The Harbus recently asked HBS’s class of 2016 to rate their second year courses and share their favorite instructors. We will continue to collect responses and will publish final results before the class of 2017 completes final course registration.
Favorite Instructors
Responding students cited a wide range of HBS faculty as their favorites—30 earned accolades, with many receiving only a smattering of votes. But several names did stand out.
Professor Tom Nicholas, (who teaches the Entrepreneurial Management course The Coming of Managerial Capitalism) earned “favorite professor” honors from one in nine respondents. Senior Lecturer Kristin Mugford (Creating Value Through Corporate Restructuring) also earned several votes; her course was also one of the few to have earned a perfect 5.0 rating in voting so far.
Well-known professors Clayton Christensen and Tom DeLong, who teach popular courses Building and Sustaining a Successful Enterprise and Authentic Leader Development (respectively) also scored highly among students.
(See the end of this article for a list of all those receiving votes.)
Parting Thoughts
In their comments, several departing ECs stressed the value in selecting classes for value, and not just for popularity. “Don’t select classes solely because others like them, or because they are in high demand,” wrote one. “Make sure you are interested in the subject or that it is something you want to improve in.” Another recommended pursuing independent projects (IPs), and suggested that rising ECs spend time taking courses across the river in departments elsewhere at Harvard.
Several more ECs elaborated on the ups and downs of their favorite courses; those results will be summarized and made available before final registration.
Comprehensive Class Ratings
All courses that received three or more ratings are listed below. Unlisted courses either received insufficient votes or were not offered to ECs in the 2015-2016 school year. Once again, voting remains open, and results will be updated before final registration.
| Course Name | Mean Rating | Responses |
|---|---|---|
| Agribusiness | 3.0 | 4 |
| All Roads Lead to Rome: Leadership Lessons from Antiquity | 4.2 | 9 |
| Authentic Leader Development | 4.1 | 22 |
| Big Data in Marketing | 2.8 | 4 |
| Building and Sustaining a Successful Enterprise | 4.5 | 27 |
| Building Life Science Businesses | 4.5 | 6 |
| Building Sustainable Cities and Infrastructure | 3.8 | 12 |
| Business Analysis and Valuation Using Financial Statements | 3.3 | 10 |
| Business at the Base of the Pyramid | 4.6 | 8 |
| Business Marketing & Sales | 4.0 | 8 |
| Competing Globally | 3.3 | 4 |
| Consumers, Corporations and Public Health | 2.7 | 3 |
| Corporate Strategy | 3.7 | 3 |
| Creating Value Through Corporate Restructuring | 5.0 | 5 |
| CS50 for MBAs | 4.1 | 8 |
| Deals | 3.8 | 4 |
| Designing Competitive Organizations | 4.0 | 5 |
| Digital Innovation and Transformation | 3.7 | 13 |
| Digital Marketing Strategy | 3.3 | 3 |
| E-Commerce | 5.0 | 4 |
| Economics and Politics of Energy | 3.7 | 3 |
| Entrepreneurial Finance | 3.9 | 13 |
| Entrepreneurial Sales and Marketing | 4.3 | 8 |
| Entrepreneurial Sales and Marketing (Field Course | 4.3 | 4 |
| Entrepreneurship and Global Capitalism | 4.8 | 5 |
| Entrepreneurship in Healthcare IT and Services | 3.7 | 6 |
| Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (Field Course | 2.3 | 6 |
| Financial Management of Smaller Firms | 3.7 | 12 |
| Founders’ Dilemmas | 4.0 | 5 |
| General Management: Processes and Action | 3.9 | 18 |
| History of American Democracy | 4.3 | 7 |
| How Star Women Succeed: Leading Effective Careers and Organizations | 2.0 | 5 |
| i-Lab Design Thinking Projects (Field Course | 4.0 | 4 |
| Immersive Field Course: Africa; Building Cities | 4.7 | 3 |
| Immersive Field Course: China; The Business of Going Global, China-Style | 3.3 | 8 |
| Immersive Field Course: India; Developing India: Social Enterprise and Private Sector Approaches | 4.3 | 9 |
| Innovating in Health Care | 3.0 | 7 |
| Innovating in Health Care (Field Course | 2.8 | 4 |
| Institutions, Macroeconomics, and the Global Economy | 4.3 | 4 |
| Investing in Emerging Markets | 4.0 | 5 |
| Investment Management | 4.0 | 6 |
| Investment Strategies | 4.0 | 6 |
| Launching Technology Ventures | 4.1 | 8 |
| Law, Management and Entrepreneurship | 3.3 | 3 |
| Managing Change | 3.4 | 10 |
| Managing Human Capital | 3.6 | 5 |
| Managing International Trade and Investment | 3.8 | 5 |
| Managing, Organizing & Motivating for Value | 3.3 | 10 |
| Negotiation | 4.7 | 24 |
| Negotiation Intensive Course | 4.0 | 3 |
| Operations Strategy: Managing Growth | 3.0 | 4 |
| Power and Influence | 3.1 | 13 |
| Private Equity Finance | 4.3 | 9 |
| Product Management 101 (Field Course | 3.6 | 5 |
| Real Property | 3.8 | 4 |
| Reimagining Capitalism: Business and Big Problems | 4.1 | 8 |
| Strategic Marketing in Creative Industries | 4.6 | 7 |
| Strategy and Technology | 4.2 | 5 |
| Supply Chain Management | 4.0 | 5 |
| The Arts of Communication | 4.0 | 3 |
| The Coming of Managerial Capitalism: The United States | 4.4 | 9 |
| The Moral Leader | 4.8 | 5 |
| The Online Economy: Strategy and Entrepreneurship | 3.0 | 4 |
| The Role of Government in Market Economies | 5.0 | 4 |
All Professors Receiving Votes
Tom Nicholas
Kristin Mugford
Clayton Christensen
Geoffrey Jones
Alison Brooks
Anita Elberse
Dante Roscini
Frank Cespedes
Matt Weinzierl
Rafael Di Tella
Rebecca Henderson
Richard Hamermesh
Ryan Buell
Scott Snook
Tom DeLong
Brian Hall
David Yoffie
Frances Frei
James Sebenius
Jose Alvarez
Josh Margolis
Kevin Sharer
Lena Goldberg
Leslie John
Malcolm Baker
Matthew Weinzierl
Paul Gompers
Paul McKinnon
Ramana Nanda
Sophus Reinert
Title image courtesy Flickr user Vernaccia.
