Professionalization - Publications - Faculty & Research

March 2015
Case

Tim Keller at Katzenbach Partners LLC (A) (Abridged)

Tracks the first six months of a recent MBA grad, Tim Keller, at Katzenbach Partners, a boutique consulting firm focused on organizational change and strategy. Covers how Keller initially struggles with his assignment and ends with a question of whether or not he... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Relations; Organization Behavior; Superior ＆ Subordinate; Managing Projects; Informal Organization; Consulting; Professional Services; Leadership; Work-Life Balance; Decision Choices and Conditions; Organizations; Rank and Position; Product Development; Service Industry; Consulting Industry

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November 2012 (Revised July 2014)
Case

Doing Deals and Leading Teams at XAF Partners

By: Boris Groysberg and Kerry Herman

Private equity firm XAF Partners, created out of the 2003 merger of Shanghai-based Xuan Partners and AF Group, a spin out of the Shanghai-based, emerging market-focused private equity arm of a large European bank, had grown steadily over the last decade, establishing... View Details

Keywords: Professional Service Firms; Leading Teams; Producing Managers; Delegation; Giving And Receiving Feedback; Managing Performance; Leadership; Work-Life Balance; Managerial Roles; Talent and Talent Management; Service Operations; Time Management; Performance; Financial Services Industry; Asia

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27–28 Sep 2024
Reunions

2024 HBS Fall Reunions

We look forward to welcoming you back for your reunion! This is a special opportunity to reconnect with old friends and make valuable new connections; strengthen your professional career and personal life with the latest thinking on critical topics; and feel... View Details

17 Nov 2023
Blog Post

HBS Veteran Spotlight: Rex Willis (MBA 2024)

rewarding. Although physical assets such as ships and planes are vital, I quickly recognized that humans are the most important asset that the military has. Because of that, I dedicated a tremendous amount of time to their professional... View Details

14 Nov 2023
Research & Ideas

The Network Effect: Why Companies Should Care About Employees’ LinkedIn Connections

individual employee relationships at 7,715 public US companies representing 19 industries. The researchers found that companies whose real-world employee connections put them at the center of their professional communities performed... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

05 Sep 2023
Book

Failing Well: How Your ‘Intelligent Failure’ Unlocks Your Full Potential

In the 1990s, after drugmaker Eli Lilly spent more than a decade and millions of dollars developing the new drug Alimta to treat lung cancer, the medication came up short in effectively treating cancer in expanded trials. While the failure was disappointing, it was... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

05 Jan 2024
Blog Post

Meet The HBS African American Student Union

to thrive academically, socially, and professionally from the moment they get admitted to HBS, to when they graduate, and beyond. Our membership includes more than 200 students and partners who engage in social events, cultural... View Details

Ashish Nanda

Ashish Nanda is Senior Lecturer and C. Roland Christensen Distinguished Management Educator at Harvard Business School. From 2018 to 2021, he was course head for the MBA Required Curriculum course in Strategy. Beginning in 2022, he is teaching an MBA Elective... View Details

01 Oct 2021
Research & Ideas

Dying to Lead: How Reaching the Top Can Kill You Sooner

then-headquarters in Schenectady, New York. He relied heavily on GE’s employee directories, which listed all the managers within the company’s organizational structure. He also used US Census data, and other public and private documents to estimate the View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

Career Coach

Jill Huggett

Jill Huggett (Carroll '00), Principal, Bridgepath Career Advisors, is a certified professional career coach and certified professional resume writer. Jill combines professional... View Details

June 2024
Article

Defining Who You Are by Whom You Serve? Strategies for Prosocial–Professional Identity Integration with Clients

By: Lakshmi Ramarajan and Julie Yen

Many professionals want to both achieve professional success and contribute to society. Yet, in some professional contexts, these aims are in tension because serving elite clients is considered the pinnacle of professional success, but professionals themselves may view... View Details

Keywords: Identity; Experience and Expertise; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Behavior; Social Entrepreneurship

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16 Oct 2023
HBS Case

Advancing Black Talent: From the Flight Ramp to 'Family-Sustaining' Careers at Delta

qualifications, while expanding new apprenticeship and professional development programs. Now, three years later, Delta is making progress toward hiring and developing more Black talent, with and without college degrees, says Linda Hill,... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Air Transportation

27 Oct 2020
Research & Ideas

Can Being the ‘Token’ Give Women and Minorities a Competitive Edge?

Women and Black professionals are more willing to join a team that’s predominantly male or white if it helps them stand out in hyper-competitive situations, despite the potential psychological toll of being a “token,” new research says.... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

May 2009
Exercise

Mapping Your Network

By: David A. Thomas

This exercise is designed to help students and professionals map their professional networks and identify areas of strength and weakness in their networks. "Network" refers to the set of relationships that is critical to someone's ability to learn new skills and... View Details

Keywords: Competency and Skills; Strength and Weakness; Personal Development and Career; Groups and Teams; Social and Collaborative Networks

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19 Jan 2015
Research & Ideas

Is Wikipedia More Biased Than Encyclopædia Britannica?

For more than a century, the long, stately rows of Encyclopædia Britannica have been a fixture on the shelves of many an educated person's home—the smooshed-together diphthong in the first word a symbol of old-world erudition and gravitas. So it was a shock to many... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Publishing

14 May 2018
Blog Post

Women Making a Comeback: Diane Flynn Reboots Promising Careers

The arc of Diane Flynn's career will be familiar to many talented professionals – especially talented female professionals. After a successful run at The Boston Consulting Group, she got her MBA from HBS (1988) and went on to have an... View Details

15 Sep 2022
Research & Ideas

Looking For a Job? Some LinkedIn Connections Matter More Than Others

research breaks new ground on how to network on the professional channel LinkedIn and pinpoints the connections that are likely to yield the most job offers. The implications are significant for career planning and recruiting, and... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

28 Apr 2023
Blog Post

From Harvard Business School to Spotify: Four Lessons in My Journey to Land My Dream Job

interactive experiences. My friends and MBA classmates know how passionate I am about music and this role is nothing short of a dream job for me. In reflecting on my professional journey to get to this point, I wanted to share four pieces... View Details

Thomas J. DeLong

Thomas J. DeLong is a Baker Foundation Professor of Management Practice and the former Philip J. Stomberg Professor of Management Practice in the Organizational Behavior Department at the Harvard Business School. He is an expert in leader development, organizational... View Details

January 2000 (Revised April 2010)
Case

Heidi Roizen

By: Kathleen L. McGinn and Nicole Tempest

Heidi Roizen, a venture capitalist at SOFTBANK Venture Capital and a former entrepreneur, maintains an extensive personal and professional network. She leverages this network to benefit both herself and others. The case considers the steps she's taken to build and... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Personal Development and Career; Power and Influence; Social and Collaborative Networks

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