Publications

20 May 2016
Op-Ed

World Health Organization Lacks Leadership to Combat Pandemics

When it comes to emergency preparedness for pandemics, the World Health Organization is falling short. It has not provided prompt and clear leadership to the world in combating either the Ebola or Zika... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Health

12 Sep 2005
Research & Ideas

The Broadband Explosion: Thinking About a Truly Interactive World

The world as we know it is about to change in many ways thanks to a "broadband explosion"—the coming together of real-time communication and rich media. Professors Robert Austin and Stephen Bradley discuss their new book by that... View Details

Keywords: by Sara Grant; Technology; Communications; Telecommunications

04 Jun 2024
Research & Ideas

Navigating Consumer Data Privacy in an AI World

be forgotten.” So, if someone asks a company to delete their records because they don't want to be part of any data analysis or algorithms, the company needs to act fast and get it done. Sticking to the usual way of doing things isn't a... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Technology; Information Technology

31 Mar 2014
Research & Ideas

Encouraging Niche Content in an Ad-Driven World

more likely to be bookmarked by readers after they joined the ad-sharing program. In that sense, Zhu contends, there was a positive aspect to the ad-revenue-sharing program. An essential difference between the online and offline worlds is... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Information; Publishing; Journalism & News

15 Aug 2022
Book

University of the Future: Finding the Next World Leaders in Higher Ed

Today the United States is considered the world leader in higher education. Yet the country could risk losing that top spot, particularly with China opening some of the most innovative educational centers across the globe in recent years,... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Education

05 Nov 2021
Op-Ed

Is the Business World Finally Ready for the Wisdom of Shibusawa?

Alexander Hamilton Clearly, he was a remarkable historical figure. He was born in 1840 in a feudal country that had largely cut itself off from the rest of the world for centuries. By the time he died in 1931, Japan was the only Asian... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones and Rei Morimoto; Financial Services; Retail

23 Jan 2024
Book

More Than Memes: NFTs Could Be the Next Gen Deed for a Digital World

soon, the way NFTs work is similar to the way that the text on a deed to a house turns a dime-a-dozen sheet of paper into a record of ownership for a potentially quite valuable asset—which of course makes the deed itself valuable, too.... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Information Technology; Technology; Financial Services

November 2003 (Revised January 2005)
Case

San Francisco Giants

By: William A. Sahlman and Elizabeth Kind

Larry Baer, executive vice-president and COO, was eager to improve profitability for the San Francisco Giants baseball team. Over the last few years, the Giants have had a number of successes. They successfully built the first privately financed ball park in over 30... View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Business or Company Management; Success; Sports; Sports Industry; San Francisco

March 2011 (Revised September 2011)
Background Note

Everyone and Everything is Online

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Nancy Bartlett

The twenty-first century digital world enabled mobile, empowered, content-hungry individuals to capture the value of enabling technologies and applications to manage, create, share, and influence content across the creation and delivery spectrum. Users were online in... View Details

Keywords: Communication Technology; Learning; Entertainment; Power and Influence; Internet and the Web; Value; Web Services Industry

March 2022 (Revised February 2024)
Case

El Salvador: Launching Bitcoin as Legal Tender

By: Laura Alfaro, Carla Larangeira and Ruth Costas

In June 2021, Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s president, surprised the world with the announcement that the country would adopt bitcoin as legal tender, becoming the first nation to do so. Bitcoin was mostly used for trading and had one of the most volatile track records... View Details

Keywords: Bitcoin; Cryptocurrency; Currency; Financial Strategy; Economic Growth; Governance; Macroeconomics; Assets; Latin America; El Salvador

July 2004 (Revised September 2004)
Case

China and the WTO: Doing the Right Thing? (Abridged)

In late 2001, the People's Republic of China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO). Sets the terms of China's accession agreement against its compliance record some two years later. Discusses why key actors, such as business, organized labor, and other governments,... View Details

Keywords: History; International Relations; Judgments; Trade; Business and Government Relations; Development Economics; Governance Compliance; Emerging Markets; Economic Growth; Global Strategy; China

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April 2004 (Revised September 2005)
Case

China and the WTO: Doing the Right Thing?

In late 2001, the People's Republic of China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO). Sets the terms of China's accession agreement against its compliance record some two years later. Discusses why key actors, such as business, organized labor, and other governments,... View Details

Keywords: Management; History; International Relations; Judgments; Trade; Business and Government Relations; Development Economics; Governance Compliance; Emerging Markets; Global Strategy; China

Find at Harvard

01 Jun 2023
HBS Case

A Nike Executive Hid His Criminal Past to Turn His Life Around. What If He Didn't Have To?

[juvenile detention] coming toward me. I thought my worlds were about to collide. But he walked right past me. Either he didn’t see me, or he didn’t recognize me.” In addition, when US President Barack Obama spoke at Nike’s headquarters,... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Apparel & Accessories

January 2017 (Revised January 2019)
Case

The Rise and Fall of Lehman Brothers

By: Stuart C. Gilson, Kristin Mugford and Sarah L. Abbott

With nearly $700 billion in assets, Lehman was the largest U.S. bankruptcy in history. In 2007, Lehman achieved record earnings of over $4 billion on revenues of $60 billion. By September 2008 the fourth largest investment bank in the world was bankrupt. How had a... View Details

January 2014 (Revised March 2014)
Case

SAP 2014: Reaching for the Cloud

By: Karim R. Lakhani, Marco Iansiti and Noah Fisher

In May 2014, Bill McDermott will become the sole CEO of SAP AG, the world leader in the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) field. The case occurs in January 2014 at SAP's investors meeting, at a time when the company's stock is near record high. A 2010 strategy... View Details

Keywords: Cloud Computing; Platform; Strategy And Execution; Strategy And Leadership; Enterprise Resource Planning; Software; Information Technology; Digital Platforms; Applications and Software; Information Technology Industry; Germany

September 1989 (Revised July 1991)
Case

Caterpillar, Inc.: George Schaefer Takes Charge

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

For over half a century, Caterpillar, Inc. (CAT) had been a world leader in the manufacture of earthmoving and construction machinery. In 1982, just months after it recorded the highest sales and profits in its history, CAT experienced its greatest crisis. Demand fell... View Details

Keywords: Machinery and Machining; Crisis Management; Labor Unions; Demand and Consumers; Management Teams; Problems and Challenges; Competitive Strategy; Business Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Manufacturing Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Industrial Products Industry