In this issue of the Bulletin, our focus is on HBS’s “intellectual ambition.” Since its founding in 1908, the School has been committed to creating and disseminating intellectual capital that will help define, strengthen, and improve business, organizations, and society. Today, judging from its global reach and impact, that effort has been not only an enormous success but also a ringing affirmation of the School’s mission to “make a difference in the world.”

Over the decades—from field-based work such as the Hawthorne studies, to once-novel concepts such as business strategy—HBS and its faculty have introduced game-changing thinking to management and business practice. And that work continues apace in the 21st century. In the pages that follow, we spotlight some of the “big ideas” HBS faculty are unveiling that we believe will have significant influence in the years ahead. At the same time, we look at HBS professors and researchers who are conducting studies that are immediately useful and applicable in today’s workplace—intellectual inquiry that yields pragmatic results helpful to managers and entrepreneurs.

Of course, intellectual capital is a two-way street: Businesspeople are key players in the process. At HBS, it has always been true that, from their field-based academic research and consulting, faculty constantly seek knowledge from practitioners. In addition, Executive Education programs bring business leaders and managers to HBS where they share real-world experiences that often suggest interesting lines of research for our faculty to pursue. It’s a virtuous circle: Academics study business practice and practitioners, their research “product” then influences practice, which in turn leads to new research that further shapes practice, and so on.

HBS alumni, as inventors of entire industries (such as management consulting and venture capital) and as leaders in so many other areas, have provided rich raw material for academics to study, refine, and condense into “intellectual capital.” Building intellectual capital at HBS is a joint venture, advanced in large measure through the participation of HBS alumni. It’s truly a team effort.

With this issue, Roger Thompson, the Bulletin’s editor for the last nine years, decamps to the Bridgespan Group. For 36 issues, while building intellectual capital and otherwise deploying his considerable talents, Roger oversaw some big changes at the Bulletin, leaving the magazine far better than he found it. We will miss his good humor, positive attitude, grace under pressure, and devotion to the Bulletin. We wish him well.

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