Publications

December 2019 (Revised June 2024)
Case

The Dutch East India Company in 1612 (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Giuseppe Dari-Mattiacci

The Dutch East India Company’s board of directors must decide what to do about an impending legal requirement to liquidate the company’s assets and return to shareholders their capital and any profits earned during a ten-year lock-up period. The charter granted to the... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Globalized Firms and Management; Organizational Structure; Laws and Statutes; Financial Markets; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business and Government Relations; Business History; Shipping Industry; Netherlands

October 2019
Supplement

Hidrovias do Brasil: Navigating Unchartered Waters: Video Supplement

By: Boris Groysberg and Sarah L. Abbott

Since its founding eight years earlier, Hidrovias do Brasil (“Hidrovias”), an integrated logistics provider serving corporate customers exporting products from South America via the Atlantic Ocean, had grown to 900 employees and $253 million in annual revenues.... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Entrepreneurship; Growth Management; Finance; Leadership; Operations; Problems and Challenges; Human Capital; Growth and Development; Private Equity; Shipping Industry; Brazil

December 2017
Case

Piracy in Somalia (A)

By: Sophus A. Reinert and Alissa Davies

A Somali fisherman stands on a beach in early 2011, considering his options: should he embark in his tiny fishing vessel or join a nearby pirate crew? His war-ravaged country, entering its 20th year of civil war, was in the midst of a famine that had claimed hundreds... View Details

Keywords: Pirates; Foreign Aid; Civil War; Private Property; Human Rights; Economic Development; Globalization; War; Property; Crime and Corruption; Rights; Development Economics; Moral Sensibility; Shipping Industry; Somalia

October 2009 (Revised May 2011)
Background Note

Memo From Counsel: Antitrust Law and Customer Allocation

By: Lynn S. Paine and Lara Adamsons

When do antitrust laws come into play in a bidding situation? What should a company do if an antitrust violation is uncovered? This memo discusses "hard-core" antitrust violations, focusing on bid rigging and market allocation, under the laws of the U.S. and other... View Details

Keywords: Laws and Statutes; Bids and Bidding; Monopoly; Shipping Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

January 2004 (Revised May 2006)
Case

Yamato Transport: Valuing and Pricing Network Services (A)

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Tarun Khanna and Masako Egawa

Yamato Transport is the leading Japanese parcel delivery company and has dominated its industry for more than two decades. In response to new competitive challenges, Yamato must decide how to reposition itself in the industry and optimize the size of its network. The... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Competition; Transportation Networks; Monopoly; Shipping Industry; Japan

September 1992 (Revised November 1997)
Case

DHL Worldwide Express

By: John A. Quelch

The worldwide sales and marketing manager must determine the degree to which pricing strategy and tactics should be standardized or left to the discretion of the DHL subsidiary in each country. View Details

Keywords: Governance; Business Subsidiaries; Price; Marketing Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Sales; Shipping Industry

July 2022 (Revised November 2022)
Case

Building a Mishap-Free U.S. Navy

By: Amy C. Edmondson, Herman B. Leonard, Michael W. Toffel and Michael Norris

In 2021, Kevin “Bud” Couch, a retired Navy captain who was now working as a civilian employee of the Navy Safety Center, was trying to determine how best to reduce the risk of Navy mishaps. The Navy had experienced a series of major mishaps in 2017 that had led to a... View Details

Keywords: National Security; Safety; War; Ship Transportation; Risk Management; Operations; Singapore; Tokyo; San Diego

01 Jun 2010
News

Sail Away

ROBB: A luxury home in every glamorous port. Glenn Koenig/Los Angeles Times Set to launch in 2013, the $1.1 billion Utopia will be a cruise ship with a difference: About half its cabins will be sold as private residences, ranging in price... View Details

Keywords: Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries; Arts, Entertainment; Accommodation; Hospitality; Real Estate

October 2008 (Revised February 2009)
Case

Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering

Explores the journey of aggressive learning and capability building in the operations of a major Korean Shipbuilder. While DSHM had once used its superior learning capability to topple its Japanese competition, it now faced the potential for a similar attack from new... View Details

Keywords: Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Ship Transportation; Competitive Strategy; Globalization; Manufacturing Industry; Japan; China; South Korea

During his presidency, Mayer sought ways to improve operating efficiency through techniques of industrial engineering. He introduced cardboard cartons for sausages and vacuum-sealed, twin packs for hot dogs, which were then advances in packaging. He also improved the... View Details

Keywords: Food & Tobacco

01 Sep 2020
News

Comeback Trail

Koehn, and Debora Spar—to weigh in on what advice history can offer as we navigate the current economic crisis. The Devil You Don’t Know Professor David Moss on the danger of treating this economic crisis like its predecessors Righting the View Details

20 Dec 2018
Research & Ideas

Most Popular Stories and Research Papers of 2018

earners, who may also exploit additional strategies to increase the share of total income that accrues to the top 1 percent, according to Ethan Rouen and colleagues. Shipping Fees and Product Assortment in Online Retail This study... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

Henry R. Mallory

Under Mallory's presidency, the company became the second largest shipping company and 59th largest corporation in the United States. He was owner-operator of 70 American flag steamships, and his assets amounted to $47 million. View Details

Keywords: Transportation

August 1996 (Revised December 1999)
Case

J Boats, Inc.

By: Robert L. Simons

During the 20-year evolution of a family-owned, entrepreneurial sailboat company, two founders leverage their design and marketing skills to build one of the most recognized brands in the recreational boating industry. The founder then considers management succession... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Family Business; Risk Management; Financial Management; Leveraged Buyouts; Brands and Branding; Competitive Strategy; Capital Markets; Valuation; Shipping Industry; Shipping Industry