ADVANCED CORPORATE STRATEGY ASSIGNMENT I HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL and MIT SLOAN

Submitted by

S.Madhula Roll Number: 52 IIM Raipur

1) Resource commonalities 1. Case studies from renowned institutes around the globe Harvard is the torch bearer for case study methodology of teaching to the world. And after Harvard other B-schools followed it, thus Harvard always has an upper hand in case studies. It has around 13000 cases written by its own faculties and also from other pioneer b-schools around the globe. Cases are getting added everyday according to the evolving scenarios and also faculties are exclusively trained for teaching through cases. Cases make the students think upon real time situations and involve them in applying the concepts studied. 2. Text Books and Online reference materials Both HBS and MIT have put up their study materials and cases online for others use. Also the students get all the best online study materials and notes on their door step which help them improve their skills. 3. Human resources - Experienced in house and visiting faculty members Both the schools have the best faculties in each of the fields. Also they keep inviting visiting faculties from the industry for corporate lectures and classes. This gives the best learning experience to students in both the place. 4. Infrastructure and facilities The forty-acre residential campus has thirty-three buildings with a broad range of dedicated facilities including state-of-the-art classrooms, meeting spaces, and Baker Library, one of the worlds largest and most respected business libraries. The educational experience is augmented by a continuously evolving IT system that integrates technology throughout the campus. Also the Schools unmatched financial resources have provided faculty and students with the flexibility to produce a continuous stream of innovations in education and research designed to meet the evolving needs of business leaders everywhere. 5. Selection procedure and organization culture Both the schools use GMAT scores for selection. But other than that each of them have some unique selection criteria for their courses.

6. Career resources Job board, resume database, alumni directory etc

Both the schools have planned for various resource methods to improve the students career prospectus. Job board, resume database and alumni directory are some of their efforts to achieve that. 7. Alumni Network Both the schools have good alumni network. HBS has around 40,000 living alumni whereas MIT has around 25,000. But HBS is considered to have more CEOs as alumni. 8. Corporate connection Both the schools have strong ties with big corporations for training or through alumni. This helps them in industry learning as well as in campus placements. 9. Academic course structure Both the schools have MBA and doctoral programs. Also many executive programs preparing talented professionals from all over the world for new levels of leadership in their careers and within their organizations. Both schools have almost similar course structures with case studies and group discussions. But the evaluating criterion alone is different. 10. Clubs and student activities Both the schools have active student clubs which caters to students interests right from the school. Students make use of this to align themselves according to their career interests. Thus both the schools prepare students in all programs for the real management challenges that lie ahead using almost the same resources.

2) Market similarities 1. Vision and Brand image The vision of both the schools according to the market is to create talented and dynamic global managers. They have a created a brand image in the minds of intellectual community as pioneers in the management education with their own way of teaching methods and techniques. But both the schools are facing the challenge of maintaining the brand image. 2. Course structure and Disciplines Both the schools offer multiple managerial disciplines. All of them fall under one or other categories specified below. Accounting, Business and Government Relations, Economics, Entrepreneurship, Finance, General Management, Human Resource Management, Information Technology, Marketing, Operations Management, Organizational Behavior, Service Management, Social Enterprise and Strategy. But they are not competing with each other in the market because Harvard has pure case study method of teaching whereas MIT professors have the freedom to frame their own course structure according to the subject requirements. But the real challenge faced by both the schools is in updating the course structure according to the evolving market scenario. 3. Competition from other top universities Though both the schools are doing well in their domain still they are facing competition from other top business schools like LBS, Stanford, Wharton, Kellogg, Yale and Dartmouth. Though it is not a competition of survival it is a competition to maintain their brand in the market. This is evident when the yearly rankings are published by various sources. 4. Market scenario and job packages This is the market uncertainty created by events like recession etc which can hit the placements and the package. Because of this schools and students might get affected for no fault of theirs.

3) Competitive advantage on the basis of resources possessed Though most of the resources used by both the business schools are same as they are serving in the same domain still out of the two Harvard Business School (HBS) has succeeded in showing points of parity in its product (i.e. MBA) by differentiating it in certain key aspects which has gained it the competitive advantage over other business schools including MIT Sloan. Through this HBS has retained top rankings in most of the studies conducted by different agencies. MBA Rankings (2010) Poets & Quants Business Week Forbes U.S. News & World Report Financial Times The Economist (Source: www.poetsandquants.com) Except for operations management HBS had been continuously ranked better than MIT in all other fields. The reason for HBSs success is the competitive advantage it has over other institutes. Some of the resources attributing to HBSs competitive advantages are as follows : a. Teaching method through cases Harvard is the torch bearer for case study methodology of teaching to the world. And after Harvard other B-schools followed it, thus Harvard always has an upper hand in case studies. It has around 13000 cases written by its own faculties and also from other pioneer b-schools around the globe. Cases are getting added everyday according to the evolving scenarios and also faculties are exclusively trained for teaching through cases. Cases make the students think upon real time situations and involve them in applying the concepts studied. Also students are evaluated based on their comments related to the cases in the class thus they are making sure that all students participate in it. To sum up cases are the key factors for HBSs success. b. Facilities Harvard Business School is like a university onto itself with 33 separate buildings on vast area of 40 acres. HBS has its own state-of-the-art fitness center, a massive library (MIT doesnt have its own library and shares with the university) and a chapel. The MIT 8 9 14 3 8 19 Harvard 1 2 3 1 3 5

pioneer strategist Michael Porter and his Institute for Strategy and competitiveness has his own building on campus. There is no other business school that can even remotely match Harvard for its expansive classrooms and study halls. c. Program Focus Harvard Business School has many disciplines and offers around 130 electives to its students but MIT has just 70 electives. And the main program focus in HBS remains in innovation, leadership and entrepreneurship. According to a study after 15 years of their MBA around 50% of Harvard students are found to be entrepreneurs, having their own business but this is not the same in the case of MIT where the students are found to be occupying comfortable top notch positions of big players in the industry. Whereas most of the CEOs of the top companies in different industries around the globe are from Harvard, HBS stands first in both leadership and e ntrepreneurship. This has created the brand image for Harvard among the students and the corporate. Thus HBSs continuous changes in the program yet maintaining the focus on its brand image has given it the competitive edge over other institutes. d. Selection procedure The number of rejects from Harvard is getting increased year by year as more and more aspirants are applying for it. Harvard looks for various criteria to select students. They follow a unique method in forming a class. The competition in the last four years can be seen from the following data. 2007 MBA PROGRAM Applications Percent Admitted Yield Enrollment (Source: http://www.hbs.edu) They believe that a class should be as diverse as possible to bring different view points from different angles during a case discussion which will help students in peer learning process. Whereas MIT Sloan is always pointed out for his high intake of engineers and hence the course becoming more of aptitude based. In 2010 the class composition from different undergraduate fields in HBS and MIT were as follows Undergrad Degrees Humanities Engineering/Math MIT 21% 47% Harvard 40% 33% 7,438 14% 89% 1,806 2008 8,661 12% 91% 1,796 2009 9,093 12% 89% 1,862 2010 9,524 11% 89% 1,864

Business/Economics (Source: www.poetsandquants.com) e. Alumni Network

32%

26%

Harvard has an extraordinary alumni network. There is no business school in the world that can show as many high achieving graduates as Harvard. The most obvious differences between MIT and Harvard are the vast size and scope of the HBS network. As already specified no school can beat Harvard in the number of graduates holding CEO jobs at big companies. In Harvard the alumni are helpful to each other. Over the years, Business Week surveys of MBA graduates show that Harvard has one of the strongest alumni networks of business schools in the world. With 41,378 living MBA alums, Harvards network is larger, more diverse, and more global. MIT shows 25,000 Sloan alums, a number that includes graduates of every kind from the Sloan School so it is not directly comparable to the Harvard number. MIT has 75 alumni association clubs around the world. The Harvard site even has a separate link for the alumni recruiters which show its competitive advantage over others in getting their students placed in big corporations where they are already having their alumni as representatives. Thus Harvard is leveraging its Alumni Network in a wise way. f. Campus Recruitment Harvard assures its students a top MBA job at big players like McKinsey, Bain, BCG, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, Amazon, Apple, Cisco, Google, IBM, Intel, Microsoft etc. MIT, being just down the street from HBS, attracts as many prestige MBA employers as Harvard. But recruiters prefer Harvard to MIT due to the high competition among the students there. The brand image created by the school is being continuously maintained by their students who get placed in these corporations every year and thus remains a competitive advantage for it always. 2009 saw the worst economic slump and the salary data for MIT and HBS students That year is shown below. Again HBS beats MIT here too due to its competitive Advantages. Job & Pay Data Starting salary & bonus MBAs employed at commencement MBAs employed 3 months after commencement Estimated median annual pay & salary 20 years out Estimated median pay & bonus over a full career MIT $125,707 69.5% 83.4% $176,000 $3,049,280 Harvard $131,219 76.8% 87.3% $230,000 $3,867,903

(Source: www.poetsandquants.com) Thus these are the key factors or resources of Harvard Business School that has made it gain a competitive advantage over MIT Sloan and other top business schools to retain its top position. Actually it is evident that HBS has not given much importance to competition because it considers its MBA to be a niche product and hence puts its course materials online free for all and also distribute its case to others. Had it been the other way Harvard would been keen on keeping its resources to itself but there are so sure about their brand, which is a combination of unique teaching methodology, faculties, facilities and the best students and alumni network.

Reference 1. http://www.hbs.edu 2. http://mitsloan.mit.edu/ 3. http://poetsandquants.com