8 HBR’s Managerial Must-Reads
A curated institutional reading list built around Harvard Business School faculty and the foundational theories that have shaped decades of Harvard Business Review. These are not trend-driven business books, but the frameworks repeatedly taught in MBA classrooms and adopted by operators, executives, and founders worldwide. If you want the managerial “default settings” used by HBR readers and HBS leaders, this is the core shelf.
1. Strategy Foundations
The intellectual starting point for competitive advantage and positioning.
Competitive Strategy
Written by the HBS professor who defined modern strategy. Introduced the Five Forces model: the universal language still taught in every MBA program and boardroom.
Good Strategy Bad Strategy
Often called “the strategist’s strategist.” Rumelt dismantles fake strategy and teaches diagnosis + leverage, the book many CEOs credit with sharpening their thinking.
2. Innovation & Growth
The dominant theories behind disruption and new business creation.
The Innovator's Dilemma
HBS legend and the originator of disruptive innovation. One of the most cited business books of all time, credited with shaping two decades of Silicon Valley strategy.
Competing Against Luck
The definitive explanation of Jobs-to-be-Done, a framework now embedded across product management and growth teams. Frequently referenced throughout HBR.
3. Modern Frontiers
The new playbooks for AI, complexity, and adaptive organizations.
Competing in the Age of AI
Written by two HBS professors leading the digital transformation curriculum. Introduces the “AI Factory” model, the most serious blueprint for AI-native business architecture.
Right Kind of Wrong
Edmondson’s research on psychological safety redefined innovation culture. Now considered required reading for leaders building high-trust, high-learning teams.
4. Leadership & Execution
The systems leaders use to translate plans into results.
The Effective Executive
By the father of modern management. A permanent fixture on executive bookshelves for 50+ years and still the gold standard on focus, priorities, and effectiveness.
Measure What Matters
The authoritative OKR playbook from the investor who helped scale Intel and Google. Now the default goal-setting system across tech and startups worldwide.