Ethan Bernstein

About Ethan Bernstein

I have spent my career researching novel talent management practices and their effect on employee behavior, collaboration, and performance. Presently, I am the Edward W. Conard Associate Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, where I study two such phenomena related to the evolution of the workplace:(1) increased transparency—via greater physical or digital observability of employee activities, routines, behaviors, logic, psychology, output, and/or performance—leading managers to find new ways of ensuring that work gets done; and (2) increased connectivity—via tools that rewire interaction to facilitate collaboration and interaction—giving rise to novel work structures and creative organizational forms. I regularly explore the implications of those \"future of work\" trends for leadership, collaboration, organization design, and new forms of organizing in my research, writing, teaching, and speaking (see for details).At HBS, I teach a second-year MBA course on Managing Human Capital, the Executive Education course on Developing Yourself as a Leader (which I created in 2016), and various custom executive education programs. Previously, I taught the first-year MBA course on Leadership and Organizational Behavior (LEAD), an immersive field course in Tokyo on Innovation and Leadership through the Fusion of Digital and Analog, and a PhD course on the craft of field research. In all of my work and teaching, I draw on creative field research and field experiments, half a decade of consulting experience at BCG, and experience as a C-level senior executive at the newly formed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).Originally from Los Angeles, I hold an A.B. in Economics from Amherst College and an MBA, JD, and doctorate from Harvard. I have been a Kauffman Foundation Fellow in Law, Innovation, and Growth, and I remain a member of the New York and Massachusetts Bar Associations.In my spare time, I am an avid cyclist, runner, skier, reader, and \"Wait, Wait, Don\'t Tell Me\" listener.

Experience

1. Director Board of Directors

   Protocol Labs

   Aug 2020 — Present

   Independent, Non-Employee Director of Protocol Labs (PL), which is an open-source R&D lab building protocols (like IPFS and Filecoin), tools, and services to radically improve the internet.

Education

• Harvard Business School

  MBA, General Management (Section D)

  1999 — 2003

• Amherst College

  A.B., Economics

• Center for Early Education

  Elementary School

• Harvard University

  Doctorate, Management

  2007 — 2013

• Harvard Law School

  JD, Law

  1999 — 2003

• Harvard-Westlake School

  (Middle School / High School)

  1988 — 1994

Skills

• Fundraising
• Corporate Finance
• Governance
• Public Policy
• International Business Strategy
• Thought Leadership
• Cross-Border M&a
• Analytics
• Business Strategy
• Japanese
• Restructuring
• Capital Markets
• Performance Management
• Start-Ups
• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Entrepreneurship
• Mortgage Lending
• Finance
• Due Diligence
• Organizational Design
• Valuation
• Strategic Planning
• Venture Capital
• Leadership
• Management
• Leadership Development
• Banking
• Organizational Development
• Policy
• Economics
• Organizational Leadership
• Capital Structure
• Corporate Governance
• Management Consulting
• Strategy
• Executive Management
• Strategic Vision
• Operations Management