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  • November 2004 (Revised April 2005)
  • Background Note
  • HBS Case Collection

Math for Strategists

By: Tarun Khanna and Jan W. Rivkin
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:18
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Abstract

Great strategists rely heavily on numbers as they go about their work. Offers an overview of the high- and low-brow quantitative tools that students encounter during the Strategy course. The class explores high-brow tools in detail; the focus here is on low-brow calculations. Such calculations come up often in class but because they seem so simple, they get little airtime or explanation. From past class experience, roughly 20% of the students in each section come into the course with the intuition and experience to do these simple calculations themselves. The other 80% understand the calculations after they see them and grasp their value, but don't spot the opportunities to do the math themselves, before class.

Keywords

Mathematical Methods; Strategy

Citation

Khanna, Tarun, and Jan W. Rivkin. "Math for Strategists." Harvard Business School Background Note 705-433, November 2004. (Revised April 2005.)
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About The Authors

Tarun Khanna

Strategy
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Jan W. Rivkin

Strategy
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More from the Authors
  • Tata Group in 2021: Pursuing Profits through Purpose By: Tarun Khanna, Krishna G. Palepu and Vidhya Muthuram
  • FIELD Immersion 2022: San Antonio, Texas By: Tarun Khanna, Sara Fleiss and James Barnett
  • Strategy Through a Ghemawat Lens: Honoring and Building on the Contributions of Pankaj Ghemawat By: Bruno Cassiman, Tarun Khanna and Daniel A. Levinthal
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