Harvard Business School - Yearbook (Boston, MA)

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Refemfch' Mainftay of the cfcloool The retirement in June 1953 of Dr. Melvin T. Copeland, Director of Research since 1942, marked the beginning of a new phase in the history of case development and project research. Up to this time these functions had been combined under Dr. Copeland, but it was decided that the job had become large enough to require the ef- forts of two men, and those chosen were Professor Bertrand Fox as Director of Research, and Mr. An- drew R. Towl for the newly-created office of Di- rector of Case Development. Because many of the professors were working on proiects for Uncle Sam in the Mobilization Analysis Center during 1951-52, the School was forced to put aside its goal of having one-third of its Senior Faculty engaged in research at any one time, but as of the end of 1953 they were once more energetically pursuing this end. The thinking behind this policy is that if professors can have the opportunity to come in contact with business situations, they will not only make valuable addi- tions to the fund of general knowledge, but will also gain an ever-widening base of experience in business to enable them to grow as instructors. above: Samuel Schwartz, Written Analysis of Cases researcher, reviews experiences and data gathered from field work in writing a case to be pondered upon by next yeafs WAC students. below: Morgan collating room, final step in the preparation of mimeographed cases before distribution. is mug- ss

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Each Division has its board of directors in the form of a faculty committee of about 12 members, which decides upon the general policies for future study. A recent re-emphasis of the aims of project research by Professor Fox has outlined four major areas for con- centration of future studies: research in business opera- tions-the tools, processes and philosophies that man- agement uses, more emphasis on the application of the behavioral science techniques to the solution of admin- istrative problems, development of some building blocks for the construction of an economic theory which can be realistically applied to business problems such as the business cycle, and the nature of competition. Professors Haigh and McLean correct proofs of their new book on the oil industry with Miss Ruth Norton 5 , t , ,, i . ' P ' 1 . t L ffl'- the Research Policy Committee before a meeting Examples of the first are a study of The Administra- tion and Control of Re-Equipment Decisions, recently begun by Professor Ross A. Walker, and a proposed in- vestigation of the use of electronic computers in solving control problems. The human relations program, made famous under Professor Elton Mayo, was carried forward in one direction by Professors Fritz Roethlisberger and George Lombard, using a grant from the Ford Founda- tion. The objective of uncovering the practical bases of a useful economic theory is being advanced by works such as Professor John Lintner's Profits and the Function- ing of the Economy, financed by the Rockefeller Foun- dation. i - j Funds are provided by the Asso- i 5 ciates of the School both for project research and case development, J and additional funds for research -' j come both from companies particu- l 9 larly interested in a specific project x and from contributions to a general l -tv i 1 J fund. The total amount used in 1953 - ffl was about 5500,000, of which ap- proximately one-quarter went for . cases and the rest for research. The Bureau of Business Research, . active in the first publications of the School and concerned with the op- erating results of retail stores, since the war has been taken over by the Division of Research, and it is now primarily concerned with the com- ff N - pilation of statistics.