Publications

June 2024
Case

PRAN-RFL Group: A Diversified Family Business

By: Christina R. Wing, Paul Wuensche and Brittany L. Logan

The PRAN-RFL Group was founded in 1980 by Amjad Khan Chowdhury, and grew to become one of the largest conglomerates in Bangladesh in 2023. Throughout the years, Amjad established fast food chains, production manufacturing lines, retail stores, and his own foundation... View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Family Business; Management Succession; Family Ownership; Retirement; Bangladesh

March 2018
Teaching Note

The Ready-Made Garment Industry: A Bangladeshi Perspective (A), (B), (C), and (D)

By: Nien-hê Hsieh

Responsibility for working conditions in contract factories within the supply chain presents an ongoing challenge for managers and area of debate. Much of the debate approaches the challenge from the perspective of large global apparel brands. This case helps students... View Details

Keywords: Labor; Working Conditions; Supply Chain; Safety; Rights; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Bangladesh

November 2020 (Revised September 2021)
Case

BRAC in 2020

By: Tarun Khanna and Shreya Ramachandran

In 2020, the largest non-governmental organization in the world, BRAC, headquartered in Dhaka, Bangladesh, has some big problems to tackle. Its founder, Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, has left behind a challenge: take the 1981-founded organization from Bangladesh to every... View Details

Keywords: Social Enterprise; Education; Health; Social Issues; Poverty; Programs; Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Global Strategy; Education Industry; Health Industry; Bangladesh; South Asia

Article

Making Small Farms More Sustainable—and Profitable

By: Lino Dias, Robert S. Kaplan and Harmanpreet Singh

Smallholder farms provide a large proportion of food supply in developing economies, but 40% of these farmers live on less than U.S.$2/day and their deforestation produces environmental degradation. With a rapidly growing global population, it is imperative to improve... View Details

Keywords: Small Farms; Sustainable Agriculture; Agribusiness; Developing Countries and Economies; Environmental Sustainability

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March 2010 (Revised March 2010)
Case

Looking for Opportunity in Adversity: Iqbal Quadir and Grameenphone (A)

By: Bhaskar Chakravorti and David Lane

Iqbal Quadir, a former New York investment banker, set about to bring universal telecommunications to his native Bangladesh. He was convinced that, GSM, the same advanced wireless technology that penetrated developed countries in Europe was also the right solution for... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Personal Development and Career; Entrepreneurship; Problems and Challenges; Wireless Technology; Telecommunications Industry; Bangladesh

November 2018 (Revised February 2023)
Case

Bangladesh: Into the Maelstrom

By: Reshmaan Hussam, Sophus A. Reinert and Namrata Arora

In the fall of 2018, Rohima Begum considered her options as the small island, or “char,” on which her family’s house rested slowly but inescapably eroded into the mighty Brahmaputra River in northern Bangladesh. The country, once unceremoniously dubbed a “basket case”... View Details

Keywords: Climate Change; Adaptation; Environmental Management; Problems and Challenges; Immigration; Bangladesh

Article

Capture New Value from Your Existing Tech Infrastructure

By: Stefan Thomke and Anthony Rodrigo

When senior managers think about how to respond to the threats and opportunities of technological change, they often dream of the same thing: If they just could start a new company or division that isn’t held back by conventional thinking or outdated business models.... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Technology; Ecosystem; Incubators; Technological Innovation; Telecommunications Industry; South Asia; Malaysia

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Research Summary

Overview

By: Reshmaan N. Hussam

Engaged with field work in South Asia and East Africa, Professor Hussam places a focus on exploring questions with strong theoretical motivation in the economics literature as well as relevant downstream policy implications. Her research spans four broad interests.... View Details

September 2010 (Revised January 2016)
Case

Grameen Danone Foods Ltd., a Social Business

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Katharine Lee

Grameen Danone is a joint venture between the Grameen Group (a sister company of Grameen Bank) and Groupe Danone, a $2 billion (revenues) French food company. The company's goal was to provide nutritional yogurt (brand name Shoktidoi) for the nearly 50 million... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Social Entrepreneurship; Food; Distribution; Supply Chain Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Food and Beverage Industry; Bangladesh; France

April 2009
Case

Brummer and the bracNet Investment

By: Alnoor Ebrahim, Michael Pirson and Patricia Mangas

bracNet, a for-profit/nonprofit partnership, aims to establish Internet connectivity throughout Bangladesh. Venture capitalist Patrik Brummer invested in a first round of funding to connect major cities. Should he invest again, this time in a rural roll-out, which may... View Details

Keywords: For-Profit Firms; Venture Capital; Investment; Investment Return; Rural Scope; Partners and Partnerships; Nonprofit Organizations; Internet; Telecommunications Industry; Bangladesh

February 2019
Teaching Note

BRAC in 2014

By: Tarun Khanna

Teaching Note for HBS No. 715-414. View Details

Keywords: Bangladesh

August 1986 (Revised January 1989)
Teaching Note

Population Services International: The Social Marketing Project in Bangladesh, Teaching Note

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

Teaching Note for (9-586-013). View Details

Keywords: Demographics; Social Marketing; Bangladesh

25 May 2016
Research & Ideas

How Consumers and Businesses are Reshaping Public Health

too often still result in decisions that take scant account of public health and whether the health of individual citizens is being advanced. When worker safety is jeopardized by unenforced building codes or exposure to harmful industrial chemicals, that becomes a... View Details

Keywords: by John A. Quelch; Health

28 Jul 2014
Research & Ideas

Eyes Shut: The Consequences of Not Noticing

retailers, including Gap Inc., Target, and JCPenney, that took place just a year and a half before the fire: At the meeting in Dhaka, the Bangladesh capital, in April 2011, retailers discussed a contractually enforceable memorandum that... View Details

Keywords: by Max H. Bazerman; Retail

25 Oct 2012
Research & Ideas

Developing the Global Leader

by how well the diversity of its leadership reflects the diversity of its customer base and how well that leadership can leverage the skills of teams working around the world," he says, adding that Medtronic's CEO is Omar Ishrak, a native of View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

27 Feb 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, February 27, 2018

developments in the Bangladesh ready-made garment industry after the fire at Tazreen Fashions factory, including formation of the Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Accord (“Accord”) and the Alliance for... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2021
Teaching Note

BRAC in 2020

By: Tarun Khanna and Shreya Ramachandran

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 721-416. View Details

Keywords: Social Enterprise; Education; Health; Social Issues; Poverty; Programs; Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Global Strategy; Education Industry; Health Industry; Bangladesh; South Asia

29 Apr 2014
First Look

First Look: April 29

http://hbr.org/product/cancer-screening-in-japan-market-research-and-segmentation/an/514057-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 514-034 Rana Plaza: Workplace Safety in Bangladesh (A) On April 24, 2013, the Rana Plaza factory building... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Article

Manage the Suppliers That Could Harm Your Brand: Know When to Avoid, Engage, or Drop Them

By: Jodi L Short and Michael W. Toffel

The pandemic has placed a new spotlight on working conditions in factories that supply global companies. To avert problems, firms often impose codes of conduct on their suppliers and perform audits to assess compliance. Do these measures help identify unethical... View Details