“We Said, They Said” is a monthly feature in which Harvard and Wharton MBA students take opposing positions on a topic relevant to both schools. The views expressed are those of the writers only and are not meant to reflect the general views of either student body. The case method of classroom instruction is favored…
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December 7, 2009
The Lagniappe: The Precarious Art of Werging
I don’t know if you’re aware of a trend currently affecting our vernacular. It has been creeping into American parlance at an increasing rate over the past decade (an unscientific observation), and unfortunately, has even sprawled into mass media marketing. For those discussing it (a small-ish flock), the favored term is yet to be agreed…
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November 16, 2009
Genetic Engineering
Ivy League schools are inundated with ads for potential egg donors-women who for a considerable sum of money donate their eggs to a couple for in vitro fertilization. What happens once they sign on? And what role do the fertility clinics who match the donors to the recipients play? A well-dressed couple in their early…
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September 8, 2009
A Top Ten List – BEST Year Ever
Welcome back, Class of 2010, and special welcome to the new Class of 2011 RCs! For the new students on campus, we are the co-presidents of the Student Association (or SA for short), the student government representing the MBA student body. The SA has been hard at work this summer to make for the best…
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April 14, 2009
WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE POST-FINANCIAL CRISIS?
Earlier this month, in response to growing scrutiny of MBA programs in light of the financial crisis, the editors at Harvard Business Review launched “The HBR Debate: How To Fix Business Schools”: //blogs.harvardbusiness.org/how-to-fix-business-schools/ A growing chorus of critics are charging that MBA programs are in part to blame for the ethical and strategic lapses that…
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February 23, 2009
Media Habits at HBS – Lessons from HBS’s Favorite Game
Applying the lessons and theories from classroom discussion to the real world can be difficult. Luckily HBS students have found a creative way to apply our knowledge Do you know how to lie? Surely, during LCA, we’ve all debated the merits and demerits of lying (or should I euphemize by referring to it as “bluffing”)?…
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December 8, 2008
2008 – Retrospectives – HBS & The US Presidency
As Harvard MBAs, with President Bush leaving office in just under two months, this may be a time to turn more introspective – what (if anything) would you have done differently? At Harvard Business School, “we educate leaders who make a difference in the world.” Yet, our campus presents no tangible reminder of the graduate…
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October 20, 2008
The Great Gamblers
The piece is about how stocks and share brokers have impacted the operations of corporations across the world. Investment firms and brokers have such large stakes in corporations, that they try to impact every aspect ofÿthe latter. At times, this takes the focus of the company away fromÿits basic goals. The piece also covers how…
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May 7, 2007
D‚j… Vu?
I am an optimist by nature. Always convinced that tomorrow will be better than today. That is, except for one thing. Observing French politics in recent years, I must admit that I have surprised myself by losing hope. Wherever my eyes would turn, whichever politician I would talk to, I would always have a sense…
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April 23, 2007
HBS Triumphs in KSG Debate
The HBS debate team recorded an historic victory against KSG in the annual grudge match on April 12th. Hundreds of supporters crammed into the Forum at the Kennedy School to hear the teams debate the motion “Most of the world’s problems are created by governments (and then solved by businesses).” Michael Walsh, Sridevi Raghavan and…
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April 10, 2007
HBS Debate Team Prepares for its Final Showdown of the Year
The debate team has had a strong year thanks to a win over Yale last term and several successful debates on campus. Topics have ranged from green issues to asking whether greed was good. But how is debating different from just an everyday classroom discussion? “Debating is quite a formal process,” Michael Walsh explains. “The…
News
February 12, 2007
The Best Way to Argue with the President
In the Public Speaking Club’s Outstanding Speaker Series, Robert Barnett reveals his secrets to helping presidential ticket candidates prepare for nationally televised debates and shares his opinion on the upcoming presidential nominations. Attorney Robert Barnett spoke to an audience of about 350, which filled the Spangler Auditorium, on January 27. The event was the first…
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January 22, 2007
COUNTERPOINT – Political Correction
In the December 4 viewpoints column Robin Cherry argued that our acceptance of “politically incorrect” jokes has gone too far. Robin stated that jokes about gay dogs in South Park have made us “too comfortable” by creating “a lack of inhibition that itself is problematic.” Referring to a drunken joker at a wedding party the…
News
December 11, 2006
We Might Have Been Crushed in Football, But At Least We Still Have Debate
The HBS debate team scored a crushing victory over the Yale School of Management at the recent HBS-Yale SOM debate. The motion before the crown was “This House believes that the US Government should impose a windfall tax on US oil corporations.” Adrian Brown, President of the Leadership and Ethics forum, began the evening by…
News
December 4, 2006
Halloween Bus Ride Turns Into Controversy
It was Halloween and a bus carrying a fractious group of HBS students to the annual Halloween Party was lost. The bus driver was disoriented and spent approximately forty-five minutes driving through various neighborhoods surrounding the party site without reaching it. The bus contained both ECs and RCs and many of the students on the…
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November 20, 2006
Cyberposium 12: Need Directions, Mapping Future Technologies
Are nano-enabled polymer photovoltaic materials the answer to the impending energy crisis? What is Web 2.0 and how will it revolutionize the way business is conducted? What hot new technologies are on the venture capital horizon? BOSTON – With a focus on the future, Cyberposium 12 took center stage on Saturday, November 11, drawing a…
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November 13, 2006
What is "Positive Discrimination" Anyway?
Two weeks ago Neil Mahapatra (NG) and Jonathan Kelly (OD) expressed some strong views on positive discrimination and political correctness. Until I read their articles, I hadn’t heard the term “positive discrimination.” What is it anyway? As a starting point, it seems clear that there are inequalities in the U.S. and around the world that…
News
October 16, 2006
Is Greed Good?
Is greed good? This was the question debated by members of the HBS debate team at the kick-off meeting of the Leadership & Ethics Forum (LEF). The argument focused on whether businesses have any social responsibilities beyond simply maximizing their profits. The format for the debate had two teams of three speakers with one team…
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December 12, 2005
Debate on Grade Disclosure Takes Center Stage In Spangler Auditorium
Evolution vs. Intelligent Design. Redline vs. Grafton Street. NPV vs. APV. These are big questions. But none has gotten the HBS population as energized as the debate over grade disclosure. Students, faculty and the administration are awaiting the results of a recent Student Association poll, but those in attendance at the Leadership & Ethics Forum’s…
News
December 5, 2005
Eighth Annual HBS-SOM Grudge Match Taken by Yale
Among the myriad pre-game traditions for “The Game” between Harvard and Yale is the staging of the annual HBS-Yale SOM Leadership & Ethics Debate. This year’s debate took place in New Haven on Friday, November 21 in front of a raucous crowd of over 200 spectators. Despite breaking bread prior to the debate, both sides…
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October 24, 2005
HBS Students Vote that Management Consultants Add No Value
“Management consulting is a pie-eating contest, in the which winning prize is yet more pies,” quips James Crabtree, a student at the Kennedy School and ex-Worlds debater, to the audience at the Leadership & Ethics Forum event last Tuesday. In the time-honored tradition of parliamentary debate, four student speakers took turns arguing for and against…
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September 19, 2005
The 'Eth' Word: Ethics Expert Speaks Up for Moral Capitalism
What do Gordon Gekko, Jack Welch and an ex-con who embezzled nearly $9m have in common? And no, it’s not a sneaking suspicion that greed is good. All three men have been or will be appearing at the Leadership and Ethics Forum (LEF). The long-established club kicked off this year with a fresh aim –…
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March 7, 2005
KSG-HBS Debate: A Bare Knuckle Showdown
It was with great fan fair and anticipation that these two heralded debate teams met in the historic Kennedy School Forum last Tuesday, March 1st. Festivities began with an air of debauchery as the audience imbibed on free beer and fish crackers. This was the first meeting of what should be an annual tradition on…
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February 22, 2005
Larry Summers: A Presidency In Trouble?
Last Tuesday, February 15th, at a Harvard University faculty meeting, President Larry Summers was confronted by members of the faculty who criticized Summers’ recent remarks about women in science as well as the President’s leadership record over his four-year tenure at the University. An emergency faculty meeting has been called for Tuesday, February 22nd to…
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February 22, 2005
Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz responds to criticism of President Larry Summers
In my 41 years at Harvard, I have never experienced a president more open to debate, disagreement, and dialog than Larry Summers. It is utter nonsense for professors to claim that they are held hostage to fear. Summers welcomes debate and controversy more than any president I have ever served under. Professors who are afraid…
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October 25, 2004
Global Warming: Causes and Effects
Global warming, agree Professor James J. McCarthy, Dr. Paul Epstein, and journalist Ross Gelbspan, is an undeniable reality with acute consequences for environment, health, and economy.Three distinguished panelists presented evidence for causes and effects of global warming at the AMP 167 seminar “Climate Change and Global Energy Futures” on Wednesday, October 14 at McCollum 101….
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October 18, 2004
Alumni Connections: The Forgotten Issue
Before the debate over the election, Iraq, and terrorism, few issues got Americans as worked up as the environment. On the one side are people who are worried about pollution, about the disappearance of wildlife and biodiversity, and humans tinkering with global processes. On the other side are people who consider environmental laws and regulations…
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September 20, 2004
Elections In Your Country:
Whatever their political orientation, I salute American voters Being an informed voter in the age of the information superhighway is hard enough but to be ‘informed’ by the current inundation of partisan trash talk by the two parties in the fray simply makes a bad situation worse. To ease the pain of deliberating over the…
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March 15, 2004
The Necessity of Free Speech
The following comments were in response to a controversial cartoon that was featured in The Fed, a Columbia University sponsored newspaper. The fallout following the cartoon lead to the NY Times article entitled “Columbia President Denounces Racially Offensive Incidents” and gave new life to the argument over free speech. I was disappointed to learn of…
News
December 8, 2003
HBS Defeats Yale SOM in Annual Debate Tournament
The HBS Debate Team successfully defeated the Yale School of Management Debate Team in the Sixth Annual HBS-Yale SOM Debate Tournament. A celebrated tradition between these business schools, this year’s debate was held at the Yale Law School Levinson Auditorium on Friday evening, November 21. The teams debated an issue of current contention in the…