Global Partner: Expectations & Policies
When committing to be a Global Partner for the FIELD course, organizations are expected to adhere to policies that promote academic learning.
We ask that Global Partners agree to the following policies developed by Harvard Business School. The shared commitment to these expectations and policies, by both organizations and Harvard Business School, provides the foundation for academic learning. Harvard Business School asks that your organization agree to reflect the academic spirit of this exercise in its interaction with student teams.
For this project, Global Partners will identify a product or service category (either new or an innovation to an existing product/service) on which the team will work. If an organization is open to partnering with more than one team, we ask that the partner organization identify additional product or service categories.
Time/Resource Commitment
Roles & Responsibilities
Project Sponsor - The Project Sponsor is the main contact within the organization for the student team. S/He will be responsible for identifying and coordinating with the organization's functional experts and senior executives who will be involved. The Project Sponsor will guide the team throughout the project timeline.
Functional Experts - Functional experts are staff from various functional areas in the organization, such as finance or marketing, who will work with students to inform their project work both before and during the site visit in January. The functional areas will vary based on the scope of each project.
Senior Executives - Senior executives are executives from the organization who will attend the final presentation, and may be involved throughout the project as well.
Cost
There is no cost or fee associated with participation in the FIELD Global Immersion. Harvard Business School will be responsible for student travel, lodging, and meals during the immersion.
Space Requirements
Global Partners are asked to provide meeting and work space for a six person team for approximately 3-4 days in January.
Location Requirement
Students are traveling with a class of approximately 50 students and an HBS professor. Students will remain in the immersion city and will not be able to travel for overnight trips to other locations during the immersion timeframe. Their time has been structured for meetings with the Global Partner organization, as well as required classroom sessions with the professor and classmates.
Timeline
Timeline details can be found on the Calendar and Key Dates page on the website. This page will be updated as needed throughout the year.
Project Information
Confidential Information
Global Partners should not share any confidential information with a student team without noting it as such. Students will sign a team agreement which includes a non-disclosure clause as indicated in the agreements.
Assignment of Rights
The final "product or deliverable" will be the sole possession of the organization. Students will assign the rights to the partner organization, and will forfeit all legal responsibility and rights to the product or service developed for this academic exercise. Please review the agreements for details.
Policies
Equal Opportunity Statement
In accordance with Harvard University policy, Harvard Business School does not discriminate against any person on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, age, national or ethnic origin, political beliefs, marital status, veteran status or handicap in admission to, access to, treatment in or employment in its programs and activities. Accordingly, Harvard Business School can only partner with organizations whose practices are consistent with this policy.
Students' Rights to Privacy
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) applies to any school that receives federal funding, including Harvard Business School. Students may consent to make their resumes available to partner organizations. However, resumes are intended for the use of partner organizations only; it is not available to every requester outside Harvard Business School.
Questions and Concerns
If an MBA participant in the FIELD course violates specific rules or general standards of propriety, please contact our office. For assistance regarding any incidents or concerns, please contact the Global Experience Office at geo+hbs.edu immediately.
Harvard Business School reserves the right to modify its policies throughout the year.