Publications

Forthcoming
Article

The Evolution of Financial Services in the United States

By: Robin Greenwood, Robert Ialenti and David Scharfstein

This article surveys the literature on the historical growth and transformation of the U.S. financial sector. The sector expanded rapidly between 1980 until 2006, when its contribution to GDP rose from 4.8% to 7.6%. After the Global Financial Crisis, the size of the... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Financial Institutions; Financial Markets; Growth and Development; Economic Sectors

Read Now

September 2023 (Revised January 2024)
Case

AI21 Labs in 2023: Strategy for Generative AI

By: David Yoffie, Orna Dan and Elena Corsi

Israeli generative artificial intelligence company AI21 Labs was founded in 2017 to realize the vision of true machine intelligence. It sought to reinvent writing and reading and in 2020 it launched Wordtune, an app using GenAI software to offer alternate text... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; AI and Machine Learning; Innovation Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Applications and Software; Competitive Strategy; Technology Industry; Israel

Research Summary

Overview

By: Willy C. Shih

Willy's research interests reflect the 28 years he spent in industry, during which he logged many questions on firm performance, relative competitiveness, and firm culture as an impediment to change. His primary interests today are in the drivers of industrial... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Technology; Competitiveness; Competitive Dynamics; Supply Chains; Production; Operations; Product Development; Supply Chain Management; Manufacturing Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Aerospace Industry; Auto Industry; United States; Asia; Europe

March 2009 (Revised March 2011)
Background Note

The Rejuvenated International Monetary Fund

By: Rawi E. Abdelal and Jonathan Schlefer

The International Monetary Fund was dismissed as almost irrelevant to the global economy, but during the 2008 financial crisis, it returned to center stage, providing financial rescues for developing countries. View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Financial Crisis; Financial Management; International Finance; Globalized Economies and Regions; International Relations

Malcolm Salter has been a member of the Harvard Business School faculty since 1967. His teaching and research focus on issues of corporate strategy, organization, and governance.

In addition to teaching at HBS, he has held faculty positions at the Harvard... View Details

Keywords: arts; automobiles; energy; investment banking industry; retailing; venture capital industry

2025
Working Paper

Investor Influence on Media Coverage: Evidence from Venture Capital-Backed Startups

By: Brian K. Baik and Albert Shin

We examine whether and how investors influence media coverage of their private portfolio companies. Using a stacked difference-in-differences design, we find that media coverage of startups increases significantly following venture capital (VC) investment. The effect... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Entrepreneurship; Media; Reputation; Information

Read Now

February 2020 (Revised June 2020)
Background Note

China Commerce 2020

By: William R. Kerr, Daniel O'Connor and Nathaniel Schwalb

China's digital commerce platforms engage billions of consumers daily across a number of routine tasks from banking, retail purchases, travel, gaming, payments, and more. These platforms are the most sophisticated/informed and highest performing/capable in the world.... View Details

Keywords: Platforms; Strategy; Leadership; E-commerce; Digital Platforms; Retail Industry; Technology Industry; Consumer Products Industry; China

September 1995
Case

Ares-Serono

By: Michael Y. Yoshino, Jean-Pierre Jeannet and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Ares Serono, a medium-size Swiss pharmaceutical company, is the global leader in the field of fertility drugs. The company has successfully transformed into one of the very few biotech firms in Europe. The case treats a set of major strategic and organizational... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Globalized Firms and Management; Asset Management; Balance and Stability; Expansion; Digital Platforms; Leadership Development; Health Care and Treatment; Transformation; Family Business; Problems and Challenges; Pharmaceutical Industry; Biotechnology Industry; Switzerland; Europe

Find at Harvard

April 1999 (Revised November 1999)
Case

ConAgra, Inc.: Across the Food Chain

By: Ray A. Goldberg, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Carlos A. A Gonzalez

Two years after taking over as CEO, Bruce Rohde must determine how best to deal with the changes affecting this major global agribusiness firm. He must reassess the direction of the company as well as determine in which industries it should participate. View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Management Teams; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Globalization; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

Find at Harvard

February 2005
Case

Mahindra & Mahindra: Creating Scorpio

By: Tarun Khanna, Rajiv Lal and Merlina Manocaran

Details the emergence of a private sector automobile manufacturer in India that has created globally competitive and cheap versions of an SUV commonly available worldwide. Asks us to think about the parent corporation's next steps in leveraging this success. In... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Global Range; Multinational Firms and Management; Emerging Markets; Commercialization; Expansion; Auto Industry; India

16 Oct 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, October 16, 2018

scholars (such as “p-hacking” and confounding local effects with global effects) pertinent to the norms of empirical research in the fields of strategy and management. We provide a step-by-step roadmap that illustrates how to use four ML... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

Career Coach

Marc Herson

Marc (INSEAD '01) has extensive global experience as a venture capitalist, media executive, entrepreneur and lawyer, working in the U.S., Europe, and Africa. His most recent experience is at 2go Interactive, a start-up mobile tech company... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Markets; Entertainment / Media; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Financial Services (All); Social Enterprise; Telecommunications

March 2021 (Revised February 2025)
Teaching Note

Afterpay U.S.: The Omnichannel Dilemma

By: Antonio Moreno and Anibha Singh

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 519-086. In 2018, Nick Molnar, the founder of the Australia-based online payment service Afterpay began its expansion to the U.S. market. The service had gained a loyal following in Australia by enabling customers to pay for online... View Details

15 Nov 2012
Research & Ideas

Funding the Design of Livable Cities

planned and managed in a much more efficient and sustainable fashion than in a dispersed population. Mayors of the world's largest cities agree, with New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg leading a global... View Details

Keywords: by Lisa Chase; Construction; Real Estate; Energy; Utilities

March 2025 (Revised May 2025)
Case

ING Türkiye: Flexible Work in a Competitive Banking Environment

By: Ashley Whillans and Nico Schaefer

This case explores ING Türkiye’s journey toward workplace flexibility within the traditionally conservative Turkish banking sector. Beginning with early remote work experiments in 2015 and culminating in the FlexING model, by 2024 ING Türkiye had positioned itself as a... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Employee Relationship Management; Working Conditions; Business or Company Management; Adaptation; Competition; Organizational Culture; Banking Industry; Turkey

February 2018
Case

Montes Calcados: A Step Ahead

By: James L. Heskett and James T. Kindley

Montes Calçados (MC) is a well-known "fast-fashion" Brazilian manufacturer of casual, but fashionable, shoes for women aged 18–35 in major cities worldwide. To boost its declining revenues, MC must evaluate two growth options: whether to expand distribution online (at... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Distribution Channels; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Global Range; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry

December 2013 (Revised July 2015)
Case

VP Group: Vegpro Grows Beyond Kenya

By: Jose Alvarez and Natalie Kindred

In 2013, Kenyan horticulture producer and exporter VP Group is weighing potential expansion opportunities against the growing risks in its production and export markets. With $121 million in 2012 revenues, VP Group has grown rapidly in recent years by expanding its... View Details

Battered by contracting markets and frozen credit, many businesses today are fighting for survival. Indeed, the current global financial crisis provides a mandate for restructuring. But survival is not the end goal. In fact, cost cutting and restructuring are simply... View Details

14 Apr 2019
Interview

How to Build Psychological Safety, with Amy Edmondson

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Dave Stachowiak

Amy Edmondson is the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School. She has been recognized by the Thinkers50 global ranking of management thinkers for many years and was honored with their Talent Award in 2017. Amy is the author of... View Details

Keywords: Psychological Safety; Organizational Culture; Groups and Teams; Performance Effectiveness