First published 2018
Financial journalist Duff McDonald turns his investigative lens on Harvard Business School, the institution that mints America's corporate elite. McDonald traces how HBS became more influential than Harvard University itself, creating what the New York Times called "the golden passport to life in the upper class" in 1978. He examines the school's network dynamics that have sustained its power for nearly a century, revealing how MBA holders gain near-automatic entry to corner offices across Western capitalism. McDonald argues that despite HBS's stated mission to multiply leaders who handle business problems in socially constructive ways, graduates excel at personal success rather than social good. The book tackles two central questions: Has the school abandoned its founding principles? Does HBS bear responsibility for capitalism's moral shortcomings? McDonald delivers a critical yet balanced examination of an institution that shapes economic inequality and political upheaval through its outsized influence on business leadership.
Genres: business, economics, education, non-fiction, academia, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: investigative-journalism
Setting: America, Western Capitalism
Period: 1978
672 pages · Paperback · Harper Business