A Case Study in Change at Harvard

The B-school's proposed revamp would focus more on cooperation

Tradition is not easily discarded at Harvard business school: Its rowing crews still paddle the Charles River with oars adorned with dollar signs. But now, amid growing criticism from some students and em­ployers, Dean John H. McArthur and his elite institution finally are set to put forth a surprisingly radical blueprint for reform.

On Nov. 8, the school plans to an­nounce proposals to remake its MBA pro­gram—the result of an 18-month-long review of business education by faculty and administrators. Under the proposal, Harvard would reduce class sizes, shift class-work into fewer integrated courses that stress team­work, and change its toughly competitive grading sys­tem (table). The school also would alter its admission standards, accepting appli­cants with less work experi­ence in order to increase stu­dent diversity.

The proposed changes, de­tails of which were leaked to the student newspaper and confirmed by faculty sources, have met with both surprise and approval. "At HBS, change doesn't come very easily, and when it does, it comes in incremental steps," explains Ann Pao, a second-year student and the editor of The Harbus News. Adds a former faculty member: "It amounts to quite a powerful reform."

new world. Why mess with the HBS formula? Only a few months ago, faculty members and administrators were downplaying the likelihood of any dramatic changes in the school's MBA curriculum, even though Harvard's last major revision oc­curred in the 1960s. But other business schools have overhauled their programs in recent years in order to better pre­pare graduates- for a rapidly changing business world. In other words, Harvard needs to stay competitive.

Administration officials won't admit to this. In fact, they decline to comment altogether on the proposals. But insiders believe that Dean McArthur and the se­nior faculty have become supportive of an overhaul in recent weeks. The plan still must gain faculty approval, and it is possible that some specifics may fail to win acceptance. But as one professor put it "We're fairly certain, given the dean's comments over the past few weeks and the general mood of enthusi­asm around here that change will oc­cur." The B-school may act on the rec­ommendations by yearend and implement them as early as the fall of 1994.

Under the plan, the school would deemphasize its fabled case-study mode of instruction, long heralded as a major advantage over competing programs. Up to 25% of the course work for first-year students would be composed of group projects outside class. Currently, there are minimal teamwork requirements.

The school also would collapse its 11 required first-year courses into four in­tegrated courses on such topics as Man­aging Product and Services, which would be taught by faculty teams. The consolidation, according to confidential documents obtained by Harbus, would change an "increasingly fragmented re­quired curriculum to one that conscious­ly seeks to integrate and unify the es­sential concepts and skills of management and leadership." Harvard would decrease its class sections to 72 students from 90, chop its academic year into trimesters from semesters, and use networked computing to integrate technology more effectively into class work.

nothing new. Many of these proposed revisions have already been installed br­other leading business schools. "I don't think this is a new paradigm," says Ed­ward A. Fox, dean of Dart­mouth University's Amos Tuck School of Business. "They are trying to do what a lot of us are doing already, and many of the things they're planning we've done for years."

There's no consistent evi­dence that those changes have been successful. But teamwork, for instance, has long been an essential part of the B-school cultures at Tuck and Northwestern Universi­ty's Kellogg School. The busi­ness schools at Indiana Uni­versity and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville have done away with the tradition­al first-year courses in ac­counting, finance, and mar­keting and replaced them with more integrated courses. At these B-schools, MBAs re­ceive only two grades in their first year.

Still, Harvard being Har­vard, the proposed remake of the business school seems destined to disturb some sa­cred cows. To encourage col­laboration, for example, the plan would do away with the forced grading curve that has long made the school among the most competitive in the world. You can almost hear the collective sigh of relief emanating from Boston. "It's not a revolution, but it's definitely a step in the right direc­tion," says Peter C. Lee, a second-year student. "If this gets passed, it will be more in line with what people are trying to do in the business world." There's no forced curve, after all, in Corporate America.

Lori Bongiomo

/Business Week, Nov. 15, 1993/

Set Work

I. Find out and say how you understand:

a) HBS, MBA;

b) a NBS formula, an MBA programme, B-schools;

c) teamwork, more integrated courses, forced grading curve.

II. What is meant by:

A radical blueprint for sth; to shift classwork into fewer integrated courses; to increase student diversity; to downplay the likelihood of sth; insiders; to install revisions; to do away with the traditional courses; to revamp.

III. Find English equivalents for:

Быть решительно настроенным сделать ч-либо; согласно плану, предложению; быть одобренным, получить признание; придавать новую форму, содержание; даваться легко; предвещать; весомая реформа; жесткая шкала оценки успеваемости; сократить, ужать до каких-то размеров; разбить учебный год на три семестра; курсы по какому-либо предмету; соответствовать ч-либо; утечка информации; быть принятым (о программе); отменить, избавиться от.

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