Publications

10 Jul 2000
Research & Ideas

Cable TV: From Community Antennas to Wired Cities

cable franchises, media company managers could leverage their knowledge of local communities and their political processes. However, some companies avoided franchising: their executives worried that the need to influence city officials... View Details

Keywords: by Thomas R. Eisenmann; Media & Broadcasting; Consumer Products; Entertainment & Recreation

2013
Working Paper

Punctuated Generosity: How Mega-events and Natural Disasters Affect Corporate Philanthropy in U.S. Communities

By: Andras Tilcsik and Christopher Marquis

This article focuses on geographic communities as fields in which human-made and natural events occasionally disrupt the lives of organizations. We develop an institutional perspective to unpack how and why major events within communities affect organizations in the... View Details

Keywords: Natural Disasters; Situation or Environment; Balance and Stability; Organizations; Business and Community Relations; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; United States

SSRN

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December 2006 (Revised January 2007)
Case

Chief Timothy Adeola Odutola and Nigeria's Manufacturing Sector

By: Nitin Nohria, Anthony Mayo, Foluke Otudeko and Mark Benson

Chief Timothy Adeola Odutola was an important contributor to Nigeria's manufacturing sector, creating a multimillion-dollar conglomerate including three factories, a retail franchise, a cattle ranch, a 5,000-acre plantation, a sawmill, and an exporting business before... View Details

Keywords: History; Business Conglomerates; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Success; Leadership Style; Business History; Market Entry and Exit; Personal Development and Career; Business Startups; Manufacturing Industry; Nigeria

Find at Harvard

08 Aug 2006
Working Paper Summaries

Managing Governments: Unilever in India and Turkey, 1950–1980

Keywords: by Geoffrey G. Jones

March 2024 (Revised February 2025)
Case

Doing Business in Buenos Aires, Argentina

By: Joseph B. Fuller, Alan D. MacCormack, Nori Gerardo Lietz, Leonard A. Schlesinger, Karina Souza and Zeke Gillman

This case examines the challenges and opportunities of doing business in Argentina. It highlights Argentina's economic and political transformation in the decades leading up to 2024. The case gives an overview of some of the main obstacles faced by businesses operating... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Business and Government Relations; Corporate Strategy; Transformation; Economy; Air Transportation; Air Transportation Industry; Transportation Industry; Argentina; Latin America; Buenos Aires

August 2023 (Revised October 2023)
Case

Beyond the Barricades: Chile 2023

By: Debora Spar, Willis Emmons, Leonard A. Schlesinger and Ruth Costas

Chile, often considered among Latin America's greatest economic success stories, suffered a shocking wave of protests in October 2019, as its citizens demanded reforms across healthcare and education systems, and protested inequality and rising costs of living. As... View Details

Keywords: Government Administration; Developing Countries and Economies; Economic Growth; Social Issues; Wealth and Poverty; Public Opinion; Equality and Inequality; Public Administration Industry; Chile; Latin America; South America

Research Summary

Overview

By: Jeremy S. Friedman

Professor Friedman devotes his research to the history of the Left and its struggle to end economic and social inequality. He studies how this struggle evolved, its various cultural contexts, and what paths have been tried and rejected. He has been able to gain access... View Details

March 2001 (Revised March 2016)
Case

Charlene Barshefsky (A)

By: James K. Sebenius and Rebecca Hulse

Describes the challenges former U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky faced while negotiating a trade agreement with China to improve its domestic intellectual property rights enforcement. After briefly describing Barshefsky's past experience with trade... View Details

Keywords: Trade; International Relations; Copyright; Negotiation Style; Negotiation Tactics; Alliances; Business and Government Relations; China; United States

February 2023 (Revised February 2024)
Case

Doing Business in Bangkok, Thailand

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and Billy Chan

Known as the “land of smiles” and the “Detroit of the East,” Thailand, with its geographical location at the heart of Asia, has attracted visitors and businesses from all over the world. This case serves as a guide that provides an overview of the history, political... View Details

Keywords: History; Government and Politics; Geographic Location; Economy; Thailand

June 2022
Case

Mossadeq’s Gambit: The US, UK, and Iranian Oil Nationalization

By: Jeremy Friedman and Jingyu Liu

Many of the West’s political problems in the Middle East and in Iran in particular can be traced to the overthrow of Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh by military forces supported by the American CIA and the British MI6 in August 1953. Mossadegh, at the head of a... View Details

Keywords: Neo-imperialism; History; Conflict Management; War; Globalized Economies and Regions; Natural Resources; National Security; Government and Politics; Globalized Markets and Industries; Middle East; Iran

25 Sep 2008
Working Paper Summaries

The Cost of Property Rights: Establishing Institutions on the Philippine Frontier Under American Rule, 1898-1918

Keywords: by Lakshmi Iyer & Noel Maurer

February 1992 (Revised September 2019)
Case

The House of Tata

By: James E. Austin and Ashish Nanda

The case traces the evolution of the Tata group, one of the largest and highly respected Indian business houses, from its 19th century founding and early growth in diverse industries, to its response to changes in government regulation in independent India, up to its... View Details

Keywords: Indian Economy; International Business; Government And Business; Government Regulation; Synergy; Conglomerates; Business Conglomerates; Developing Countries and Economies; Business and Government Relations; Business History; Steel Industry; Electronics Industry; Chemical Industry; Insurance Industry; Air Transportation Industry; India

May 2007 (Revised April 2020)
Case

Ernesto Tornquist: Making a Fortune on the Pampas

By: Geoffrey Jones and Andrea Lluch

Examines the career of Ernesto Tornquist, a cosmopolitan financier considered to be the most significant entrepreneur in Argentina at the end of the 19th century. Tornquist created a diversified business group, linked to the political elite, which integrated Argentina... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Development Economics; Partners and Partnerships; Personal Development and Career; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Trade; Globalized Markets and Industries; Economy; Performance; Argentina

November 2021 (Revised January 2024)
Case

The Global Great Depression, 1929-1939

By: Alberto Cavallo, Sophus A. Reinert and Federica Gabrieli

The Great Depression was, by far, the worst economic contraction of the twentieth century, and some of the most important ideas about both fiscal and monetary policy in the second half of the century were developed in response to it. The economic collapse, which... View Details

Keywords: Great Depression; Economic Conditions; Unemployment; Homelessness; Financial Crisis; History; Economy; Policy; Poverty; Social Issues; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation

November 2003 (Revised September 2021)
Case

Ivar Kreuger and the Swedish Match Empire

By: Geoffrey Jones and Ingrid Vargas

Taught in Evolution of Global Business. Globalization and corporate fraud are the central themes of this case on the international growth of Swedish Match in the interwar years. Between 1913 and 1932, Ivar Kreuger, known as the "Swedish Match King," built a small,... View Details

Keywords: History; International Finance; Globalized Firms and Management; Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Monopoly; Business and Government Relations; Sweden

21 Mar 2016
Working Paper Summaries

Voluntary, Self-Regulatory, and Mandatory Disclosure of Oil and Gas Company Payments to Foreign Governments

Keywords: by Paul M. Healy and George Serafeim; Energy

21 Nov 2011
Working Paper Summaries

Caste and Entrepreneurship in India

Keywords: by Lakshmi Iyer, Tarun Khanna & Ashutosh Varshney

January 1999 (Revised December 2020)
Case

The U.S. Banking Panic of 1933 and Federal Deposit Insurance

By: Julio J. Rotemberg and Sabina M. Ciminero

After highlighting some key developments in the banking history of the United States, the case illustrates the Banking Panic of 1933 and the way in which Franklin D. Roosevelt dealt with it at the beginning of his presidency. Describes the main components of banking... View Details

Keywords: Government Legislation; Insurance; Crisis Management; Financial Crisis; Banks and Banking; History; Business and Government Relations; Banking Industry; United States