Field of dreams

　　夢想之地

　　Harvard Business School reinvents its MBA course

　　哈佛商學院改良其工商管理碩士 課程

　　YOUNG mums shopping in the Copley Mall in downtown Boston last month found themselvesbeing questioned about their use of soap by students from Harvard Business School. Thestudents were not doing odd jobs to earn beer money. They were preparing to help a firm inBrazil launch an antibacterial cleanser.

　　上月，年輕的媽媽們在波士頓市區的科普利商場 購物時，發現有來自哈佛商學院的學生詢問她們使用肥皂的情況。這些學生并不在打臨時工賺取啤酒錢。他們在幫助一家巴西公司發布一款抗病菌潔面乳做準備工作。

　　Fieldworkie, going out and talking to peopleis a big change for HBS. Its students used to sitin a classroom and discuss case studies written by professors. Now they may also work in adeveloping country and launch a start-up. Learning by doing will become the norm, if aradical overhaul of the MBA curriculum succeeds.

　　實地工作走出教室，與人交談是哈佛商學院的一項大變革。哈佛商學院的學生過去常常坐在教室里討論教授們寫的研究案例。現在，他們也可能在一個發展中國家工作，并且建立一家新興企業。如果這項對 MBA課程的重大改革成功，那么，做中學將變為常規。

　　The 900 students arriving in Boston this summer for their two-year course were told theywould be guinea pigs. The new practical addition to HBSs curriculum is known as FIELD . Not all the staff and students areoverjoyed to be experimented on. But the man responsible, Nitin Nohria, who became dean ofHBS in July 2010, says that if it works, the FIELD method could become an equal partner tothe case method.

　　今年夏季哈佛商學院通知接受其兩年制課程的 900 名新生：他們將是試驗對象。哈佛商學院實際新增課程稱為 FIELD 。并非所有的員工和學生都對成為這次實驗的對象而感到欣喜若狂。但于2010 年 7 月就任哈佛商學院院長的項目負責人尼廷?諾里亞 稱，如果成功，實地教學法將與案例教學法并駕齊驅。

　　Long before he became dean, Mr Nohria lamented the failure of business schools to fulfil theirmission of turning management into a profession similar to law or medicine. Asked what shouldbe expected from someone with an MBA, he replies that obviously, they should master a bodyof knowledge. But we should also expect them to apply that knowledge with some measure ofjudgment. MBA students have long been sent on summer internships with prospectiveemployers, but HBS, like most business schools, did little else to help them with the practicalapplication of management studies.

　　早在擔任院長以前，諾利亞就曾抱怨，商學院未能實現自身使命，將管理轉變為類似于法律或醫學的一門職業。當問及應當對工商管理碩士抱以怎樣的期望時，他回答說很顯然，他們應該擁有大量知識。但是，我們也應期望他們能在應用知識的時候運用一些判斷力。長久以來，工商管理碩士專業學生都會派到潛在雇主那里參加暑期實習，但是，與大多數商學院一樣，哈佛商學院很少再采取措施，來幫助他們將管理學運用于實踐。

　　What happens in the second year of the new course is still being worked out. But the first yearhas three elements. First, team-building exercises. Students take turns to lead a groupengaged in a project such as designing an eco-friendly sculpture. They learn to collaborateand to give and take feedback. These exercises are loosely based on ones used in the US army.

　　新課程第二學年的安排仍在制訂中。但第一學年有三個要素。第一，團隊建設訓練。學生輪流領導一個組織。這個組織參與一個項目，比如生態友好型雕刻。他們學習相互合作、給予并接受反饋。這些訓練大致建立在美軍的訓練方法之上。

　　Second, students will be sent to work for a week with one of more than 140 firms in 11countries. Already the new intake have had conference calls with these companies, rangingfrom the Brazilian soapmaker to a Chinese property firm, and gone off-campus to conductproduct-development dashes like the one in Copley Mall. This sort of structured learning-by-doing is a world away from HBSs traditional encouragement of students to go on anadventure outside of classes.

　　第二，把學生派往 11 國家里逾 140 家公司之一工作一周。這些新生已經同這些公司舉行了電話會議，走出學校，為產品開發在附近四處奔波，例如去科普利超市。此類有組織的做中學不同于哈佛商學院鼓勵學生到教室外去冒險的傳統做法。

　　In the third novel part of the course, students will be given eight weeks, and seed money of$3,000 each, to launch a small company. The most successful, as voted by their fellowstudents, will get more funding. It remains to be seen if this amounts to much more than asouped-up business-plan competition, though Mr Nohria says he hopes some real businesseswill be created.

　　此門課程的第三個創新之處是，給予學生八周時間以及每人 3,000 美元基金來創辦一家小型公司。按照同學投票，最成功的公司將給予更豐厚的資金。僅管諾利亞稱，他希望創造出一些真正的企業，但是，它是否不僅僅是一個花哨的商業計劃比賽尚待觀察。 開始創辦微軟，馬克?扎克伯格 打造臉譜 時，哈佛商學院就已想到這個主意該多好或許哈佛商學院可能已經收到了這兩家公司的股份。)

　　It is unclear how much the one-week working assignments will achieve. Pankaj Ghemawat, amanagement guru, says the literature suggests that an immersion experience needs to be atleast 2-3 weeks and be backed up with time in the classroom. The HBS students classroompreparation will have to be pretty thorough, then, to make up for the brevity of their fieldtrips. Moreover, some of the HBS alumni who have agreed to offer work experience at theirfirms say they are unsure what meaningful work they can offer the students.

　　一周的工作任務有多大成效還不得而知。管理大師潘卡基?格瑪沃特稱文獻資料顯示，浸入式體驗至少需要 2-3 周的時間且需要課堂時間的配合。這樣，哈佛商學院學生的課堂準備將必須非常充分，以彌補他們實地體驗期的短暫。還有，已經同意提供工作經歷的哈佛商學院校友們稱，對提供給學生們何種有意義的工作他們并不確定。

　　Privately, some faculty members are sceptical that all this change will be worthwhile. InJanuary, the vote in favour of trying the field method was as enthusiastic as you could getfrom a faculty, says Mr Nohria, wryly. He wisely ensured that ownership of the idea was widelyspread by delegating design of the new curriculum to several faculty committees. The votegave the go-ahead to run a delicate experiment for 3-5 years to see if we can move theneedle, he says, compared with the 13 years it took to develop the case method into more orless what it is today.

　　私下里，某些教職員工對是否值得進行所有這些變革持懷疑態度。1 月份，你能從教職員工那里得到的頂多也就是支持實地教學法的投票而已，諾利亞嘲諷地說道。通過將設計新課程的權力下放到幾個教職員工委員會，他明智地確保了更廣泛的教職員工能參與到這項變革中來。教職工投票同意進行3-5 年的謹慎試驗，看下能否產生顯著影響，諾利亞稱。而案例教學法整整用了13年才走到今天這一步。

　　The experiment does not come cheap, adding 10-15% to the courses cost , which HBS will bear while it figures out what works. A lot is at stake. Forwhere Harvard leads, other universities may follow.

　　這試驗并不便宜，課程成本由此增加了10-15%。在弄清弄什么是有效的之前，這筆費用將由哈佛商學院承擔。太多吉兇未卜。因為哈佛領先之處，可能就是他校追隨的地方。

　　Field of dreams

　　夢想之地

　　Harvard Business School reinvents its MBA course

　　哈佛商學院改良其工商管理碩士 課程

　　YOUNG mums shopping in the Copley Mall in downtown Boston last month found themselvesbeing questioned about their use of soap by students from Harvard Business School. Thestudents were not doing odd jobs to earn beer money. They were preparing to help a firm inBrazil launch an antibacterial cleanser.

　　上月，年輕的媽媽們在波士頓市區的科普利商場 購物時，發現有來自哈佛商學院的學生詢問她們使用肥皂的情況。這些學生并不在打臨時工賺取啤酒錢。他們在幫助一家巴西公司發布一款抗病菌潔面乳做準備工作。

　　Fieldworkie, going out and talking to peopleis a big change for HBS. Its students used to sitin a classroom and discuss case studies written by professors. Now they may also work in adeveloping country and launch a start-up. Learning by doing will become the norm, if aradical overhaul of the MBA curriculum succeeds.

　　實地工作走出教室，與人交談是哈佛商學院的一項大變革。哈佛商學院的學生過去常常坐在教室里討論教授們寫的研究案例。現在，他們也可能在一個發展中國家工作，并且建立一家新興企業。如果這項對 MBA課程的重大改革成功，那么，做中學將變為常規。

　　The 900 students arriving in Boston this summer for their two-year course were told theywould be guinea pigs. The new practical addition to HBSs curriculum is known as FIELD . Not all the staff and students areoverjoyed to be experimented on. But the man responsible, Nitin Nohria, who became dean ofHBS in July 2010, says that if it works, the FIELD method could become an equal partner tothe case method.

　　今年夏季哈佛商學院通知接受其兩年制課程的 900 名新生：他們將是試驗對象。哈佛商學院實際新增課程稱為 FIELD 。并非所有的員工和學生都對成為這次實驗的對象而感到欣喜若狂。但于2010 年 7 月就任哈佛商學院院長的項目負責人尼廷?諾里亞 稱，如果成功，實地教學法將與案例教學法并駕齊驅。

　　Long before he became dean, Mr Nohria lamented the failure of business schools to fulfil theirmission of turning management into a profession similar to law or medicine. Asked what shouldbe expected from someone with an MBA, he replies that obviously, they should master a bodyof knowledge. But we should also expect them to apply that knowledge with some measure ofjudgment. MBA students have long been sent on summer internships with prospectiveemployers, but HBS, like most business schools, did little else to help them with the practicalapplication of management studies.

　　早在擔任院長以前，諾利亞就曾抱怨，商學院未能實現自身使命，將管理轉變為類似于法律或醫學的一門職業。當問及應當對工商管理碩士抱以怎樣的期望時，他回答說很顯然，他們應該擁有大量知識。但是，我們也應期望他們能在應用知識的時候運用一些判斷力。長久以來，工商管理碩士專業學生都會派到潛在雇主那里參加暑期實習，但是，與大多數商學院一樣，哈佛商學院很少再采取措施，來幫助他們將管理學運用于實踐。

　　What happens in the second year of the new course is still being worked out. But the first yearhas three elements. First, team-building exercises. Students take turns to lead a groupengaged in a project such as designing an eco-friendly sculpture. They learn to collaborateand to give and take feedback. These exercises are loosely based on ones used in the US army.

　　新課程第二學年的安排仍在制訂中。但第一學年有三個要素。第一，團隊建設訓練。學生輪流領導一個組織。這個組織參與一個項目，比如生態友好型雕刻。他們學習相互合作、給予并接受反饋。這些訓練大致建立在美軍的訓練方法之上。

　　Second, students will be sent to work for a week with one of more than 140 firms in 11countries. Already the new intake have had conference calls with these companies, rangingfrom the Brazilian soapmaker to a Chinese property firm, and gone off-campus to conductproduct-development dashes like the one in Copley Mall. This sort of structured learning-by-doing is a world away from HBSs traditional encouragement of students to go on anadventure outside of classes.

　　第二，把學生派往 11 國家里逾 140 家公司之一工作一周。這些新生已經同這些公司舉行了電話會議，走出學校，為產品開發在附近四處奔波，例如去科普利超市。此類有組織的做中學不同于哈佛商學院鼓勵學生到教室外去冒險的傳統做法。

　　In the third novel part of the course, students will be given eight weeks, and seed money of$3,000 each, to launch a small company. The most successful, as voted by their fellowstudents, will get more funding. It remains to be seen if this amounts to much more than asouped-up business-plan competition, though Mr Nohria says he hopes some real businesseswill be created.

　　此門課程的第三個創新之處是，給予學生八周時間以及每人 3,000 美元基金來創辦一家小型公司。按照同學投票，最成功的公司將給予更豐厚的資金。僅管諾利亞稱，他希望創造出一些真正的企業，但是，它是否不僅僅是一個花哨的商業計劃比賽尚待觀察。 開始創辦微軟，馬克?扎克伯格 打造臉譜 時，哈佛商學院就已想到這個主意該多好或許哈佛商學院可能已經收到了這兩家公司的股份。)

　　It is unclear how much the one-week working assignments will achieve. Pankaj Ghemawat, amanagement guru, says the literature suggests that an immersion experience needs to be atleast 2-3 weeks and be backed up with time in the classroom. The HBS students classroompreparation will have to be pretty thorough, then, to make up for the brevity of their fieldtrips. Moreover, some of the HBS alumni who have agreed to offer work experience at theirfirms say they are unsure what meaningful work they can offer the students.

　　一周的工作任務有多大成效還不得而知。管理大師潘卡基?格瑪沃特稱文獻資料顯示，浸入式體驗至少需要 2-3 周的時間且需要課堂時間的配合。這樣，哈佛商學院學生的課堂準備將必須非常充分，以彌補他們實地體驗期的短暫。還有，已經同意提供工作經歷的哈佛商學院校友們稱，對提供給學生們何種有意義的工作他們并不確定。

　　Privately, some faculty members are sceptical that all this change will be worthwhile. InJanuary, the vote in favour of trying the field method was as enthusiastic as you could getfrom a faculty, says Mr Nohria, wryly. He wisely ensured that ownership of the idea was widelyspread by delegating design of the new curriculum to several faculty committees. The votegave the go-ahead to run a delicate experiment for 3-5 years to see if we can move theneedle, he says, compared with the 13 years it took to develop the case method into more orless what it is today.

　　私下里，某些教職員工對是否值得進行所有這些變革持懷疑態度。1 月份，你能從教職員工那里得到的頂多也就是支持實地教學法的投票而已，諾利亞嘲諷地說道。通過將設計新課程的權力下放到幾個教職員工委員會，他明智地確保了更廣泛的教職員工能參與到這項變革中來。教職工投票同意進行3-5 年的謹慎試驗，看下能否產生顯著影響，諾利亞稱。而案例教學法整整用了13年才走到今天這一步。

　　The experiment does not come cheap, adding 10-15% to the courses cost , which HBS will bear while it figures out what works. A lot is at stake. Forwhere Harvard leads, other universities may follow.

　　這試驗并不便宜，課程成本由此增加了10-15%。在弄清弄什么是有效的之前，這筆費用將由哈佛商學院承擔。太多吉兇未卜。因為哈佛領先之處，可能就是他校追隨的地方。