The Rites of Autumn: Alumni Flock to Fall Reunions
In War-Torn Liberia, Student Gains a Wealth of Experience
WSA Conference Set for January
Global Leadership Initiative's Director Focuses on Technology
Stevenson Named Director of External Relations
Faculty News
New Economy Theme of HBS African-American Alumni Conference
MBAs by the Numbers

In War-Torn Liberia, Student Gains a Wealth of Experience

"We were never in any imminent danger, but there was always this question mark, a feeling that something big could happen," reports second-year MBA student Daniella Ballou, who spent last summer in Liberia as an intern with the International Rescue Committee (IRC). "It was a pretty unstable environment."

A joint-degree candidate working on her MBA at HBS and her master's in public administration at the Kennedy School of Government, Ballou spent eight weeks in the West African nation, helping local communities rebuild their education system in the wake of a devastating, seven-year civil war. "I wanted to work in international development," says Ballou, whose fellowship through the HBS Initiative on Social Enterprise supplemented her summer income. "I also had a wonderful opportunity at the World Bank, but the IRC gave me a chance to work directly with refugees. For me, it was a powerful and valuable experience to be right there."

But being "right there" last summer meant being in a region rife with political and social unrest. It is widely believed that Liberian president Charles Taylor has been supporting Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels in neighboring Sierra Leone and receiving illegally mined diamonds in exchange. RUF rebels took U.N. peacekeepers hostage in Sierra Leone, and the United States threatened to impose sanctions over Taylor's relationship with the RUF. Meanwhile, Liberia's northern border was penetrated by anti-Taylor rebel forces.

Against this backdrop, Ballou worked on the front lines with local parent-teacher associations in Liberian villages to raise funds for textbooks and teacher salaries. The experience provided ample insight into "the huge problems that nonprofits have in getting projects implemented properly," Ballou remarks. "In the field, there is a critical need in project management for people with strong business skills."

Ballou's work in Liberia also gave her a clearer sense of the role of business in shaping local political and social structures. In particular, insights from the Leadership, Values, and Decision Making course she took last year helped her to identify ethical issues involved in the struggle to control the diamond industry in Sierra Leone, where diamonds have fueled a brutal civil war for the past decade.

"The Diamond High Council placed a ban on stones from Sierra Leone," Ballou explains. "The industry realized that its activities had contributed to unnecessary death and destruction. I saw firsthand the role and power of business and the positive and negative impact it can have on people's lives."

Ballou ultimately wants to work in nonprofit international development but only after gaining more business experience in the private sector. "Some people may not think there are many connections between business and nonprofits, but there are," she states. "Understanding and having credibility in both fields will be a tremendous asset. It can only make me a more effective manager."

— Margie Kelley

WSA Conference Set for January

The HBS Women’s Student Association’s annual conference will be held on campus Saturday, January 20, 2001. This year’s theme, “Dynamic Women in Business: A 10th Anniversary Celebration,” will highlight the past accomplishments of women, the experiences and issues facing women today, and women’s dreams for tomorrow. Scheduled panel discussions will focus on industry issues, work/life balance, and career advancement. Attendees will be listed in a directory of conference participants to facilitate communications after the conference.

For further information, visit the conference Web site at http://sa.hbs.edu/wsa or contact Shalini Verma, conference cochair, at sverma@mba2001.hbs.edu.

Global Leadership Initiative's Director Focuses on Technology

As the first director of the HBS Global Leadership Initiative, Alan Price is working to extend the School's reach in the teaching of leadership. Launched in 1999 by Dean Kim B. Clark and headed by leadership expert Professor John P. Kotter, the initiative is intended to establish an institutional legacy of leadership beyond the scope of the School's MBA and Executive Education Programs. "The idea is to reach out to alumni and to the world at large, deploying innovative technology to leverage traditional and nontraditional learning," says Price, who was appointed director last January.

A 1992 graduate of Harvard Law School and a former consultant in management and negotiation strategy, Price says that HBS is interested in developing "technologically appropriate" approaches that will reach an optimum number of people with useful and engaging material at a reasonable cost. One of several incubators at the School experimenting with electronic distance-learning models, the Global Leadership Initiative has already launched a number of key research projects.

The first, an interactive Internet survey available on the HBS Working Knowledge Web site (hbsworkingknowledge.hbs.edu), enables Kotter to share ideas and receive feedback from alumni on cutting-edge leadership questions, concerns, and issues in real time. Another project seeks to simplify the rhetoric and scholarship surrounding leadership and to make the ideas more accessible. The initiative is gathering inspirational stories about "everyday leaders" that can be packaged in multimedia formats.

A third project, led by Harvard Graduate School of Education doctoral candidate Ellen Pruyne, examines how people develop the ability to envision a better future. What teaching and learning approaches can help develop this ability?

These and other projects are in the early research phase, Price notes. He emphasizes that the initiative's collaborative structure draws on the talents of HBS faculty and includes assistance from other experts in the field. "We have marshaled an extraordinary group of people to help with this," he says, "and we'd like to have our first Internet application ready by the spring of 2001." An elective MBA course in leadership is also on the drawing board.

— Nancy O. Perry

Stevenson Named Director of External Relations

In his recent appointment as senior associate dean and director of External Relations, Professor Howard H. Stevenson assumes the responsibility of serving as a liaison between HBS and its alumni. "I am delighted to be working more closely with alumni and with the External Relations staff at HBS," says Stevenson, a member of the HBS faculty intermittently since 1968 and head of entrepreneurial studies until recently.

As an HBS graduate (MBA '65, DBA '69), Stevenson is particularly aware of new developments that have strengthened the alumni network. "Initiatives such as the Global Alumni Conferences have augmented the traditional reunion programs and encouraged cross-class contacts," he notes. "In addition, we are now offering special courses tailored to our alumni. These initiatives, combined with the lifelong e-mail addresses and the HBS Working Knowledge Web site, are making it easier than ever for alumni to stay connected to the School."

Stevenson is the first incumbent of the Sarofim-Rock Professorship of Business Administration, a chair established in 1981 to provide a continuing base for research and teaching in the field of entrepreneurship. He shaped the current field of study at the School when he redefined entrepreneurship as a process, not a personal attribute. "I am fascinated by how all companies, big and small, are recognizing the need to initiate entrepreneurial action," he comments. "In this big, globalizing, and rapidly changing world, you can't have all the resources you need, so you must be able to think from an entrepreneurial perspective."

Stevenson also serves as chair of the HBS Latin America Faculty Advisory Group and recently cochaired the conference that marked the opening of the Latin America Research Center (LARC) in Buenos Aires. "Technological change is enabling and driving globalization," he says. "In order to meet the challenges of rapid growth and change, companies are forming alliances, building a sense of community, and recognizing their role as both economic and social entities. At the LARC, we are developing relevant material in traditional and new-media formats."

The author of numerous books and articles, Stevenson has recently completed the third edition of The Entrepreneurial Venture, with HBS faculty members William A. Sahlman and Michael J. Roberts and Columbia University professor Amar V. Bhidé.