If you’re considering taking an online business course, you’ve likely discovered the wide range of options on the market.
From massive open online courses (MOOCs) to cohort-based experiences, sorting through the offerings and finding one that suits your needs and career goals can be difficult.
Harvard Business School Online offers certificate courses, Learning Tracks, and credential programs designed to equip you with the business skills to drive results and level up your career. Here’s how you can learn with HBS Online and what makes it unique.
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Harvard Business School Online offers certificate courses in eight subject areas:
- Business essentials
- Leadership and management
- Entrepreneurship and innovation
- Digital transformation
- Strategy
- Marketing
- Finance and accounting
- Business in society
You can also dive deeper into a topic by pursuing a Learning Track and earn a Certificate of Specialization by completing three courses in a subject area.
If you’re interested in a more extensive program, consider a credential:
- Credential of Readiness (CORe): CORe combines three business essentials courses with a final exam. Originally designed to prepare incoming Harvard master of business administration (MBA) students, you can take it to get ready for business school, bolster your skills, or jumpstart your career advancement.
- Credential of Leadership, Impact, and Management in Business (CLIMB): This yearlong, comprehensive program for new and experienced leaders consists of seven courses and a capstone project to apply your learning.
If you’re curious whether the HBS Online learning experience is right for you, here are 10 factors that make it unique.
10 Factors That Make HBS Online Unique
1. World-Class Faculty
One thing that sets HBS Online courses apart is that they’re developed and taught by world-class HBS faculty.
HBS Online (formerly called HBX) launched in 2014 under the guidance of HBS professors Bharat Anand, Jan Hammond, Youngme Moon, and V. G. Narayanan, who now serves as senior associate dean of HBS Online and Executive Education.
Every course features faculty who are experts in their fields, and they often present frameworks and tools they’ve coined themselves—for instance, Clayton Christensen’s Jobs to Be Done and disruptive innovation theories in Disruptive Strategy and Robert Simons’s Job Design Optimization Tool in Strategy Execution.
No matter where you are in the world, HBS Online courses give you the chance to learn from these renowned leaders.
Related: 7 Types of Industry Leaders You Can Learn from at HBS Online
2. Flexible Schedule
HBS Online courses boast flexibility not just in terms of location but scheduling. Each module is designed to be completed on your own time by a weekly deadline.
This makes courses accessible if you have a busy schedule—you can log in and learn however best suits your circumstances.
For instance, health care product manager Mike Gleichman took Financial Accounting and Organizational Leadership while balancing a full-time job, parenting two young children, and pursuing his passion for music.
“I had taken some online courses for product management, but the HBS Online courses were very different—far more engaging,” Gleichman said. “You’re not just watching videos. It was great to have a week to finish the work so I could fit it in without taking time off.”
Related: 9 Tips for Taking Online Courses While Working Full-Time
3. Instant Enrollment
Beyond the flexibility of completing each program on your own time, you can also enroll instantly in HBS Online’s certificate courses.
HBS Online welcomes learners wherever they are—in the world and their careers—irrespective of their professional experience or academic background. To further that mission and make it easier for you to kickstart your educational journey, HBS Online doesn’t require an application for its certificate programs.
You can explore our course catalog and begin taking the next step in your career by enrolling the same day.
4. Real-World Business Cases
Another cornerstone of HBS Online courses is the case method. Pioneered by HBS in 1922, this learning model presents examples of challenges real business leaders have faced and requires you to consider what you’d do in their circumstances. After reflecting and deciding how you’d proceed, the leader shares how they handled it and what advice they’d give to someone in their situation.
Ryan Dumlao, a former electrical engineer, completed CORe to prepare for his MBA. Now a product manager at Adobe, he reflects on his experience taking Economics for Managers, his favorite of the three courses.
“I found the content incredibly eye-opening to how the world worked around me,” Dumlao said, “as well as helping to understand several foreign and long-forgotten concepts about how businesses and economies function. Many of the cases studied in the course were companies I was curious about—some I had never known about—and the course spurred me to research them further and even invest in a few on the market.”
Real-world examples provide a tangible way to conceptualize and apply course content and insights as you advance your career.
Related: 5 Ways Real-World Learning Can Boost Your Career
5. Active Learning
While some online courses consist solely of video content, HBS Online’s feature interactive elements to create a dynamic, immersive learning experience. Every three to five minutes, you encounter a poll, quiz, problem-solving exercise, or reflection prompt that reinforces and enables you to apply course concepts.
For Sheneka Balogun, chief administration officer and chief of staff at LeMoyne-Owen College, the activities made her learning experience more impactful.
“If I had to choose just one favorite part of the program, I would select the interactive text throughout each module,” Balogun said. “Learning came to life! The videos from the professors, the interactive cold calls where you were randomly selected to participate, the case studies that enhanced and often captured the essence of objectives and learning goals were all embedded in each module. This made learning fun, engaging, and student-friendly.”
The “cold call” Balogun references is HBS Online’s simulation of the famed HBS classroom technique in which you’re called upon at random to respond to a question or make a decision with limited time to answer.
These interactive elements make HBS Online the closest experience to an in-person course you can get without visiting the HBS campus.
Related: 8 Ways HBS Online Creates an Interactive Online Learning Experience
6. Social Interaction
HBS Online courses use a cohort-based model to facilitate connections with your fellow learners as you progress.
Many of the interactive elements prompt you to complete an exercise or a reflection, and then show your peers’ responses. You can consider how others’ responses are similar and different from yours and what you can gain from their input. Additionally, you can recognize great ideas by “starring” your peers’ answers and comment to start a conversation and dig deeper.
By interacting with your peers, you can build connections and gain new perspectives from others worldwide.
7. Global Community
Social interaction extends beyond the course platform through the HBS Online Community. Even before you’ve enrolled in a course, you can join this global network of business professionals to share experiences, ask questions, and gain industry insights.
During your course, the Community can be an effective way to meet other learners outside of prompts and exercises. After you earn your certificate, you can maintain those bonds and form new ones.
In addition to connecting online, the Community features over 30 geography-based Chapters—led by Community Organizers—that you can use to gather with professionals in your area.
“The support and encouragement I’ve received from fellow Community members has been invaluable in my personal and professional development,” said Patrick Sabineza, who took Entrepreneurship Essentials and serves as the New York Chapter Organizer. “It’s truly a dynamic and inclusive space where lifelong connections are formed. I’m grateful to be part of such a vibrant Community.”
The HBS Online Community also facilitates collaboration toward a greater cause through the annual Community Challenge. Each year, HBS Online teams up with a nonprofit that poses a business challenge to the Community. Working in teams, you can submit proposals for solving the challenge and have the chance to pitch your idea to a judges’ panel and be selected as the winning team.
Collaborating with like-minded professionals on a meaningful challenge can be a fulfilling way to continue building your business skills and network long after your course ends.
Learn more about the HBS Online Community in the video below, and subscribe to our YouTube channel for more!
Related: 9 Benefits of the HBS Online Community
8. Connext Conference
HBS Online invites all past participants to attend Connext, its annual hybrid conference. This full day of networking, learning, and connecting celebrates the spirit of lifelong learning.
In-person attendees engage in case discussions in HBS classrooms, while virtual attendees observe or participate in a Live Online Classroom session—all led by HBS faculty on cutting-edge topics.
Whether you attend in person or virtually, you can learn from HBS Online leadership and faculty, network with fellow attendees, and witness—or participate in—the Community Challenge pitch competition.
Monitor the Community website for updates about future Connext conferences.
9. Return on Investment
Taking an HBS Online course can literally pay off. A recent survey by City Square Associates found that 42 percent of HBS Online learners said their course helped them receive an average salary increase of $17,000—a 10-times return on investment. Additionally, 16 percent reported receiving a bonus, with an average increase of $14,000.
The online course you choose could directly impact your compensation. For instance, Aranzazú Martínez Galeana saw an immediate change in her position upon finishing Leadership Principles.
“I got promoted to a senior project coordinator role just weeks after finishing the course,” Martínez Galeana said, “so I've had the chance to apply many of the topics covered, such as the model of team effectiveness. I've also had the opportunity to motivate and unleash others' potential in some of my recent projects.”
10. Tangible Outcomes
In addition to financial outcomes, HBS Online courses can improve how you work and your career trajectory.
For instance, in the aforementioned survey:
- 91 percent of past participants said HBS Online had a positive impact on their careers
- 36 percent changed careers
- 31 percent got a promotion
Another recent City Square Associates survey found that:
- 90 percent of learners feel more self-assured at work after taking an HBS Online course
- 87 percent acquired new skills that were immediately applicable
- 84 percent have more confidence making business decisions
- 65 percent gained more respect or influence at work
- 42 percent attracted more attention from recruiters
While other courses can help build your skills, the value HBS Online delivers sets it apart. In a survey of past participants who also took an online course from a different provider:
- 80 percent said the HBS Online experience was better than other online business programs
- 76 percent found HBS Online to be more impactful than other online business programs
- 74 percent said HBS Online featured better real-world examples than other online business programs
- 64 percent said HBS Online’s interactivity was better than other online business programs
By choosing an HBS Online course, you open yourself up to the possibility of experiencing these outcomes.
Is an HBS Online Course Right for You?
Choosing an online course requires self-reflection. Ask yourself what you hope to gain from your educational experience. What are your goals, and what skills do you need to reach them?
Next, determine what you value in an online course. For instance, if social interaction is important, prioritize it. Not every course will meet your desires and needs, so it’s crucial to define them before searching.
If you value community, an engaging learning experience, and real-world outcomes, an HBS Online course could be the right fit for you.
Are you interested in discovering how HBS Online can help advance your career? Explore our course catalog, and download our free guide—complete with interactive workbook sections—to determine if online learning is right for you and which course to take.
This post was updated on July 30, 2024. It was originally published on October 12, 2023.
