Typical day

Someone asked me to describe a typical day here. I'd say yesterday was a good example.

After morning exercise at your discretion and breakfast in the cafeteria, we start classes at 8 am. Classes are taught in the "case study" method.. We discuss the business case interactively in class for an hour or so. The cases are usually designed to be gray, not black and white, so there is lots of discussion on both sides of the issue, for example deciding on the appropriate balance of debt and equity in a firm, or how to lead a turnaround, or whether to buy a company or not. The professor moderates the discussion but does not provide an answer. In the last half-hour of the 90 minute class we are usually provided the "answer" (what the company actually did). And then we debate that. The last 10 minutes are lead by the professor in a more typical lecture-style, talking about the relevant theories, pros and cons behind the choices that could have been made.

We then take a half-hour break, and have another 90 minute class, take a lunch hour back in the cafeteria, then another 90 minute class after lunch. In the late afternoon there is sometimes a guest speaker, usually a CEO and Harvard alumnus, speaking and taking questions on their business strategy. Then we get a couple of hours on our own to brief the cases studies for the following day (usually 3 cases with 15 pages plus supplementary exhibits. Financial reports, org charts, market studies, etc).

We then have dinner as a group in the cafeteria and regroup after dinner in our "living group" for two hours or more to discuss the next day's cases.

We retire to our bedrooms, do a little reading or email, and repeat the cycle the next day.