B-School Advances On MBA Changes

Harvard Business School's MBA program will be changed in a deliberately staggered process designed to improve teaching, learning and technology, according to a memorandum released to students last week.

Implementation of the proposal to update the school's curriculum--a proposal referred to as "Leadership and Learning"--began earlier in the academic year. Dean of the Business School John H. McArthur launched the initiative this fall after an article in Business Week slammed Harvard's curriculum as outdated and obsolete.

While it notes the urgent presence of "hungry" competitors nipping at Harvard's heels, the memo says Leadership and Learning implementation will be a long-term process.

"We envision a [staggered] process, with some proposals implemented immediately, with others implemented over a period of years," Robison Professor of Business AdministrationJames I. Cash wrote in the memo.

Critics both inside and outside the school havecriticized its strong reliance on the "case study"method of teaching. The most recent issue of U.S.News and World Report ranked the school below bothStanford and MIT.

In reaction, the new plan will work toward amore "integrated," interactive and diversecurriculum designed to bring Harvard into linewith other business school's recent shifts.

Beginning this fall, first-year Business Schoolstudents will participate in smaller sections.Instead of having nine sections of 90, studentswill be divided into 10 sections of 85 each.

The structure of Business School courseofferings will also be substantially changed.Students will be required to participate in anintroductory "Foundations" module, and the numberof required classes for first-years will bereduced.

In addition, the memo proposes having an "OpenDay" each semester which can be devoted to onesubject at the discretion of the school's faculty.And it suggests a three-hour period everyWednesday afternoon--to be called "ProjectTime"--which would be reserved for work onprojects for different Business School courses.

The Harbus, the Business School studentnewspaper, also reported last week that fourprojects are under development as part of thecurriculum change: a quantitative assessmentprogram for students, an improved first-yearorientation process, better technology on campusand the changes necessary in the academic calendarto implement the open days and project time

Critics both inside and outside the school havecriticized its strong reliance on the "case study"method of teaching. The most recent issue of U.S.News and World Report ranked the school below bothStanford and MIT.

In reaction, the new plan will work toward amore "integrated," interactive and diversecurriculum designed to bring Harvard into linewith other business school's recent shifts.

Beginning this fall, first-year Business Schoolstudents will participate in smaller sections.Instead of having nine sections of 90, studentswill be divided into 10 sections of 85 each.

The structure of Business School courseofferings will also be substantially changed.Students will be required to participate in anintroductory "Foundations" module, and the numberof required classes for first-years will bereduced.

In addition, the memo proposes having an "OpenDay" each semester which can be devoted to onesubject at the discretion of the school's faculty.And it suggests a three-hour period everyWednesday afternoon--to be called "ProjectTime"--which would be reserved for work onprojects for different Business School courses.

The Harbus, the Business School studentnewspaper, also reported last week that fourprojects are under development as part of thecurriculum change: a quantitative assessmentprogram for students, an improved first-yearorientation process, better technology on campusand the changes necessary in the academic calendarto implement the open days and project time