Publications

April 2004 (Revised May 2010)
Case

Columbia's Final Mission

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer, Amy C. Edmondson, Michael Roberto, Laura Feldman and Erika Ferlins

Describes the 16-day final mission of the space shuttle Columbia in January 2003 in which seven astronauts died. Includes background on NASA and the creation of the human space flight program, including the 1970 Apollo 13 crisis and 1986 Challenger disaster. Examines... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Crisis Management; Management Skills; Organizational Culture; Groups and Teams; Behavior; Aerospace Industry

Research Summary

Surviving the Global Financial Crisis: Foreign Ownership and Establishment Performance

By: Laura Alfaro

We examine the differential response of establishments to the recent global financial crisis with particular emphasis on the role of foreign ownership. Using a worldwide establishment panel dataset, we investigate how multinational subsidiaries around the world... View Details

February 2008 (Revised March 2009)
Case

Primus, 2007

Primus is a credit derivative product company. How will they weather the credit crisis of 2007? View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Credit; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Financial Markets; Financial Services Industry

November 2004 (Revised July 2005)
Case

Messier's Reign at Vivendi Universal

By: Rakesh Khurana, Vincent Dessain and Daniela Beyersdorfer

Focuses on a crisis in the board at Vivendi. Highlights the difficulties that arise when dramatic pressure from outside the boardroom affects boardroom dynamics. In this case, there are two events. The first is an unexpectedly large financial loss and a pending cash... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Crisis Management; History; Cash Flow; Acquisition; Performance; Telecommunications Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry

20 Oct 2010
Op-Ed

Export Competitiveness: Reversing the Logic

export is what has often been understood as "export competitiveness". In this thinking, exports become the target and ultimate goal of economic policy. While the crisis has increased the demand for growth strategies, it has also... View Details

Keywords: by Christian Ketels

20 Apr 2021
Cold Call Podcast

What Went Wrong with the Boeing 737 Max?

Keywords: Air Transportation

August 2012
Article

Surviving the Global Financial Crisis: Foreign Ownership and Establishment Performance

By: Laura Alfaro and Maggie Chen

We examine the differential response of establishments to the recent global financial crisis with particular emphasis on the role of foreign ownership. Using a worldwide establishment panel dataset, we investigate how multinational subsidiaries around the world... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Financial Crisis; Multinational Firms and Management; Analytics and Data Science; Business Subsidiaries; Production; Finance; Performance; Ownership

Read Now

01 May 2020
In Practice

COVID-19’s Hard Lessons Might Prepare Business for Climate Change

stressed. In the long run, I hope that companies will emerge from the crisis with a renewed appreciation for the importance of paying attention to the potential for catastrophic risks such as climate change, and for the importance of... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

April 2013
Case

Grupo RBS (A)

By: John A. Davis and Courtney Collette

This case reviews the two-generation history of the Brazilian media company, RBS, and examines how the second generation family CEO manages through a crisis facing the company. View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Family Ownership; Crisis Management; Management Teams; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Brazil

March 1996 (Revised August 1997)
Case

World to Mexico--Get a Grip!

By: Huw Pill and Courtenay Sprague

The views of three prominent international economists on the events leading to, and ensuing from, the Mexican peso crisis of December 1994 to March 1995. View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Macroeconomics; Mexico

October 2014 (Revised December 2015)
Background Note

China's Environmental Challenge

By: William C. Kirby, Nora Bynum, Erica M. Zendell and Brittany Crow

China faces enormous environmental challenges. This background note looks at the historical, economic and political origins of the environmental crisis that faces the world's fastest-growing economy. View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Globalized Economies and Regions; History; Crisis Management; Environmental Sustainability; China

June 2003 (Revised January 2004)
Case

Argentina's Financial System Fenced In

By: Huw Pill, Claudia Onoforio and Romina Abal

Provides an opportunity to analyze the Argentine financial crisis of 2001/2002, which culminated in the abandonment of the convertibility plan introduced by Domingo Cavallo in 1991. Focusses on the role of the financial system. View Details

Keywords: Emerging Markets; Financial Crisis; Currency; Crisis Management; Property; Argentina

April 2010
Background Note

Central Europe after the Crash: Between Europe and the Euro

By: Diego A. Comin, Dante Roscini and Elisa Farri

This note briefly reviews the financial crisis in central Europe in late 2008, and summarizes how four central European countries—Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia—have coped with the economic downturn. View Details

Keywords: Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Financial Crisis; Financial Strategy; Czech Republic; Hungary; Poland; Slovakia

21 Apr 2020
Research & Ideas

7 Successful Battle Strategies to Beat COVID-19

practitioners admire in organizations like Tesla, Amazon, and Salesforce. THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS More Business-Related Pandemic Coverage from Around Harvard and Beyond COVID-19 Business Impact Center (Harvard Business School) How to... View Details

Keywords: by Euvin Naidoo

March 1996 (Revised August 1997)
Case

Recycling Problem: International Bank Lending in the 1970s

By: Huw Pill

Provides a brief overview of international bank lending to developing countries in the 1970s and its culmination in the Third-World debt crisis after 1982. View Details

Keywords: International Finance; Financing and Loans; Borrowing and Debt; Developing Countries and Economies; Financial Crisis; Banking Industry

January 2009 (Revised November 2011)
Case

The Tip of the Iceberg: JP Morgan Chase and Bear Stearns (A)

By: Clayton S. Rose, Daniel Baird Bergstresser and David Lane

"Bear Stearns & Co. burned through nearly all of its $18 billion in cash reserves during the week of March 10, 2008, and an unprecedented provision of liquidity support from the Federal Reserve on Friday, March 13 was insufficient to reverse the decline in Bear's... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Financial Crisis; Capital; Financial Liquidity; Financial Strategy; Corporate Governance; Crisis Management; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Competition; Valuation; Financial Services Industry

07 Jul 2020
Working Paper Summaries

Predictable Financial Crises

Keywords: by Robin Greenwood, Samuel G. Hanson, Andrei Shleifer, and Jakob Ahm Sørensen

October 1990 (Revised September 1993)
Case

Changing the Culture at British Airways

By: John P. Kotter

In just 10 years, 1980-1990, British Airways turned around both its declining image and financial situation. Focusing on the paramount importance of customer service, British Airways went from "bloody awful" to "bloody awesome." Experiencing a financial crisis in 1981... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Problems and Challenges; Customer Relationship Management; Corporate Strategy; Privatization; Air Transportation Industry; United Kingdom