Publications

17 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

Where Did My Shopping Mall Go?

of our interview with authors Rajiv Lal and José B. Alvarez, they discuss what the future of storefront retailing looks like and how its transformation will also change the economy and society. Sean Silverthorne: What is happening to the... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

2004
Book

Birth of a Salesman: The Transformation of Selling in America

By: Walter A. Friedman

This book chronicles the remarkable metamorphosis of the American salesman from itinerant amateur to trained expert. From the mid-nineteenth century to the eve of World War II, the development of sales management transformed an economy populated by peddlers and... View Details

Keywords: Sales; Employees; Transformation; United States

January–February 2015
Article

Heroic Villains: Are Foreign Investors Problems or Solutions in the Ebola Crisis?

By: Debora L. Spar

For months, the news out of West Africa has been unrelentingly grim. As of early December, the devastating Ebola epidemic had infected a reported 17,942 people and killed 6,388, according to the World Health Organization (WHO); the actual toll, which would also account... View Details

Keywords: Ebola; Multinational Corporation; Epidemics; Foreign Investment; Extractive Industries; Multinational Firms and Management; Health Pandemics; Developing Countries and Economies; Government and Politics; Africa

27 Sep 2017
Research & Ideas

What Happens When Ordinary People Get Creative?

economy continues to make it easier for users to share new ideas with companies, society, and each other. Large firms routinely host open innovation contests to solve problems big and small, and forums like Quora encourage citizens to... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

19 May 2009
First Look

First Look: May 19, 2009

inclination to take offense that often attends the close juxtaposition of art and commerce, which was very much in evidence at that AoM symposium in Philadelphia, the interests of art, artists, and business can be best served if more commerce enters into the View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

02 May 2000
Research & Ideas

Leading Professional Service Firms

The HBS Executive Education course Leading Professional Service Firms (LPSF) is an intensive, one-week program that focuses on management issues unique to these firms. It provides a forum for participants from around the world to apply... View Details

Keywords: Re: Jay W. Lorsch; Service; Consulting; Accounting

February 1997 (Revised February 2002)
Case

Mexico (B): Escaping from the Debt Crisis?

By: Huw Pill

Describes the response of the Mexican authorities and the international community to the "Third World Debt Crisis" that came to the forefront of global economic concerns in the early 1980s. Focuses on the respective roles of the private sector, governments (Mexican and... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Economies and Regions; Financial Crisis; Macroeconomics; Mexico

2010
Casebook

Global Capital and National Institutions: Crisis and Choice in the International Financial Architecture

By: Laura Alfaro

All managers face a business environment in which international and macroeconomic phenomena matter. International capital flows can significantly affect countries' development efforts and provide clear investment opportunities for businesses. During the 1990s and early... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Capital; International Finance; Globalized Economies and Regions; Policy; Government and Politics; Business and Government Relations

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Research Summary

The Competitive Advantage of Nations and Regions

By: Michael E. Porter

Michael E. Porter continues to extend his study first reported in The Competitive Advantage of Nations. Porter has published books and studies of other countries, states, and cities, including Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,... View Details

January–February 2018
Article

Inclusive Growth: Profitable Strategies for Tackling Poverty and Inequality

By: Robert S. Kaplan, George Serafeim and Eduardo Tugendhat

More than a billion people in the developing world remain in extreme poverty and outside the formal economy. Traditional CSR programs have done little to alleviate the situation and rarely produce transformative change.
Instead of trying to fix local problems,... View Details

Keywords: Inclusive Growth; Sustainability; Social Impact; Business Strategy; Shared Value; Impact Investing; Inequality; Corporate Governance; Balanced Scorecard; Strategy Execution; Economic Growth; Developing Countries and Economies; Poverty; Equality and Inequality; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Strategy; Investment

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15 Jan 2013
First Look

First Look: January 15

Structure in Small-Scale Finance Authors:Carpena, Fenella, Shawn Cole, Jeremy Shapiro, and Bilal Zia Publication:The World Bank Economic Review Abstract Microfinance, the provision of small individual and business loans, has experienced... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

25 Apr 2023
Op-Ed

How SHEIN and Temu Conquered Fast Fashion—and Forged a New Business Model

late 1970s, when China ramped up its manufacturing production and began to open its economy to the world, its small and mid-sized factories struggled to gain access to the large consumer markets of the United States and Europe. American... View Details

Keywords: by John Deighton; Fashion; Retail; Consumer Products

April 2021 (Revised December 2022)
Case

Capitalism, Slavery, and Reparations

By: Sophus A. Reinert and Cary Williams

The birth of “Modern Economic Growth” constituted a watershed in human history, allowing societies to escape the Malthusian impasse and permanently raise living standards. While the new growth regime had lifted billions of people out of extreme poverty over the last... View Details

Keywords: Reparations; Living Standards; Poverty; Social Issues; Economic Growth; Equality and Inequality; Globalized Economies and Regions; Human Needs

July 1989 (Revised December 1990)
Case

CIBA-GEIGY Pharmaceuticals: Pharma International

By: John A. Quelch

Examines the decision by Pharma International on whether to launch an antimalarial product in Nigeria and, if so, how that should be implemented. Involves commercial, ethical, and policy considerations. Rich in situation assessment data, the case refers to criticism of... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Decision Choices and Conditions; Product Launch; Policy; Developing Countries and Economies; Pharmaceutical Industry; Nigeria

Research Summary

Overview

By: Ethan C. Rouen

Relying on empirical archival methodologies—as well as techniques in data science—to develop and structure new sources of data by which to approach questions of looming disclosure changes, Professor Rouen has focused on one of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s... View Details

23 Nov 2015
Book

The Historian Who Came in from the Cold

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

25 Feb 2014
First Look

First Look: February 25

Tella, Rafael, Javier Donna, and Robert MacCulloch Abstract—At the beginning of the twentieth century Venezuela had one of the poorest economies in Latin America, but by 1970 it had become the richest country in the region and one of the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2008
Book

Billions of Entrepreneurs: How China and India Are Reshaping Their Futures and Yours

By: Tarun Khanna

China and India are home to one-third of the world's population. And they're undergoing social and economic revolutions that are capturing the best minds--and money--of Western business. In "Billions of Entrepreneurs," Tarun Khanna examines the entrepreneurial forces... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Development Economics; Entrepreneurship; Globalized Economies and Regions; China; India

October 2001 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Chad-Cameroon Petroleum Development and Pipeline Project (A), The

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Carrie Ferman

On June 6, 2000, the World Bank's and IFC's board of directors was scheduled to vote on whether to approve funding for the $4 billion Chad-Cameroon Petroleum Development and Pipeline project. Although the project presented a unique opportunity to alleviate poverty in... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Negotiation; Ethics; Social Issues; Economic Sectors; Investment; Cost vs Benefits; Project Finance; Developing Countries and Economies; Corporate Finance; Mining Industry; Chad; Cameroon