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The gospel according to the Harvard Business School
First edition, First printing Book is in Very Good + condition. Boards have a tiny bit of shelf wear. Fore edges have a small amount of wear. Interior is clean and legible. NOT remaindered. Dust Jacket is in Very Good + condition. Tiny bit of shelf wear/rub. Tiniest bit of wear along the edges. Not price clipped. Dust Jacket is covered by Mylar wrapper. Thanks and Enjoy. All-Ways well packaged, All-Ways fast service.
- GenresBusinessNonfiction
331 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1973
About the author
Peter Cohen
1 book2 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Peter-Adrian Cohen is an American writer.
Peter-Adrian Cohen is an American writer.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 26, 2021
This book surprised me. Alone the fact that I picked it up is somewhat surprising, as I just chanced upon it in my university library in Mexico City.
It wasn't quite what I expected at first. From the foreword, I was ready for a satirical and critical description of the business school mentality. What I got was more of a diary of an MBA student at Harward with added reflections to them, almost making it seem like an ethnography.
The description of the Harvard experience were a bit too extensive for me at times, however there it did make for a better understanding what it is like to go through this system, the incredible pressure from all directions and your ambition fighting against it. Having had my own business career aspirations in the past, it is a bit like looking into a funhouse mirror and seeing what I might gave become. After reading this book, I am all the happier that I haven't.
The thing that made this book worthwhile for me were the critical reflections of the author, however. The description of the mindless ideology of competition as an end in itself, and the attempt to show the human and societal costs of that (exemplified by three suicides during the two years the author spends at Harvard). He does a really good job at describing the air of change in American society during the 70s as a reaction to the Vietnam war and recesion.
The author concludes that Individualism and Communism, competition and cooperation are means to and end, but it is all to easy for us to forget that end and start pursuing it in it's own right, using it as a justification for horrible results.
I was pleasantly surprised at how well Peter Cohen poses it's conclusions. I sadly couldn't find out what he did as an undergraduate, but it would be fascinating to know what he did before to understand how someone comes to the Harvard business school with this perspective.
It wasn't quite what I expected at first. From the foreword, I was ready for a satirical and critical description of the business school mentality. What I got was more of a diary of an MBA student at Harward with added reflections to them, almost making it seem like an ethnography.
The description of the Harvard experience were a bit too extensive for me at times, however there it did make for a better understanding what it is like to go through this system, the incredible pressure from all directions and your ambition fighting against it. Having had my own business career aspirations in the past, it is a bit like looking into a funhouse mirror and seeing what I might gave become. After reading this book, I am all the happier that I haven't.
The thing that made this book worthwhile for me were the critical reflections of the author, however. The description of the mindless ideology of competition as an end in itself, and the attempt to show the human and societal costs of that (exemplified by three suicides during the two years the author spends at Harvard). He does a really good job at describing the air of change in American society during the 70s as a reaction to the Vietnam war and recesion.
The author concludes that Individualism and Communism, competition and cooperation are means to and end, but it is all to easy for us to forget that end and start pursuing it in it's own right, using it as a justification for horrible results.
I was pleasantly surprised at how well Peter Cohen poses it's conclusions. I sadly couldn't find out what he did as an undergraduate, but it would be fascinating to know what he did before to understand how someone comes to the Harvard business school with this perspective.
August 2, 2022
Read it for entertainment as much as enlightenment. If it weren't sensational, it wouldn't have sold.
I was at HBS when this book was published with great fanfare. Obviously we all read it. As I recall--and thinking back now--it's not that the author was wrong in many of his observations. HBS is a lot of work and there are many "wealth and power" types there whose focus in life is getting ahead. And there are some who are seeking to do so even if it means climbing over others.
But...I didn't meet many of the latter type there. As with any community, there are all types, including a lot of well-balanced students seeking a good quality of life. The hard core were fun to watch in those days. I was friendly with two of our class's first millionaires (when that was a huge number). They weren't one dimensional. They just had different priorities than we did--and sometimes different abilities. Were there some people with questionable moral compasses? Sure, as there are in any group. But does the author's indictment apply to everyone there, much less the institution? No. We had study groups and helped each other in tough classes and formed social bonds as students do at any university.
Keep in mind that HBS graduates EIGHT HUNDRED MBAs every year (when I was there). There aren't anywhere near that many power-mad, wealth-crazed morally reprehensible types in U.S. senior management ranks. Nor billionaires. You just don't read about the vast majority of us.
Yeah, slam the institution. Blame our country's problems on greedy capitalists, led by Harvard MBAs. But they're people, too, with as much complexity and varied motivations and degrees of integrity as anyone. My Harvard MBA obviously gave me some opportunities I might not otherwise have had. But it didn't mold and shape me in some nefarious way. Ethics were discussed frequently--even in 1973-1975.
Yes, I'm cynical about the Harvard MBAs who give the rest of us a bad name. I'm even more cynical about politicians and lawyers who game the system and piously try to pass themselves off as altruistic servants of the people.
As I said often during my career: "Harvard Business School opened a lot of doors for me. But it closed a lot of minds." I quickly learned never to mention my degree in most business environments. Once it came out, people arrogantly assumed they knew who I was. I might as well have been wearing prison stripes. As one colleague said a few years ago, "You don't act like a Harvard MBA." He meant it as a compliment. I took it that way even though it was frustrating. Books like this don't help.
I was at HBS when this book was published with great fanfare. Obviously we all read it. As I recall--and thinking back now--it's not that the author was wrong in many of his observations. HBS is a lot of work and there are many "wealth and power" types there whose focus in life is getting ahead. And there are some who are seeking to do so even if it means climbing over others.
But...I didn't meet many of the latter type there. As with any community, there are all types, including a lot of well-balanced students seeking a good quality of life. The hard core were fun to watch in those days. I was friendly with two of our class's first millionaires (when that was a huge number). They weren't one dimensional. They just had different priorities than we did--and sometimes different abilities. Were there some people with questionable moral compasses? Sure, as there are in any group. But does the author's indictment apply to everyone there, much less the institution? No. We had study groups and helped each other in tough classes and formed social bonds as students do at any university.
Keep in mind that HBS graduates EIGHT HUNDRED MBAs every year (when I was there). There aren't anywhere near that many power-mad, wealth-crazed morally reprehensible types in U.S. senior management ranks. Nor billionaires. You just don't read about the vast majority of us.
Yeah, slam the institution. Blame our country's problems on greedy capitalists, led by Harvard MBAs. But they're people, too, with as much complexity and varied motivations and degrees of integrity as anyone. My Harvard MBA obviously gave me some opportunities I might not otherwise have had. But it didn't mold and shape me in some nefarious way. Ethics were discussed frequently--even in 1973-1975.
Yes, I'm cynical about the Harvard MBAs who give the rest of us a bad name. I'm even more cynical about politicians and lawyers who game the system and piously try to pass themselves off as altruistic servants of the people.
As I said often during my career: "Harvard Business School opened a lot of doors for me. But it closed a lot of minds." I quickly learned never to mention my degree in most business environments. Once it came out, people arrogantly assumed they knew who I was. I might as well have been wearing prison stripes. As one colleague said a few years ago, "You don't act like a Harvard MBA." He meant it as a compliment. I took it that way even though it was frustrating. Books like this don't help.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews