Harvard Business School MBA News
Get the latest MBA news from Harvard Business School.
Published: December 2, 2014
Harvard Business School Study Attributes Leadership Gender Gap to Corporate Structures
A recent study by two professors from Harvard Business School (HBS) and a third from Hunter College examined the career ambitions of 25,000 HBS alumni to help understand the gender gap that exists in senior management positions. They found that despite similar ambitions upon joining the workforce, male respondents were much more likely than their female counterpoints to feel like their goals were met. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the survey’s results showed that this disparity had more to do with corporate structures than with women “opting out” to have families.
The study, “Rethink What You ‘Know’ About High-Achieving Women,” was conducted by HBS Professor Robin J. Ely, Pamela Stone of Hunter College and HBS Gender Initiative Assistant Director Colleen C. Ammerman and published this month in Harvard Business Review. Instead of finding that women’s careers were sidetracked because they chose to prioritize family over work, the researchers discovered that the women who left their jobs after having children did so because “they find themselves in unfulfilling roles with dim prospects for advancement” or facing other career limitations. “It simply isn’t true that a large proportion of Harvard alumnae have ‘opted out’ to care for children,” they continued.
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Published: November 11, 2014
Demystifying the Mysterious World of Business School Rankings
It’s not every day that MBA rankings end up trending on Facebook, and yet yesterday that’s exactly what happened. When Bloomberg BusinessWeek released its biennial ranking of full-time MBA programs, the results shocked many and created quite a buzz. According to Bloomberg BW’s most recent calculations, Duke’s Fuqua School of Business has stolen the number one spot, knocking Harvard Business School out of the top five for the first time in history.
Just how did Bloomberg BW decide which programs rose to the top and which fell from grace? As it turns out, the Martin J. Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University just a few weeks ago released an infographic that provides a clear and concise overview showcasing the rankings methodologies employed by five major publications: Bloomberg BW, along with U.S. News & World Report, the Financial Times, the Economist and Forbes.
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Published: November 10, 2014
Duke’s Fuqua School of Business Tops Latest Bloomberg BusinessWeek Ranking
Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business shot to the top of Bloomberg Businessweek’s biennial ranking of full-time MBA programs, released today, up from No. 6 two years ago. In the process, the North Carolina school unseated the reigning University of Chicago Booth School of Business and pushed Harvard Business School (HBS) out of the top five for the first time in the history of the rankings.
The formula Bloomberg BW employs to arrive at its rankings is as follows: 45 percent of the score is based on how recruiters rate MBA hires from the school, another 45 percent is determined by how graduating MBAs judge their program and the remaining 10 percent is based on faculty productivity, as measured by a tally of research published in leading journals.
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Published: October 30, 2014
Stanford Graduate School of Business Calls It Quits for MBA Admission Blog
Don’t look for future posts on the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) MBA Admissions Blog. In a final entry earlier this week, the school announced that it was saying goodbye to its blog. All prior blog content will remain accessible through mid-December, after which prospective applicants will need to keep up with news and developments regarding Stanford MBA admissions via other means.
“Our blog has begun to resemble a Tesla at a gas station,” wrote admissions staffer Victoria Hendel De La O as part of a final post on October 29th. She attributed the decline of the blog to the school’s increasing reliance on other forms of social media to communicate updates. Indeed, posts to the Stanford MBA Admissions blog have grown increasingly infrequent over the past year – with the last post going up back in June.
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Published: October 6, 2014
Harvard Business School Professor Launches U.S. Cluster Mapping Tool
Renowned Harvard Business School (HBS) Professor Michael Porter has launched a new tool that provides data on the presence of “clusters” – regional groupings of related industries – and regional economies throughout the United States. By providing a view of economic development through the lens of clusters rather than specific types of companies, industries or sectors, the new U.S. Cluster Mapping tool can help identify important links and potential synergies between technology, skills and information.
Porter launched the new tool, based on his path-breaking research, as part of a two-day conference called Mapping the Midwest’s Future, held late last month at the University of Minnesota. The conference drew business leaders, policymakers, economic development officials and academics from multiple Midwest states and Canadian provinces.
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Published: October 5, 2014
New Loan Program Launches for International MBA Students at U.S. Schools
A new pilot loan program will provide expanded options for international MBA students at a number of top programs in the United States, according to a recent report in Poestandquants. The program, offered by Prodigy Finance, will extend to international students and U.S. residents with non-permanent status who are studying at 16 top schools, including Harvard Business School, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and MIT Sloan School of Management.
Especially in recent years, banks have been reluctant to lend to students who are studying internationally. Prodigy Finance seeks to fill this need using a “community finance” model. Basically, alumni from participating schools fund loans for current students, banking on the value of a degree from their alma mater and the likelihood that future alums will repay. Interest rates on the loans vary between 6 and 12 percent, depending on the school, the individual borrower’s profile and current rates.
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Published: September 24, 2014
Reaching Out to Host LGBT MBA Conference Next Week in San Francisco
Nonprofit organization Reaching Out will host a conference for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) business school students and prospective applicants next week in San Francisco. The Reaching Out LGBT MBA Conference expects to draw more than 1,400 students, business leaders and recruiters for three days of events, including a full afternoon of programming for prospective LGBT MBA applicants. This year’s conference will take place from October 2nd through 4th.
Now in its 16th year, the Reaching Out MBA Conference was established to provides future lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender leaders from around the world the opportunity to network, learn and improve their skills and advance in the business world. From its beginnings in 1999 as a student-run conference organized by students at Harvard Business School and Yale School of Management, Reaching Out has grown into a year-round operating organization “dedicated to educating, inspiring and connecting business students to impact change in the classroom and workplace.”
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Published: September 14, 2014
Interview Updates from Harvard Business School Admissions Director
As anyone applying to Harvard Business School (HBS) knows only too well, Round 1 applications were due last Tuesday. As the HBS Admissions Committee has settled into reading applicants’ files, an antsy set of applicants has settled into wait. HBS Dean of Admissions Dee Leopold devoted a post on her Admissions Director blog on Friday to letting the expectant candidates know how the next stage of the process will unfold. Leopold’s team will send out invitations to candidates advancing to the interview stage in two batches next month, one on October 8th and a
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Published: September 8, 2014
MBA@UNC Infographic Demonstrates ROI of MBA
MBA@UNC, the online MBA program at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, has created an in-depth infographic to help demonstrate the return on investment (ROI) of the MBA degree generally – as well as some specific benefits offered by online programs.
The infographic notes that 96 percent of MBA graduates rate the value of their degree as outstanding, excellent or good and would recommend a graduate management education to others, citing data from the Graduate Management Admissions Council. Three out of four of those surveyed by GMAC said they could not have obtained their current job without their degree.
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Published: August 26, 2014
Harvard Business School Admissions Director on GMAT vs. GRE
Harvard Business School (HBS) has stated publicly for some time that it accepts both the GMAT and the GRE and does not prefer one over the other. In a bid to be even more transparent on the issue, HBS Admissions Director Dee Leopold devoted a recent post on her Director’s Blog to the matter.
To substantiate the claim that the school is agnostic in terms of a preference between the two tests, Leopold chose to reveal exactly how many applicants submitted each type of test score, along with how many of those applicants were ultimately admitted and matriculated. While the vast majority of applicants opted to submit GMAT scores, the percentage of matriculating admits as compared to total applicants broken out by test were within close range.
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Published: August 24, 2014
Ice Bucket Challenge Continues Its Ripple Through Top Business Schools
It started last week with one section challenging another at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, ultimately leading to a school-wide dousing and a challenge issued to rival schools UNC Kenan-Flagler School, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and UVA’s Darden School. And the ice-cold water just keeps flowing (as do the donations).
The challenge, of course, is the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge that began going viral in late July and has amassed an incredible $79.7 million in donations to date (as compared to just $2.5 million during the same time period last year [July 29th to August 25th]). The ALS Association reports that it has gained 1.7 million new donors along the way.
Those who are challenged are supposed to have ice water dumped over their heads and then challenge others to do the same—or to make a donation to fight ALS—within 24 hours. In taking up the mantle, business school classes have called upon their peers to both endure the icy shower AND donate.
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Published: August 20, 2014
Financial Aid at Harvard Business School, Straight from the Admissions Director
NEWS FLASH: Business school, especially at top schools, costs a ton. Okay, so that’s not really news. More notable is the fact that top schools want to make the MBA affordable, at least according to the most recent post on the Director’s Blog at Harvard Business School (HBS).
Earlier this week, HBS Admissions Director Dee Leopold devoted a post on her blog to the topic of financial aid, noting that HBS last year awarded $26 million in need-based financial aid and has plans to increase that amount for the Class of 2017.
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New Director Named to Lead Harvard Business School Social Enterprise Initiative
Harvard Business School (HBS) has named a 2010 alumnus to direct its Social Enterprise Initiative (SEI), which seeks through an array of programs and activities to advance understanding of the management and leadership challenges organizations face as they work to create social value.
Matthew Segneri (MBA 2010) was named director of HBS's SEI, which since its launch in 1993 has helped establish and promote the concept of social enterprise. He succeeds Laura Moon, who has become managing director of HBS's wide array of Initiatives, which focus on research and course development in specific topics such as leadership, health care and digital technology.
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Coding Finds Its Way Into Top Business School Curriculums
Harvard Business School (HBS) plans to offer a computer programming elective within the next couple of years, and other top business schools may be moving in the same direction as more companies seek MBAs with strong technical skills, according to a recent report in Bloomberg BusinessWeek.
Paul Gompers, who chairs the MBA elective curriculum at HBS, notes that MBA students there have formed coding clubs or head across to Harvard’s Cambridge campus to take introductory computer science, but that a course specifically tailored to business students is needed at the school.
“This is the changing nature of the workforce, and this is what our graduates are going on to be doing in the next five to 10 to 20 years,” Gompers told Bloomberg BW.
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Fridays From the Frontline
Hello and welcome to Fridays from the Frontline, Clear Admit's weekly exhaustive enumeration of the enterprising entries in the b-school blogosphere. This week, current applicants are in full GMAT prep-mode, contemplating choice of schools and full versus part-time programs, while the Class of 2016 is looking forward to starting their MBA programs in just a few short weeks, and all the life and career changes that will bring. This week we also welcome blogger QuietTiger81, who is sharing his perspective as a second year student at Oxford.
MBAonMyMind has added YaleSOM to the tally board, given the school's focus on social impact businesses, and with three weeks into GMAT prep, all is going according to plan. With a GMAT prep plan of his own, GrantMeAdmission is gaining on his 760 goal with three life hacks to help him stay focused and positive. GrantMeAdmission also takes some time to discuss the pros and cons of doing a part-time MBA, and why he chose to go the full-time route.
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Alumni Gift to Fund Construction of New Conference Center at Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School (HBS) last month announced plans to build a new center on its Boston campus that will serve as a place for students, faculty, alumni and business leaders to convene and share ideas. Called Klarman Hall in recognition of a generous alumni gift, the new building will feature a large conference center, a performance space and a community gathering space and is expected to open in 2018.
A gift from Seth Klarman (MBA 1982) and his wife Beth will make the construction of the new facility possible. Klarman is president and CEO of Boston-based investment management firm the Baupost Group, his wife is president of the Klarman Family Foundation and both serve as members of HBS’s Board of Dean’s Advisors.
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Fridays From the Frontline
Hello and welcome to Fridays From the Frontline, Clear Admit's weekly summation of the best of the b-school blogosphere. As the school year has finished, current students have taken the opportunity to reflect on the experience of first year, while MBA hopefuls are putting together a plan of action to ensure a successful application process. Those Round 1 deadlines are not that far off! (Check the Clear Admit blog for up to date deadlines and essay information.)
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500 Harvard Business School Alumni Contribute to First Crowdsourced Article
Harvard Business Review recently published its first formally crowdsourced article, a piece entitled “The Capitalist’s Dilemma” that included contributions from almost 500 Harvard Business School (HBS) alumni. The experiment was designed to helped build on a theory put forth by renowned HBS Business Administration Professor Clayton Christensen about the flawed way that companies make investment decisions, which he first explored as part of a New York Times article in 2012. Lead authors Christensen, who is best known for his work on disruptive innovation, and Derek van Bever, a senior lecturer in entrepreneurial management at
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Harvard Business School’s HBX Online Program Reveals Deeper Debate
As Harvard Business School (HBS) prepares to debut its new online education program on June 11th, some of its leading professors debate the strategy behind the school’s decision regarding how to respond to the rise of massive open online courses (MOOCs).
A New York Times article yesterday explored the thinking behind HBS’s online platform, HBX, which will attempt to preserve and extend the school’s competitive advantage by creating online courses that, unlike MOOCs, replicate HBS’s distinctive discussion-based case method teaching, but that do not compete with the MBA itself.
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Fridays From the Frontline
Hello and welcome to Fridays From the Frontline, Clear Admit’s weekly summation of the soliloquies of the b-school blogosphere. This week, even as we are about to announce the winners of the Best of Blogging 2013 contest, we have two new bloggers to feature with interesting and thoughtful updates on the application and admissions process, while current students and recent graduates also share their perspectives. GrantMeAdmission starts off a busy week by outlining how he carefully selected the schools to apply to, along with a list of 8 questions every application should ask before applying. Once finished with that
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What a Harvard Business School MBA Doesn’t Teach You
With just days to go before he graduates, Harvard Business School (HBS) student Ben Faw compiled a list of things he didn’t learn at HBS into a compelling infographic that quickly became one of the most popular blog posts on LinkedIn earlier this week. Since Clear Admit readers often have HBS in their sights, we thought we’d share some of Faw’s insights here.
An army combat veteran, Faw had the idea to dispel some of the misconceptions he thinks people sometimes have about the MBA, and especially about the HBS MBA. With the assistance of fellow classmates and a local startup, he helped create an informative post to tackle the myths one by one.
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The Soaring Price of Business School Networking
A New York Times article this weekend examined the growing number of trips and other “lifestyle experiences” that now compete with academic ones as part of the MBA program at many leading business schools. Even those that don’t offer any form of academic credit can be viewed as valuable networking opportunities that can help position students for jobs upon graduation—worth their steep price tags in the eyes of some.
As an example, the Times story lead with a February ski trip to Park City, Utah, that about a third of the MBA class from the University of Texas as Austin’s McCombs School of Business went on. The three-day trip, planned by a student-run group called the Graduate Business Adventure Team, was advertised to cost about $1,000, though final costs may have ended up higher.
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Harvard, Wharton, Stanford Release Class of 2017 Application Updates
Following the Round 3 notification details that went out to applicants to the Class of 2016 on Wednesday, Harvard Business School (HBS) Admissions Director Dee Leopold wasted no time in looking ahead to the application season for the Class of 2017.
In a post to her Admissions Director Blog yesterday, she outlined what prospective applicants should expect in the year ahead. Not to be outdone, Stanford Graduate School of Business and the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School also released application updates this week.
In her post, HBS's Leopold shared the optional “essay” question that applicants will encounter when they look at the application for the Class of 2017, unchanged from last year:
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Harvard Business School Admissions Coming Soon to a City Near You
Prospective applicants in parts of Europe and Asia will soon have an opportunity to learn more about the Harvard Business School (HBS) MBA program as part of a series of outreach events scheduled for June. Members of the HBS Admissions Board will be visiting Madrid, Milan, Berlin, Shanghai, Seoul and Tokyo between June 9th and 14th. These international events will include a presentation from current HBS students, as well as alumni and a member of the Admissions Board. In several instances, the event will be followed by a reception, giving prospective applicants an opportunity to network with one another and members of the HBS community.
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Economist Ranks Top 20 North American MBA Programs, Chicago Booth Leads
In case you missed it, the Economist earlier this week broke out the top 20 North American full-time MBA programs, as a follow-up to its global ranking. As an introduction to this North American-specific list, the Economist calls America the “spiritual home of the MBA,” noting that the first MBA was offered there more than a century ago and that today, U.S. schools dominate the publication's global ranking. (Eight of the top 10 business schools in the worldwide ranking are located in U.S.)
Among the Top 20 North American MBA programs, the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business claimed the top spot (as it did in the global rankings). Among the other highest-ranking North American schools were several prestigious U.S. names, including Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, Harvard Business School, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, MIT Sloan School of Management and Stanford Graduate School of Business.
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