Publications

June 2004 (Revised July 2005)
Case

Procter & Gamble: Global Business Services

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Warren Brackin, Alex Cabanas, Phil Shellhammer and David L. Ager

Dave Walker, vice-president of business service opportunities and chairman of the governance team at Procter & Gamble, must decide what to do with P&G's 5,700 employee Global Business Services (GBS) group. GBS brought together internal services such as finance,... View Details

Keywords: Business Units; Change Management; Decision Making; Globalized Firms and Management; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Organizational Design

November 2007
Class Lecture

The Baby Business (FSS)

By: Debora L. Spar

In vitro fertilization and genetic screening are possible with the advent of biotechnology. International adoptions, surrogacy, and other approaches to family planning are on the rise. But few rules govern these measures, medical costs can be prohibitive, and... View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Demand and Consumers; Business and Government Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Genetics; Societal Protocols; Commercialization; Biotechnology Industry; Health Industry

April 2021 (Revised December 2021)
Case

The Carlyle Group: Carving Out Atotech

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter

On January 31, 2017, The Carlyle Group ("Carlyle") closed its $3.2 billion acquisition of Atotech, an international Specialty Chemicals and Equipment company. In Carlyle's Washington, DC headquarters, the US-based deal team—Martin Sumner, Greg Nikodem, Tanaka Maswoswe... View Details

Keywords: Oil ＆ Gas; Deal; International Acquisition; International; Acquisition; Negotiation Deal; Transformation; Chemicals; Chemical Industry; United States; Europe; Asia; Germany

January 2020 (Revised March 2020)
Case

Huawei: A Global Tech Giant in the Crossfire of a Digital Cold War

By: William C. Kirby, Billy Chan and John P. McHugh

By 2020, Ren Zhengfei, CEO of Huawei, had transformed the small telephone switch manufacturer he founded in 1987 into a $120 billion telecommunications company poised to lead the lucrative rollout of fifth-generation (5G) cellular networks. However, an emerging... View Details

Keywords: International Strategy; Government And Business; Digital Infrastructure; Political Risk; Information Technology; Infrastructure; Business and Government Relations; Government and Politics; Information Infrastructure; Technology Industry; China; United States

January 2010 (Revised January 2013)
Course Overview Note

Introduction to Business, Government, and the International Economy (BGIE)

By: Matthew C. Weinzierl

Keywords: Business and Government Relations; International Relations; Trade

Research Summary

Dissertation: "Essays in International Non-market Strategy and the Political Economy of Environmental Regulation"

My dissertation is part of a research agenda intended to advance our understanding of the interaction between companies and non-market actors (e.g. regulators) in an international context. The empirical setting of my analysis is the European Union Emissions Trading... View Details

September 2013 (Revised June 2014)
Supplement

Rana Plaza: Workplace Safety in Bangladesh (B)

By: John A. Quelch and Margaret L. Rodriguez

In the aftermath of the Rana Plaza building collapse, a group of international retailers and labor unions partnered to create a proposal for more stringent inspections and enforcement of safety standards in Bangladesh garment factories. The proposal was met by... View Details

Keywords: Retail Trade; Corporate Social Responsibility; Apparel; Bangladesh; Worker Safety; Government And Business; International Business; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Bangladesh

January–February 2023
Article

External Interfaces and Internal Processes: Market Positioning and Divergent Professionalization Paths in Young Ventures

By: Alicia DeSantola, Ranjay Gulati and Pavel Zhelyazkov

We explore how the initial market positioning of entrepreneurial ventures shapes how they professionalize over time, focusing specifically on the development of functional roles. In contrast to existing literature, which has presumed a uniform march toward... View Details

Keywords: Market Positioning; Professionalization; Scaling; Entrepreneurship; Strategy; Business Startups; Growth and Development; Organizational Structure

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18 Nov 2003
Lecture

Microeconomic Foundations of Competitiveness—A New Agenda for International Aid Institutions

By: Michael E. Porter

This presentation draws on ideas from Professor Porter’s books and articles, in particular, "Building the Microeconomic Foundations of Prosperity," in The Global Competitiveness Report 2003-04 (World Economic Forum, 2003); "Clusters and the New Competitive... View Details

Keywords: Economics

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22 May 2014
Other Presentation

Inclusion of Small Business in Value Chains

By: Michael E. Porter

Prerecorded CSV video played as part of the panel "Inclusion of small business in value chains - international experiences," Business Linkages conference. This event was hosted by the leading Brazilian small business development agency, Sebrae, on May 21 and May 22,... View Details

Keywords: Creating Shared Value; Value Chain; Society; Customer Value and Value Chain; Brazil

September 2000
Background Note

Professional Services Module Three: Internal Strategy of Organizational Design

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Ashish Nanda and Scot H. Landry

The way in which PSFs organize themselves to leverage strategic capabilities is imperative in achieving high performance. View Details

Keywords: Organizational Design; Strategy; Performance Capacity; Competency and Skills; Business Startups

2010
Chapter

Business Groups in Historical Perspectives

By: Geoffrey Jones and Asli M. Colpan

Business groups-collections of legally independent firms interconnected by multiple economic and social linkages that exhibit widely diversified product portfolios-are viewed as the prototypical large-enterprise form in contemporary emerging economies. By exploring the... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Management Skills; Emerging Markets; Alliances; Groups and Teams; Competitive Advantage; Great Britain

December 2008
Case

Merrimack Tractors and Mowers: LIFO or FIFO?

By: William J. Bruns Jr., Sharon Bruns and Susan S. Hameling

At Merrimack Tractors and Mowers in 2008, product manufacturing costs are increasing faster than competitors' costs, and as a result earnings are likely to fall below those reported in 2007. The company president and the company controller have discussed this problem,... View Details

Keywords: International; Financial; Reporting; Standards; Inventory; Business Ethics; Assets; Valuation; Ethics; Taxation; Financial Reporting; Manufacturing Industry

June 2021
Case

CFM International (A): Building a Durable Partnership That Works

By: Ranjay Gulati, Yves Doz, Kim Wilkinson and Kerry Herman

It is spring 1995, and the CFM partnership—a joint venture between GE Aviation and France’s jet engine manufacturer Snecma—is facing difficult challenges. The parent companies must decide whether and how to renew their nascent partnership agreement, in the face of... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Partners and Partnerships; Decision Making

December 6, 2013
Article

Family Businesses Shouldn't Hunt for Superstar CEOs

By: Josh Baron and Rob Lachenauer

This article discusses the challenges faced by family businesses when it comes to succession planning, particularly in selecting an outside CEO. It presents a case study of a third-generation family business looking for an external CEO, named "Mr. Wonderful," to manage... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Management Succession

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2010
Conference Presentation

Induced Variation in Administrative Systems: Experimenting with Contexts for Innovation

By: Adrian Caldart, Roberto Vassolo and Luciana Silvestri

Keywords: Evolutionary Perspective On Strategic Management; International Business; Management; Organizational Design; Globalization

December 2008 (Revised November 2010)
Teaching Note

Merrimack Tractors and Mowers: LIFO or FIFO? (Brief Case)

By: William J. Bruns Jr., Sharon Bruns and Susan S. Harmeling

Teaching Note to 3217 View Details

Keywords: International Financial Reporting Standards; Inventory; Business Ethics; Ethics; Financial Reporting; Globalization

Teaching Interest

Overview

By: Debora L. Spar

I currently teach an Elective Course on Capitalism and the State (CATS), and serve as Course Head for a new Required Curriculum course on the Social Purpose of the Firm (SPF). Previously, I developed and taught Managing International Trade and Investment (MITI) in the... View Details

Keywords: Capitalism; Business ＆ Government Relations; Business And Society; International Trade; Technological Change: Choices And Consequences; Business and Government Relations; Education Industry; United States; Europe; Africa; Asia

March 2008
Case

Novartis AG: Science-Based Business

By: H. Kent Bowen and Courtney Purrington

Novartis is a science-based drug company, which has important implications for its business strategy. It is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world with over $38B in sales in 2007. Pharmaceuticals account for slightly over $24B of that total. In 2007,... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Resource Allocation; Product Development; Partners and Partnerships; Research and Development; Science-Based Business; Pharmaceutical Industry