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A Look Inside the Case Study Method Practiced by the Harvard Business Analytics Program

Written by Krista Celentano on Jul 24, 2020

Related content: University, Digital Education

This week, the Harvard Business Analytics Program hosted its first-ever LinkedIn Live Case Study event. The Harvard Business Analytics Program prepares aspiring and established leaders from any industry to use data to drive business strategy. Offered through a collaboration between the Harvard Business School (HBS), the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), this online certificate program strengthens students’ core management skills and ability to analyze, translate, and incorporate data into strategy at the top levels of their organization.

Designed to simulate the case study discussions that the Harvard Business Analytics Program participants experience throughout the certificate program, this virtual event featured Professor Karim Lakhani and several past and present students who analyzed a case study by Shane Greenstein and John Masko titled, Feeling Machines: Emotion AI at Affectiva. By including a variety of students—who collectively ranged from graduates of the first cohort in 2018 to those still in the program today—the event presented a diversity of opinions and perspectives from professionals who hailed from different classes and different places around the world, ultimately strengthening the discussion.

Check out the livestream footage here to go under the hood and see what the case study method at Harvard looks like in practice.

At the conclusion of the event, past and present students shared their experience in the Harvard Business Analytics Program. Here are a few standout testimonials:

“This was the single most impactful educational experience that I’ve had. I work in higher ed administration, and I saw a deficiency in analytical ideas and thoughts across the industry as a whole. I wanted to sharpen my skills. This program blew me away. I’ve learned so much.” — Josh S.

“I really love learning, and the discussions opened up so much opportunity to learn from others. It was a lot of fun and very engaging to dive into the cases both during the classes and offline to come up with our own solutions. [The program] was a source of energy—not a drain on it. That’s really important. We’re all working, and we have lots of responsibilities, so getting that extra boost of energy was really fun.” — Gevorg A.

“This opportunity was a perfect complement to where I was in my career. It was additive in ways I couldn’t have imagined when I started the course. Everything I’ve learned, I’ve put to use.” — Kerri S.

“I work with data scientists all the time. Now I’m able to speak their language. It was a great opener for me to really work with the data scientist on my team to understand what creates value for the customers.” — Srikanth S.

Are you interested in achieving better business strategy and using data to drive your leadership decisions? The final application deadline for the Harvard Business Analytics Program’s October 2020 cohort is July 31. Apply on the Harvard Business Analytics Program page.


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