Harvard Business School has repeatedly stressed to students that in all required courses, the goal of a manager is to analyze all kinds of complicated situations and weigh the necessary gains and losses, so as to coordinate various policies and ensure that these policies are consistent with organizational goals. It is difficult to give a satisfactory answer to this question without careful independent thinking. Case method trains the art of decision-making and students' ability to make decisions independently under unsatisfactory circumstances. Most of the real world does not have an accurate answer, but many choices are limited by time, resources and talent. The "future general manager" must learn to make the best decision according to his own actual situation.
Case teaching method is not a learning method that can be easily introduced by any university. Even at Harvard Business School, it takes most students a semester to get used to it. One of the measures to help students adapt to this unique teaching method as soon as possible is that Harvard actively advocates the formation of extracurricular study groups. But in fact, although students need to spend a lot of time communicating and helping each other in class discussion, group study and dormitory notes exchange, whether they can really learn well depends on their own efforts and independent thinking. Business schools divide freshmen into nine classes from A to I, with 90 students in each class. There are fixed classrooms, and classes are arranged according to students' backgrounds, experiences, specialties and interests. Among the students are the children of American senators, science students with doctorates, Olympic athletes, instructors at West Point Military Academy, tax lawyers, accountants, bankers and engineers.
No matter what major students studied before, the first year's class is a compulsory course. The content includes accounting, management economics, marketing, writing lectures, organizational behavior, production management, human resource management, enterprise strategy, international political economy and management simulation competition. Harvard's pace is tense, and it must be. It is not easy to train general manager talents in just two years. The value of Harvard education is to condense the experience that usually requires years of work practice into a two-year course, and to "ripen" the inexperienced students.
In two years, students have to analyze more than 800 cases. These business cases were produced and designed by professors, graduates and other related researchers of Harvard University. In order to ensure the diversity and comprehensiveness of these cases, all cases should be carefully and repeatedly discussed before they are formally included in the curriculum. A case usually involves two or three classes, each class is 80 minutes.
At the beginning of each class, the professor first appoints a student to explain the case, analyze the problem and put forward the means to solve it, or point out the ways and means to achieve the company's goals. The given time is generally 10-20 minutes.
Then other students analyze the same case from their own point of view and explain their own views. What is better than the first speaker? In order to get a chance to speak, my classmates often applaud me and give each other a hard time. The classroom is often chaotic, while the professor tries to control the situation and guide the speech. However, there are always many students who are still angry with each other despite the professor's advice. Sometimes professors have to take tough measures to intimidate students so that discussions can proceed normally.
The cases used in HBS lectures are quite different from those used in general universities. General colleges often prepare the analysis results of cases in advance as the correct answers. However, HBS believes that the correct answer to a case is by no means the only result of case analysis, it is often an intermediate product, which will always leave many unresolved questions in the end.
So sometimes even when doing a case, we will consciously miss some important information or data. It attaches great importance to how to adapt to the situation and the changes of the situation to determine better and more effective management methods, and pays little attention to the solution of business problems. The teaching of HBS attaches great importance to how to analyze the "methods" of complex enterprises.
Therefore, it can be said that the case analysis teaching of HBS is not the teaching of finding the correct answer, and there is actually no absolutely correct answer.
In a sense, learning more than 800 cases in two academic years is like playing a huge jigsaw puzzle in two years. Although each piece has a specific position, which piece you spell first, from the side, from the corner or from the middle, can be ever-changing, depending on your own wishes.
The case analysis teaching method of HBS is to try to put students in the position of an actual operator and learn what business is and how to operate it from the actual combat environment. The handouts and materials distributed to students will never be digested by rote. If you really want to learn the course content, you must read 2-3 cases every night, analyze them in detail and take notes. It usually takes more than two hours to fully prepare a case. Without reading ability and superhuman analytical ability, it is simply unbearable. This is the first time that a HBS graduate talked about her experience in making a case report:
When the professor in the marketing class asked me to talk about the case of Blake Dacker, my heart suddenly pounded. I want to announce to the students who are waiting for my speech that I will merge the electric tools department of GE into Black Decker.
I glanced at my notes and tried to recall the main points of the report prepared last night. But I felt nervous when I realized that I hadn't worked out the breakeven sales to implement my plan. I know my classmates will find this omission, but I don't have time. I looked up and stopped reading my notes.
The classroom is so quiet that all eyes are fixed on me. "I made a medium-and long-term implementation plan," I began. While I was talking, the professor listed the goals and key steps of the plan on the blackboard. I spent about 10 minutes talking about the production and marketing strategy that Blake Dacker should implement, the investment budget and time schedule of the strategy, and the contingency measures to deal with competitors in all aspects.
When the speech entered the conclusion stage, I was even a little complacent. Because just last night, our extracurricular study group had a full discussion on this case. I'm sure my report is first-rate.
However, my voice did not fall, and more than 80 hands were unceremoniously raised, ready to attack my plan. This is my first case report at Harvard Business School.
No one can "mix" a diploma at Harvard Business School. Everything I have experienced in Harvard Business School will have a far-reaching impact on students' character and future production as well as baptism. HBS's two-year school life will seize and occupy your whole body and mind, constantly challenge the limits of your intelligence and endurance, and help and urge you to expand these limits.
Nothing is easy in HBS. Everyone must go all out. Case teaching method forces students to participate in classroom discussion. Ask students to consider the problem from the perspective of the real boss. Students not only actively participate in classroom teaching, but also set up extracurricular study groups to alleviate the huge learning pressure.
In order to pass the exam and get the diploma, students must play an active role in their own study. It is this participatory, Socratic approach that makes HBS in a leading position in the competition of many business schools, and makes its students become senior management talents and good seeds for future "bosses". At Harvard Business School, you learn not only management knowledge, but more importantly, it teaches you how to think. Case teaching does not pay attention to whether the correct answer is obtained, but to the thinking process of drawing a conclusion. It's quite like a big debate on TV. The winner is not because of how correct his views are, but because of the wonderful debate process. The problems involved in each case must be analyzed, explained and discussed by students. In fact, there are several scientific and reasonable action processes in the well-thought-out cases, which have played a role in prompting and guiding students. Students often discuss the questions raised in this case for a long time after class. The rich connotation of case law and the way that professors and students need to devote a lot of energy to discussion make the teaching system of Harvard Business School unique.
Even if he is not a very famous professor, he is very talented in class. He uses case method to motivate students and urge them to think and discuss. Of course, this method is not perfect and even annoying. But on the whole, this is a special learning method. The reason why this method can work in HBS is that first-class professors and students teach and learn in HBS.
Harvard Business School's case analysis teaching method is not to find the right answer, in fact, there is no absolutely right answer, only the specific method to correctly handle and solve the problem. The right or wrong way to solve the problem is only the difference of personal understanding and judgment on the business situation.
Cultivating students' correct answers through learning is not a multi-directional divergent way of thinking, but also a characteristic of Harvard Business School's teaching methods.
The case teaching method of HBS is a learning mechanism that constantly "pressurizes" students. Classroom attendance and classroom performance account for 25-50% of academic performance. Therefore, students attach great importance to the preview before class and the speech in class.
The professor always looks around the classroom before giving lectures. He is choosing the students who will speak first. At this time, the classroom will obviously make people feel a horrible atmosphere. If you are nominated by a professor, but you have to "pass" without adequate preparation, it will be a "no-no" for Harvard Business School.
Because according to the scoring rules, if you choose "pass", the score will be automatically pulled down one level; After two "passes", you may not get credit; If you pass more than three times, you will not get credit, but you will be warned of "bad behavior" by the school, and in serious cases you will be ordered to drop out of school.
When the professor is looking for a candidate, those students who are unwilling to lag behind will be in an absolute state of tension, or cough, or write down, or scratch their hair, trying to avoid or attract the professor's attention, which will be a "black comedy."
Nevertheless, once a guy is mentioned and begins to give a speech, the other 80 students will immediately become full of energy, concentrate on finding the classmate's mistakes and consider how to make their speech better and more eye-catching than him. They completely forgot that if they stood there and talked, they would make the same mistake.
When the poor student finished the report, his face was developed and he was sweating profusely, the rest of the students would raise their hands and ask to speak together, so the debate on "free speaking time" began.
Due to the tight study, many HBS students seldom contact with others except professors and classmates during their first year of school, and because of the rapid progress of the course, it is difficult to catch up once they are absent from class, so getting sick is the most annoying thing. As long as it is not too serious, students always try to attend classes, so they must pay attention to their health during school.
At Harvard, students should not only learn about business management, but also learn to deal with many other topics. They must cultivate their decision-making ability in all aspects and realize their self-identification with these decisions. In other words, Harvard attaches importance to cultivating talents with independent thinking ability.
In fact, students need to spend a lot of time to communicate and help each other in class discussion, group study and dormitory exchange notes, but fundamentally, whether they can really learn well depends on their own efforts.
The simplicity pursued by Harvard Business School is to let students master the ideas and methods of successfully running a business. Students must have a high degree of ability to grasp and analyze problems, be able to face complex and changeable situations, and be able to distinguish important things from unimportant things.
They must also have another ability, that is, they can make correct and decisive judgments and instructions in the absence of sufficient and necessary information. They must know that in the actual business management, no one will give you the right answer, no answer will be perfect, and there will always be some mistakes, at least unsatisfactory. The idea instilled in Harvard students is that if you want to get the due evaluation at any time after you leave the society, then you will have no leisure to bask in the sun when you study at Harvard.
Harvard's case is mainly a variety of economic events in business development, with a wide range. With the expansion of the course content, a variety of cases have emerged, including employment, advertising, planning, marketing, management, forecasting and so on.
It can be said that as long as any unit or enterprise may have problems, similar incidents will be found in the case of Harvard Business School. Therefore, for Harvard students, going to the society and entering any company or enterprise will be handy for various phenomena, including the means and strategies of business competition. Harvard Business School is one of the most famous business schools in the United States and even in the world.
Harvard Business School has about 200 professors and absorbs about 900 graduate students every year. These graduate students all have work experience. In addition, business schools provide on-the-job training for about 5,000 company executives every year, with training time ranging from several months to several days. One of the characteristics of the college is to encourage professors to consult corporate consultants of the company. Open the computer website of Harvard Business School, and you can feel the vitality of this first-class business school. Here, you can talk with graduates of business schools, participate in the "business plan competition" held by business schools for students, and learn about the latest developments of high-tech industries in Silicon Valley. What is even more impressive is that the latest financial reports of many companies are published on the website of business schools all the time. This is to let students know the American economy and company operations like the back of their hands, understand the latest trends and make analysis at any time.
An important feature of Harvard Business School is that the research and courses here are very close to reality. Teachers ask students every day how they solve the problems faced by a particular company. What the professor talks about most in class is the case analysis of companies and enterprises. In order to provide students with the most vivid and authentic teaching information, Harvard Business School encourages professors to engage in consulting and consulting work for companies and enterprises outside the school. Many professors even often go overseas for field trips and work closely with foreign companies.