Publications

March 2015
Article

Business Model Evaluation: Quantifying Walmart's Sources of Advantage

By: Humberto Brea-Solís, Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Emili Grifell-Tatjé

We develop an analytical framework on the basis of the economics of business performance to provide quantitative insight into the link between a firm's business model choices and its profit consequences. The method is applied to Walmart by building a qualitative... View Details

Keywords: Business Models; Quantitative Analysis; Walmart; Production Theory; Business Model; Competitive Advantage; Profit

Research Summary

Overview

By: Debora L. Spar

My work focuses generally on the intersection between technological change and societal structures, and on the many areas in which business both shapes and is shaped by societal norms. View Details

Keywords: Technological And Scientific Innovation; Technological Change: Choices And Consequences; Business ＆ Government Relations; Business And Community; Capitalism; Reproduction; Technological Innovation; Government and Politics; Gender; Business History; Business and Government Relations; Education Industry; United States; Europe; Africa; Asia

April 2015 (Revised July 2015)
Case

Proxy Access at Whole Foods

By: Jay Lorsch and Emily McTague

Proxy access grants shareholders meeting certain ownership requirements the right to nominate directors for election to the board without going through a typical proxy contest. In August 2010 the SEC approved a rule granting proxy access for shareholders meeting... View Details

Keywords: Board Of Directors; Proxy Advisor; Shareholder Activism; Shareholder Voting; Shareholder Votes; Proxy Battle; Institutional Change; Institutional Investing; Business and Shareholder Relations; Food and Beverage Industry; North America

2019
Article

Industrie-Holding: Creating a Community of Interest among Swiss 'Multinationals'

By: Sabine Pitteloud

This article focuses on the genesis and evolution of Industrie-Holding, a federation of Swiss multinationals, from 1942 onwards. Thanks to recent donations from the Alusuisse and Hero archives, historians now have access to the minutes of the Industrie-Holding... View Details

Keywords: Business ＆ Government Relations; Multinationals; Lobbying; Business and Government Relations; Multinational Firms and Management; Switzerland

11 Jan 2016
Blog Post

Meet the Business and Environment Initiative

BEI organizes conferences, seminars, and symposia that increase the visibility of environmental problems and their solutions among students, alumni, and the broader View Details

2017
Chapter

Entrepreneurship, Policy, and the Geography of Wind Energy

By: Geoffrey Jones

This study examines the geography of the global wind energy industry before 2000. Between 1980 and 2000, the global generating capacity of wind power grew from 13 megawatts to 17,400 megawatts, but two-thirds of that capacity was in Denmark, Germany, Spain, and the... View Details

Keywords: Wind Power; Business And Government; Renewable Energy; Entrepreneurship; Geography; Business and Government Relations; Policy; Business History; Energy Industry; Green Technology Industry; Asia; Europe; United States

January 2013
Case

Say on Pay at The Walt Disney Company

By: Ian D. Gow and Gaizka Ormazabal

This case focuses on the lead-up to Disney's 2012 annual meeting where Disney would face a vote on the compensation package of its CEO, Robert Iger. Leading proxy advisory firms were recommending that shareholders reject the proposed compensation. View Details

Keywords: Shareholder Votes; Executive Compensation; Business and Shareholder Relations; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States

Web

Related Collections - A Chronicle of the China Trade

residents and contain art, objects, artifacts, books, and photographs related to the Heard family and other prominent Ipswich residents. The... View Details

November 1995
Background Note

Business Process Reengineering: Its Past, Present, and Possible Future

Explores the origins of reengineering; its evolution during the 1980s and 1990s; the current state of reengineering, which is prevalent in business today; and several possible futures of reengineering, specifically in relation to process management, knowledge work, and... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Business Processes

March 2013 (Revised January 2015)
Technical Note

Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States

By: Karthik Ramanna, Sandra J. Sucher and Ian McKown Cornell

This note on business-government relations introduces students to the state of campaign contributions and lobbying by corporations in the United States. The note develops two hypotheses as to the impact of corporate political engagement: (i) a vehicle to facilitate... View Details

Keywords: Political Economy; Business and Government Relations; Government and Politics; Public Administration Industry; United States

April 2010
Article

From Strategy to Business Models and onto Tactics

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Joan Enric Ricart

The notion of business model has been used by strategy scholars to refer to "the logic of the firm, the way it operates and how it creates value for its stakeholders." On the surface, this notion appears to be similar to that of strategy. We present a conceptual... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Competitive Strategy; Value Creation; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Framework; Negotiation Tactics; Competition

October 2014
Case

CreditEase: Providing Credit and Financial Services for China's Underclass

By: Lena G. Goldberg, Paul Healy and Nancy Hua Dai

In 2013 Ning Tang, who in 2006 founded CreditEase as a broker of P2P loans to unbanked individuals and small businesses in China, confronts the challenges of rapid growth and expansion in a changing regulatory environment. CreditEase needs to develop technology to... View Details

Keywords: P2P Lending; HNW Products And Services; Business Growth; Business Start-ups; Government Regulation; Change Management; Credit; Microcredit; Banking; Innovation And Management; Developing Countries And Economies; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship; Law; Financing and Loans; Change; China

01 Dec 2010
News

Greyser Honored for Sports Business Achievement

business.” A member of the HBS faculty for over forty years, Greyser developed and taught The Business of Sports, the first such course offered at a leading business school,... View Details

Keywords: awards; business of sports; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries

September 2022
Article

The Power and Limits of Expertise: Swiss–Swedish Linking of Vehicle Emission Standards in the 1970s and 1980s

By: Mattias Näsman and Sabine Pitteloud

Recent decades have witnessed increased public concern about vehicle emissions and growing frustration with political inaction and business preferences for the status quo. This article provides historical perspective on such regulatory dynamics by analyzing the Swiss... View Details

Keywords: Business And The Environment; Business And Society; Emission Reduction; Automobiles; Standard Setting; Norm-enforcement; Regulation; Expertise; Experts; Business and Government Relations; Environmental Regulation; Standards; Auto Industry; Switzerland; Sweden

March 2013 (Revised March 2013)
Module Note

Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States

This module note on business-government relations introduces students to the state of campaign contributions and lobbying by corporations in the United States. The note develops two hypotheses as to the impact of corporate political engagement: (i) a vehicle to... View Details

Keywords: Political Economy; Business and Government Relations; Government and Politics; Public Administration Industry; United States

Article

Multinationale et fermetures de filiales : les conséquences sociales et politiques de décisions économiques

By: Sabine Pitteloud and Leo Grob

À travers l’analyse détaillée de deux cas de fermeture de filiale dans les années 1970, cet article s’intéresse aux conséquences sociales et politiques multiples des décisions de désinvestissement des sociétés multinationales. La première étude de cas porte sur la... View Details

Keywords: Multinationals; Labor Relations; Corporate Citizenship; Business ＆ Government Relations; Disinvestment; Multinational Firms and Management; Business and Government Relations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact