential Women in Technology. Fast Company. Retrieved 18 October 2012.

Sources

  • Cruikshank, Jeffrey L. (1987). A Delicate Experiment: The Harvard Business School, 1908-1945. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. ISBN 0-87584-135-X. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Harvard Business School.

Further reading

  • Peter Cohen (1973), The gospel according to the Harvard Business School. Doubleday.
  • Jeffrey Cruikshank (2005), Shaping The Waves: A History Of Entrepreneurship At Harvard Business School . Harvard Business Review Press.
  • P.D. Broughton (2008), Ahead of the Curve: Two Years at the Harvard Business School. Penguin Press.

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