BOSTON–Harvard Business School Dean Nitin Nohria says that one of the most significant challenges the school faces today is the erosion of faith in capitalism and business world at large, according The Harvard Crimson newspaper.
Mr. Nohria told the Crimson that since the Business School has always been so closely associated with broader trends in the business world, it must work toward reassuring society that businesses and the capitalist system are productive.
“We — as a school that has often been associated with business, which is closely associated with capitalism — need to ask, ‘what can we do to make sure that society’s trust in capitalism remains strong and can be rebuilt,’” Nohria told the Crimson.
He said that the school has taken several actions in an effort to answer that question, including introducing more courses focused on ideas about economic structure.
“We are trying to find ways that we can engage our students in those kinds of conversations, all the way from having a second year course called ‘Reimagining Capitalism’ that has become one of our most successful second year electives, to now trying to bring that material back into the first year of our MBA curriculum,” Mr. Nohria told the Crimson.
“We’re now trying to ask the question, ‘how do we more seriously get engaged with the American heartland and think harder about parts of America that feel left behind?’ What we can do to bring more economic opportunity?” Mr. Nohria said.
