Publications

March 2015
Case

Statoil: Transparency on Payments to Governments

By: George Serafeim

The Statoil case describes the challenge of increasing transparency, in extractive industries, around host county government payments. The case describes Statoil's reasoning behind voluntarily disclosing host country government payments, and the events that led to this... View Details

Keywords: Corruption; Disclosure; Disclosure Strategy; Regulation; Industry Self-regulation; Corporate Governance; Corporate Accountability; Bribery; Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility; Government Legislation; Cost vs Benefits; Corporate Disclosure; Mining; Mining Industry; United States

October 2007 (Revised March 2009)
Case

Engineering a Renaissance: The Launch of the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Dean Venky of the newly launched School of Engineering and Applied Sciences is faced with a range of opportunities and challenges as he presides over the launching of a new school of engineering at Harvard University. His opportunities include an ample endowment, a... View Details

Keywords: Higher Education; Engineering; Leading Change; Product Launch; Service Operations; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Alliances; Competitive Strategy

July 2010 (Revised September 2011)
Background Note

Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide

By: Heidi K. Gardner

This note outlines how leading professional service firms operating in China revise their standard hiring practices to fit local challenges and customs. Based on interviews with professionals in a number of established accounting, strategy consulting, and executive... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Globalized Firms and Management; Employees; Selection and Staffing; Service Industry; China

Spring 2018
Article

The Enemy of My Enemy: The Soviet Union, East Germany, and the Iranian Tudeh Party's Support for Ayatollah Khomeini

By: Jeremy Friedman

This article examines the strategy of the Iranian Tudeh Party in concert with its Soviet and East German patrons and allies during and after the Iranian revolution of 1979. The article assesses the thinking behind the Tudeh’s strategy of unwavering support for... View Details

August 2024
Case

Getting into the Arena (A): Shelane Etchison

By: Robert F. White and David Allen

This case explores the political campaign of Shelane Etchison, a pioneering U.S. Army veteran and double-degree Harvard graduate who ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in North Carolina's Ninth Congressional District in 2024. Seeking office for the first time,... View Details

Keywords: Political Elections; Motivation and Incentives; Strategy; Public Administration Industry; United States; North Carolina

March 1997 (Revised October 1999)
Case

Stone Container in Honduras (A)

By: James K. Sebenius and Hannah Bowles

Chicago-based Stone Container Corp., a leading producer of cardboard containers and paper bags, proposes a large-scale pine forest management and utilization program in the La Mosquitia region of Honduras. A framework agreement with the government is strongly endorsed... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Preparation; Negotiation Types; Environmental Sustainability; Conflict of Interests; Globalized Firms and Management; Developing Countries and Economies; Government and Politics; Manufacturing Industry; Pulp and Paper Industry; Honduras; Chicago

Michael Porter is an economist, researcher, author, advisor, speaker and teacher. Throughout his career at Harvard Business School, he has brought economic theory and strategy concepts to bear on many of the most challenging problems facing corporations, economies... View Details

Keywords: biotechnology; e-commerce industry; health care; information; information technology industry; internet; nonprofit industry; service industry; state government

Research Summary

The Origins, Current State, and Future of Capitalism

By: Sophus A. Reinert

Starting with the dawn of market capitalism in Renaissance Italy, Professor Reinert works at the intersection of economic ideas, policies, and practices in history, particularly as seen through the lens of national strategies in international competition. He seeks to... View Details

2016
Report

Problems Unsolved and a Nation Divided: The State of U.S. Competitiveness 2016

By: Michael E. Porter, Jan Rivkin, Mihir Desai and Manjari Raman

In this report, the authors synthesize their views on U.S. competitiveness and unveil the findings of the 2016 HBS surveys on U.S. competitiveness. Specifically, the report documents the faltering performance of the U.S. economy and the erosion of America’s business... View Details

Keywords: U.S. Competitiveness; Competitive Strategy; Macroeconomics; Government and Politics; United States

Read Now

March 1994 (Revised October 1994)
Case

Reading Energy

By: Forest L. Reinhardt

Reading Energy builds facilities that produce energy from nontraditional fuels. A privately held, entrepreneurial organization, it has spent six years developing a plan to build a waste-to-energy plant in the town of Robbins, Illinois. The plant would burn municipal... View Details

Keywords: Energy Generation; Wastes and Waste Processing; Business and Community Relations; Business Plan; Agreements and Arrangements; Contracts; Risk and Uncertainty; Government and Politics; Environmental Sustainability; Business Strategy; Energy Industry; Utilities Industry; Illinois

January 1996 (Revised February 1998)
Case

Japan's Automakers Face Endaka

By: Debora L. Spar

In April 1995, the Japanese yen hit a post-World War II high against the U.S. dollar. The yen's relentless ascent affected firms on both sides of the Pacific, but fell particularly hard on Japan's big four automakers. This case explores how endaka--or"high... View Details

Keywords: Currency Exchange Rate; Competitive Strategy; Trade; Foreign Direct Investment; Macroeconomics; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; Japan

April 2017
Case

China Hospitals Inc.: The Growth of Private Hospitals in China

By: Kevin Schulman, Xiao Yu and Ariel Hwang

This case examines the privatization of hospitals in China. China Hospitals, Inc. has become the largest for-profit hospital company in China, purchasing government owned hospitals in Tier 2 cities. The case profiles CEO Frank Hu. To build his company, he has to... View Details

Keywords: Privatization; For-Profit Firms; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Model; Health Industry; China

September 2011
Article

The Empire Struck Back: Sanctions and Compensation in the Mexican Oil Expropriation of 1938

By: Noel Maurer

The Mexican expropriation of 1938 was the first large-scale non-Communist expropriation of foreign-owned natural resource assets. The literature makes three assertions: the U.S. did not fully back the companies, Mexico did not fully compensate them for the value of... View Details

Keywords: Natural Environment; Assets; Value; Motivation and Incentives; Government and Politics; Strategy; Interests; Revenue; Non-Renewable Energy; Energy Industry; Mexico; United States

13 Feb 2012
Research & Ideas

The Case Against Racial Colorblindness

In trying to prevent discrimination and prejudice, many companies adopt a strategy of "colorblindness"—actively trying to ignore racial differences when enacting policies and making organizational decisions. The logic is simple: if we... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

June 2013 (Revised August 2014)
Case

Ayala Corporation & the Philippines: Asset Allocation in a Growing Economy (A)

By: Eric Werker, Yasmin Mandviwala, Henry Motte-Munoz and Arthur Wit

While the Philippines are located in the vicinity of many of the "Asian Tigers," its development has followed a unique path. The country suffered for years under a dictatorial political regime and protectionist economic policies. Remittances were the largest source of... View Details

Keywords: Asset Allocation; Assets; Business Conglomerates; Philippines

March 2022
Article

Strategic State Capacity: How States Counter Opposition to Climate Policy

By: Jonas Meckling and Jonas Nahm

When can states implement policies against the opposition from powerful interest groups? Research on state capacity has examined bureaucratic sources of capacity, leaving unexplained why countries with similar levels of bureaucratic capacity vary in goal attainment. We... View Details

Keywords: Power and Influence; Policy; Environmental Regulation