Publications

Article

Control, Performance, and Knowledge Transfers in Large Multinationals: Unilever in the United States, 1945-1980

By: G. Jones

This article considers key issues relating to the organization and performance of large multinational firms in the post-Second World War period. Although foreign direct investment is defined by ownership and control, in practice the nature of that "control" is far from... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Governance Controls; Performance; Business or Company Management; Ownership; Consumer Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United States

30 May 2005
Research & Ideas

Germany’s Pioneering Corporate Managers

loss of control and precision of information). Before the 1920s at least, most German industrial firms did not have an extensive middle management staff. Large German firms remained much more diversified and decentralized than unitary,... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

January 2012 (Revised May 2013)
Case

Integrated Assurance at Philips Electronics N.V.

By: Robert G. Eccles and Daniela Saltzman

Philips Electronics is a leader in integrated reporting. In 2010 it produced its third generation report. Since its first report in 2008, Philips' integrated reports and its integrated reporting website had grown in sophistication. In planning for its integrated report... View Details

Keywords: Accounting Audits; Reports; Organizational Culture

March 2009
Article

Risk Management and Calculative Cultures

By: Anette Mikes

Enterprise risk management (ERM) has recently emerged as a widespread practice in financial institutions. It has been increasingly codified and encrypted into regulatory, corporate governance and organisational management blueprints. A burgeoning literature of... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Practice; Banks and Banking; Corporate Governance; Value; Business and Shareholder Relations; Managerial Roles; Culture; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business or Company Management; Financial Services Industry

March 2007 (Revised March 2008)
Case

Chiaphua Group Vietnam

By: Nicolas P. Retsinas and Michael Shih-ta Chen

As part of its expansion and diversification strategy, the Chiaphua Group explored real estate investments in emerging markets. The Group was one of the largest privately held company groups based in Hong Kong, with international investments in a variety of... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Laws and Statutes; Emerging Markets; Market Entry and Exit; Business and Government Relations; Diversification; Hong Kong

09 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

Incentives and Operational Excellence

incentives, many operational problems can be traced to poor controls in interorganizational settings: interorganizational because the medical supply company deals with a hospital group and the video store acquires its products from movie... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

April 2006 (Revised December 2006)
Case

The Barber of Buenos Aires: Argentina's Debt Renegotiation

By: Noel Maurer and Aldo Musacchio

Tells the story of Argentina's aggressive strategy for renegotiating its sovereign debt from 2003 to 2005. Most creditors accepted the offer to swap their debt for new securities worth 35 cents on the dollar, with no recognition of all past-due interest. Many holdouts,... View Details

Keywords: Private Sector; Borrowing and Debt; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; International Finance; Foreign Direct Investment; Sovereign Finance; Government and Politics; Negotiation Tactics; Outcome or Result; Situation or Environment; Argentina

November 2020
Article

Casting Conference Calls

By: Lauren Cohen, Dong Lou and Christopher J. Malloy

We explore a subtle but important mechanism through which firms can control information flow to the markets. We find that firms that “cast” their conference calls by disproportionately calling on bullish analysts tend to underperform in the future. Firms that call on... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Release; Firms; Conference Calls; Information; Strategy; Asset Pricing

SSRN

February 15, 2022
Article

How Managers Can Build a Culture of Experimentation

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Neil Hoyne

Testing in business presents qualitatively different challenges than those in clinical trials and most scientific research. There are very few opportunities for randomized control experiments in a changing, competitive market. Yet, change and competition make testing a... View Details

Keywords: Experimentation; Management; Decision Making

2013
Working Paper

Visualizing and Measuring Enterprise Architecture: An Exploratory BioPharma Case

By: Robert Lagerstrom, Carliss Baldwin, Alan MacCormack and David Dreyfus

We test a method that was designed and used previously to reveal the hidden internal architectural structure of software systems. The focus of this paper is to test if it can also uncover new facts about the components and their relationships in an enterprise... View Details

Keywords: Complexity; Applications and Software; Product Design; Pharmaceutical Industry

15 Mar 2021
Working Paper Summaries

Fairness or Control: What Determines Elected Local Leaders’ Support for Hosting Refugees in Their Community?

Keywords: by Kristin Fabbe, Eleni Kyrkopoulou, Konstantinos Matakos, and Asli Unan

January 2013 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Creating a Luxury Experience at Value Retail

By: Jose B. Alvarez and Matthew Preble

Value Retail PLC owned and managed a number of premium shopping destinations (Villages) across Europe. Soon the company would be moving into an entirely new market: China. The company's Villages had proven popular with both shoppers (many of whom were international... View Details

Keywords: Retailing; Tourism; Luxury; Brand Building; Brand Positioning; Real Estate; Brands and Branding; Human Resources; Retail Industry; Tourism Industry; Real Estate Industry; Europe; China

14 Aug 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Firm Competitiveness and Detection of Bribery

Keywords: by George Serafeim

April 2008
Case

Campbell and Bailyn's Boston Office: Managing the Reorganization

By: Anne Donnellon and Dun Gifford Jr

Ken Winston, the regional sales manager at a securities brokerage firm, has reorganized his generalist salespeople into Key Account Teams (KAT) to increase sales of specialized, higher-margin fixed income products. Winston is also implementing a new corporate... View Details

March 1996 (Revised June 1996)
Case

Choices in U.S. Trade Policy

By: Louis T. Wells Jr. and Courtenay Sprague

Describes the moments leading to the conclusion of the Uruguay Round of international trade negotiations and the outcome of those negotiations. Discusses some of the options facing the Clinton Administration with respect to its international trade policy. View Details

Keywords: Trade; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Negotiation; Outcome or Result; United States

09 Jul 2010
Working Paper Summaries

The Limits of Nonprofit Impact: A Contingency Framework for Measuring Social Performance

Keywords: by Alnoor Ebrahim & V. Kasturi Rangan

2006
Dissertation

Enterprise Risk Management in Action

By: Anette Mikes

The new Basel regulatory initiatives and a burgeoning risk management literature signify the rise of enterprise risk management (ERM) in the financial services sector. However, very little is known of the roles that risk management plays in organizations and how it... View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Risk Management; Practice; Governance Controls; Value; Strategy; Financial Services Industry

06 Mar 2018
First Look

First Look at Research and Ideas, March 6, 2018

not receive such evidence. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=45842 Targeted Price Controls on Supermarket Products By: Cavallo, Alberto, and Diego Aparicio Abstract—We study the impact of targeted... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2015
Article

Free at Last, Now What: The Soviet and Chinese Attempts to Offer a Roadmap for the Post-Colonial World

By: Jeremy Friedman

This article seeks to understand the motivations behind the People's Republic of China's attempt to present an alternative development model for the post-colonial world and challenge Soviet leadership in the international communist movement in mid-1960s. When the wave... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Business and Government Relations; China; United States; Soviet Union