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.
My MBA was great, however, in five weeks we did not cover nearly as much content as with CORe, so this was a quintessential supplement.
I'm now more mindful of how my colleagues are experiencing me, and less averse to having difficult conversations.
My certificate gives me a competitive advantage and the opportunity to contribute to the success of my company in a unique way. Moreover, a Harvard certificate opens news doors wherever I choose to work in the world.
Now I see how to take control of the financial part of my business and also how I can apply strategy when I enter into a new market.
Learning from an establishment like Harvard Business School and being in a cohort of people from all over the world from a variety of fields was truly monumental for me.
Now that I've been exposed to these principles, I automatically approach any problem with the tools I learned as part of the course. I look at how best to approach a problem using design thinking principles to get the most innovative solution. I never forget to ask myself, 'Am I missing something key here?'
My favorite part of the program was interacting with my cohort members where I received valuable shared experiences, feedback and was able to be a thought partner around strategies and best practices in varying scenarios.
Having the perspectives of my peers and all the constructive conversation encouraged me to think in new and creative ways. Knowing that your peers were rating your participation and reading your contributions was truly compelling.
I found myself constantly considering ways that my own company could immediately adapt and adopt some of those practices [from CORe].
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.
The course has made me think more carefully about how I could create a competitive cost structure and make appropriate plans before entering the market. [Conjoint analysis] has also helped me think about what product features my consumers would really value and how to highlight those features. Having a better business vocabulary and understanding the underlying concepts has really helped me to contribute more productively to conversations and decisions.
The idea that value can be scaled and influenced in a myriad of ways puts this course ahead, both in strategy formulation and implementation, as well as management development and learning.
HBS Online doesn't teach you knowledge or prescribe to any cookie-cutter solutions to problems. Rather, it teaches you how to think about business problems and arrive at a solution yourself.
Additionally, the program allowed me to acquire a more holistic view of the services we provide, and it is helping me develop new ideas to innovate and generate different sources of revenue.
I think what I took from CORe or what I enjoyed was how it shaped me to think and apply all concepts simultaneously.
As a consultant running a boutique management and technology consulting practice, I have already started applying what I have learned in Disruptive Strategy towards my own business.
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.
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
Hear what students are saying about the Credential of Readiness (CORe).
The CORe program will help me to better understand the world around me…and to hit the ground running in any job after graduation.
Already, knowing the fundamentals of business has deepened my understanding of the context and consequences of the commercial disputes I manage daily.
Meet Dave, a Disruptive Strategy participant who took the course to improve his decision making.
I had never experienced such an immersive platform online, and could argue that it was more effective at building and solidifying knowledge than some of the in-class courses I took in college.
I immediately applied the concepts…I highly recommend the program to students who always had an interest in business and economics but never had the time to devote to course material in their traditional academic curriculum!
Thank you for explaining concepts that I thought were impossible for me to ever grasp in such simple terms. The examples that Professor Desai chose to illustrate these concepts and the industry experts who give their thoughts and opinions has me eagerly looking forward to the time I spend on the course every day.
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.
Leaders at any level should take this class to improve their leadership proficiency.
By the end of the program I realized that CORe was a total game changer on how I see and understand things around me.
I expected CORe to be much more of an overview. I never was expecting the depth that it truly delivered. I received a strong foundation to be confident enough to build my own startup.
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.
As someone that does negotiations as part of my job, I found Professor Wheeler’s Negotiation Mastery course to be both thorough and valuable. This course provides fresh insight and best practices to help maintain ethical standards, while creating and claiming greater value in future negotiations: whether you will be buying or selling a home, getting a new job, working with international business partners, or anything in between.
I am using some of the negotiation preparation techniques from the course in different aspects of my job. Overall I feel more confident in situations that might have once felt intimidating.
I loved the mixture of academic teaching, case-based review, interaction with peers who had their own experiences to recount, and application in my place of work. To me, it was a complete package.
Professor Hammond is an outstanding and inspirational teacher. Her Business Analytics course helped to demystify statistics for me, rendering the subject matter approachable and appealing. The fabulous visualizations and graphics, combined with relevant and interesting case studies, brought the concepts to life in a stimulating and engaging way. Mastery of data analysis is critical for business success and I now feel confident that I have the foundations in place. I am looking forward to embracing this capability further in my career.
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.
I got promoted to a senior project coordinator role just weeks after finishing the course, so I have had the chance to apply many of the topics covered.
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 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.
Our employees at Fortive have gained tremendous value through our work with HBS Online. They help us deliver on our L&D promise: Accessible Learning, Accelerated Growth. HBS Online offers courses with a range of topics and time commitments. We have had employees participate from over 35 countries!
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.
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.
As always, the case studies are eye-opening. The content is superb, and the presentation of the case is superb as well.
I have gotten an incredible wealth of knowledge and theories that are ready to apply. With every minute of learning, my company was better off and was setting a course for success.
I think CORe may be the extra push I need to connect with jobs that really interest me.
I found the overall CORe experience to be…eye-opening. Each of the courses took deep dives into companies of all shapes and sizes to exemplify how core business concepts are applied…CORe took the idea of learning business principles to the next level
In an ever fast-changing world, it is important to keep abreast with how people around the world tackle finance-related issues and the experiences they go through.
Another aspect which I loved and cannot emphasize enough is the fact that CORe does not feel like a virtual program.
Recently, I realized that I did not have the business “toolbox” and that is why, while I am still involved in this amazing project, I am reaching out to new horizons.
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.