Rebecca Braun (MBA ’21) reports on the concerted efforts by the HBS Community to improve civic engagement and voter turnout in the upcoming presidential election. U.S. voter participation is low by both international and historical standards, and the youth of today are less likely to vote than both the Boomers we mock and our peers…
In his inaugural column for the Harbus, Professor Trevor Fetter shares his thoughts on how HBS students can learn crisis leadership by observation in 2020. I first knew Kevin Sharer as the legendary Chief Executive Officer of one of the world’s most important companies. Many of our MBA students first knew him as Professor Kevin…
In his monthly column for the Harbus, Professor Kevin W. Sharer shares his thoughts on the issues facing HBS students. All things must end and so it is for my days as an HBS faculty member and your correspondent. It has been a wonderful adventure in so many ways, and I want to use this…
Gabriel Ellsworth (MBA ’20) reviews EKTA, a banquet of South Asian music and dance in Klarman. On Thursday, March 5, students filled Klarman Hall for EKTA, a cultural performance presented by the South Asian Business Association (SABA). They did not know that this would turn out to be the last performance on the Klarman stage…
Members of the HBS’ Latter-day Saint Student Association share how the beloved HBS professor inspired them and others to build more principled, integrated, and outwardly focused lives. Note: After careful consideration and in accordance with the new Harvard University guidelines for events and meetings on campus due to COVID-19, the memorial service for Professor Clayton Christensen…
In January, 44 ECs led by Professor Willy Shih (TOM) and Professor Meg Rithmire (BGIE) traveled across Asia to study globalization and international relations on the ground. Gabriel Ellsworth and Ryo Takahashi (MBAs 2020) report. On January 5, 2020, an arduous undertaking was under way as 44 ECs, two professors, two program managers, and staff…
Upoma Dutta (MBA ’21) talks with Netflix co-founder Marc Randolph about his new book and the venture that most thought would never work. How often have you tried to explain a direct-to-consumer subscription model created by HBS alumni, and decided you were better off just calling it “the Netflix of … something?” Rent the Runway—“the…
Dean Nitin Nohria offers his perspective on the promise and perils of our market system, touching on the role of corporate and public actors. Tarun Galagali (MBA ’21) sat down with him as a part of an ongoing podcast, Remaking Capitalism, hosted by the Harbus. Two weeks into RC year at HBS, I wrote an…
Upoma Dutta (MBA ’21) talks with Professor Amy C. Edmondson about what’s changed in the two years since #MeToo went viral. On October 5, 2017, the New York Times published an explosive exposé on how one of Hollywood’s most successful film producers, Harvey Weinstein, abused his power for decades to subject numerous actresses to sexual…
Ryo Takahashi (MBA ’20) speaks with Harvard Professor Ezra Vogel. As China celebrates its 70th National Day, Japan prepares in earnest to host the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and the United States becomes increasingly protectionist, the coming decade presents unique opportunities and challenges for Sino-Japanese relations. Professor Ezra Vogel at Harvard University is among those who…
In his monthly column for the Harbus, Professor Kevin W. Sharer shares his thoughts on the issues facing HBS students. The Three Graces is a famous marble neoclassical sculpture executed by the Italian artist Antonio Canova in the early 19th century. The graces are meant to represent the three daughters of Zeus, who personified mythological…
Raseem Farook (MBA ’21) talks to the marketing and admissions teams at HBS to understand their perspective on business-school rankings. MBA rankings have become increasingly important to business-school applicants over the last few years, as they help them compare different MBA programs. Finishing on top of these rankings sends a strong signal to the applicant…
Recently, the Business Roundtable released a new definition of the purpose of corporations. Tarun Galagali (MBA ’21) offers his thoughts on how we might use the pledge to go from reimagining capitalism to remaking it. Just about two weeks ago, a consortium of America’s most powerful CEOs signed a commitment to “[modernize] the principles on…
Gaby Goldstein (MBA ’20) and Connor Cash (MBA ’20) share their thoughts on the beginning of this new school year. Welcome Class of 2021 and welcome back ECs! We are Gaby Santana Goldstein and Connor Cash. Together we are your Student Association Co-Presidents for this year. This past week has been a great moment to…
This year’s START featured a new addition: Reciprocity Rings. Gabriel Ellsworth (MBA ’20) reports. On the second day of their MBA journey, the Class of 2021 learned a lesson that should serve them well throughout their two years at HBS and beyond: request and offer help often. They tried their hands at doing just that…
If you’re loving your summer internship and the company is a good fit, you might just want to accept a full-time offer with them. You may have even chosen your internship knowing that your company sponsors H-1B visas and is looking for a talent like you. In fact, the best advice is to do just…
Rethinking firms and their role in society: Ryo Takahashi (MBA ’20) talks with Professor Rebecca M. Henderson. It has been a commonly held belief that the purpose of firms is to maximize shareholder value. This notion of shareholder primacy resonates with many business leaders’ understanding of their fiduciary duties, and with our norms of how…
In his monthly column for the Harbus, Professor Kevin W. Sharer shares his thoughts on the issues facing HBS students. May comes again as we celebrate, encourage, and recognize another 900 or so new HBS graduates. This is a singular honor, privilege, and accomplishment that will always reflect credit upon you and set you apart….
Kel Jackson (MBA ’19) reflects on the community’s response to anonymous death threats sent to him and other black HBS students. On an afternoon in late March, an anonymous individual sent death threats to me and several other leaders of the African-American Student Union at HBS (AASU). In addition to direct threats to the recipients…
The Harbus Co-Editors-in-Chief Takahashi (MBA ’20) and Ellsworth (MBA ’20) met with the Dean to discuss his strategic outlook for the year. The year 2019 will undoubtedly be a big one, with new opportunities and unique challenges. Major global events such as Brexit, the abdication of Japan’s Emperor Akihito, and the Indian general election are…
Tasnia Huque (MBA ’20) discusses GE, LEAD, and career advice with Culp. Danaher CEO turned HBS LEAD Professor turned conglomerate CEO again—Henry Lawrence “Larry” Culp Jr. (MBA ’90) likely needs no introduction. Currently at the helm of General Electric, Larry is no stranger to running Fortune 500 companies. He is, however, the first outsider to…
HBS Show’s Executive Producer Brooke Biederman (MBA ’19) talks with Executive Director Savannah Greene (MBA ’19) about her directing style, insider details from the rehearsal rooms, and the storied show’s first performance in the new Klarman Hall. “HBS Show is one of our most important traditions. It gives us a chance to laugh at ourselves,…
From journalist Thomas Friedman proclaiming that The World Is Flat to sociologist Anthony Giddens observing that in today’s world, “the local and global have become inextricably intertwined,” thought leaders seem to agree that globalization has brought an unprecedented level of social and economic integration at a dizzying pace. An ever-globalizing world has had implications on…
Tell us a little bit about yourself. Gaby: I was born in the Dominican Republic and moved to the United States as a baby. I was raised in Jackson Heights, Queens, NY, an incredibly diverse neighborhood made up primarily of immigrant families from all over the world. My parents are both small business owners serving…
This month, we interviewed Sana Mohammed and Triston Francis to learn about their time as Student Association Co-Presidents and what they’ll be carrying with them as they graduate in just a few months and pass on the torch to the Class of 2020. What surprised you most while serving as SA Co-Presidents? Triston: I was…
This academic year, Harvard Business School, along with the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), launched a joint MS/MBA program. Over two years, students earn an MBA and an MS in Engineering Sciences concurrently, focusing on a specialty of their choosing. I feel lucky to be among the other 28 MS/MBA…
The Harvard admissions trial has shed light on some troubling facts that must be addressed. This October, Lawrence Bacow was inaugurated as the 29th President of Harvard University. In his inaugural address, President Bacow, quoting the theologian Reinhold Neibuhr, urged, “We must always seek the truth in our opponent’s errors, and the errors in our…
Exploring Asian identity and minority politics beyond the SFFA v. Harvard lawsuit On Lee’s first call with his MBA admissions coach, she told him, bluntly, that he’d drawn one of the worst hands for admission to HBS: Asian-American, heterosexual, male, with a background in finance and technology. There were simply far too many people “like…
For many decades, Japan’s corporate culture has been an enigma to many. Even more puzzling still was how a small, resource-poor nation grew at one point to become the world’s second largest economy. The Harbus met with HBS Professor Hirotaka Takeuchi to demystify what makes Japan unique and what lessons could be drawn. Maintaining a…
Our interview with Larry Summers has not quite started according to plan. Half an hour after we are scheduled to meet in Klarman Hall, where Larry is speaking at a conference marking the 10th anniversary of the global financial crisis, he is still deep in conversation with an attendee while your interviewers hover awkwardly in…