Publications

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September 2017 (Revised January 2019)
Case

Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path

By: Mitchell Weiss and Matthew Segneri

Direct entry into government remained an uncommon post-HBS path, with only 1%–2% of recent classes going directly into the public sector. But, for public-minded MBAs, government wasn’t the sole province for public problem-solving. MBAs could join or launch companies... View Details

2003
Working Paper

The American CEO in the Twentieth Century: Demography and Career Path

By: Richard S. Tedlow, Courtney Purrington and Kim Eric Bettcher

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December 2012 (Revised January 2015)
Technical Note

Early Career LBOs Using the Search Fund Model

By: Howard Stevenson, Michael Roberts and Jim Sharpe

The funded search model is one alternative for individuals who, at some point in their career, want to run their own companies. This note looks at the funded search, as a means to entrepreneurship through acquisition and describes the path to buy and run a business... View Details

Keywords: Search Funds; Search; Entrepreneurial Finance; Investor Behavior; Career Planning; Entrepreneurial Management; Fundraising; Negotiation; Entrepreneurship; Capital Structure; Borrowing and Debt; Personal Development and Career; Private Ownership; Acquisition; Finance; Leveraged Buyouts

15 May 2006
Lessons from the Classroom

Women Find New Path to Work

primarily looking for their entrepreneurial tendencies and collecting a lot of demographic data as well. When I began to sort by gender, I found that the career paths taken by women from HBS were very, very... View Details

Keywords: by Mallory Stark

September 2023 (Revised July 2024)
Case

Honest Jobs: A Path to Redemption

By: Paul A. Gompers and Jeffrey Barkas

Founded by a formerly incarcerated job seeker, Honest Jobs' mission is to be the hub where people with criminal records come to build careers and employers come to find great talent. Honest Jobs faced early challenges as a two-sided platform for justice-involved job... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Venture Capital; Recruitment; Entrepreneurial Finance; Selection and Staffing; Digital Platforms; Job Search; Mission and Purpose; Expansion; Employment Industry; United States; Colorado; Ohio; Texas

01 Jul 1991
Conference Presentation

Career Paths of Entrepreneurs with MBAs: A Comparative Study of Alumni from Three Graduate Programs

By: Daniel F. Muzyka, H. H. Stevenson and A. Larson

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Higher Education; Personal Development and Career

April 2003 (Revised June 2003)
Case

Abby Joseph Cohen: A Career Retrospective

By: Ashish Nanda

This case provides a career retrospective as of 2003 on Goldman Sachs strategist Abby Joseph Cohen. It reviews Cohen's career path and progress through key decision points. View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Personal Development and Career

09 Aug 2006
Research & Ideas

Career Advancement Without Experience

Y. How do I get there? There's also potential for examining the overall shape of a contract worker's career over the course of a thirty- to forty-year period. "If one's career View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Motion Pictures & Video; Technology

01 Feb 2018
Cold Call Podcast

Black Business Leaders Series: Oprah’s Path to Authentic Leadership

Keywords: Entertainment & Recreation

Research Summary

Reinventing Yourself: Identity and Transformation in Professional Careers

Professor Herminia Ibarra is working on a book about people who change careers. The book explains why, when, and how people find themselves at a crossroads in their career and how they develp the skills they need to make their way successfully to a new professional... View Details

March 2011
Article

The New Path to the C-Suite

By: Boris Groysberg, L. Kevin Kelly and Bryan MacDonald

Job requirements at the top of corporations have changed. Companies have come to expect much more from their C-level executives, who need new and different skills to deal with today's business realities. Exactly what abilities do firms want in their leaders—now and in... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Leadership; Management Skills; Personal Development and Career

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May 2017
Teaching Plan

Neurotrack and the Alzheimer's Puzzle

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Teaching Note for HBS No. 816-072. View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Alzheimer's Disease; Career Path; Life Science Business

2011
Book

True North Groups: A Powerful Path to Personal and Leadership Development

By: Bill George and Doug Baker

All too often, we find ourselves forced to confront life's challenges on our own. What we need is an intimate group with whom we can examine our beliefs and share our lives. For the past thirty-five years, Bill George and Doug Baker have found the answer in True North... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Leadership; Personal Development and Career; Problems and Challenges; Groups and Teams; Opportunities; Personal Characteristics

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March 2018
Supplement

Sandra Brown Goes Digital (B): The Commitment Decision

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jonathan Cohen

Sandra Brown, a middle manager at a biotech company who has led internal and external movements for change over the last few years, faces a decision. Whether to continue to work for change at the company or move on to pursue new opportunities elsewhere, where her new... View Details

Keywords: Digital; Stakeholder Engagement; Managing Change; Career Path; Health Care Industry; Quality; Leading Change; Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Personal Development and Career; Decision Choices and Conditions

14 Feb 2023
Research & Ideas

When a Vacation Isn’t Enough, a Sabbatical Can Recharge Your Life—and Your Career

or work in an eco-lodge to consider a career change. Some people might write a book or tackle a problem in their company totally separate from their everyday work role. “Oftentimes, we find that these experiences lead to the greatest... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

March 2018
Supplement

Sandra Brown Goes Digital (C): Raising Quality in a Healthcare Company

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jonathan Cohen

Using digital and social media tools and lessons learned from prior change campaigns as a middle manager in a large biotech company, Sandra Brown continued in a new role in the quality division, engaging staff in a quality movement at the company. She had found a new... View Details

Keywords: Digital; Grassroots Movement; Managing Change; Career Path; Stakeholder Engagement; Engagement; Health Care Industry; Quality; Leading Change; Performance Improvement; Personal Development and Career; Social Media; Health Industry

06 Jul 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Looking Up and Looking Out: Career Mobility Effects of Demographic Similarity among Professionals

Keywords: by Kathleen L. McGinn & Katherine L. Milkman; Legal Services

June 2018
Teaching Note

Sandra Brown Goes Digital

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jonathan Cohen

As a middle manager at a biotechnology company, Sandra Brown harnessed digital tools and social media to engage others and build campaigns for change in the company. This Teaching Note presents strategies for teaching the Sandra Brown case series, which follows Brown's... View Details

Keywords: Change Leadership; Change Management; Digital; Engagement; Stakeholder Engagement; Grassroots Movement; Health Care Industry; Career Path; Innovation; Leading Change; Management; Innovation and Management; Personal Development and Career; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Quality