Publications

Web

Financial Accounting Online Course | HBS Online

you achieve your educational goals and accelerate your career. Access your free e-book Upskill Your Team, Transform Your Organization Whether you represent a large multinational corporation or a small local business, we have a solution... View Details

28 Oct 2014
First Look

First Look: October 28

Designed around the course at Harvard Business School, Collis' new text takes the firm that operates across borders as a unit of analysis and the senior manager in a multinational as the typical decision... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

22 May 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, May 22, 2018

economic force is the selection between high- and low-type firms, which differ in terms of their innovative capacity. We estimate the parameters of the model using U.S. Census microdata on firm-level output, R&D, and patenting. The model provides a good fit to the... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

May 2013 (Revised October 2014)
Case

Novartis: Leading a Global Enterprise

By: William W. George, Krishna G. Palepu and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Novartis, the world's leading healthcare company, was formed in 1996 out of a merger of two very different, mid-tier Switzerland-based pharma companies. The case traces the company's evolution over the past 17 years, as it transformed into a truly global enterprise... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Talent and Talent Management; Organizational Structure; Organizational Culture; Success; Globalized Markets and Industries; Management Teams; Change Management; Business History; Mergers and Acquisitions; Global Strategy; Health Care and Treatment; Pharmaceutical Industry; Health Industry; Switzerland

Web

Social Enterprise - Faculty & Research

Social Enterprise Social Enterprise April 2013 Article Who Is Governing Whom? Executives, Governance, and the Structure of Generosity in Large U.S. Firms By: Christopher Marquis and Matthew Lee We examine how organizational structure... View Details

16 Sep 2014
First Look

First Look: September 16

innovation performance such as firm productivity and profitability, (d) mergers, and (e) divestments as providing context or "shocks" to an activity system and their value as an empirical source of exogenous variation.... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

11 Oct 2016
First Look

October 11, 2016

support, delivered by a separate, independently funded staff, which builds public will, advances policy, and mobilizes resources. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51710 forthcoming Organization Science The Impact of Patent Wars on View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

17 Mar 2008
Research & Ideas

The Lessons of Business History: A Handbook

firms globalize would only be much later formalized in the economic theory of the multinational enterprise, and it would take a further 20 years before the mainstream economics profession would identify... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

Web

Buy Now, Pay Later &mdash Easy Payments: The Rise of Installment Selling

purchase that would contribute to income rather than simply depreciate with time. A similar argument justified the purchase of a home sewing machine, which reduced average time for making a shirt from fourteen hours to just one. The single View Details

October 2011
Case

Levendary Cafe: The China Challenge

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Arar Han

Just weeks into her new job, Mia Foster, a first time CEO with no international management experience, is faced with a major challenge at Levendary Cafe, a $10 billion US-based fast food chain. Strategically, many of her corporate staff have become concerned that the... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; International Management; Foreign Subsidiaries; General Managers; Strategy; Management Style; Strategic Planning; Business Subsidiaries; Multinational Firms and Management; Adaptation; Entrepreneurship; Relationships; Standards; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; China; United States

October 2013 (Revised January 2017)
Case

Walmart around the World

By: Juan Alcácer, Abhishek Agrawal and Harshit Vaish

After reaching the limits of its successful expansion in the United States in the early 1990s, Walmart sought growth opportunities in markets abroad. This case describes Walmart's attempts to replicate its successful U.S. business model in Mexico, Canada, Brazil,... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Success; Globalized Markets and Industries; Expansion; Market Entry and Exit; Failure; Retail Industry; Germany; China; Argentina; South Korea; Canada; Japan; Brazil; Africa; United Kingdom; United States; Mexico

08 Dec 2009
First Look

First Look: Dec. 8

innovations by single user individuals or firms and open collaborative innovation projects. We analyze the design costs and architectures and communication costs associated with each model. We conclude that innovation by individual users... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

March 2016 (Revised May 2018)
Case

Reinventing Best Buy

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

On March 1, 2017, Best Buy Company, Inc., North America’s largest retailer of consumer electronics and appliances, announced a third year of comparable-store sales increases and a 20.8% increase in domestic comparable online sales. These results were in marked contrast... View Details

Keywords: Best Buy; Hubert Joly; Renew Blue; Showrooming; Webrooming; E-commerce; E-Commerce Strategy; Online Retail; Multichannel Retailing; Omnichannel; Marketplaces; Turnaround; Consumer Electronics; Consumer Electronics Accessories; Appliances; Stores-within-stores; Store Experience; Store Size; Store Pickup; Store Management; Delivery; Delivery Models; Amazon; Amazon.com; Pricing Strategy; Business Subsidiaries; Business Units; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Theater Entertainment; Price; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Business History; Cost; Selection and Staffing; Reports; Technological Innovation; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Human Capital; Leading Change; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Teams; Brands and Branding; Product Marketing; Consumer Behavior; Demand and Consumers; Media; Distribution; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Distribution Channels; Infrastructure; Product; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Programs; Groups and Teams; Sales; Salesforce Management; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Information Technology; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Resource Allocation; Computer Industry; Electronics Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Information Technology Industry; Retail Industry; Service Industry; Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Video Game Industry; United States; Minnesota; Minneapolis; Saint Paul; St. Paul

October 2016
Case

The Quiet Ascension of LA Fitness

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In 2016, LA Fitness was the largest chain of non-franchised fitness clubs in North America, operating 676 clubs, serving 4.9 million members, and generating revenues of over $1.9 billion. Founded by Chinyol Yi, Louis Welch, and Paul Norris in 1984, the privately held... View Details

Keywords: LA Fitness; Health Clubs; Fitness; Gyms; Chain; Exercise; Personal Training; Retention; Bally Total Fitness; 24 Hour Fitness; Planet Fitness; Buildings and Facilities; Acquisition; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Customers; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Demographics; Age; Gender; Income; Residency; Borrowing and Debt; Capital; Capital Structure; Cash; Cash Flow; Cost; Private Equity; Financial Condition; Financial Liquidity; Financing and Loans; Investment Return; Price; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Location; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Business History; Employees; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Human Capital; Contracts; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Operations; Service Operations; Leasing; Private Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Sales; Salesforce Management; Situation or Environment; Opportunities; Sports; Strategy; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Segmentation; Information Technology; Mobile Technology; Technology Platform; Health Industry; United States; California; Los Angeles

12 Sep 2006
First Look

First Look: September 12, 2006

productivity externalities in the host country generated by foreign multinational companies. We propose a mechanism that emphasizes the role of local financial markets in enabling foreign direct investment (FDI) to promote growth through... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Web

Events - Business History

University), "Empire Ltd.: Law and the Rise of Multinational Companies in the First Era of Globalization (1844-1914)" 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm. Part of the 2025 Business History Seminar, "Rethinking Entrepreneurial History," co-organized by... View Details

2010
Book

Unilever'i Yenilemek: Dönüşüm ve Gelenek [Renewing Unilever: Transformation and Tradition]

By: Geoffrey Jones

Unilever's brands can now be found in one out of every two households in the world. This arresting and impressive fact shows the scope and scale of this unique global corporation. Geoffrey Jones, a leading business historian from the Harvard Business School, takes us... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Business Growth and Maturation; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Strategy; Organizational Culture; Globalization; Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry