Each call features a topic of significant appeal to HBS alumni, followed by a Q&A session with the professor.
VLS calls are open to HBS Alumni Club members only. For more information and to register please see your local club.
Date/Time
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Featured Speaker/Topic
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September 25, 2009
12:00 - 1:00pm EDT |
Professor Bill Sahlman
The Current State of Entrepreneurship and the Upcoming HBS Alumni New Venture Competition |
October 6, 2009
12:00 - 1:00pm EDT |
Professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter
Super Corp - The answer to the global crisis of business and American-style capitalism - out of the ashes of conventional business models arises a set of companies using their power not only for profits and sustainable growth but also social good. |
November 9, 2009
11:30 - 1:00pm EST |
Professors Bill George, Rob Kaplan, Jay Lorsch, and Arthur Segel
The Financial Crisis – One Year Later |
December 8, 2009
12:00 - 1:00pm EST |
Professor Kash Rangan
“Doing Well by Doing Good is here to Stay but……” Research shows that going forward, Corporate Social Responsibility is here to stay and in fact grow, but the problem is that many, if not most companies practice it rather poorly. Professor Rangan will share a framework for auditing one’s CSR portfolio and shaping a CSR strategy going forward, especially in these difficult economic times. |
January 19, 2010
12:00 - 1:00pm EST |
Professor Ranjay Gulati
Reorganizing for Resilience - Professor Ranjay Gulati reveals how “resilient” companies—those that prosper in good times and bad—are driving growth and increasing profitability by immersing themselves in the lives of their customers. By reorienting their organizations to be proactive, flexible, and truly customer-centric, these pioneering companies have spiked growth even in the face of some of the most daunting economic conditions in modern history.
Drawing on more than a decade of research at firms ranging from manufacturing and retail to professional services, media, information technology, and healthcare, Gulati uncovers the path to resilience by showing how to break down internal barriers at your company and build bridges across internal units while also creating a network of external collaborators. |
February 8, 2010
12:00 - 1:00pm EST |
Professor Michael Wheeler
Negotiation Ethics - Whenever people and organizations negotiate, they implicitly decide what -- if anything -- they owe their counterparts in regard to candor, distributional fairness, and the possible use of pressure. The deals that they reach may also have impacts on stakeholders who are not at the table. Professor Michael Wheeler will discuss such issues and the role of ethics in the dynamics of negotiation. |
March 10, 2010
12:00 - 1:00pm EST |
Professor Noam Wasserman
Founders’ Dilemma – Recipient of the Class of 2009 Faculty Award, Professor Noam Wasserman will discuss how early decisions around money and power in entrepreneurial ventures have important long-term consequences for founders and their ventures. Professor Wasserman’s research indicates that a founder who gives up more equity to attract cofounders, new hires, and investors builds a more valuable company than one who parts with less equity. More often than not, however, those superior returns come from replacing the founder with a professional CEO more experienced with the needs of a growing company. This fundamental tension requires founders to make "rich" versus "king" trade-offs to maximize either their wealth or their control over the company. |
April 29, 2010
12:00 - 1:00pm EDT |
Professors Srikant Datar and David Garvin
Rethinking the MBA – For decades, MBA graduates from top-tier schools set the standard for cutting-edge business knowledge and skills. Now the business world has changed, say Professor Datar and Professor Garvin – and MBA programs must change with it. They believe that MBA programs aren't giving students the heightened cultural awareness and global perspectives they need. Newly minted MBAs lack essential leadership skills. Creative and critical thinking demand far more attention. Professors Datar and Garvin will demonstrate how leading MBA programs, including HBS, have begun reinventing themselves for the better – and will offer ideas for how business schools can surmount the growing challenges in today’s business world.
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May 25, 2010
12:00 - 1:00pm EDT |
Professors Tarun Khanna and Krishna Palepu
“Winning in Emerging Markets” – As debate continues over investment in emerging markets and the global impact they will have in coming years, companies are also faced with the decision of which global markets are the best choice. In their new book Winning in Emerging Markets, Professors Tarun Khanna and Krishna G. Palepu make the innovative argument that the primary exploitable characteristic of an emerging market is not its size or probable growth—but rather its lack of institutions. While such “institutional voids” present challenges, the professors say these voids also provide major opportunities for those willing to look at global markets from a different angle. Participants will benefit from the authors’ research on assessing emerging markets’ potential and crafting strategies for succeeding in those markets.
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