Harvard Business School is designed for generalists, not specialists

“If you have a very
special interest in a particular thing, other schools may be
better suited to you,” said Nitin Nohria,
pictured.
Susan Young for Harvard
Business School

• Harvard
  Business School dean Nitin Nohria said the program is designed
  to produce generalists as opposed to specialists.
• He looks for students who want to develop their overall
  leadership and management skills.
• Research suggests that generalist MBA graduates receive
  better job offers than those who specialized in a single
  field.

Business school is a big investment — of time, money, and energy.

So if you’re planning to apply, you’ll want to make sure you’re
choosing a program that helps get you where you want to be in
your career.

Harvard Business School has cachet, to be sure, but it’s not
necessarily the perfect program for everyone. According to dean
Nitin Nohria, HBS is best for people who want to develop their
general management skills, as opposed to those who aim to
specialize in a particular field.

“We’re looking for people who really enjoy the responsibility of
running a company, or want to run a company,” Nohria told
Business Insider. “If you have a very special interest in a
particular thing, other schools may be better suited to you.”

US News & World Report ranked business schools by
specialization: The Wharton School at the University of
Pennsylvania took the top spot for finance, while McCombs School
of Business at the University of Texas at Austin took the top
spot for accounting.

The Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College was ranked
No. 1 for entrepreneurship, while Harvard was ranked No. 1 for
management.

Business Insider
previously reported on research
that found generalist MBA graduates receive better job offers
than MBA grads who specialized in a single area.

The study authors told the
Harvard Business Review that experienced hiring managers
“said things like, ‘Someone who has accomplished a lot of things
is better than a one-trick-pony who just keeps doing the same
thing and isn’t taking advantage of what the MBA has to offer.”’

As Nohria put it, HBS is “really looking for people who want to
develop their general management and leadership capabilities,
which they can then apply in a wide variety of settings.”