HBR at 100: The Most Influential and Innovative Articles from Harvard Business Review’s First Century
Various Contributors in collaboration with HBR Editor in Chief, Adi Ignatius
Harvard Business Review Press (June 2022)

“If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.” Eppie Lederer (Ann Landers)

In the Introduction, Adi Ignatius recalls a suggestion by Theodore Levitt that Harvard Business Review is “a magazine written by people who can’t write for people who won’t read.” Levitt’s tongue was firmly pressed against the inside of his cheek, of course.  There is no other business publication that has been held — and remains — in higher esteem as HBR now celebrates its first century.

Ignatius and his HBR colleagues assembled thirty articles to be featured in this volume. “We tried to select pieces  that have remained relevant over decades, even as the business landscape has evolved and even as other authors have subsequently added their own thinking and research to these concepts.” It is an honor to have an article published in HBR and an even greater honor to have it reprinted in one or more of HBR‘s various series of anthologies, such as the HBR‘s “10 Must Reads,”  “Guide to,” “Insights You Need,” “Harvard Business Review on,” and “Harvard Business Essentials.”

Knowledge leaders are certain to disagree (sometimes strongly) about some inclusions and omissions but most (if not all) will agree on the worthiness of articles such as these, listed in chronological order:

o Theodore Levitt, “Marketing Myopia” (1960)
o Michael E. Porter, “How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy” (1979)
o Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad, “Strategic Intent” (1989)
o Joseph L. Bower and Clayton M. Christensen, “Disruptive Technologies: Catching the Wave” (1995)
o Peter F. Drucker, “Managing Oneself” (1999)

o Robert B. Cialdini, “Harnessing the Science of Persuasion” (2001)
o W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauboorgne, “Blue Ocean Strategy” (2004)
o Tim Brown, “Design Thinking” (2008)
o Teresa M. Amabile and Steven J. Kramer, “The Power of Small WIns” (2011)
o Amy C. Edmondson and Mark Mortensen, “What Psychological Safety Looks like in a Hybrid Workplace” (2021)

All C-level executives as well as those who aspire to become one should have a self-directed learning plan and a personal library of business resources to revisit frequently. Here are 30 of the most influential, among the most widely read and admired articles in the history of business thinking. They can be of incalculable value in months and years to come.

Frugal persons should note that if all thirty articles were purchased individually as reprints, the total cost would be about $275. Amazon now sells a hardbound edition of Harvard at 100 for only $30. That’s not a bargain; it’s a steal.