Student Stories

The most impressive part of Economics for Managers was the case studies from a managerial perspective, including an analysis of a pharmaceutical company's pricing of a drug and the ethics of measuring consumers’ willingness to pay for medicine. Due to the cohort's diversity in experiences and backgrounds, this discussion included the voices of the patient, the manager, and the policymaker.

Mirza Mahmood ul Hasan

Chief Financial Officer at Alsulaiman Group

The course, through its excellent design, has given me an approach and the confidence to deal with disruption either as an opportunity or a business risk.

Natacha

Natacha explains how CORe is helping her advance her career in finance.

Tiara Shafiq

Writer, performer, and producer engaging in entrepreneurial and directorial endeavors with business knowledge gained from CORe

I had been intimidated by a lot of the content - particularly Financial Accounting, since the whole idea of understanding financial documents made me panic - but to my surprise everything was presented in very accessible, grounded, easy-to-understand ways.

Maggie Oh

An animator with dreams of starting her own company

I feel that I am no longer wary of entering into business conversations; my confidence has gone way up with regards to accounting, economics, and analytics.

Brooks Wallace

Public relations professional looking to learn about sustainable business practices

"I now have a better understanding of sustainability and which companies are doing it right. I’m armed with talking points proving that sustainability is good for business, the environment, and its people."

Nisha Patel

Pursuing a Master of International Marketing at Hult International School of Business

I hope to gain confidence in conveying the fundamentals of business and a solid understanding of the application of theory to the real world in any industry.

Anna Ngarachu

Data analyst for an economic research firm in Johannesburg, South Africa

I think what I took from CORe or what I enjoyed was how it shaped me to think and apply all concepts simultaneously.

I interviewed for my current role the day before the CORe final exam and talked with my now-manager about how much I learned about accounting, reading financial statements, and data analytics, and how I could apply that to my current role. My job is project-based, and I'm currently leading the operational functions of a system-wide IT implementation, a project that affects the daily work of a few thousand employees. Knowing how to read financial statements or look at data sets and understand them has helped me make major decisions on future state reporting.

Gaurang Manjrekar

"Some of my favorite aspects were the interactive nature of the program, the ability to experience the class atmosphere of case studies conducted, and learning at a personal level from the best professors at Harvard Business School."

Peter LaBerge

Undergrad in creative writing who took CORe to help grow his poetry journal

I entered the CORe program with the assumption that business was binary in its reliance on creativity and science, on ideas and numbers. In reality, it’s simply not. There are numbers behind the most successful marketing campaigns, brand directions, and management decisions.

Adriel Tjokrosaputro

A Global Masters in Management student at London Business School and Fudan School of Management

In no time, not only will you build fundamental knowledge of the business world, but also be a part of a community that you can fully trust.

After taking Professor Wheeler’s course, we step back, slow down and discuss strategically and thoughtfully what our counterparts may be thinking on the other side of the table. We have a better cadence for our preparation.

Raymond Porch

Meet Raymond, a Management Essentials participant who took the course in order to be more effective in his new role as Manager of Diversity Pipeline Programs for Boston Public Schools.

Pankaj Prashant

I was able to use Business Analytics when a project on truck optimization for my site came up while I was enrolled in the course. I was able to apply the statistical concepts that I learned during the course to create an optimizer tool for truck usage and scheduling at the mine. This tool resulted in significant cost savings, which was highly valued by the site management team.

The course shifted my worldview: what the most pressing problems are, who comes up with solutions, and how we get there. Professor Henderson pushed hard for us to think deeply about systemic change when it's easy to be satisfied with small wins. Though the course is focused on the private sector, in my public sector job, I often reference the learnings when considering how best to work with businesses so we can leave the world better than we received it.

Out of all the intuitive teaching techniques at Harvard Business School Online, which included interactive graphs, cold calls, wise cracks, the Live experience was the most memorable of them all. To get a chance to interact with the Harvard faculty live was a dream come true!

Aravind Sivashankara

One of the most insightful components of this course was the detailed case studies on other companies that had similar challenges... The diverse perspectives that I got from my peers, which the learning platform enables, were very similar to those I get with my work environment.

Pankaj Prashant

Bharat Anand’s Economics for Managers course has proven to be the most influential for my career. Understanding the basic concepts of economics from the course really broadened my approach to various planning-related problems I tackle each day. My ability to identify details related to business efficiency and performance that I may have missed in the past was fine-tuned in the program, and my understanding of the business is now much stronger.

Pankaj Prashant

Reading a balance sheet was completely alien to me. Since taking Financial Accounting, I’ve been keeping track of my company’s annual reports, and the accounting that I learned helps me in understanding where the business may head in the future. I’ve also been tracking a few other companies for investment purposes, and I’ve realized that I can make more informed decisions with my improved knowledge of company financials.

Exceptional. It's about as good as online learning can get.

Nicholas Allsop

"My favorite part of the program was the ability to get a global prospective on the case studies live, as if we were all in a classroom in Harvard, all while in the comfort of our own homes."

Julian Tan

Recently completed my PhD and starting work at The Boston Consulting Group in London

As a classically trained scientist with limited business experience, I believe CORe is a fantastic way to invest in myself and help bridge the gap between being the scientist I am right now and the consultant I need to be in September.

Professor Wheeler's course gave me a new and profound perspective on negotiation. Whether I am trying to convince my daughter to go to bed on time, discussing a contract with a manufacturer, or organizing large scale military exercises with thousands of troops and dozens of aircraft - deftly employing the right negotiation technique can be the difference in success or failure.

I use my CORe training every day. Whether at work on in my private life, CORe was a paradigm-shifting event for me.

Michael Colletti

Working for a cutting-edge SaaS startup in Boston, MA

My goals also include applying the knowledge learned in this program to my professional life, really soaking it in, and learning from the experiences and perspectives of my peers in the course.

Neeti Mathur

Assistant Professor of Management and Assistant Registrar (Placement) at National Law University in Jodhpur, India

The program is beautifully designed and has so much to offer. Professor Desai explains the concepts effortlessly and it’s easy to grasp and absorb them.

CORe gave me a new lens through which I could look at the world. I applied what I learned right away at work and continue to apply it now in business school.

Jessica Shaffer

Disruptive Strategy participant Jessica Shaffer talks about the direct impact the course has had on her work at Leader Bank.

Dave Nelson

Head of Sales at WegoWise

I feel like I have an unfair advantage now knowing what I've learned from this course. It has given me confidence and clarity in my decisions, and I can already see the material impact of applying this model and mindset to our business and our culture.

Sam Gant

Pursuing a career in International Development

I think CORe may be the extra push I need to connect with jobs that really interest me.

Amita Metkari

Mechanical Engineer looking to pursue an MBA

The program offers a perfect blend of three fundamental courses.

This program debunked many myths about management. I highly recommend anyone with or without managerial experience take this course. It is much more than just about managing the people.

I was worried that the courses would move too quickly for me to master each concept, but the instructors, the materials, real-world case studies and the class interaction allowed me to truly understand the fundamentals of each…

I found the overall CORe experience to be…challenging, enjoyable, eye-opening.

Thanks to Business Analytics, I learned to apply statistical analysis to real world problems. For instance, I am currently doing a research project using regression analysis to see if we can predict emergency department demand on any given day - important for staffing and resource allocation.

The content and approach to Finance offered by Professor Desai is a unique, engaging and powerful way to not only look at numbers, but more importantly, understand the story they tell.

Sohaib Imtiaz

"The program was exhilarating due to the enticing case studies, the energy of the professors, and the euphoria of feeling like you're actually in a Harvard Business School classroom. Having such a diverse group of participants bringing such unique ideas to the discussion was very enjoyable."

Paige Peterson

Sales Manager, Western US at Coravin, Inc.

I have already applied so much of what I have learned. My strategy and message for my team and how we communicate with our customers has begun to shift.

Eoghan Martin

Computer engineering student in Ireland seeking to develop a tech startup

I loved the regular use of visuals and videos to fully build up the user's understanding of a new concept.

J. Holden Gibbons

A Veteran of the war in Afghanistan who returned home with a commitment to social change

CORe has been my Rosetta Stone in helping me to translate my ideas and visions for the world around me into empirical reality.

Farsh Askari

Community Manager and Disruptive Strategy Participant

​Learning about disruption theories has proven not only applicable within a business context, but broadly as a predictive prescription toward challenges in life as a whole.

I believe that CORe helped prove to prospective employers, as well as myself, that I understand the fundamentals of business.

Enrique Garcia-Rivera

Enrique is pursuing a PhD in Chemical Biology and working to find cures for diseases like cancer. He plans to use CORe as a way to bridge the gap between his work in the lab and the funding and entrepreneurial support he will need to bring those discoveries to the public.

Kyle Rosenmeyer

Boise State University Graduate, Engineer, and Photographer

"For me, that connection from textbook to reality made the courses memorable, enjoyable, and interesting. Case studies were absolutely my favorite part of the program."

Marcin Jasinski

An excellent course: world-class content, perfect delivery, excellent and diverse cohort, and finally wonderful collaboration with both the organizers and the class.

I feel like now I can speak more high-level about where we want to take the company and what strategic initiatives we want to put in place….It has given me an entirely new set of tools.

Robbee Minicola

Director at Microsoft

Within five days of finishing the course I had a plan of action for a major part of our business and presented it to our corporate executive. It applied the theories of the Customer’s Job to be Done and caused us to re-think our strategy to get the customer to “hire” us over the competition.

Mayank Dubey

Marketing and communications professional looking to learn about sustainable business practices

"The course has completely changed me today. I feel like a new person, with a new thought process, driven by purpose, committed to doing the right thing."