Spring Break
Two Years at Harvard Business School
A Review of Ahead of the Curve
By Jack Sallay OH, Viewpoints Editor
Issue date: 9/8/08 Section: News
Ahead of the Curve: Two Years at the Harvard Business School by Philip Delves Broughton was published just a few weeks ago and already it is difficult to find students on campus who have not heard of it. Indeed the book has raced through the entire business world - in August it was the #1 most read book review on Bloomberg.com. According to a recent Harbus poll (with over 200 student respondents) nearly nine in ten EC's are familiar with the book and half of the class of 2009 have plans to read it - if they have not already. Whether they have read it in full or just the reviews most have a strong opinion.
Philip Delves Broughton was 32, married and a father when he left his job as the Paris bureau chief of the Daily Telegraph to join the HBS class of 2006. Now two years after graduation he has published a book detailing his experience and providing commentary on the school, its students and faculty, and the appropriate role of the MBA in society.
Most students became familiar with the book through the many reviews and articles that were forwarded to them by friends, classmates and colleagues. With articles in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, BusinessWeek - to name just a few - the print media has devoured the opportunity to expound on such meaty material from a school insider. More than a few reviews, the Journal for one example, seem to have relished the opportunity to perpetuate the author's observation on the apparent "sense of entitlement that the students and faculty are famous for."
Others reviewers, however, went deeper to question the author's motives in attending HBS in the first place. Although Delves Broughton states clearly in the preface that he did not go to HBS planning to write a book, Tom Keane of the Boston Globe challenges him. "Wow, he did keep good notes," referring to the numerous and lengthy quotes of his fellow students' comments in the classroom.
After reading one, or sometimes a few reviews, a number of students choose to stop right there. In fact, over half of those surveyed have no plans to read the book at all. The author's apparent sensationalist telling gave Matthew Perkins (OG) pause. "I don't plan on reading it. Like any good journalist, Mr. Delves Broughton has focused on writing about the things that will sell his book - namely anecdotes about drunken episodes at Priscilla Ball, the flashy wannabe leaders of tomorrow - rather than providing serious thought about the value of an MBA in general, and the pros and cons of attending HBS in particular."
Philip Delves Broughton was 32, married and a father when he left his job as the Paris bureau chief of the Daily Telegraph to join the HBS class of 2006. Now two years after graduation he has published a book detailing his experience and providing commentary on the school, its students and faculty, and the appropriate role of the MBA in society.
Most students became familiar with the book through the many reviews and articles that were forwarded to them by friends, classmates and colleagues. With articles in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, BusinessWeek - to name just a few - the print media has devoured the opportunity to expound on such meaty material from a school insider. More than a few reviews, the Journal for one example, seem to have relished the opportunity to perpetuate the author's observation on the apparent "sense of entitlement that the students and faculty are famous for."
Others reviewers, however, went deeper to question the author's motives in attending HBS in the first place. Although Delves Broughton states clearly in the preface that he did not go to HBS planning to write a book, Tom Keane of the Boston Globe challenges him. "Wow, he did keep good notes," referring to the numerous and lengthy quotes of his fellow students' comments in the classroom.
After reading one, or sometimes a few reviews, a number of students choose to stop right there. In fact, over half of those surveyed have no plans to read the book at all. The author's apparent sensationalist telling gave Matthew Perkins (OG) pause. "I don't plan on reading it. Like any good journalist, Mr. Delves Broughton has focused on writing about the things that will sell his book - namely anecdotes about drunken episodes at Priscilla Ball, the flashy wannabe leaders of tomorrow - rather than providing serious thought about the value of an MBA in general, and the pros and cons of attending HBS in particular."
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