Publications

1989
Book

Planning and Power in Iran: Ebtehaj and Economic Development under the Shah

By: Geoffrey Jones

This book provides a biography of Abol Hassan Ebtehaj, who headed Iran's central bank and Plan Organization during the 1940s and 1950s. It provides a wide-ranging survey of the problems of modernization and economic planning in Iran. Ebtehaj was at the center of... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Decision Making; Economics; Central Banking; Policy; Political History; Resignation and Termination; Biography; Books; Surveys; Growth and Development Strategy; Planning; Iran

1993
Book

British Multinational Banking 1830-1990

By: Geoffrey Jones

This book provides the first modern history of British multinational banking. It analyses their emergence, growth and performance from their origins in the 1830s until the present day. It is based on a wide range of confidential banking records, which are placed in the... View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Multinational Firms and Management; Growth and Development; Information Management; Performance; Great Britain; United Kingdom

28 May 2014
Research & Ideas

Building Histories of Emerging Economies One Interview at a Time

Professor Geoffrey Jones, faculty chair of the Business History Initiative, and Chilean shipping entrepreneur Sven von Appen (HBS AMP 76). "I was talking to Sven about the role of history at HBS," Jones... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

2016
Working Paper

Historical Change and the Competitive Advantage of Firms: Explicating the 'Dynamics' in the Dynamic Capabilities Framework

By: Geoffrey Jones and R. Daniel Wadhwani

This working paper aims to deepen the scholarly dialogue between strategy and history. It does so by examining how historical models of change can contribute to theory and research on the competitive advantage of firms during periods of rapid innovation. Focusing on... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Dynamic Capabilities; Innovation; Temporality; Context; Microfoundations; Business History; Competitive Advantage; Change; Innovation and Invention

SSRN

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Article

Business Groups, Entrepreneurship and the Growth of the Koç Group in Turkey

By: Geoffrey Jones and Asli M. Colpan

This article examines the emergence and development of what became the largest business group in Turkey, the Koç Group. This venture was an important factor in the emergence of modern business enterprise in the new state of the Republic of Turkey from the 1920s. After... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Governance; History; Strategy; Auto Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Service Industry; Turkey

September 2015
Supplement

Kaweyan: Female Entrepreneurship and the Past and Future of Afghanistan (B)

By: Geoffrey Jones and Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

This (B) case takes up the story of the Afghan female entrepreneur Kamila Sidiqi between 2009 and 2015. The case opens with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry praising her achievements at a State Department dinner in March 2015 for the newly elected President of... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career; Gender; Afghanistan

June 2005 (Revised July 2009)
Supplement

Good Technology: Empowering Mobility around the Globe (B)

By: Geoffrey G. Jones and Adam Minnick

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Globalization

May 2005 (Revised January 2008)
Case

Inniskillin and the Globalization of Icewine

By: Geoffrey G. Jones and Jillian Hirasawa

Deals with the growth of the icewine industry and follows Vincor International as it creates an international market for its Inniskillin Icewine--a luxury alcoholic beverage consumed as a dessert wine. Gives the history of the alcoholic beverage industry in Canada and... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Globalized Markets and Industries; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Luxury; Food and Beverage Industry; Canada

November 2003 (Revised September 2016)
Case

Creating Global Oil, 1900-1935

By: Geoffrey G. Jones and Daniel Wadhwani

Taught in the elective MBA course entitled The Evolution of Global Business. Examines the development of an international cartel in the oil industry in the 1920s and 1930s. Focuses on the decisions and actions of the leading multinational oil companies—particularly... View Details

Keywords: History; Competition; Multinational Firms and Management; Alliances; Cooperation; Business and Government Relations; Energy Industry

2006
Article

Schumpeter's Plea: Historical Methods in the Study of Entrepreneurship

By: Rohit Daniel Wadhwani and Geoffrey Jones

This paper outlines the case for why and how historical methods are important to the study of entrepreneurship. We show that research in entrepreneurship has displayed declining attention to historical context since the field first emerged in the 1940s. We discuss why... View Details

Keywords: History; Research; Entrepreneurship

Teaching Interest

Overview

I currently teach the history of global entrepreneurship over the last 200 years. The 28-session course called Entrepreneurship and Global Capitalism has become one of the most popular second year electives in the MBA program at the Harvard Business School. The cases,... View Details

July 2005 (Revised April 2007)
Teaching Note

Brazil at the Wheel (TN)

Teaching Note to (9-804-080). View Details

Keywords: Brazil

July 2005
Teaching Note

Multinational Corporations in Apartheid-Era South Africa: The Issue of Reparations (TN)

Teaching Note to (9-804-027). View Details

Keywords: Lawsuits and Litigation; Globalized Firms and Management; South Africa

July 2005 (Revised August 2007)
Teaching Note

Making China Beautiful: Shiseido and the China Market (TN)

Teaching Note to (9-805-003). View Details

Keywords: China

March 2006 (Revised October 2006)
Teaching Note

L'Oreal and the Globalization of American Beauty (TN)

Teaching Note to 805086. View Details

Keywords: Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

July 2003 (Revised February 2004)
Background Note

Multinationals and the First Global Economy before 1914

Reviews the literature on the growth of globalization before 1914 and examines the role of multinationals in the process. View Details

Keywords: History; Multinational Firms and Management; Growth and Development

September 2023 (Revised January 2024)
Case

Helmy Abouleish: Making a Desert Bloom

By: Geoffrey G. Jones and Maxim Pike Harrell

This case examines the history of prominent Egyptian-based social enterprise SEKEM from its foundation in 1977 until the COP27 conference held in Sharm El-Sheikh in 2022. Led by father and son team Ibrahim and Helmy Abouleish, SEKEM turned desert into farmland using... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Climate Change; Values and Beliefs; Social Enterprise; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Egypt

April 2024
Teaching Plan

Helmy Abouleish: Making a Desert Bloom

By: Geoffrey G. Jones and Maxim Pike Harrell

Teaching Plan for HBS Case No. 324-029. View Details

Research Summary

A History of Green Entrepreneurship