HBS Centennial Colloquia Reports
The Intellectual History of Harvard Business School
| Published: | May 7, 2008 |
| Author: | Richard S. Tedlow |
Executive Summary:
This colloquium held at HBS in April looked at key developments in the areas of entrepreneurship, organizational behavior, accounting, and strategy, among others. HBS professor Richard S. Tedlow describes the highlights.
About Faculty in this Article:
Richard S. Tedlow is the MBA Class of 1949 Professor of Business Administration Emeritus at Harvard Business School.
Date: April 17-18, 2008
Faculty Chair: Richard S. Tedlow
Faculty Summary Report:
Colloquium: The Intellectual History of the Harvard Business School: Six Case Studies
What were the overall goals of the colloquium?
The colloquium had three goals. The first was to explore how seminal ideas have been created, developed, and refined at HBS during the past century. The second was to illustrate the variety of ways in which those ideas have influenced students, the business world, and the academy. And the third was to encourage future innovation by showing the mechanisms through which these high-impact ideas have been developed.
What were a few key developments in the history of Harvard Business School in the areas of entrepreneurship, organizational behavior, accounting and management, values and ethics, and strategy?
For the sake of space, let me select one area of inquiry, and that is Leadership and Organizational Behavior. The key developments include the original teaching of scientific management by Frederick W. Taylor; the change in perspective from Taylorism to the Human Relations approach, which resulted from the Hawthorne studies; and the later development of "contingency theory" as advanced in the classic by Paul Lawrence and Jay Lorsch, Organization and Environment. This extraordinarily rich heritage has exercised an impact around the world and continues to inform the teaching of Leadership and Organizational Behavior here at the Harvard Business School and elsewhere.
The Leadership and Organizational Behavior course in the First Year of the MBA program has a number of daunting assignments. First, it has to overcome the skepticism that some people have about whether leadership can in fact be taught. Then it must locate the organization to be led in the environment in which it exists and develop materials which generate discussion about a variety of issues which, though of critical importance, are often not susceptible to proof. The Leadership and Organizational Behavior course succeeds because, among other reasons, the richness of the field's history informs the faculty, which in turn develop materials which allow for an in-depth exploration of organizational dynamics.
The “starbursts” session provided brief yet in-depth looks at five unique figures in HBS history: John Lintner, Howard Raiffa, Georges Doriot, Theodore Levitt, and C. Roland Christensen. Is it possible to capture in a few words how these five very different people contributed to the life of HBS and to describe their impact outside the School?
Although these people are very different, there are nevertheless important lessons to be learned from them. Each of the five had a signature insight which established his reputation permanently. To be brief:
- John Lintner—the capital asset pricing model.
- Howard Raiffa—Bayesian decision theory.
- Georges Doriot—venture capital.
- Theodore Levitt—marketing myopia.
- C. Roland Christensen—the art of case-method teaching.
What is remarkable is that five such extraordinarily different personalities could flourish at our institution. Their backgrounds, both intellectual and personal, were highly diverse. Christensen, for example, was perhaps the School's foremost apostle of the case method. Doriot, in complete contrast, was the only professor at the School who didn't teach by the case method.
There are two characteristics which unite these five people. One is a profound devotion to the School and to its students. Two is that they all aimed high. The goals of all five of these people were very ambitious. The combination of their particular genius and the institution of which they were a part permitted their ambitions to be realized.
What insights or surprises did you walk away with?
I found it remarkable that so many of the most important figures in HBS history, and indeed so many of the people who were making presentations about them (and are very important at the School today) had to make a leap to become a part of this community. They had to leave their comfort zones. They had to abandon the normal methods of career advancement in the fields in which they were trained.
Without this willingness to take a leap, the greats of the past would never have fulfilled their destinies. Nor would the presenters.
I was also deeply impressed by the difficulty of maintaining this special edge as the special edge as the School grows and as business becomes global. The School has always exerted a powerful magnetism for a certain set of remarkable people. There is nothing automatic about this particular magnetism.
Judging from the history of the School, the challenge of the future is to find new ways in a new era to remain a special institution.
Will there be publications or other output from this colloquium?
I am hoping to write a book based on the colloquium.
The colloquium was video- and audio-taped, and there is already an interest by some people who were unable to attend in seeing some of the sessions. Some of the sessions may be edited and used, for example, to help new faculty to orient themselves to the School. 
HBS Centennial Colloquia Reports
There are 29 articles for this feature.
As part of the School's centennial celebration in 2008, business leaders and policy makers from around the world met at HBS in October to discuss a wide range of business topics. We will highlight summaries of these discussions each week. Full videos and transcripts are also available.
Transforming Giants
| Published: | October 21, 2009 |
|---|---|
| Feature: | HBS Business Summit |
A new type of 21st century company is emerging that is transforming how business is conducted. These are values-driven companies that define a core set of values and rely on these values in making all strategic decisions.
HBS Past and Present
| Published: | October 7, 2009 |
|---|---|
| Feature: | HBS Business Summit |
Eight enduring themes have characterized Harvard Business School from its earliest years, and remain as integral as ever to the way the School thinks and operates.
Harvard and HBS: The Next 100 Years
| Published: | September 30, 2009 |
|---|---|
| Feature: | HBS Business Summit |
Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust reflected on Harvard Business School's past 100 years and shared her vision of the future, while HBS Dean Jay Light discussed the School's history and highlighted key focus areas for the future.
Business Summit: Real Estate
| Published: | July 28, 2009 |
|---|---|
| Feature: | HBS Business Summit |
Experts discuss the global real estate crisis, the future of securitization, and predictions for the future of the U.S. real estate market.
Business Summit: Business Education in the 21st Century
| Published: | July 24, 2009 |
|---|---|
| Feature: | HBS Business Summit |
Business schools are innovating and experimenting to change the MBA experience, and to help business education regain its relevance and value. Along with a changing curricula, programs are attempting to make the learning experience more interactive, engaging, global, and experiential.
Business Summit: Managing Human Capital—Global Trends and Challenges
| Published: | July 21, 2009 |
|---|---|
| Feature: | HBS Business Summit |
Human capital needed for globalization is lacking. Progress is required in important areas such as elevating more women to leadership positions, according to panelists at the HBS Business Summit.
Business Summit: Ethics in Globalization
| Published: | July 17, 2009 |
|---|---|
| Feature: | HBS Business Summit |
It is impossible to regulate against greed and ethical shortcomings. What can be done is to force greater transparency and accountability.
Business Summit: China in the Global Economy
| Published: | July 14, 2009 |
|---|---|
| Feature: | HBS Business Summit |
While the global economic downturn will affect China's exports, the domestic economy is expected to remain strong, agreed panelists at the HBS Business Summit.
Business Summit: The Coming World Oil Crisis
| Published: | July 10, 2009 |
|---|---|
| Feature: | HBS Business Summit |
Without enormous changes the world faces an imminent oil crisis—and there are no silver bullet solutions. People must wake up to the sobering ramifications of peak oil, which may be the defining issue of this century.
Business Summit: Historical Roots of Globalization
| Published: | July 7, 2009 |
|---|---|
| Feature: | HBS Business Summit |
In this breakout session, panelists shared insights, informed by history, of the convergence that globalization promotes.
Business Summit: The Role of Social Entrepreneurship in Transforming American Public Education
| Published: | July 2, 2009 |
|---|---|
| Feature: | HBS Business Summit |
Amid formidable barriers, a set of passionate social entrepreneurs are disrupting the status quo in education with innovative and effective approaches that are producing measurable results. The challenge now is to build support so these solutions can be applied elsewhere.
Business Summit: The Role of Business Leaders in Sustaining Market Capitalism
| Published: | June 30, 2009 |
|---|---|
| Feature: | HBS Business Summit |
Business leaders at the HBS Business Summit agreed on the threats to capitalism, but offered different opinions on the way forward.
Business Summit: Business and the Environment
| Published: | June 26, 2009 |
|---|---|
| Feature: | HBS Business Summit |
If the causes for global climate change are not addressed, the consequences for the planet are likely to be disastrous. Governments, business, and consumers must act.
Business Summit: Global Environment-Transformed Organization
| Published: | June 23, 2009 |
|---|---|
| Feature: | HBS Business Summit |
According to two panel sessions led by HBS professor Clayton M. Christensen, successful organizations must continually transform themselves in today's dynamic world.
Business Summit: The Evolution of Agribusiness
| Published: | June 19, 2009 |
|---|---|
| Feature: | HBS Business Summit |
Agribusiness has come to be seen not just as economically important, but as a critical part of society. The future for this massive industry will be both exciting and complex.
Business Summit: The Future of Market Capitalism
| Published: | June 16, 2009 |
|---|---|
| Feature: | HBS Business Summit |
Professor Michael E. Porter leads a discussion on the shortcomings of the capitalist system and ways the business community can better serve broader societal interests.
Business Summit: Lawrence Summers on Market Capitalism's Historic Opportunity
| Published: | June 12, 2009 |
|---|---|
| Feature: | HBS Business Summit |
Confronting today's economic challenges represents an historic opportunity to save capitalism from itself, and in doing so, to create more prosperity and improve the lives of more people, says Lawrence Summers.
Business Summit: Enterprise Risk Management
| Published: | June 9, 2009 |
|---|---|
| Feature: | HBS Business Summit |
Risk management is a key to sustained firm growth, says professor Robert S. Kaplan. Key ingredients to a successful risk management program include the proper culture, clear parameters, discipline, measurement, and accountability.
Business Summit: Niall Ferguson and the Certainty of Uncertainty
| Published: | June 5, 2009 |
|---|---|
| Feature: | HBS Business Summit |
The economic crisis should not have been unexpected, says professor Niall Ferguson. Business leaders should consider history when developing their strategies, plans, and models, and should keep in mind that outlier events occur.
Business Summit: Introduction to the Future of Market Capitalism
| Published: | May 29, 2009 |
|---|---|
| Feature: | HBS Business Summit |
Professor Joseph L. Bower discusses a two-year research project exploring the views of global business leaders and HBS faculty on what might threaten the world's economic progress.
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