From the Editor’s Desk: Meet Your New Topic Editors!

Harvard Business School in Boston. September Campus Shoot

Welcome to HBS class of 2023! And welcome back home, class of 2022. A year has officially passed since the latter, which includes myself, arrived on campus, unsure of what a hybrid HBS experience would look like. We were also unsure of how long it would last. A new September brings new questions, but also… Continue reading From the Editor’s Desk: Meet Your New Topic Editors!

Trophy Husband: A Personal Account of my Job Search

Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash

“Such phantoms as the dignity of man and the dignity of work are the feeble products of a slavery that hides from itself” – Nietzsche  For as long as I can remember being lucid and able to reason, I hated the idea of working to survive. I sought honor in being fed and clothed.  To… Continue reading Trophy Husband: A Personal Account of my Job Search

China Rises—But Does It Know What It Wants?

An ancient civilization restores its “rightful” place in the world, but where does it belong? Ryo Takahashi (MBA ’20) talks with Professor Meg Rithmire. China’s transformation from a rural, agrarian society to an economy second only to that of the United States feels less like a successful growth story and more like a miracle. Underlying… Continue reading China Rises—But Does It Know What It Wants?

Startup Corner: Robots Help Prepare Food in Busy Restaurants

This month, Anthony Tayoun (MBA ’19) introduces us to Alfred, a robotic sous-chef. What is the problem that you are trying to solve? We are solving the labor crisis that’s currently faced by the food industry. Today, 75% of restaurants are understaffed, and turnover is 146% for certain positions. The food industry’s labor gap was… Continue reading Startup Corner: Robots Help Prepare Food in Busy Restaurants

From a Dark Moment to Our Finest Hour

Kel Jackson (MBA ’19) reflects on the community’s response to anonymous death threats sent to him and other black HBS students. On an afternoon in late March, an anonymous individual sent death threats to me and several other leaders of the African-American Student Union at HBS (AASU). In addition to direct threats to the recipients… Continue reading From a Dark Moment to Our Finest Hour

From the Editors’ Desk: From HBS to the World Beyond

This month, RCs head towards their internship summers, while ECs go forth into “the real world.” The near-term fates of these two classes are starkly different. How can one editors’ note be meaningful for both of them? Perhaps a modified version of the all-too-familiar (to us) Mary Oliver question can be illuminating. Tell us, what… Continue reading From the Editors’ Desk: From HBS to the World Beyond

Bill Tai on How to Invest in a Unicorn

Zoom’s first investor and noted kiteboarding venture capitalist analyzes the company’s origins; Philip Levinson (HKS ’12) reports. Wall Street is buzzing about the recent IPO of Zoom Video, with its market cap now exceeding $17 billion. But the 2011 origins of the company were quite inauspicious. After the successful Zoom IPO on April 18, venture… Continue reading Bill Tai on How to Invest in a Unicorn

BIGS Welcomes Lincoln Center’s Henry Timms for a Discussion on “New Power”

BIGS hosted the CEO of New York’s 92nd Street Y and newly-named President of the renowned Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts for a discussion of themes from his national bestseller, New Power. Keith Bender (MBA ’20) reports. What can an MBA student learn from Boaty McBoatface? Nothing short of the “key way of understanding… Continue reading BIGS Welcomes Lincoln Center’s Henry Timms for a Discussion on “New Power”

From the Editors’ Desk

C’est le provisoire qui dure (“it’s the makeshift that lasts”). Nestled near the end of the case that RCs were assigned for Friday’s BGIE class, this adage was a thought-provoking highlight amidst a dense and challenging account of Bretton Woods and the liberal world order spanning 15½ pages (plus 14 exhibits—ECs, don’t you miss BGIE?).… Continue reading From the Editors’ Desk

Dealing with Anxiety

Recently two former CEOs of large multinational companies (one British and one American) were talking about the most serious mental health problems that exist in the large American and British universities they each chair. Surprisingly the challenge on both sides of the Atlantic and echoed at two university chair meetings they had just attended was… Continue reading Dealing with Anxiety

Reflections from the Africa Business Conference: Debunking Myths about Business in Africa

Is the African continent not the best destination after graduation for MBAs? According to HBS’s career location statistics, it seems that less than 1% of students have chosen to pursue careers in Africa over the recent three years. We were left pondering this question as we saw very few non-African HBS students attending the 21st… Continue reading Reflections from the Africa Business Conference: Debunking Myths about Business in Africa

HBS Fails a Critical Test of a Community That Cares

Weld Hall, with Boylston Hall behind left, and Smith Campus center behind right. Jon Chase/Harvard Staff Photographer

[Editor’s note: On January 30, the HBS community received an email from Angela Crispi and Nitin Nohria announcing that Harvard University Health Services’ Business School Clinic, located in Cumnock, will close at the end of this semester. Harvard University Group Health Plan patients at HBS need a new primary care physician effective June 1.] Harvard… Continue reading HBS Fails a Critical Test of a Community That Cares

The WSA and Manbassadors Team Up to Survey Student Views on Gender Inequity

What does feminism mean to you? This is the question that we—the leadership of the Women’s Student Association and the HBS Manbassador Program—asked our peers in a recent survey. The above words and phrases are representative of the over 400 anonymous responses we received from HBS students. Some of these students self-identify as feminists, while… Continue reading The WSA and Manbassadors Team Up to Survey Student Views on Gender Inequity

Stop Being a Greedy Business School Student: Join the Socialist Society!

In class last week, a wrap-up slide mentioned “socialism” as a rising world trend, and when the professor offhandedly said “though I’m sure there are none in this classroom,” all eyes turned toward my co-founder and me. A chance political discussion during our section’s Fall retreat led to the formation of the Socialist Society, an… Continue reading Stop Being a Greedy Business School Student: Join the Socialist Society!

Our Mosaic: Stronger as We

Keynote speaker Berta de Pablos-Barbier, Chief Category Officer, Mars Wrigley Confectionery

On February 23, over 1,000 attendees gathered on campus for the 28th annual Dynamic Women in Business Conference, hosted by the Women’s Student Association. This year’s theme, “Our Mosaic: Stronger as We,” aimed to celebrate disparate stories and backgrounds and explore ways in which business leaders can actively and intentionally leverage diversity to drive success.… Continue reading Our Mosaic: Stronger as We

The Business of Cannabis Club: A New Club for a Budding Industry

Few come to HBS with the intention of pursuing a career in cannabis. But that won’t be true for long. Recent changes in the regulatory landscape have opened tremendous new market opportunities. Today 10 states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational adult-use cannabis, and a total of 33 states have legalized medical use.… Continue reading The Business of Cannabis Club: A New Club for a Budding Industry

Getting Lenders to Compete for Student Loans

What is the problem you are trying to solve? Individuals taking loans have no leverage to negotiate their rates. At the same time, lenders spend considerable resources marketing to potential borrowers. What is your solution? We use group buying power to negotiate down student loan interest rates. We attract a large number of students to… Continue reading Getting Lenders to Compete for Student Loans

How Blockchain is Totally Changing Healthcare

The tech world can’t stop talking about blockchain, and nowhere is that more apparent than in the healthcare sector. As one HealthTech contributor put it, “it was impossible to ignore the growing buzz around blockchain at HIMSS 2018 in Las Vegas.” But behind the buzz and hype, what are the substantial ways that blockchain will… Continue reading How Blockchain is Totally Changing Healthcare

Ten Years On, HBS Students Revive the Push for an MBA Oath

This year’s graduating MBA Class will re-enter the workforce ten years after the onset of the greatest economic recession in a generation. While the stock market has since recovered, business leaders today face an increasingly complex web of ethical and legal challenges amidst rising public scrutiny of their actions. As members of the MBA Class… Continue reading Ten Years On, HBS Students Revive the Push for an MBA Oath

Practicing Leadership in Corporate Accountability

During RC year, I often wondered why in-class conversations about ethical leadership were so divorced from the rest of the HBS curriculum. Case method discussions, cropped to fit narrow topics to build a foundation of specific technical competencies, are an excellent pedagogical means for most RC topics. Leadership and Corporate Accountability (LCA), in my opinion,… Continue reading Practicing Leadership in Corporate Accountability

Exclusive: Interview with Carlyle Co-Founder David Rubenstein

The following is a Harbus exclusive interview with David Rubenstein, co-founder of The Carlyle Group, one of the world’s largest private equity and alternative asset management firms with $174 billion under management. Rubenstein, who is a member of the Harvard Corporation as of July 2017, addressed the community at Spangler Auditorium in an event co-hosted… Continue reading Exclusive: Interview with Carlyle Co-Founder David Rubenstein

Department of Operations Implements Project Room Fees Spangler Grille to Become Room Time Trading Floor

Spangler Hall – The Department of Operations’ Room Reservations Office said Thursday that it will be implementing per-quarter-hour fees for project room use, responding to student complaints that there’s never a quiet spot to make a phone call when you goddam need one. “This will ensure an equitable distribution of project room resources at a… Continue reading Department of Operations Implements Project Room Fees Spangler Grille to Become Room Time Trading Floor