HBS came in at number two, followed by Wharton at number three. London Business School, meanwhile, fell from joint first to fourth, mirroring a general trend in which U.S. schools fared marginally better than their European counterparts. Falling salaries among alumni from European schools – an impact of the recent economic turmoil in Europe – account in part for this trend, the FT reports.

The FT ranking is calculated using data gathered from participating schools and alumni from the class that graduates three years before the survey. Stanford 2008 graduates had the highest sector-weighted average salary in this year’s rankings – $192,179 per year – a designation the California school has snagged eight times in the ranking’s 14-year history. Stanford also shot up this year in the ranking’s measurement of alumni career progress and “aims achieved,” helping it take the number one spot for the first time.

The top ten schools in this year’s ranking are as follow:

Stanford GSB (1) Harvard Business School (2) Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania (3) London Business School(4) Columbia Business School (5) INSEAD (6) MIT Sloan School of Management (7) IE Business School (8) IESE Business School (9) Hong Kong UST Business School (10)

For the full FT 2012 Global MBA rankings, click here.

While The Harbus features letters from several students spending time abroad as part of their FIELD programs, one student admits that he was a “Field 2 Skeptic.” Jehan deFonseka ’12 confesses that he was unconvinced that he would gain an in-depth understanding of the businesses or culture of a country in a week, among other concerns.  However, deFonseka’s week spent in Mumbai made him realize that these issues didn’t “[come] to matter much” and that the experience of being on the ground in Mumbai, not simply learning about it, made the opportunities of the market exciting and palpable.  Despite having spent six years at Goldman Sachs before HBS and hearing much about growth markets, deFonseka wrote that his time abroad “sure [felt] like it was a life-changing experience” and thanked those HBS administrators and faculty who had created this opportunity.

Meanwhile, a first-year MBA student at London Business School details the experience of describing the diverse elements of his first LBS term to his family.  Hamdi ’13 writes on the London Business School student views blog that his family at first “[suspected he] had joined the circus” after he mentioned a teamwork training event from his LBS Away Day.  The lesson on teamwork learned that day entailed both wire balancing and leaping off 15-meter pole with an ex-navy pilot.  Soon though, the coursework, leadership workshops, and club involvements he described were enough to convince his audience that LBS did offer a very solid education as well.  Hamdi concluded with his excitement for the next term (and some sleep), given that he “already [feels like he’s] learned a whole program’s worth of information” in just his first term.

Finally, an interviewer from The Wharton Journal offers readers a picture of classmate Jason Lin ’12’s journey to the Wharton MBA.  A Taiwan native growing up in California, Lin worked with Arthur Anderson and Walt Disney before entering the film industry.  Lin was part of the first film that brought both Jackie Chan and Jet Li together on screen, and the Wharton student was the facilitator of the production deal that gave each star an equal stake in the process.  He also helped Li found the nonprofit ONE Foundation in China among other entrepreneurial ventures.  All of these experiences contributed to his vision to enable Chinese media companies to access the global market after obtaining his Wharton MBA.

Ground was broken just last month for Tata Hall thanks to the generosity of Ratan Tata.  Tata graduated from HBS’s Advanced Management Program for senior executives in 1975 and is currently the chairman of Tata Group; Tata Trusts and Companies gave a $50 million gift to Harvard Business School to enable the building of Tata Hall.  This seven-storied structure will “help build community” among those in HBS Executive Education programs.  The building is expected to be completed in December of 2013.

HBS Daniel Gwak ’12 has returned to the U.S. with a Purple Heart.  Seven months ago, the marine reservist departed business school for combat in Afghanistan.  While recently investigating a roadside bomb, Gwak was shot by a sniper in his left shoulder.  The HBS student received treatment at Bethesda Naval Hospital and is currently making a full recovery.

The news outlet began its Alumni Interview Series by a conversation with Pete Lyon ’95.  Lyon is currently a partner at Goldman Sachs and manages client coverage strategy in the Executive Office for the Investment Banking Division there.  He noted in his interview that he feels “fortunate … to be working closely with many of [his] friends from HBS—both as clients and colleagues.”  Lyon also gave advice to HBS students interested in investment banking regarding the demands of the industry and how to anticipate success in the long term.

From now until Tuesday, January 10 at 9am EST, purchase our School Guide titles to HBS, Kellogg and Stanford for just $19.99.  Not applying to these programs?  You’ll find 27 titles to leading MBA programs in the U.S. and abroad available for immediate download in the Clear Admit Shop.

Clear Admit wishes the best of luck to Round 2 applicants!

“There’s been a lot of anecdotal evidence linking creativity with dishonesty, but without much empirical evidence,” HBS professor Francesca Gino told the Boston Globe. And so she decided to conduct a series of experiments with several hundred college students to determine just what role creativity and intelligence play in lowering ethical standards, the Globe reported last week. The findings of Gino’s report, entitled “The Dark Side of Creativity: Original Thinkers Can Be More Dishonest,” were published in the most recent issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 

For the purposes of the study, students had to answer questionnaires measuring creativity and intelligence and then self-report their performance in a range of experiments. They were paid a flat fee for participation in the study and then received additional compensation based on the results they reported.

Gino found that participants who scored high on a creativity questionnaire were more likely to inflate their results on various tasks in order to earn more money, according to the Globe article. There was not, however, a corresponding link between intelligence and dishonesty – that is, those who scored high for intelligence but not creativity were no more likely to lie than those who scored lower for intelligence.

In an experiment that involved solving math problems, 49 percent of those with high creativity scores overstated their performance to earn a few extra dollars, as compared with 27 percent of those with low to average creativity scores. Another experiment involved participants rolling dice and then reporting the numbers they rolled. Again, those with high creativity scores had higher self-reported performance than those with low creativity.

“When you’re a creative person, you can use that creativity to come up with reasons for why unethical behaviors may be okay,” Gino told the Globe in interpretation of her findings. “Crossing ethical boundaries may not be as problematic,” she continued.

Self-rationalization can be an inherent part of the creative process, the Globe article suggested, as when people look for ways to lower their tax bill or come up with a new advertising campaign. “Anyone who’s thinking creatively at [the] moment may be more likely to engage in unethical behavior,” Gino said.

Based on the study findings, she cautioned that creative types may want to become a little more self-aware, if not less creative. “Knowing that creativity can have this side effect should make us stop and think more carefully when we’re faced with an ethical decision,” she suggested.

For Gino’s complete study, click here.

“On Monday, December 19th – hopefully at noon Boston time – all Round 1 interviewees will receive an email saying their decision is available online,” she wrote. She added that her team does not make any calls ahead of time. “None. And that’s a promise,” she said. “Whatever the news is for you, we want to make sure you at least have control over the timing,” she continued.

On December 19th, candidates who have been admitted or denied a place in the next HBS class will learn their fate. In addition, Leopold shared, her team will invite about 120 or so candidates to join the waitlist. Those who are invited to join this list will receive additional information from Dana Scalisi, who manages this process.

Leopold will also have call-in hours in January for candidates who are denied admissions after an interview. “I wouldn’t call these ‘feedback’ calls since they aren’t very detailed…but sometimes it can be reassuring to hear that there were not specific weaknesses in an application, but rather just the reality of a highly selective process with the goal of maximizing the mix of voices and perspectives in the classroom,” she said.

Good luck to all those who are waiting anxiously!

Nohria arrived at HBS in July 2010 determined to see that HBS students get more in the way of practical application of management skills than just what they gain from summer internships with prospective employers. As a result, this year’s incoming class will serve as guinea pigs for the new FIELD method, which will include three elements as part of the first year, the Economist reports.

First, they will participate in a team-building exercise in which students take turns leading a group project loosely based on ones used in the U.S. army. Second, students will travel to work for a week with one of more than 140 firms in 11 countries. Finally, HBS first-years wil be given eight weeks and $3,000 worth of seed money each to launch a small company. What will happen in the second year of the new FIELD course remains to be determined.

Some have expressed skepticism about elements of the new curriculum component. “The literature suggests that an immersion experience needs to be at least 2-3 weeks and be backed up with time in the classroom,” management guru Pankaj Ghemawat told the Economist, raising questions about how effective a one-week work assignment overseas will be. And the faculty vote in favor of trying the new field method was “as enthusiastic as you could get from a faculty,” Nohria told the Economist, noting that it gave approval for a “delicate experiment for 3-5 years to see if we can move the needle.” The case method, by comparison, took 13 years to develop.

Notably, the new course adds 10 to 15 percent to the $84,000 HBS students currently pay per year of study. For the time being, HBS is bearing this additional cost as it figures out what works, the Economist reports.

For the full Economist story, click here.

Ratan Tata, head of the Tata Group and a 1975 graduate of HBS’s Advanced Management Program for senior executives, earlier this year gave HBS a $50 million gift to fund construction of the new building, to be called Tata Hall, which will be located on the northeast corner of the school’s Boston campus. Now underway, construction for the new complex is scheduled for completion in December 2013.

Tata joined HBS Dean Nitin Nohria, former Dean Jay Light and others last week for the official groundbreaking ceremony. “I’m happy and proud to give something back to an institution that has done so much for me and for others,” he said. “I hope Tata Hall does great things for the people who live and move through this valued institution.” 

Dean Nohria praised the new complex for the noted leaders he hopes it will draw to the school. “Tata Hall marks the shift to a new global century of business, and is a special marker as we look forward to a renewed, more interconnected world,” he said.

The new arc-shaped seven-story structure will be constructed of glass and brick and will feature living spaces, classrooms and common areas designed to help the nearly 10,000 participants who attend HBS’s executive education programs each year learn and build relationships with one another.

For more on HBS’s planned Tata Hall, click here.

“The i-lab is an exciting new platform that visibly demonstrates a University-wide commitment to entrepreneurship and innovation,” Dean Nohria said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on November 18th. “Its very existence encourages members of the community to think differently about what is possible.”

The new i-lab is located on the first floor of Batten Hall at 125 Western Avenue on Harvard’s Allston campus, in a building that previously housed WGBH-TV’s studios. It features classrooms and meeting areas for both undergraduate and graduate students, as well as public areas and meeting rooms for project work.

The space will also be home to business development resources for companies, nonprofits, entrepreneurs, and other individuals in the Allston-Brighton neighborhood and Boston area and will host public lectures, panel discussions and presentations and networking events for student teams, local businesses and nonprofits.

“The Harvard Innovation Lab is a bridge between imagination and implementation,” Harvard President Faust said. “What we have done on Western Avenue is create a space that increases the likelihood of planned and unplanned encounters among our students, faculty, staff and members of Boston’s innovation community, a space where one ought to expect the unexpected.”

Mayor Menino, for his part, praised the new i-lab for embracing the idea of shared innovation he considers to be at the core of his administration’s agenda. “We’ve seen Boston’s entrepreneurial spirit take on new life with the growth of the Innovation District on the waterfront,” Menino said. “In Allston, the i-lab will build community between neighborhood entrepreneurs, students and faculty,” he continued, adding that it will also reenergize the building by giving neighbors a new place to collaborate.

To learn more about the i-lab, click here. For future i-lab events and activities, click here.

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