Newsmakers

HBS Press, RHK form venture

Harvard Business School Press (HBS Press) and Random House Kodansha (RHK) recently announced that they will form a partnership to co-publish a select number of HBS Press titles in Japanese for worldwide distribution. Under this agreement, the partnership will generate 12 to 15 Japanese translations annually, including forthcoming, current, and backlist titles. The first book to be published as part of this venture is the forthcoming “The Future of Competition” by C.K. Prahalad (co-authored by Venkat Ramaswamy).

Porter receives AOM award

Michael E. Porter, the Bishop William Lawrence University Professor based at Harvard Business School, has received the 2003 Scholarly Contributions to Management Award from the Academy of Management (AOM) in recognition of his “significant scholarly contributions that have substantially affected management knowledge and practice.” Porter was honored for a body of work examining three areas: how firms compete in industries and gain competitive advantage; the sources of competitiveness and prosperity of nations, states, cities, and regions; and how competitive thinking can be applied to social issues.

Wendy Ashmore to give Willey Lecture

World-renowned specialist in Maya civilization Wendy Ashmore will deliver the 2003 Gordon R. Willey Visiting Lecture on Oct. 28 at 5:30 p.m. at the Yenching Institute. Ashmore, a professor of anthropology at the University of California, Riverside, will discuss “Incidents of Travel in Maya Space.”

Presented by the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, the lecture is free and open to the public.

Kuwait Program accepting grant proposals

The Kennedy School of Government (KSG) has announced the fifth funding cycle for the Kuwait Program Research Fund. With support from the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Science, a KSG faculty committee will consider applications for small one-year grants (up to $30,000) to support advanced research by Harvard University faculty members on issues of critical importance to Kuwait and the Gulf. Grants can be applied toward research assistance, travel, summer salary, and course buyout.

Priority will be given to research concerning water resources and management; oil and petrochemicals; the environment and pollution; and public health policy, including disease treatment and prevention, although applications will be considered in other areas.

Collaborative research with Kuwaiti academics and educational institutions is encouraged.

There are no formal application forms. Inquiries and research proposals (not exceeding five pages), including a budget, other sources of funding, and a curriculum vitae for senior researchers, may be sent to: Interim Associate Director, Middle East Initiative, KSG, 79 John F. Kennedy St., Cambridge, MA 02138. The deadline is Dec. 1. Decisions will be announced Jan. 6, 2004.

– Compiled by Andrew Brooks