Noted & Quoted

01 Jun 2010

Noted & Quoted

Re: Michael Skelly (MBA 1991); Scott O'Neil (MBA 1998)

Topics: Education-Business Education Psychology-Perspective Energy-General Customers-Customer Focus and Relationships

“You are kidding me. I went to Harvard Business School. I’m the reason the microwave tray rotates.”
— Actor ALEC BALDWIN as Jack Donaghy, 30 Rock, from the episode “Don Geiss, America and Hope.”

“Women are using (an MBA) not only for finance but also to work in nonprofits or open their own businesses. ”
— DEIRDRE LEOPOLD, managing director of MBA admissions and financial aid, commenting on the increasing numbers of women heading to business schools. (Forbes.com, April 16, 2010)

“CEOs who actually take the trouble to delve into the texture of their customers’ lives as opposed to skating over the surface of their needs and trying to embed those ideas into their corporations are the black swans of the business world.”
— HBS professor RANJAY GULATI writing on the importance of making the customer a partner in business transactions. (Chief Executive, March/April 2010)

“Texas, electrically, believe it or not, is its own country.”
— MICHAEL SKELLY (MBA ’91), founder of Houston-based Clean Line Energy Partners, at the HBS “Think Tank on Energy, the Environment, and Business” conference, March 5, 2010.

“You sell tickets, you sell suites, you sell sponsorships — that’s the whole thing.”
— SCOTT O’NEIL (MBA ’98), on the nature of his job as president of Madison Square Garden Sports, a $1 billion operation, at a Business of Sports Club presentation at HBS, February 23, 2010.