Field Studies
Field studies provide second-year HBS students with the opportunity to apply their skills to the real-world challenges facing organizations while they earn academic credit. Under faculty supervision, each team of three to six students works on a project of strategic importance to the organization and reports its recommendations at the end of the term. Each team is expected to conduct research in the field, carry out thoughtful analyses, prepare a report, and make a final presentation - supported by concrete findings and recommendations - to the supervising faculty and, if appropriate, the sponsoring organization.
Students find and develop field study project ideas in many ways. If your organization would like to learn more about posting a Field Study opportunity for fall or winter term for student consideration, please see the detailed information below.
Timing
The deadline for submitting an organizations-sponsored posting for a Fall term Field Study project is mid-August, and the submission deadline for a Winter term project is early December.
Benefits
Field studies enable faculty members to participate in intensive learning relationships with small groups of highly committed students while extending their own research efforts. Organizations benefit directly from the student interaction and output. The students are unpaid, although organizations are encouraged to subsidize project expenses, and reimburse students for project-related travel.
Focus
Some past field studies projects include:
- Creating the strategic plan for a new department including the product roadmap, architecture, budget, staffing, product pricing, additional resources, etc.
- Assisting in building a business case and competitive analysis for an expanded role in the multi-billion dollar Bank/Broker-dealer back office segment
- Helping the CEO determine how to manage the business and political issues around the pricing and marketing of prescription drugs
- Analyzing the appropriateness of an organizations current price positioning for the North American market, conducting a contribution/break-even analysis of its product lines, and presenting strategic recommendations
- Working with a nonprofit organization that focuses on expanding access to financial services for low-income families, in exploring and suggesting a strategy for interactive media as a tool for educating clients.
Involvement
Field study projects are developed in many different research areas. If you already have a group of students in mind, you can propose a project to them and encourage the students to seek a faculty sponsor in time for term registration. If you have a project idea that you would like students to know about, you can "Propose a Field Study" at the link below. You will complete a short online form including a description of your organization and your project; these details will be posted on the field-based learning Intranet site, and students can contact you if they are interested in your project.
Making the Most of a Field Study Experience
While the final success of the field study lies with the team, a faculty supervisor commits to providing guidance and direction throughout the course of the project and a sponsoring organization provides crucial components.
A student team and faculty supervisor will create a "learning contract" ahead of time outlining field-work requirements, frequency of team meetings, and parameters for evaluation. Sponsoring organizations will want to discuss the timing and scope of the project, and have a clear understanding of the final deliverable.
A budget and method for reimbursement for appropriate project expenses should be agreed to by the organizations and the student team before the project is underway. Students are not compensated for field study projects undertaken for academic credit. However, field study expenses such as travel, duplicating, typing, telephone, and the purchase of specialized publications can be reimbursed by the sponsoring organization as appropriate. Since students often operate on very limited budgets, we suggest that organizations arrange to pay directly for air travel and hotels, if possible. Students are responsible for tracking and documenting all expenses as proof to the sponsoring organization. Students undertaking a Social Enterprise field study with a nonprofit organization are eligible to apply for limited field study grants for reimbursement of project expenses.
Each sponsoring organization will need to designate a senior manager to serve as the student team's liaison. This person is expected to provide access to managers and information relevant to the study and should maintain a close connection with the team throughout the project.
The sponsoring organization and the student team should develop a work plan ahead of time that outlines the expectations for time spent on-site. Please keep in mind that students are not allowed to miss classes in order to travel for field studies.
Students are expected to maintain the highest ethical standards. If you are concerned about issues of confidentiality, you may want to ask your student team to sign a non-disclosure statement prepared by Harvard Business School. Any potential conflicts of interest between the student and the organization must be fully disclosed to management before the project begins. If students will be conducting research in the field on your organization's behalf, they are required to disclose to any third party from whom they may solicit information that the research they are conducting is for the benefit of the organization, even if they don't identify the organization by name. The faculty supervisor must keep a copy of the final written report on file for one year, but any confidential information included in the study will be limited to "instructor use only" and held in the strictest confidence.
Fields marked with a (*) are required.
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