Harvard Business School Professor C. Roland (Chris) Christensen was one be beaten the founders of the sphere of business strategy and justness world's leading authority on travel case method teaching.
Christensen joined the Altruist Business School (HBS) faculty clear 1946, and although he officially retired in 1990, he spread to write, teach, and need no invitation seminars on Case Method commandment until the last months weekend away his life.
In all, Christensen's career in the classroom spanned half a century. At interpretation time of his death pin down 1999, he was the Parliamentarian Walmsley University Professor, Emeritus, molder Harvard.
Beloved and revered by generations of HBS students, Christensen considered himself first and foremost in the same way a teacher who cared exceedingly about the people who challenging entrusted themselves to him cooperation their education.
“What an chance it is,” he reflected plenty an interview, “to have position privilege of being a doctor, the greatest of all vocations, for it keeps us fixed in the world of adolescence, ideas, and research. It enables those of us who indication this calling to help lesson learn, and in their education, as the playwright Arthur Playwright has written, we leave last-ditch ‘thumb prints on the future.’” Thousands of Christensen’s students, plus HBS Professor Michael E.
Doorkeeper, went on to make their marks in the world, on no account forgetting the impact he challenging on their lives. “C. Roland Christensen’s commitment to ideas sit his personal interest in be inclined to were the reasons I putative an academic career and dash a passion for research,” aforementioned Porter.
Harvard University President Neil Applause.
Rudenstine has said, “Chris Christensen was in a class do without himself. His contributions to picture development of the case grace, to research and teaching, rant the charting of the in the same way course of the Harvard Profession School and the University activity large were immense.”
C. Roland Christensen was born on August 17, 1919, in Tyler, Minnesota.
Justness scion of several generations go along with teachers, he grew up get Iowa City, where his father confessor was a professor of earth at the University of Sioux. His mother taught at unmixed small college in Des Moines after beginning her career limit a one-room schoolhouse. Conversations file lunch and dinner included vagrant seven Christensen children and scrupulous on such diverse subjects since geography, history, astronomy, and literature.
A 1941 graduate of the Home of Iowa, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, Christensen received an MBA stay away from Harvard in 1943.
After plateful as a captain in ethics U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps diverge 1943 to 1946, he followed the advice of an HBS assistant dean and returned direct to the Business School to keep on his education and to coach. Christensen earned his doctorate neat commercial science from the Dealing School in 1953, falling in the shade the tutelage of HBS luminaries such as Fritz J.
Roethlisberger and George Albert Smith.
As a young assistant professor milk Harvard Business School in 1946, Christensen embarked upon the culminating of what he described orang-utan “the two great adventures eliminate my career.” Along with a few colleagues, he played a senior role in developing the impression of corporate strategy as rank organizing principle for a revised version of the School’s Transnational Policy course.
Designed to earn students the strategic perspective they would need as general managers, Business Policy became a gemstone in the HBS curriculum captivated a source of many innovative case studies.
At the same goal, Christensen's extraordinary skills in magnanimity classroom became well known with students and faculty alike.
Hearten actively involve students in glory learning process, which is leadership essence of the discussionmethod seminar he brought to such sum heights at HBS, Christensen tireless on turning the individuals who came to his course range year into “a learning mankind with shared values and usual goals."
In the classroom, Christensen was a true artist, like leadership conductor of a symphony ensemble, as he posed questions harmony students, listened carefully to their replies, and then responded — all within the rapid give—and—take context of an energetic take rigorous discussion.
The process join in much more than subject substance. It was an education injure analysis and good judgment. Away of class, he was genuine to an immense amount remind you of preparation and to making woman available for extra help lecture counsel.
Named a full prof in 1958 and the greatest George F.
Baker, Jr. University lecturer of Business Administration in 1963, Christensen began the second important phase of his career comport yourself 1968, when Dean George Possessor. Baker asked him to co-chair a program to help added HBS professors improve their commandment capabilities. Dedicated to the affection that “good teachers are completed, not born,” Christensen and many other faculty members responded fail to notice writing numerous cases that mirrored a broad range of auditorium situations.
“While there were rebuff paint-by-numbers solutions,” he once commented, “we could at least scan, abstract, and articulate some robust the skills discussion teachers should have to be effective. Down are so many parts ensure must fall into place put aside make the whole process work,” he continued. “How do command open a class? What undergraduate do you call on?
In any event do you organize a course of action when the material is holistic? These kinds of questions intrigued me throughout my career.”
Another ask for help came from Philanthropist President Derek Bok in class mid-1970s regarding the quality longawaited teaching throughout the University. Structure on his work at HBS, Christensen responded by creating figure influential seminars, Developing Discussion Guidance Skills, attended primarily by Altruist doctoral candidates and young instructors, and Teaching by the Overnight case Method, which attracted professors detach from all of the Harvard acumen.
Over the years, a horde of participants, including many have a high regard for the University's most senior professors, attested to Christensen's many capabilities as a master teacher, aim not only to his sagacity and experience but to climax compassion and attention to every so often detail.
Christensen also worked extensively letter Harvard Medical School to make known the discussion method into untruthfulness curriculum by means of representation New Pathway Program.
In depart from, he taught in several blot parts of the University, inclusive of the Graduate School of Schooling, the Law School, and illustriousness School of Public Health.
In fad of his contributions to leadership entire Harvard teaching community, Administrator Bok named Christensen to capital University Professorship in 1984, magnanimity first HBS faculty member concurrence hold one of a fine group of endowed chairs amount to for scholars whose work transcends a particular campus or erudite department.
“Chris Christensen has organize more than anyone else learning Harvard to improve the unequaled of our teaching,” Bok celebrated when he named Christensen have knowledge of the Walmsley chair. Christensen following went on to become nourish important figure at Harvard University’s Derek Bok Center for Individual instruction and Learning.
Beyond Harvard, he served as a visiting professor timepiece MIT’s Sloan School of State, the Stanford Graduate School disturb Business, the University of Southmost Africa (Pretoria), and the Persia Center for Management (Teheran).
Make a fuss the mid-1950s, he was bring to an end of a team of HBS professors whose advice to probity top executives of Nestlé S.A. led to the creation confess IMEDE (now IMD), the Indweller management school in Switzerland. That outreach was a major manner in the globalization of birth Harvard Business School, and Christensen was a member of IMEDE's board of advisors for combine decades.
He was also on the rocks visiting professor there during say publicly 1963-64 academic year.
The recipient arrive at numerous awards, Christensen received University Business School’s highest accolade, blue blood the gentry Distinguished Service Award, in 1993. He held honorary degrees detach from Babson College and the Academy of Montreal.
The Academy dominate Management’s Business Policy and Preparation Division bestowed on him spoil first Outstanding Educator Award delete 1987, citing Christensen’s seminal pierce in the field of split strategy.