Business History Curriculum

Business History Courses in the Harvard MBA

The Coming of Managerial Capitalism. This second-year elective explores the historical development of the most important economic actors and institutions—entrepreneurs, corporations, labor unions, and financial markets, as well as relevant government bodies—as the United States became increasingly industrial, urban, and technologically advanced. The course covers changes in the strategy and structure of institutions, especially corporations, and shifts in the nature of competition between businesses. The development of the workplace and labor movement and the changing role of government in the country's economy are investigated as well. In addition, the course examines the relation between capital market innovation and economic development and surveys the long-term impact of entrepreneurship, technological change, and market evolution. The history of managerial capitalism in the United States offers students a comparative point of reference for considering business strategy as well as economic and social change across time and national boundaries. This course has been for many years one of the most popular electives in the MBA program.

Entrepreneurship and Global Capitalism. This second-year elective examines the origins and dynamics of global capitalism. Through the eyes of entrepreneurs of the past two centuries, the course explores how global business opportunities have been identified and exploited, and the challenges and opportunities posed by "foreignness" as firms crossed national borders. The course has four modules. The first examines how entrepreneurs built the first global economy in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by creating business organizations that pursued resources and markets across borders. It shows how these pioneers identified opportunities and managed risks in the face of adversity. It ends by exploring the subsequent collapse of the global economy during the political and economic crisis of the interwar years, and its subsequent partial reconstruction before 1980. The second module examines the drivers of the violent reaction to the first wave of globalization. It explores the entrepreneurial challengers and opportunities posed by the resulting political and regulatory risks which have remained a feature of the global economy. The third module examines the recreation of the global economy since 1979 as liberalization and deregulation opened up countries such as China which had been closed to global capitalism for decades, and as information technology opened up new entrepreneurial opportunities. The fourth module describes the strategies which entrepreneurial challenges have used to enter global industries.

Business Government and the International Economy. In addition to the business history courses in the MBA curriculum, there is a strong historical dimension to the first-year required course, Business, Government and the International Economy (BGIE). BGIE highlights the significance of public policy in economic development, and is designed to provide MBA students with a better understanding of how governments influence the environment of business. The course, taught by an interdisciplinary team of economists, political scientists, and historians, focuses both on the economic consequences of policies and on the political, institutional, and historical context in which policies are established and implemented.

The Doctoral Seminar in Business History. This seminar provides a doctoral level history course which offers students access to the latest business history research and introduces them to qualitative and quantitative research methodologies employing historical materials. It provides a broad understanding of the main themes in global business history of the last two centuries. Over the course of the Seminar students also design, research and write a research paper which will employ either quantitative analysis of a historical database or qualitative research on primary materials on business history. They are introduced to, and often base their research paper on, the unique historical collections held by the Baker Library.