Students share book recommendations for finding new meaning or seeing the world differently. Growing up, I liked to read so much it was almost annoying. On the day I got my first library card, I borrowed the maximum number of books I was allowed. From then on, I would go to the library with my… Continue reading The Books That Changed Us
Category: Commentary
What Would Frederic Bastiat Say About Don’t Look Up and the State of Climate Change Policy?
The works of the 19th century French economist offer much needed clarity when it comes to tackling climate change, Martin Rodriguez Rodriguez reports. I watched the film Don’t Look Up and could not avoid thinking about what 19th-century French economist Frederic Bastiat would think about it. In terms of the current state of the… Continue reading What Would Frederic Bastiat Say About Don’t Look Up and the State of Climate Change Policy?
Motorcycles and Nuns: Why Calls to Happiness Fail When Vocation is at Stake
Emily Horton (MBA ’23) leads with vulnerability. In this powerful essay, she shares a recent personal experience and draws out an important lesson for fellow HBS students. Stories are messy. They are complicated. Everyone has one shaped by a series of inflection points, and each point comes with its own conflict. We make some choices… Continue reading Motorcycles and Nuns: Why Calls to Happiness Fail When Vocation is at Stake
Help Afghanistan
Alexander Radomsky (MBA/MPP ’22) reports a curated list of ways in which you can help with the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Afghanistan. The United States military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan and the associated humanitarian crisis represent a historical moment for the United States and the 60 countries that have supported the Coalition since the invasion of… Continue reading Help Afghanistan
Harvard Climate Leadership Still Lagging
Roger Shamel (MBA ’74) calls for Harvard leadership to take action on Climate Change Is the climate crisis real? Is it really that serious? Are urgent actions needed? What’s Harvard’s role? Sadly, many members of the 400,000-strong Harvard community still don’t know the answers to these existential questions. More importantly, many don’t know that humankind… Continue reading Harvard Climate Leadership Still Lagging
Packing
Trevor Fetter gives advice to the graduating ECs. After so much unpacking, it’s time to pack. What will you bring? What will you leave behind? If you’re completing your first year, we’re basically talking, in travel terms, about an extended weekend. I hope the weather is good, that you like the destination, you get a… Continue reading Packing
Denial of Violence, and the Violence of Denial: Controlling the “Comfort Women” Narrative
HLS professor’s recent article on “comfort women” is amidst controversy, for arguing that the girls and women forced into sexual slavery during Japanese wartime were contracted prostitutes. Five HBS students share their thoughts on the importance of acknowledging history and its necessity for progress in women’s and human rights. By Christa Choy, Contributor, Lesley Kim,… Continue reading Denial of Violence, and the Violence of Denial: Controlling the “Comfort Women” Narrative
Tackling the Pipeline Problem
MBAs need to prepare to be held accountable for building a more diverse workforce. In June 2020, while addressing his company’s response to the Black Lives Matter movement, Charles Scharf, the otherwise highly regarded CEO of Wells Fargo who was charged with turning around the bank after the scandals and missteps of his predecessors, asserted,… Continue reading Tackling the Pipeline Problem
Feeling More Optimism in the Mix
In his column for the Harbus, Professor Trevor Fetter shares his view on the optimism within the mixed feelings brought by the new year. The new year brings a new deadline for your columnist whose assignment is to bring a “mature voice” to these pages. As I consulted with the Editor-in-Chief about what might resonate,… Continue reading Feeling More Optimism in the Mix
Getting Tactical about Your Next Job
In his column for the Harbus, Professor Trevor Fetter shares his thoughts on the issues facing HBS students. Last month, I wrote about the primary colors of the career spectrum (advisor, investor, operator) and the strategic considerations that go along with them. Judging from recent meetings I have had with students, summer and post-MBA jobs… Continue reading Getting Tactical about Your Next Job
Wending My Way to Some Wisdom
20 years later, an MBA Class of 2000 graduate and former Harbus Opinion Page Editor finds more to say. Just over 20 years ago, during my two years at HBS, I was the Opinion Page Editor of the Harbus. Your current Editor-in-Chief, Upoma Dutta, during what I assume is a particularly busy school time that… Continue reading Wending My Way to Some Wisdom
We Ought to Read the Classics
Justin Crist Lee (MBA ’21) expands the scope of an education in business. We are told we live in unprecedented times. Today in our nation, we face an impending economic crisis, paired with ongoing concerns surrounding the future of our democracy. While each of these alone would seem a daunting challenge to tackle, these twin… Continue reading We Ought to Read the Classics
Advice for Approaching Your Post-MBA Career: Reflect
In his column for the Harbus, Professor Trevor Fetter shares his thoughts on the issues facing HBS students. It is a scary season, and not just because I am writing this on Halloween. The markets are volatile, the election is next week, and we are still in the midst of a global pandemic. You are… Continue reading Advice for Approaching Your Post-MBA Career: Reflect
The Energy Transition: A Slightly Nerdy Take on a Global Issue
Aruna Ramkrishnan and Amrit Jalan (MBA ’22) reflect on the parallels between thermodynamic transformations and tough real-world Energy/Sustainability problems. Years ago, as budding chemical engineers, we learned about the concept of “transition energy.” It explains how changes in complex systems do not occur spontaneously even though the benefits may be obvious. Rather, these systems often… Continue reading The Energy Transition: A Slightly Nerdy Take on a Global Issue
Prepare for Your Turn in the Hot Seat; It May Come Sooner than You Think
In his column for the Harbus, Professor Trevor Fetter shares his thoughts on the issues facing HBS students. My intention in this column is to come up with something new and fresh every time, and I will try to deliver on that…going forward. Last month I wrote about the importance of observing examples of leadership… Continue reading Prepare for Your Turn in the Hot Seat; It May Come Sooner than You Think
True Accountability Requires Courage
Alterrell Mills (MBA ’16) reflects on the commitments and lessons learned in HBS’ Racial Equity Plan. We have all witnessed, or had ourselves been subjected to, the dreaded cold call of a classmate that refused to acknowledge their lack of preparation, drawing out their monologue and digging a deeper hole with hubris-laden attempts to avoid… Continue reading True Accountability Requires Courage
Personal and Public Risk in a Pandemic
Adam Palay (MBA ’21) raises questions about our collective responsibilities during a pandemic. Not long before school started, at my desk in my home office, I took a deep breath and clicked a button. I had just opted out of coming in-person to the hybrid courses I would take this term. It might seem like… Continue reading Personal and Public Risk in a Pandemic
Welcome to the Simulation
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… Continue reading Welcome to the Simulation
Dancing with the Dragon: Lessons for Businesses Operating Far from Home
Joe Bao (MBA ’20) writes on how western businesses became caught in the latest political crossfire in Hong Kong and how being an authentic leader might end up costing you your whole business. For many years, Milton Friedman’s “shareholder value” theory, that the first social responsibility of a company is to maximize shareholder profits, has… Continue reading Dancing with the Dragon: Lessons for Businesses Operating Far from Home
Finding Hope in Lebanon
John Geagea (MBA ’21) takes a look at Lebanon’s past, present, and path forward. It is difficult to put into words how it feels to be Lebanese today. My head keeps coming back to this startling reality: somehow Covid-19 might have become the third most pressing issue that the country now faces. On August 4,… Continue reading Finding Hope in Lebanon
Vexing Requests for Vulnerability
To celebrate the Mental Health Awareness Month, Ariam Tesfai (MBA ’20) reflects on the value of prompting vulnerability with tact. Oprah-style “aha” moments have colored my time at HBS. More recently, I have been working to collect and dissect my first- and second-year revelations. Some insights are clearer than others. One, however, is of crystal… Continue reading Vexing Requests for Vulnerability
Focusing on Disruptive Innovation
Theodore Seem (MBA ’20) introduces the idea behind Outsiders Fund, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on identifying opportunities where technology will disrupt traditional, incumbent industries. The world of start-ups is complex. It is hard to organize and harder to analyze. But one simple way to look at the world is to sort companies into… Continue reading Focusing on Disruptive Innovation
Leadership for a Changed World
Our generation will be called to lead a great American renewal. On January 26, 1986, addressing the United States in the wake of the deaths of seven astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, President Ronald Reagan reminded the country, “The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave.” Today, as we face… Continue reading Leadership for a Changed World
Lessons in Uncertainty
In uncertain times, make deliberate choices, control what you can, and enjoy the moment. The changes, at HBS, the local community, and the world more broadly, in response to the pandemic are unnerving. It is a time of increased, and still increasing, uncertainty. Everyone is making unexpected new choices while reassessing decisions that we thought… Continue reading Lessons in Uncertainty
Leadership in Crisis: What Good Looks Like
In his monthly column for the Harbus, Professor Kevin W. Sharer shares his thoughts on the issues facing HBS students. To state the obvious, we are in a time of crisis and great uncertainty. We are taking unprecedented steps on the societal, economic and healthcare fronts. Our leaders at the national, state, local and business… Continue reading Leadership in Crisis: What Good Looks Like
Tax Shield Is Capitalist Brainwashing
Taxes are valuable for shareholders’ and lenders’ pockets. Neglecting the importance of the public role in a company’s balance sheet is not a political ideology, it is an intellectual flaw. To those who need to keep revising for the final exams, here is what tax shield, a major FIN2 concept, actually is. A company is… Continue reading Tax Shield Is Capitalist Brainwashing
Authentic!?
In his monthly column for the Harbus, Professor Kevin W. Sharer shares his thoughts on the issues facing HBS students. A very successful CEO of a respected and large global brand shared four ideas with the top 500 executives at their annual leadership gathering. This meeting is the key leadership leverage opportunity for the CEO,… Continue reading Authentic!?
Have Mercy on the Babies
As you think about your next new year’s resolution, consider this small change, yet big statement, that can drive an incredible effect on our planet. “Did you ever stop to notice All the blood we’ve shed before Did you ever stop to notice This crying Earth, these weeping shores” — Michael Jackson, “Earth Song” … Continue reading Have Mercy on the Babies
The Three Graces for MBAs Today
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… Continue reading The Three Graces for MBAs Today
A Day in the Life of a Cabaret Music Director
Akash Gupta (MBA ’20), Music Director, discusses his thoughts about Cabaret and what we can expect to see this year. The Cabaret auditions are tonight, and I’m experiencing the sort of nervous excitement that Adam Levine must have felt before every episode of The Voice. For the next three hours, I’ll be listening to the… Continue reading A Day in the Life of a Cabaret Music Director