Student Stories
Find out what it's like to take an HBS Online course from current and past learners.
Find out what it's like to take an HBS Online course from current and past learners.
Economics for Managers was immensely valuable. Hearing from founders and seeing the power of network effects through various case studies helped me see market opportunities through an entirely different lens. The market knowledge I acquired helped me refine and expertly craft research reports.
...it's beyond the value I could have ever expected for such a small investment, life changing
By the end of the program I realized that CORe was a total game changer on how I see and understand things around me.
The business skills and concepts I learned through CORe will be invaluable in helping me assess the Chinese market, the demand and pricing of our service, and how to differentiate ourselves from our competitors.
I spent much of my college career fervently annotating novels and loved every minute of it but knew that my focus post college was going to be business.
Having a deep understanding of finance is crucial to effectively lead a business, and Mihir Desai’s engaging delivery of rich content through the case study method has given me the confidence to clearly message important financial updates and decisions to our key stakeholders.
The real-world examples were the best part of the courses. While going through the examples, I thought a lot about how I would have handled it if I were them. That plays a big role in how I do things now.
The best part of CORe was its case-based approach to learning and retaining business fundamentals. No chapter in the entire curriculum had raw theory...It helped in challenging conventional wisdom with strong and practical, real life examples.
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.
Adriel, a graduate of Berklee College of Music, explains how CORe is different from other online courses he's taken and discusses how the fundamental business skills he's learned in CORe have helped him connect the dots between his interests in music, marketing, and live entertainment.
I decided to sign up for Leading with Finance because I not only wanted a refresher on the principles of finance, but also wanted to take a more proactive and deeper approach to my company's financial positioning.
CORe has provided me a dynamic understanding of how to measure and understand those outcomes. I can now confidently translate statistical data into a graphical presentation or employ different statistical techniques to help me better understand the pulse of student progress.
Learning about concepts through real-life cases was my favorite part of the program. The cases really helped transform abstract concepts into observable situations one could learn from.
Disruptive Strategy participant Jessica Shaffer talks about the direct impact the course has had on her work at Leader Bank.
I have also applied what I learned in setting up my own health company, LeadInShape. CORe helped me in interpreting data, researching different markets, and how to do my finances. Also, when I have to make decisions in my work or in business, I think of what I have learned in CORe.
While I originally enrolled in CORe to determine if I wanted to pursue an MBA, I ended up using the knowledge I gained from CORe to interview for and land my current job.
Meet Natacha, a CORe participant who took the program to help advance her career in finance.
This course had an amazing instructor, amazing examples, and an amazing user interface that made it easy for me to grasp the material and learn simultaneously with others around the world.
I think it's the best online course on Sustainable Investing.
The platform was engaging, innovative, and allowed me to interact with the material in a way I never expected from an online course.
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.
It is really helpful as I apply for jobs to be able to demonstrate that I have the capability to consider economic constraints or opportunities.
However, the most exciting thing about CORe is that once you take it, you are never going to be the same. A simple grocery store visit becomes filled with economic references and analytical ponders. CORe allows the world to become more of a learning opportunity.
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.
Weekly, I negotiate strategic partnerships for my company, and Negotiation Mastery has given me additional skills that I have put into practice and have resulted in much more successful agreements.
Amsterdam native Willemijn discusses the inviting and addictive nature of the CORe online course platform and how the business skills she's learned in the program are applicable to people of all backgrounds.
As an in-house counsel at a multinational for two decades, I’ve reached two conclusions about negotiation and business. The first is that it is the core of everything we do; it is a shared language of business around the world. The second, surprisingly, is that so little attention is given to developing skills in this field. In fact, often people with important responsibilities do not even realize that they are about to enter a negotiation and, as a result, fail to prepare for it. Working with Mike Wheeler has been a critical part of a continuous process illuminating my colleagues so that they, and our business, are more skilled and confident negotiators and deliver better results. What Mike brings to our trainings has been the depth of his years of experience teaching and writing about the subject, and his studies of leading negotiators in difficult situations, all of which have played a critical role in driving a cultural change that puts competency in negotiation front and center where it belongs.
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.
As someone who’s worked in a large company for the past 20-plus years, it gave me the foundation and vocabulary to engage more confidently in the venture capital and startup community.
I now feel that I have a broad overview of finance and can approach topics with a strong, integrated framework instead of approaching them in isolation.
I feel confident and prepared by the ‘science’ of startupland while also appreciating—and being more prepared for—the art of it.
Leadership Principles has helped shape my unique leadership style. One of the most influential lessons for my leadership development was the HBS four-step process for delivering effective feedback and coaching—a process that I now apply on a daily basis.
Leading with Finance offered the perfect opportunity to refresh my core finance skills and interact with a global group of colleagues in an online format that was ideal for my schedule.
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 customers' Job to be Done and caused us to re-think our strategy to get the customer to “hire” us over the competition.
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.
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.
Meet Holden, a CORe participant who took the program to help with the transition from military to civilian life.
Through CORe, I have uncovered a love for analytics, made valuable connections with people in several countries, and gained a strong foundation that will serve me well in MBA or PhD studies, which I am considering for the future.
I'm using regression analysis and other statistical concepts from Business Analytics to build predictive models, analyze trends, and conduct surveys and hypothesis testing. Business Analytics has helped me pursue a career in data analytics and land a job as a Business Intelligence Analyst at Ministry of Justice New Zealand. I'm leading a few modelling and reporting projects across the Ministry using the knowledge I gained from the course.
I think CORe may be the extra push I need to connect with jobs that really interest me.
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.
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.
Professor Wheeler helped me to change the way I think about negotiation. Negotiation can be complex and chaotic, but if you seek to understand and embrace that chaos instead of fearing it, you can achieve outcomes better than your expectations.
I enjoyed being able to interact with motivated, ambitious students from all over the world. Furthermore, the course content and platform were extremely engaging, combining the best of pedagogy and technology.
I enjoyed hearing from top executives of large firms and their sustainable initiatives. Additionally, speaking with individuals that lived in different countries was very enlightening. Lastly, I enjoyed the ability to complete at my own pace because I liked to step away and think about each question.
This program…created so many “ah-ha” moments for me. Even if you've taken similar courses before…CORe walks you through the way of seeing these subjects through the eyes of a manager. It was truly an amazing experience!
The course surpassed my expectations…I actually regret not having more time to fully utilize all the optional features!
What I found most valuable were the methods and tools, which were useful and practical. I’ve already applied some of my learning at my job.
If you're looking for more information on how Harvard Business School Online programs can teach you the essential skills you need for success, request more information today.