HBR’s Ignatius talks about his career and the publication’s mission

Adi Ignatius, editor in chief of the Harvard Business Review, talked with Toby Usnik on the latest episode of “The Caring Economy.”

Ignatius said he got into journalism after becoming interested in China. He worked at The Wall Street Journal in China as Beijing bureau chief.

“HBR is a niche publication with a much smaller audience,” said Ignatius. “But the audience is really smart and very engaged. They are people who care about ideas and will apply them to themselves and their companies.”

He said political and social issues have given HBR a clearer sense of what it covers. Sustainability and diversity, equity and inclusion are two important issues that seemed obvious but are now controversial.

“The research shows that these issues are fundamental to the long-term success of organizations, which is fundamental to what HBR is all about,” he said.

Harvard Business Review is highly profitable, Ignatius said.

Ignatius joined the publication from Time in 2009. And HBR was not focused on its digital content at the time. “So we’ve come a long way,” he said. “Most of our engagement today is digital.”

To listen, go here.