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Business School, Disrupted

nytimes.com

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Re: Business School, Disrupted

#11

Post by nether »

damoncali wrote: post #8
fozzieBoston wrote: post #2

Harvard Business School student here. I find this article fascinating, specifically because it highlights the challenge of transferring the case based method to the virtual world. Unlike regular lectures where you can sit and absorb, the case based method requires you to actively participate and defend your argument in front of 90 peers. You have to prepare, think on your feet and be ready to challenge and build upon…

I'll go ahead and say what you tiptoed around. You cannot recreate the experience of a top-tier MBA program online. You cannot drink online. You cannot travel the world online. You cannot play rugby online. There are hundreds of things that make B school what it is that you just cannot do online.

Funny post validating that ⅔ * HBS = BS.

Re: Business School, Disrupted

#12

Post by mdorazio »

vinceguidry wrote: post #10
waps wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In other words, a HBS degree only has value because some powerful entranched people feel inclined to defend it because for them it's a sunk cost. In other words, if there is any actual value of the courses, it's beside the point, and HBS has zero incentive to do anything but raise the price, in time and money. I'm sure they give a reasonable introduction to the material, but that's not how they profile themselves at…

> HBS has zero incentive to do anything but raise the price, in time and money. Harvard University's endowment is the largest out of any university in the world. They have literally no incentive to squeeze matriculants, and have been increasing their financial aid pool whenever they can. You really don't know what you're talking about. Harvard is trying as hard as it can to not be an elitist club. They regularly revi…

I think you're conflating Harvard University with Harvard Business School, which are two distinct entities. Your comments are true for the former, but generally not for the latter.

Re: Business School, Disrupted

#13

Post by 001sky »

mdorazio wrote: post #12
vinceguidry wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> HBS has zero incentive to do anything but raise the price, in time and money. Harvard University's endowment is the largest out of any university in the world. They have literally no incentive to squeeze matriculants, and have been increasing their financial aid pool whenever they can. You really don't know what you're talking about. Harvard is trying as hard as it can to not be an elitist club. They regularly revi…

I think you're conflating Harvard University with Harvard Business School, which are two distinct entities. Your comments are true for the former, but generally not for the latter.

HBS is a profit center. Plain and simple.

No need to give away a product which people are happy paying for.

Just street smarts 101.

Re: Business School, Disrupted

#14

Post by barry-cotter »

vinceguidry wrote: post #10
waps wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In other words, a HBS degree only has value because some powerful entranched people feel inclined to defend it because for them it's a sunk cost. In other words, if there is any actual value of the courses, it's beside the point, and HBS has zero incentive to do anything but raise the price, in time and money. I'm sure they give a reasonable introduction to the material, but that's not how they profile themselves at…

> HBS has zero incentive to do anything but raise the price, in time and money. Harvard University's endowment is the largest out of any university in the world. They have literally no incentive to squeeze matriculants, and have been increasing their financial aid pool whenever they can. You really don't know what you're talking about. Harvard is trying as hard as it can to not be an elitist club. They regularly revi…

Harvard is trying as hard as it can to not be an elitist club.

They really are trying to be the best university in the world.

Which is it?

Re: Business School, Disrupted

#15

Post by HBSisBS »

The ultimate mission of a great university is to impart high quality education to as many students as it can. If the reason HBS is not offering online courses is to keep profits up, then there is some serious rethinking the leadership needs to do - they've got the mission mixed up. If the new model means reduced profits initially, figure out a model to still make money, because as long as you're creating real value, there is always a way to monetize it.

Even if the case based methodology cannot be brought online, just recording the lectures and putting it up will benefit millions online. This won't really take away from the "value" of a HBS stamp because it is not certified and because you don't have access to the network and the classroom experience that students who attend the traditional program have.

This way you are accomplishing your mission of making the best education accessible to anyone in the world, which is what defines a truly great university. In my book, Stanford and MIT are the real rockstars because of the approach they've taken in this area.

Re: Business School, Disrupted

#16

Post by kriro »

I think the most important point of the article is that an unbundling of professors from universities might happen.

Some online education platform could very well buy out some great professors or better yet...identify the newcomers and get them on board.

Research and teaching is still somewhat tightly coupled so I'm curious to see when/if some of the online course providers will opt to sponsor or create their own open access type journals.

For business and IT, I think the market for continued learning is currently more attractive than the typical university market. I'd like to rent a Porter for my company to update them on interesting topics 3x a year.

Re: Business School, Disrupted

#17

Post by [deleted] »

fozzieBoston wrote: post #2

Harvard Business School student here. I find this article fascinating, specifically because it highlights the challenge of transferring the case based method to the virtual world. Unlike regular lectures where you can sit and absorb, the case based method requires you to actively participate and defend your argument in front of 90 peers. You have to prepare, think on your feet and be ready to challenge and build upon…

[deleted]

Re: Business School, Disrupted

#18

Post by fnazeeri »

kriro wrote: post #16

I think the most important point of the article is that an unbundling of professors from universities might happen. Some online education platform could very well buy out some great professors or better yet...identify the newcomers and get them on board. Research and teaching is still somewhat tightly coupled so I'm curious to see when/if some of the online course providers will opt to sponsor or create their own ope…

Sort of like Netflix getting into original content a la Kevin Spacey and House of Cards. Brilliant.

Re: Business School, Disrupted

#19

Post by fnazeeri »

fozzieBoston wrote: post #2

Harvard Business School student here. I find this article fascinating, specifically because it highlights the challenge of transferring the case based method to the virtual world. Unlike regular lectures where you can sit and absorb, the case based method requires you to actively participate and defend your argument in front of 90 peers. You have to prepare, think on your feet and be ready to challenge and build upon…

Don't forget HBX Live too.

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/article/2014/05/28/harvar...

Re: Business School, Disrupted

#20

Post by devanti »

fozzieBoston wrote: post #2

Harvard Business School student here. I find this article fascinating, specifically because it highlights the challenge of transferring the case based method to the virtual world. Unlike regular lectures where you can sit and absorb, the case based method requires you to actively participate and defend your argument in front of 90 peers. You have to prepare, think on your feet and be ready to challenge and build upon…

This is exactly my problem with HBS. Their cases are heavily geared towards financial and exit situations, where PE/bankers will excel at. This also reflects on the fact that a lot of their students come from those backgrounds. They don't really focus on actual technology problems as much, and it would be harder for an engineer to bring their experience to the table.
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