Harbus Humor Editor and Steward of the Collective LustBy now, it should be apparent that the world of HBS has shifted. For RC’s, the world where fully 30% of the class flees Boston every Friday on a mass exodus to New York to appease distant lovers is ending, and being replaced by a world where…
Risking Reebok
Micky Pant, Chief Marketing Officer of Reebok International, was recently at HBS at the invitation of the Marketing Club to give a talk on the “Risks and Rewards of Brand Marketing.” The Harbus had the opportunity to speak with Pant while he was on campus and discovered the inside (and very amazing) story behind Reebok’s…
An Open Letter to the Spangler Dining Hall Staff
Friday, September 19, 2003, 2:54 p.m. Dear Mr. Goldstone and Restaurant Associates:I’m writing to thank you from the very depths of my Spangler-fed heart for some outstanding customer service I received a couple weeks ago. You went above and beyond the call of duty to satisfy one hungry student’s needs. Every day you all greet…
Intel & Otellini
Looking rested and fresh following Intel’s spectacular third quarter performance, President and Chief Operating Officer Paul Otellini addressed HBS students Monday on major technology trends, Intel’s changing business model, and the future of computing. Empathizing with today’s tough job climate, Otellini commiserated with the students as he remembered his own graduation in 1974 from the…
Publishing Your First Book
Last year, Omari Bouknight (OA), a classmate and friend of mine, took upon an exhilarating journey of publishing his first book. He and Scott Shrum, who some of you might have met during the first admit weekend in 2002 and who eventually ended up going to Kellogg, had decided to write a book on the…
A Minute With: Peter Hunsinger
Peter Hunsinger is President of the Cond‚ Nast Bridal Group, which consists of the two leading bridal magazines in the United States, Bride’s and Modern Bride, as well as 17 regional magazines and two web sites. Mr. Hunsinger became the first President of the division when it was formed in February, 2002. Mr. Hunsinger is…
A Minute With: Gina Sanders
Gina Sanders is the founding Publisher of Teen Vogue magazine, launched in February 2003. In the same month of launching this new magazine, Ms. Sanders celebrated her fifteenth year with Conde Nast Publications, where she has also held the Publisher’s posts at mainstays Gourmet and Details magazines. Ms. Sanders’ career on the sell-side of publishing…
HBS Recruiting Spring 2003:
Put simply, the 2003 job market is not for the faint of heart. In recent months, HBS students have joined the masses across the country searching for employment, with many finding success through on-campus recruiting, and many others depending on their personal network search to land the perfect job. While today’s market is arguably even…
Does Anyone
I wrote on my HBS application that I was looking forward to a life-altering experience. Corny stuff, I know, but yours said something similar, or had a similar theme, I’m sure. How do I know? Because I’m beginning to see that sentence less as a pandering plea to admit me and more as a self-assessment…
Blazing a Trail
People of African descent have a long history in America, arriving on her shores even before the Mayflower. Though over the next 250 years most African Americans were enslaved, a sizeable number were free and were able to achieve the American dream of entrepreneurial success. In 1841, William Liedsdoroff, a Virgin Islands native and San…
HBS wins two marketing case competitions in one week!
On Sunday, January 26, Lyn Baranowski (OG), Edrienne Brandon (OB), and Wesley Brandon (OF) won first place at the 3rd Annual MBA Marketing Case Competition held at Rice University in Houston, TX. The competition (which started on Friday the 24th) featured a HBS Marketing case on Centra Software, and the competition was sponsored by Pennzoil,…
HBS Women Make Art Their Business
Natasha Pearl (MBA ’89) took a typical post-HBS path, serving stints in American Express, Booz-Allen and Mercer Consulting, primarily focused on financial services marketing. However, when she took a sabbatical to work through a systematic career transition program, a very different idea emerged. Her career counselor, Mary Burton (an HBS MBA graduate), had her list…
What is the Value of Information?
(Part 1): Assigning Value With the dawn of the World Wide Web, and it’s subsequent information overload, came the misconception that all that information bombarding us was accurate, useful–and free. In this three part series, What is the Value of Information? Liz Bibby, Director of Business Information Services, examines this assumption. In part one of…
Natural Born Leaders
I have to say, I’ve never been a fan of group projects. I think it started back in grade school when I regularly got assigned to groups of four to tackle history projects. My report on the explorer Ponce de Leon and the Fountain of Youth has clearly tainted my educational progress for good. But…
Options Have Value
Before I came to business school, my boyfriend (a former investment banker) advised, “If you only go to school knowing one finance concept it’s this: options have value.” To his credit, I have used that phrase almost weekly in various contexts (some even appropriate!) ever since. But I’m starting to wonder. With Hell Week just…
The Skinny on Light Beers
Due to the aggressiveness of the light beer marketing campaigns and the drinking culture that evolved as a result, there is no single beer market anymore. The light beer market is nearly 50% of the total beer market in the US and has become such a factor that craft brewing giant Sam Adams felt compelled…
A Cappella Group Heard On The Street to release new CD "Disruptive Harmonies"
At Harvard Business School, the tradition of men’s a cappella singing dates back to 1947 and the founding of “The Tycoons.” This group of “monetary musicians” brought good cheer to the campus for over 25 years before succumbing to the pressures of the radical 60’s, the corrupt 70’s, and the conspicuous early 80’s. At the…
Top 10 Reasons Why Section E Doesn't Have Internships
1) Enron wasn’t hiring. 2) The sugar industry in India has gained efficiencies in the past 7 months since senior management left. 3) Coca-Cola cut back its marketing spend thanks to Scott’s grass roots marketing last semester. 4) Highland Capital unexpectedly closed its operations after a lecture from Elena about the evils of capitalism. 5)…
Putting Theory into Action
At 1 am on Friday, January 31, our plane finally started to move. The plane had been sitting on the tarmac at Logan Airport for three hours waiting to be de-iced. Edrienne Brandon (NB), Wesley Brandon (NF), Jeff Norton (NG), Sheeba Philip (ND) and I were headed for the 12th Annual Babcock Marketing Case Competition…
How to Waste a Good Title?
If you have been following this column for some time, you know that I care deeply about certain issues. So you may also understand why I was so strongly disappointed by the last book I read. You see, it’s a pity, but some people just don’t realize how strong a responsibility it is to choose…
Blazing a Trail
This article is the first of four pieces detailing the history of African Americans at HBS for Black History Month, and is co-sponsored by the African American Student Union (AASU) and the Baker Library Historical Collections. People of African descent have a long history in America, arriving on her shores even before the Mayflower. Though…
Attendee's Perspective: Retail, Marketing, and "Power Couples" Panels
My first panel was on retail, moderated by Professor Janice Hammond. Panelists included Jane Biering of Staples, Barbara Fitzgerald of PETsMART, Judith Hofer of the May Merchandising Company, and Dorothy Roberts of the Echo Design Group. All of the women held influential positions within their companies and spoke to the changes that retailers face in…
Memoirs from the Year 2013
I am currently the general manager of the hybrid/electric car division at General Motors. I enjoyed my time at Procter & Gamble pushing toothpaste around the world. I then took that marketing experience to GM, and eventually moved from marketing to general management. I have a political agenda: I think if the US depended less…
Welcome from the Humor Editor
Humor isn’t easy. I have just reached this conclusion as I blankly stare at the unforgiving blinking of my HP computer cursor. How can I best introduce the new Harbus Humor section? That damn cursor mocks me. Dude, I should have asked for a Dell. It wouldn’t have changed the cursor taunting much, but at…
The Case Study Interview
Interviewing with management consulting firms has become one of the standard practices for HBS students. Most people seem to do it at least one-either because they actually want to work for a consulting company, or because they feel they should at least interview with one. While management consulting firms were the first companies to hold…
An Internship in Venture Philanthropy
During my first year I got involved with the Volunteer Consulting Organization – something I highly recommend to anyone interested in nonprofit, consulting, or just a good team-based experience (shameless plug #1). The satisfaction I derived from that experience was different than in for-profit consulting. Nonprofits are almost always resource-constrained – therefore, the areas that…
A Summer in Singapore
After spending two weeks in Peru with a group of HBS classmates and my family, I embarked into what would be my home for the rest of the summer: Singapore. The secret of how a small island the size of Boston with no natural resources (even the water is imported from Malaysia!) has been transformed…
Marketing Careers at HBS
Not sure if a career in marketing is in the cards for you? Well, here’s my Top 10 list of “How to tell if you’re right for a Marketing Career” 10. You love brands! (and free products!)-Come on admit it. We saw you at Battle of the Brands. You did the Coke/Pepsi taste test. You…
Volunteer Consulting Organization Gears Up
Have you been looking for a meaningful way to contribute to the greater Boston community? What if that way involved an activity such as developing a growth strategy for a local music organization, formulating a marketing plan for an educational nonprofit, or strategically evaluating the opportunities for building a training institute for teachers who mentor…
Employees Wanted? Careers in Advertising Account Planning
A standing room only crowd filled Aldrich 7 last Tuesday to hear fran kelly (HBS ’83), President and COO of arnold worldwide, and two of his colleagues present their views on the topic of modern branding. And no, the lack of capitalization is not sloppy editing on the part of The Harbus, it is straight…