Harvard Business School facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Harvard Business School

Coat of arms
Type	Private graduate business school
Established	1908
Parent institution	Harvard University
Accreditation	AACSB International
Endowment	US$3.8 billion (2020)
Dean	Srikant Datar
Academic staff	244 (2020)
Administrative staff	1,989 (2020)
Students	865 (732 MBA)
Location	Allston , Massachusetts , United States 42°22′02″N 71°07′21″W / 42.36722°N 71.12250°W / 42.36722; -71.12250
Campus	Urban

Harvard Business School (often called HBS) is a very famous business school. It is part of Harvard University, which is a private university in the United States. HBS is located in Allston, Massachusetts.

This school helps people learn how to run businesses. It also owns Harvard Business Publishing, which creates books and articles about business. They also publish Harvard Business Review, a popular business magazine. The school has a large library called the Baker Library/Bloomberg Center.

History

Baker Library/Bloomberg Center

Harvard Business School started in 1908. At first, it was part of Harvard's humanities department. But by 1913, it became its own separate school. The first leader of the school was Edwin Francis Gay.

The school was created to teach people how to work in business and government. It was like training doctors or lawyers, but for business.

The Case Method

HBS is famous for its special way of teaching called the case method. This idea came from how law students learn at Harvard. In the case method, students read about real-life problems that businesses have faced. Then, students pretend they are managers and try to figure out how to solve these problems. This helps them learn to think like real business leaders.

From the very beginning, the school worked closely with big companies. Many students who graduated from HBS became important business leaders. These leaders often hired other HBS graduates for jobs.

Women at HBS

When HBS first opened, only men could attend. But in 1937, a program for women to study business started at Radcliffe College. Harvard Business School took over this program in 1954.

By 1959, women who finished this one-year program could apply to join the second year of the main MBA program at HBS. Finally, in 1963, women were allowed to apply directly to the MBA program. This was a big step forward!

Harvard Business School also helped start the first business schools in the United Kingdom in the 1960s. They shared their teaching methods and invited professors from the new British schools to learn at Harvard.

Global Reach

HBS has set up nine research centers and four offices around the world. These are in places like Asia, Europe, India, the Middle East, Japan, and Latin America. This helps the school do research and connect with businesses all over the globe.

Rankings

Many groups rank business schools. In 2022, Harvard Business School was ranked very high. For example, U.S. News & World Report ranked it fifth in the nation. The Financial Times ranked it third in the world, and QS World University Rankings placed it second globally.

Student Life

Students at HBS can join over 90 different clubs and groups. The Student Association (SA) helps students talk with the school's leaders. Students also have a voice at the university level through the Harvard Graduate Council.

Executive Education

Harvard Business School offers special programs for people who are already working as leaders in companies. These programs help them learn even more and improve their skills.

Some of these programs include:

• The Advanced Management Program: A seven-week program for very senior leaders to prepare for top jobs.
• The General Management Program: A four-month program for managers who are becoming general managers.
• The Owner/President Management Program: For business owners and entrepreneurs, spread out over two years.
• Harvard Business School Online: This offers online courses taught by HBS professors.
• The Summer Venture in Management Program: A one-week program for college students to learn about business. It helps bring more different kinds of people into business education.

Academic Units

The teachers at HBS are organized into 10 main groups. These groups focus on different areas of business, like:

• Accounting and Management
• Business, Government, and the Global Economy
• Entrepreneurial Management (starting new businesses)
• Finance (money management)
• General Management (running a whole company)
• Marketing (selling products)
• Negotiation, Organizations, and Markets
• Organizational Behavior (how people work together)
• Strategy (long-term plans for a business)
• Technology and Operations Management

Buildings

Many of the buildings at HBS are quite old and famous.

• Morgan Hall was built in 1927 and is named after J.P. Morgan.
• Loeb House was built in 1940.
• Burden Hall was built in 1971 and has a large auditorium with 900 seats.

In 2010, the Tata Group from India gave $50 million to build a new center for executive education. This building is called Tata Hall, named after Ratan Tata, who is a famous business leader and an HBS graduate. Tata Hall is seven stories tall and has about 180 bedrooms for students in the executive education programs.

Another important building is the Chao Center. It was funded by a $30 million gift from the family of Ruth Mulan Chu Chao. Her four daughters all went to Harvard Business School.

Many of the HBS buildings are connected by a system of underground tunnels. These tunnels are open to students and staff, making it easy to get around campus, especially in bad weather.

Weeks Footbridge crossing the Charles River at sunset with Harvard Business School on the left and Harvard Kennedy School on the right

Notable Alumni

Many famous and successful people have graduated from Harvard Business School. Here are some of them:

MBA Graduates

Other Notable Graduates

• Gabi Ashkenazi – a former military leader in Israel
• Julie Bishop – former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
• Ratan Tata – a very important business leader from India
• Jim Lovell – a famous astronaut from Apollo 13
• Vicente Fox – former President of Mexico
• Ciara – a well-known singer

See also

In Spanish: Escuela de negocios Harvard para niños

• Category:Harvard Business School alumni
• List of Harvard University people
• List of Ivy League business schools
• Spangler Center