Publications

June 2025
Case

(Family) Size Matters: Nico Oprée and the Decreasing Power of Family Unity over Time

By: Lauren Cohen, Octavian Graf Pilati, Dominik V. Eynern and Sophia Pan

Nico Oprée, a fourth-generation (G4) member of his family’s heavy manufacturing business, found himself reflecting on how the firm would navigate a deepening shareholder conflict. While the second generation (G2) had managed the business in harmony, dynamics shifted... View Details

Research Summary

Corporate Restructuring and Business Insolvency: Economic Impact and Best Practices

By: Stuart C. Gilson

Stuart C. Gilson is studying how severe financial distress impacts corporate policies and economic resource allocation. He is also studying how managers can best respond to financial distress in order to preserve and grow value. He is undertaking this research... View Details

March 2016
Case

N12 Technologies: Building an Organization and Building a Business

By: David A. Garvin and Aldo Sesia

N12 Technologies was a startup founded in 2010 that employed nanotechnology to manufacture a patented material to improve the performance of carbon fiber composites, which were used in a wide variety of products, ranging from bicycles to automobiles to aircraft parts.... View Details

Keywords: Startup; Organizational Structure; Nanotechnology; Business Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Design; Management Systems; Commercialization; Industrial Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; Bicycle Industry; Transportation Industry; United States

November 1995
Background Note

Business Process Reengineering: Its Past, Present, and Possible Future

Explores the origins of reengineering; its evolution during the 1980s and 1990s; the current state of reengineering, which is prevalent in business today; and several possible futures of reengineering, specifically in relation to process management, knowledge work, and... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Business Processes

2020
Chapter

Islamic Capitalism and the Rise of Religious-Conservative Big Business

By: Kristin Fabbe, Űmit Őzlale and Efe Murat Balikçioğlu

This chapter argues that the rise of “Islamic capitalism” and the country’s so-called “conservative bourgeoisie” owes much to the pragmatism and agility of Islamic actors who are quick to seize upon new economic and political opportunities by leveraging religious... View Details

Keywords: Islamic Capitalism; Economic Systems; Religion; Values and Beliefs; Government and Politics; Power and Influence; Turkey

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21 May 2020
Research & Ideas

Fighting the COVID Blues: Advice from Business Research

We asked Harvard Business School experts who study well-being to share strategies for coping with this unsettling period to prevent the coronavirus blues from taking a huge toll, both personally and... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman and Danielle Kost

February 2006
Case

Bumble and bumble: Building a Successful Business in Beauty and Fashion

By: Nancy F. Koehn and Erica Helms

Explores the creation and subsequent rise of Bumble and bumble, a trend-setting hair-care company. Analyzes the vision and achievements of the founding entrepreneur, Michael Gordon, and charts the evolution of the company within the $230 billion global beauty industry.... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Brands and Branding; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Strategy; Financial Condition; Business Growth and Maturation; Success; Distribution; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

2018
Chapter

Britain: Global Legacy and Domestic Persistence

By: Geoffrey Jones

This chapter explores the British experience in a volume which examines the historical evolution of business groups in developed Western economies. The chapter argues that during the nineteenth century British merchant houses established business groups with... View Details

Keywords: Business Groups; Conglomerates; Globalization; Entrepreneurship; Business History; Organizations; Business Conglomerates; United Kingdom

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24 Aug 2020
Working Paper Summaries

Performance Hacking: The Contagious Business Practice that Corrodes Corporate Culture, Undermines Core Values, and Damages Great Companies

Keywords: by Robert D. Austin and Richard L. Nolan; Air Transportation

September 1994
Teaching Note

Bribery and Extortion in International Business TN

By: James E. Austin and Tomas Otto Kohn

September 1999 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Caselets: Bribery and Extortion in International Business

By: Louis T. Wells Jr.

"Caselets" present several examples of decisions involving bribery or take other actions that could be considered as corrupt. View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Decisions; Trade

January 15, 2010
Article

Revisiting the Rights and Responsibilities of Business

By: Bill George

Keywords: Rights; Business Ventures