Publications

08 May 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Monetary Policy and Global Banking

Keywords: by Falk Bräuning and Victoria Ivashina; Banking

Forthcoming
Article

Arbitrage Capital of Global Banks

By: Alyssa G. Anerson, Wenxin Du and Bernd Schlusche

We show that the role of unsecured, short-term wholesale funding for global banks has changed significantly in the post-financial-crisis regulatory environment. Global banks mainly use such funding to finance liquid, near risk-free arbitrage positions—in particular,... View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Banks and Banking; Interest Rates; Financing and Loans

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15 Dec 2003
Research & Ideas

The New Global Business Manager

In a 1992 article for Harvard Business Review, HBS professor Christopher A. Bartlett and co-author Sumantra Ghoshal tackled the question, "What is a Global Manager?" Their answer then was that "there is no such thing as a... View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia Churchwell

2002
Chapter

Management Turnover and Financial Distress

By: S. C. Gilson

Keywords: Management Succession; Management Teams; Financial Condition; Financial Crisis

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25 Jun 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Why Do Countries Adopt International Financial Reporting Standards?

Keywords: by Karthik Ramanna & Ewa Sletten; Accounting

2011
Case

Xinxing Ductile Iron Pipes: Transforming the Management Control System in Time of Crisis

By: Ning Jia, F. Warren McFarlan and Xiaohui Li

Xinxing Ductile Iron Pipes Co. is a Chinese state-owned enterprise (SOE) that manufactures cast pipe products and steel products. The company had grown to become a dominant player in the ductile iron pipe industry, holding more than 40% domestic market share and nearly... View Details

Keywords: Control Systems; Cost Centers; Manufacturing; Profit Centers; China

September 2005 (Revised September 2006)
Case

ICICI's Global Expansion

By: Tarun Khanna and Ramana Nanda

Follows the decision by ICICI (one of India's largest banks) to expand internationally in June 2001. View Details

Keywords: Emerging Markets; Global Strategy; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; India

June 2009
Article

Level Playing Fields in International Financial Regulation

By: Lucy White and Alan Morrison

We analyze the desirability of level playing fields in international financial regulation. In general, level playing fields impose the standards of the weakest regulator upon the best-regulated economies. However, they may be desirable when capital is mobile because... View Details

Keywords: Economy; International Finance; Multinational Firms and Management; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Standards; Banking Industry

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September 2017 (Revised February 2018)
Case

Becton Dickinson: Global Health Strategy

By: Mark R. Kramer and Sarah Mehta

Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD) was a medical technology firm headquartered in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, with 43,000 employees and 2016 revenues of $12.5 billion. For several years, the company had pursued developing products that created shared value, defined as... View Details

Keywords: Shared Value; Creating Shared Value; Odon Device; Medical Technology; Value Creation; Values and Beliefs; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Health Testing and Trials; Emerging Markets; Social Issues; Competitive Strategy; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Africa; Asia; Middle East

November 2006 (Revised May 2007)
Background Note

International Capital Markets and Sovereign Debt: Crisis Avoidance and Resolution

By: Laura Alfaro and Ingrid Vogel

Successive economic crises of the 1990s and early 2000s intensified focus on reform of the "international financial architecture." Because many of these crises involved defaults on sovereign bonds, an important component of the discussion revolved around the... View Details

Keywords: Capital; Markets; Sovereign Finance; Conflict and Resolution; Financial Crisis

16 Apr 2020
Research & Ideas

Has COVID-19 Broken the Global Value Chain?

The coronavirus pandemic has not only disrupted lives and businesses, it has illuminated underlying fragilities in the global value chain (GVC) that drives economies around the world. The smartphone you use many times daily is a product... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

March 1995
Case

E. F. Hutton: Cash Management Crisis (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Jane Palley Katz

Keywords: Financial Institutions; Cash; Crisis Management; Financial Services Industry

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November 2015 (Revised August 2016)
Case

Unilever's New Global Strategy: Competing through Sustainability

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

In January 2009, when Paul Polman was appointed CEO of Unilever, he inherited a company in long-term decline at the beginning of a major global financial crisis. As the first outsider ever recruited to lead the company, Polman lost little time in challenging the... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Competitive Strategy; Environmental Sustainability; Consumer Products Industry

10 Jun 2002
Research & Ideas

How to Look at Globalization Now

adding value by operating across borders is concerned; others can be identified as well. Q: Globalists and global skeptics have had plenty to argue about in recent years: as you write in the same paper, globalists gained confidence from... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

March 2025 (Revised June 2025)
Background Note

Getting to Net Zero: The Role of the Financial Sector

By: Shawn Cole, Jonah Zahnd, Karina Chung and Jack Cenovic

In early 2025, momentum towards the goal of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050 continued in many parts of the world, even as it appeared to face a set-back following the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States. Financial institutions... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Climate Change; Environmental Regulation; Environmental Law; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Risk and Uncertainty; Competitive Advantage; Financial Services Industry

Research Summary

Corporate Debt, Firm Size and Financial Fragility in Emerging Markets

By: Laura Alfaro

The post-Global Financial Crisis period shows a surge in corporate leverage in emerging markets and a number of countries with deteriorated corporate financial fragility indicators (Altman’s Z-score). Firm size plays a critical role in the relationship between... View Details

September 2022
Case

BancoSol: Financial Inclusion in the Perfect Storm

By: Michael Chu and Carla Larangeira

In the pandemic, financial inclusion icon BancoSol faces a government-mandated year-long deferral of all loan payments, followed by the sudden Covid death of its CEO. In a Bolivia mired in political turmoil following a failed presidential election, with clients not... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Crisis Management; Management Succession; Business Strategy; Innovation Leadership; Risk and Uncertainty; Financing and Loans; Restructuring; Financial Services Industry; Latin America; Bolivia

June 2009 (Revised May 2010)
Background Note

A Note on Cost Reduction in Financially Troubled Organizations

By: Paul W. Marshall

This note discusses methods for reducing costs, particularly labor costs, in a financially distressed organization. View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Entrepreneurship; Cost Management; Financial Condition; Labor; Crisis Management

October 2010 (Revised December 2010)
Case

Global Expansion at Sanford C. Bernstein (A) (Abridged)

By: Linda A. Hill and Dana Teppert

Sanford C. Bernstein, a premier sell-side research firm, is expanding globally, and has recently opened an office in Hong Kong. Global Director of Research Robert van Brugge must consider how best to organize the firm's research department to enhance cross-sector and... View Details

Keywords: Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Globalized Firms and Management; Organizational Structure; Expansion; Financial Services Industry; Hong Kong