As senior associate dean and chair of the MBA Program, Matt Weinzierl has a running list of questions that he and Jana P. Kierstead, the executive director of MBA and Doctoral programs, always keep in mind. They range from the curricular (How can we ensure that the MBA degree continues to be—and be seen to be—essential to developing the skills and insights business leaders need?) to the personal (How do we make sure that HBS continues to attract exceptional students as well as remarkable faculty and staff who create this extraordinary learning environment?). Above all, Weinzierl asks, “How can we ensure that HBS’s MBA Program offers the best management education possible for future leaders in business and society?”

In an ongoing effort to address these questions, the School launched the Required Curriculum (RC) Renewal Project two years ago to review HBS’s foundational first-year courses and understand how quickly the curriculum should evolve. “You want to be current, but you don’t want to chase fads—there’s that tension between the static and dynamic,” explains Weinzierl, who co-leads the project with Mitch Weiss, the Richard L. Menschel Professor of Management Practice and program chair of the RC. “The goal of RC Renewal is to bring us back towards the sweet spot between the two.” A similar effort has also been extended to the second-year Elective Curriculum (EC) and is being led by its new chair, Suraj Srinivasan, the Philip J. Stomberg Professor of Business Administration.

In this conversation, Weinzierl, the Joseph and Jacqueline Elbling Professor of Business Administration, highlights some of the ways the School has strengthened the MBA curriculum in recent years by adopting new ideas and approaches that keep it in step with today’s world. These enhancements reflect a continuum of innovation: incremental changes that ensure a transformative HBS experience.

How is the MBA curriculum preparing students to manage, and even anticipate, the challenges and opportunities of the digital age?

The HBS MBA Program has a long history of embracing innovation, and we’re committed to continuing that tradition. You can see that in how we’ve approached generative artificial intelligence (GAI) in the program this year. From early in 2023, when we began planning our policy on GAI, we knew that we wanted our students to learn how to be leaders in using these tools, responsibly and ethically, and that we wanted GAI to enrich the educational experience. So, we set a policy that encourages its use in preparation for class discussion and exams, with faculty discretion to create exceptions, of course, but does not allow its use in the classroom discussions that make the case method such a powerful learning experience.

In a related step, for the first time this year, we are offering an RC course called Data Science for Managers to help students, as general managers, use data analytics tools to identify business opportunities, frame problems, shape solutions, and lead change in organizations. We’re proud to have made it possible for all RC students to have access during that course to advanced versions of GAI, which include tools that dramatically simplify programming, to ensure that they are operating on the cutting edge.

More broadly and looking down the road, I think about opportunities to embrace technology in both the RC and EC. If you were to imagine where discussions about cutting-edge technology should find their place in the RC, you’d think of the Technology and Operations Management (TOM) course. Historically, TOM has spent more of its time on the “operations management” side, such as on managing supply chains. Digital technologies are, of course, discussed in that area, but TOM also has a robust portion of the course directly devoted to innovation, and we’ve been exploring, along with the course leadership, how to expand students’ ability to really dig into the implications of new technologies, such as GAI.

In terms of the EC year, as faculty members are increasing their expertise in various aspects of digital technology, they’re creating new courses, such as 3 Technologies that Will Change the World, Tough Tech Ventures, and Digital Marketing Workshop. In the next several years, you’ll see an even greater flowering of offerings in this area, whether it’s AI or biotech or space. We’re getting more students at HBS, especially through the joint MS/MBA: Engineering Sciences program, who are excited about the technological aspects of business. They want to integrate the technical training and experience they have with a broader general management perspective to lead those businesses forward. I expect interest in these sectors to grow.

How has the Renewal Project led to the introduction of other new courses?

We introduced “RC Pilots” to integrate into the curriculum several important topics related to business and societal changes. One is the short, intensive RC course called Social Purpose of the Firm, which speaks to the increasingly important role of business as a force for good in society (see below). We are also incorporating content about inclusive leadership across the RC and in elective options. Our Data Science for Managers course is another product of this effort, having been an elective RC course for the previous two years that we’ve now moved into the RC.

What is one of the most significant changes to the curriculum in recent times?

A change that began more than a decade ago but continues to find new ways into the curriculum is the expansion in experiential learning or “learning by doing.” The FIELD Global Immersion course was introduced in 2011 to broaden students’ global understanding, and it has evolved into a course that also teaches design thinking and team effectiveness through practice in the real world. It takes place in the spring of the RC year for all 900-plus students and culminates in team-based project work with partner organizations around the world.

In the EC, we have Immersive Field Courses that are faculty-led learning experiences offered abroad and in the United States. They explore specific topics, such as climate change and entrepreneurship. There are also field-based electives offered in the Boston area that give students hands-on experience working with local businesses.

In what ways is the MBA Program experimenting with content and format?

We’re eager to create more space for innovative educational content. SIPs, the Short Intensive Programs we launched in 2017 as no-credit, no-fee weeklong elective courses, are a great platform for this. Offered each January for MBA students in both years, SIPs enable students to explore topics they might not otherwise get to study, such as Investing in the Life Sciences or The Spiritual Lives of Leaders, while they think about career choices and gain practical skills.

Weekend Sprints, introduced this fall, are another opportunity. On two Saturdays in September and November, we offered faculty-led programming that was experimental and educational. The Sprints explored topics such as time management and happiness, the AI revolution, the power of well-being, and effective strategic philanthropy. That kind of thing is very mission oriented and is about giving students exciting new learning opportunities.

Finally, in the EC, we’re encouraging faculty to create more half-courses and, in some cases, seminar courses at smaller scales. These options give students more choice, they encourage experimentation, and they increase flexibility in the program.

How are the changes to the curriculum enhancing the value proposition of an HBS MBA degree?

Ours is the only graduate business school that has a full first-year required curriculum, and that is one feature we do not plan to change. Why do we retain it? First, because it ensures that every graduate of the School has learned the foundations of general management, and we believe that excellence in general management has never been more important to using private enterprise to help solve society’s most pressing problems. Second, because it is the heart of what makes the HBS MBA a shared educational experience across generations. It is deeply important to us, therefore, to continuously invest in the RC, building on its long tradition of strength while leaning into change that will keep it fresh and relevant. But we view the EC as equally important because it gives our students the chance to go both deep and broad, to explore specialties, ask themselves how they want to make an impact, and engage in cutting-edge thinking with our world-class faculty.

In sum, we believe the HBS MBA not only transforms the careers and lives of our students, but it also has the potential to transform the world through them. They have incredible potential to be leaders who make a difference in the world, and to prepare them, we keep the focus on hard work, with humility, for humanity.

Social Purpose of the Firm

New course examines the role of business in advancing society’s well-being

Debora Spar is one of 11 faculty members teaching the course Social Purpose of the Firm. Photo by Natalie Keyssar

Last winter, the MBA Program incorporated into its Required Curriculum a course that explores how, and under what circumstances, private firms can help address some of society’s greatest challenges. The Social Purpose of the Firm is a three-day course developed by HBS’s Institute for the Study of Business in Global Society that examines, among other topics, economic development, responsible AI, climate change, and poverty. It was piloted in February and taught by 11 faculty members who led discussions on five cases written specifically for the course that involve companies ranging from Microsoft to Sweden’s Northvolt electric battery maker. These cases, designed to help students think about what it means to make a difference, look at how would-be leaders identify the problems or challenges facing them, and what enables them to craft solutions that others might have missed.

“The module was absolutely brilliant. It got me thinking on many tangents that generally aren’t covered here in the regular courses,” one first-year student commented.

“This material is hard, it’s interdisciplinary, and it forces both students and faculty to grapple with questions that don’t really have clear answers,” said Debora Spar, the Jaime and Josefina Chua Tiampo Professor of Business Administration and senior associate dean for Business and Global Society. “We were delighted to see how engaged the students were and how seriously they are taking the challenges they will confront as business leaders.”

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