Editor’s note: As evidenced by the popularity of the Business of Sports Club and the intense competition surrounding the SA Cup, many HBS students are passionate about sports. Few HBS grads have had more recent success working in sports management than 1995 HBS graduate William DeWitt III. Not long after graduating from HBS, DeWitt joined… Continue reading Leading the St. Louis Cardinals
Tag: management
Robert S. Kapito
“The reason why ETFs are a phenomenal success is that they solved a lot of problems clients faced with mutual funds, namely surrounding transparency, liquidity, costs and tax-efficiency. Remember, we have been working on developing the ETFs for 15 years before it finally caught on and became popular. This alignment of securities features with client… Continue reading Robert S. Kapito
Celebrating Sanity Is Not Enough to Restore It
Many of us at HBS have been in boardrooms where executives have had to grapple with very tough issues facing their companies. Imagine an executive walks into a board meeting saying, “We need to improve X and make significant changes. The current model is not working. do not know, however, what to do exactly; and… Continue reading Celebrating Sanity Is Not Enough to Restore It
Observations from Pakistan
The problems facing Pakistan are enormous, but during my three week visit to the country this summer I observed that the foundation on which the country is built is more solid than most would think. Let me first establish that the ongoing flood will affect Pakistan for many years to come. The country faces an… Continue reading Observations from Pakistan
HBS Professor Honored by American Marketing Association
Stephen A. Greyser, the Richard P. Chapman Professor of Business Administration Emeritus at Harvard Business School (HBS), has received the 2010 Sports Marketing Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Marketing Association in recognition of his “distinguished career contributions to the scientific understanding of sports business.” Thirty years ago, Greyser codeveloped and taught the first course… Continue reading HBS Professor Honored by American Marketing Association
The Balancing Act – A Healthy Relationship versus Student Life
Uprooting a family, making new friends, moving into a smaller apartment, finding a new job, managing chaotic schedules, and dealing with financial stress are some of the obvious challenges that partners may experience when relocating with their student to HBS. While the HBS experience is said to be transformational and some of the best years… Continue reading The Balancing Act – A Healthy Relationship versus Student Life
Where in the World did you Spend your Summer–Olga Savintseva (OB)
What: Novartis Pharma AG Where: Basel, Switzerland What did you do this summer?I spent summer at Business Development & Licensing (BD&L) at a leading pharmaceutical company Novartis in its global headquarters in Basel, Switzerland. The function I worked in is important because about 70% of total company’s sales come from in-licensed products. My particular role… Continue reading Where in the World did you Spend your Summer–Olga Savintseva (OB)
Kwama Sutra
Sectionmate Brian San’s bluntness is always appreciated. “Now is not the time to get fat,” he said on the second floor of Spangler. The comment came while I was finishing off my second cupcake. “It’s getting warm outside and you know what that means.” Sadly, I did know what the warm weather brought – the… Continue reading Kwama Sutra
Lessons Learned
Twelve years into my ownership of the company, it became obvious to me that growing it to the next stage would not be as interesting or challenging to me as my early years of fixing things and turning the business around. After a first aborted attempt to sell the company in 1999, the final private… Continue reading Lessons Learned
BOOK REVIEW – Unposted Letter
“700 million sperms dart from the man towards that one stationary egg in the woman, and only the healthiest and fastest sperm makes it.” This sentence is taken not from a biology textbook, but rather from a motivational book Unposted Letter authored by spiritual guru T.T. Rangarajan. “.So every human being is that winning sperm… Continue reading BOOK REVIEW – Unposted Letter
Career Profiles – John Knapp
Career Field Prior to HBS:Engineering & Operations Management, Celanese CorporationCommodity and Specialized Chemicals Manufacturer Position at BCG: Summer Intern Why did you choose an internship at BCG?Prior to HBS, I had spent my career working in a large chemical plant in Houston, Texas, where I gained experience in operations and general management.ÿ My goal in… Continue reading Career Profiles – John Knapp
Money with Mia
Stuff happens. Risk is all around us. Some you can predict using past indicators or technology, and others are more capricious. When things become harder to foresee, many people choose to protect themselves. Most do this in the form of purchasing insurance. I had the pleasure of sitting down with Richard Ward, the CEO of… Continue reading Money with Mia
Career Profiles – Roy Ben-Dor
Career Field Prior to HBS:Management Consulting Position in Bridgewater Associates: Senior Management Associate (SMA) Why did you choose an internship with Bridgewater?I wanted to try out either general management or investing and Bridgewater gave me a chance to learn about both.ÿOf the opportunities within general management that I was looking at, its culture was by… Continue reading Career Profiles – Roy Ben-Dor
Career Profiles – Courtney Zeph
Career Field Prior to HBS: Auditor at Pricewaterhousecoopers Position in JP Morgan: Investment Banking Associate, Technology, Media & Telecom Group Why did you choose an internship with J.P. Morgan?Initially, I was very broad in my summer internship search.ÿ I spoke with consulting firms, other banks, and different divisions within J.P. Morgan.ÿÿ In addition to its… Continue reading Career Profiles – Courtney Zeph
Tammie on Start-ups
Have you ever had an idea for a product that you thought could be improved, but you did not know how to get it off the ground? Or perhaps you were frustrated by certain things and thought of a product that would solve the issue? For example: Why is there no flashlight on the iPhone… Continue reading Tammie on Start-ups
Lessons Learned
Learning how to effectively communicate with employees took many years to develop and refine.ÿIt sounds simple: tell them what is going on, listen to what they have to say and then they will do what you need them to do – but it is never that easy. It is all about developing trust and confidence… Continue reading Lessons Learned
Troubled by Thain
“A commode is not a toilet.”~ John Thain, ex-CEO of Merrill Lynch I always thought John Thain was a smart guy. He earned an engineering degree from my alma mater, MIT, and he graduated from HBS. However, when Thain came to speak at HBS on September 30, I was unimpressed and disappointed with his answers.… Continue reading Troubled by Thain
An Interview with HBS Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Jeff Bussgang (MBA ’95)
This article is the second in the series of interviews with this year’s Harvard Business School Entrepreneurs-in-Residence. Sponsored by the HBS Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship, the Entrepreneur-in-Residence program invites accomplished entrepreneurs to commit to either a semester or full academic year working with faculty and students on campus. On Monday, October 5th, Aldrich 112… Continue reading An Interview with HBS Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Jeff Bussgang (MBA ’95)
Should Management be a Profession?
“Yea” By Seke Ballard (OG), Section Representative I’d like to begin by saying that I tend to agree with the notion that business, in general, is impossible to professionalize (i.e., have it be governed by some body of standards/qualifications), namely because it’s difficult to codify norms in a practice as nebulous and dynamic as “business.”… Continue reading Should Management be a Profession?
FREEDOM WITHIN A FRAMEWORK: Meet Blossoming Entrepreneur Vani Krishnamurthy (HBS ’07)
I meet Vani Krishnamurthy (HBS ’07) in New York City’s West Village bright and early one rainy Sunday morning. A former Fulbright Scholar to Chennai, India and a professional Indian classical dancer, Vani recently launched her own entrepreneurial venture after spending four years in management consulting. Sidestepping puddles and sprinting the three blocks from the… Continue reading FREEDOM WITHIN A FRAMEWORK: Meet Blossoming Entrepreneur Vani Krishnamurthy (HBS ’07)
Lessons Learned
In the businesses I operated, I was always deeply involved in setting prices because I found it to be the most immediate way to impact margins and cash flow. “Cost based pricing” establishes prices based on costs of purchases, manufacturing labor and overhead with a markup to attain profit targets.ÿ Many businesses, such as software,… Continue reading Lessons Learned
MBA Oath: An Oath and Its Flaws
“Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.” -Milton Friedman The “MBA Oath” was crafted by a few members of the Class of 2009 here at Harvard Business School. On the Oath’s official website, I count 478 members of last year’s graduating class that have signed the Oath… Continue reading MBA Oath: An Oath and Its Flaws
Let The Harbus Tell Your Story
In the past year, The Harbus has brought forward the most pressing issues affecting the Harvard Business School community: from the global economic crisis to the U.S. elections and diversity at HBS. If there is any issue that will confront Harvard Business School graduates as they re-enter the work force, it is the renewed backlash… Continue reading Let The Harbus Tell Your Story
Putting Sales on the HBS Agenda
How do you “cold-email” someone to get an interview? When reaching out to any executive, the best path is to obtain an internal referral. Statistics shows that a person is much more likely to reply to a “cold email” if the inquirer was referred by an internal co-worker. How do I get a CEO to… Continue reading Putting Sales on the HBS Agenda
Meet Joe Badaracco
Harbus: Thanks for sitting down with the HARBUS. Have you been interviewed by the HARBUS before?Badaracco: No, not that I recall. Harbus: Recently, a magician snatched your watch from you twice in several minutes. Do you have any idea how that happened?Badaracco: Well, obviously, he distracted me. The embarrassing thing was that he got it… Continue reading Meet Joe Badaracco
Ten Year Reunion Message
Looking back at the last ten years, I want to start by talking about what is most important to me: my wife. She is truly my life partner, lover, mentor, work-out partner, and best friend. I love the way she challenges me, improves me, and appreciates everything I do for her and the way I… Continue reading Ten Year Reunion Message
HBS Couple Profiles – Ian & Kelsey Calhoun
Harbus: Tell us about how you met.Kelsey: We met in chemistry class in sophomore year of High School. We were actually assigned to be lab partners for the whole year because our teacher thought we could learn a lot from each other. We had very different learning styles (I always did my homework, raised my… Continue reading HBS Couple Profiles – Ian & Kelsey Calhoun
The Marketing of the President
“The Marketing of the President.” Sounds like the theme from an earlier edition of the Harbus. After all, barring death, resignation, or impeachment, Obama will remain in power until at least January 2013. However, marketing remains critical to his Presidency; Obama’s popularity and accomplishments will depend on how he reshapes his campaign’s message going forward.… Continue reading The Marketing of the President
Deliberate Policy to Stabilize the Economy
The Federal Reserve chairman’s view that the US government may have to infuse additional funds into banks and separate “bad” assets from banks is correct. Banks are not in a position to lend to all creditworthy borrowers, as they remain under-capitalized given the additional trillion dollars plus of estimated losses the financial system is yet… Continue reading Deliberate Policy to Stabilize the Economy
Keeping the “BS” in HBS
“BS” (“Business Speaking”, of course) is a critical component of the HBS experience. After all, it was BS that allowed you to rise through the ranks of your private equity firm or investment bank, BS that made your b-school application stand out from the pack, BS that allowed you to cozy up to your interviewer… Continue reading Keeping the “BS” in HBS
