The Golden Passport, Duff McDonald
The Golden Passport, Duff McDonald
2 Rating(s)
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The Golden Passport
Harvard Business School, the Limits of Capitalism, and the Moral Failure of the MBA Elite

Author: Duff McDonald

Narrator: George Newbern

Unabridged: 21 hr 36 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 04/25/2017


Synopsis

A riveting and timely intellectual history of one of our most important capitalist institutions, Harvard Business School, from the bestselling author of The Firm.With The Firm, financial journalist Duff McDonald pulled back the curtain on consulting giant McKinsey & Company. In The Golden Passport, he reveals the inner workings of a singular nexus of power, ambition, and influence: Harvard Business School. Harvard University occupies a unique place in the public’s imagination, but HBS has arguably eclipsed its parent in terms of its influence on modern society. A Harvard degree guarantees respect. An HBS degree is, as the New York Times proclaimed in 1978, ""the golden passport to life in the upper class."" Those holding Harvard MBAs are near-guaranteed entrance into Western capitalism’s most powerful realm—the corner office.Most people have a vague knowledge of the power of the HBS network, but few understand the dynamics that have made HBS an indestructible and powerful force for almost a century. As McDonald explores these dynamics, he also reveals how, despite HBS’s enormous success, it has failed with respect to the stated goal of its founders: ""the multiplication of men who will handle their current business problems in socially constructive ways."" While HBS graduates tend to be very good at whatever they do, that is rarely the doing of good.In addition to teasing out the essence of this exclusive, if not necessarily ""secret"" club, McDonald explores two important questions: Has the school failed at reaching the goals it set for itself? And is HBS therefore complicit in the moral failings of Western capitalism? At a time of pronounced economic disparity and political unrest, this hard-hitting yet fair portrait offers a much-needed look at an institution that has a profound influence on the shape of our society and all our lives.

About Duff McDonald

Duff McDonald is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Firm: The Story of McKinsey and Its Secret Influence on American Business, Last Man Standing: The Ascent of Jamie Dimon and JPMorgan Chase, and The Golden Passport and the coauthor of The CEO, a satire. A contributing editor at the New York Observer, he has also written for the New Yorker, Vanity Fair, New York, Esquire, Fortune, Businessweek, GQ, Wired, Time, Newsweek, and other publications. He lives in New York.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Siv30

הספר מתאר את היסטוריית הצמיחה המטאורית של בית הספר לעסקים בהאוורד ושל התוכנית למינהל עסקים מהעשור הראשון של המאה ה 20 ועד היום. הוא מתאר התפתחויות מרכזיות ביחסי העבודה ובתפיסות ניהול שונות והוא גם מציג לקורא את גורלם של חלק מבוגריו הבולטים בית הספר שעד היום נחשב למוביל וליוקרתי בתחומו. אז מה המסקנות......more

Goodreads review by Mbogo

Duff McDonald was in need of a good punching bag and he found it in Harvard Business School. Once he had set it up to the right height he punched the hell out of it. I have read these set of books before the likes of When Genius Failed, or Enron's The smartest guys in the room but this is the most s......more

Goodreads review by Marks54

(I rated this a "3" but feel it more a "2.5". I enjoyed it enough to finish it but have issues. McDonald is a journalist who wrote a nice book on McKinsey. I had hoped he would do the same with HBS but that was not to be.) McDonald has written a long history of the Harvard Business School (HBS) that......more

Goodreads review by Brad

This book will make you angry while it informs you. The author makes a very good argument for the ills in our capitalist society deriving from the MBAs running companies into the ground.......more

Was a bit different than expected. It focused much more on the business world pre-2008 recession. Was expecting more "ah ha" moments, but felt that it came up short.......more