Opportunity in America

Originally built on shipping and shipbuilding, Boston’s economy has now a flourishing economy driven by health care, education and the biotech industries. Several of the most recognizable research and teaching hospitals are located in the city along with 34 higher education institutions. Boston was the birthplace of the mutual fund industry and several leading financial firms call Beantown home including Fidelty Investment Greater Boston CVBand John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company.

Tourism is also a major source of cash for the city as it reigns as one of the country’s top 10 tourist attractions. The city boasts close to 2,000 restaurants and hundreds of hotels. In 2004 16.3 million visitors flooded the city and spent $7.9 billion.

Boston is one of the nation’s foremost fishing port and wool market—and more than two million pounds of fish are caught in the waters in and around the city annually.

FOX Business reporter Shibani Joshi heads back to her hometown to prove American prosperity is alive and well.

Boston by the Numbers

0 The number of tickets left for the 2003 Boston Red Sox and 2003-2004 Patriots home games

Feel like a bowl of chowder? Get ready to pay $4, the average price for a bowl in Boston

The unemployment rate sits at 4.6% in the city

Greater Boston CVB

Close to 70% of housing units in Boston are occupied by renters

For a two-bedroom apartment Bostonians pay $1,343/month, on average.

In 2003, the median household income was $42,567

About 250,000 college students live in Boston

Nearly 600,000 people call Boston home
Welcome to Harvard Business School

Harvard Business School is one of the most renowned business schools in the world and is legendary for its unique “case method” technique. Lectures, simulations and field work are also combined with this technique, but more than 80% of classes are built on the case method.

Faculty members spend weeks at different companies researching the situation—getting details of the problem, any decisions and the perspective of managers involved and then present the fully-detailed case to students to solve. Students scrutinize around 14 cases a weeks that have no obvious right answer. Students ponder the problems individually for a couple hours by conducting quantitative analysis and then test their thinking with a study group before class. Classrooms for the business school are set up amphitheater style to encourage discussions, and almost every class is starts with a “cold call” from the professor to a student to open a case. During their freshmen year, each student is cold-called at least once, but they get no warning so preparation is vital.

Advocates for the case method technique say it is the most demanding and provocative way to learn leadership skills applicable in the business world.

Watch the video to see Harvard Business School Professor Bill Sahlman discuss the relevance of the MBA in today’s rocky market.

A Glance in the Rearview Mirror

1.) What has changed about your hometown the most since you left?

Red Sox nation took on new fervor after breaking the long-standing “Curse of the Bambino“ with the Red Sox winning the 2004 and 2007 world series. All those Sox believers’ efforts paid off! I wish I was living in Boston at the time…what a life experience that would have been…but I have faith. The run isn’t over yet! I never really followed baseball until I moved to Boston…because it isn’t a game, it’s a religion there.

2.) What one characteristic in your life now do you credit your hometown for planting in you?

It’s hard to separate Boston from my experience of attending Harvard Business School. The school instilled me with a higher degree of confidence, challenged my thinking, opened up a new threshold of possibilities and gave me a greater sense that I have responsibility in creating greater good. When I think back to my time in Boston, that is what I credit the city and school for planting in me.

3.) What do you miss the most?

I miss the Charles River. For lots of reasons… my rowdy friends and I would tailgate watching the Head of Charles (the annual crew races) in an all-day affair. I often would run or rollerblade along the Charles to clear my head after a long day of school and sit along the banks with friends on a lazy Saturday afternoon. My apartment overlooked the Charles and my roommate at the time, Margaret, and I would often sit on the balcony and have the best conversations. Some days, friends and I would walk all the way from Boston along the river back to campus just to take in the view of the Charles.

4) Given the chance, would you move back? Why?

Absolutely! Boston has so much to offer its residents. You can attend a world class educational institution or work at some of the biggest and most highly-regarded companies in the world and have a life at the same time! Boston is such a “work hard, play hard” city that offers balance for those who want it. You can live in the suburbs and work in the city and the drive doesn’t take hours. You can escape to the Cape during the summers, take in a Pats or Celtics game or take your kids some of the most important historical sites in American history. There is so much the city has to offer.

5.) What economic opportunity has your hometown lost?

Well I don’t know if you can call Tom Brady an economic opportunity, but if you could, that would be it! Arguably one of the best QBs in the game out for the season is a huge loss - emotionally and economically, I would imagine. Thought the Pats are doing pretty well without him and are giving competitors a run for their money so far!

6.) What does your hometown not get enough credit for?

Being such a livable city. You can work at world-class top private equity firm, consumer products company, consulting firm, biotech firm or university and still have time to see your kids, afford a home and enjoy life. That is a highly undervalued virtue in today’s hectic times.

Originally published:
September 19, 2008 9:51AM
Opportunity in America: Boston
By FOXBusiness.com

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