Business Model/Brand Questions

What does the Harvard brand stand for? 

How is Harvard's brand managed, controlled, and developed in the digital context? 

What are the implications for the rest of our work of the power of Harvard's brand in the digital context?

In combination, the widespread use of digital technology and the intellectual-property policies of the University have made it easier and more profitable for faculty members to engage in entrepreneurial or consulting activities unrelated to their core Harvard responsibilities.  In such contexts, the "Harvard identity" typically functions as a form of accreditation, lending the actor credence and prestige. Should we acquiesce in these trends? Encourage them? Discourage them? Ought the University assert control over the projection of classroom expression of its faculty? Moonlighting?

Is our proportion of nonproprietary materials dangerously decreasing thanks to copyright expansion?

What should we do about the number of externally acquired digital materials that are now "rented" vs. bought, with metered access?  (No more "all you can eat" library access for patrons?)

Can we come up with a common position/commitment in making courses and other academic materials globally available across the sciences & humanities?  If so, is it appropriate for us to charge for it?

Live Audience Questions:

Ta - 11-16-2002 17:49:08

Nobody has talked about the bad effect of Harvard brand on the market. May I ask a question about it? Of course,there are lots of good effects, such as assurance of quality would make the market accept more easily Harvard products, whether a Harvard man for employment in the superstructure of society ( some people abroad has compared Harvard alumni favoring Harvard applicants to a communist party buddy-buddy system), or a Harvard book for publication (my own experience with my books). But the bad effect of Harvard brand is the resentment against the Harvard men's overself-confidence (some say: arrogance) or overreliance on Harvard men's advice (thought to be wise but in fact lack wisdom because of the arrogance, such as in the case of President Kennedy's advisors--The Best and THe Brightest--who failed in the Vietnam war, the graveyard of reputations). My question: is hope for better acceptance of the Harvard products, if they are delivered on the INTERNET--whether research products or opinions-- because they are not presented with the usual arrogance and are exposed to give-and-take in a neutral medium?

a - 11-16-2002 16:51:32

How do we measure the value of the Harvard brand? How do we benchmark? What metrices do we use?

anonymous - 11-16-2002 12:34:12

There should be a clarification of an important point: Yes, the Division of Continuing Ed has over 20,000 enrollments a year, and yes they are "degree granting". But the actual number of degrees awarded in a given year is on the order of a few hundred , not thousands. And these degrees are awarded with a high degree of quality control, and with courses taken by real live Harvard faculty!

Ta - 11-16-2002 12:19:22

Nobody has talked about the bad effect of the Harvard brand on the market. May I?

charlie nesson - 11-16-2002 11:57:02

Terry Do you see the prospect of Harvard engaging in forms of public education as at odds with your scarcity thesis?

Harvard student (TM) - 11-16-2002 11:49:24

Isn't every graduate of the school stamped with the Harvard brand? In irrevocably labeling themselves with the Harvard brand on their resumes, shouldn't alums have a strong voice in these questions of brand dilution and strategy?

Right issue? - 11-16-2002 11:42:46

Should Harvard really be worrying about it's brand? What's good for Harvard, if it thinks about its brand in a traditional way, may not be good for America & the world -- and for its own community, broadly writ.

Concerned - 11-16-2002 11:35:06

Does the extensive nature of Harvard professors doing consulting outside the university -- drawing up the information and knowledge they develop from within -- threaten the Harvard brand? In addition to traditional consulting, what about teaching online for pay, using the same material that they teach to Harvard students?

Anonymous - 11-16-2002 11:22:31

To what degree does Harvard need to restrict access to its lectures in order to maintain the Harvard brand. In other words, would making videos of lectures freely available to everyone on the internet somehow lessen the value of a Harvard education?

Anon - 11-16-2002 11:41:32

Does the Harvard brand cover its people, its products, or both?