Publications

19 Jun 2023
Blog Post

The Road to Impact

When he turned 50, David Offensend (MBA 1977) decided to make a change. He’d had a successful career in finance, but ever since his undergraduate days of studying public and international affairs at Princeton, Offensend planned that, one... View Details

September 2022
Article

The Power and Limits of Expertise: Swiss–Swedish Linking of Vehicle Emission Standards in the 1970s and 1980s

By: Mattias Näsman and Sabine Pitteloud

Recent decades have witnessed increased public concern about vehicle emissions and growing frustration with political inaction and business preferences for the status quo. This article provides historical perspective on such regulatory dynamics by analyzing the Swiss... View Details

Keywords: Business And The Environment; Business And Society; Emission Reduction; Automobiles; Standard Setting; Norm-enforcement; Regulation; Expertise; Experts; Business and Government Relations; Environmental Regulation; Standards; Auto Industry; Switzerland; Sweden

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November 2007
Class Lecture

The Baby Business (FSS)

By: Debora L. Spar

In vitro fertilization and genetic screening are possible with the advent of biotechnology. International adoptions, surrogacy, and other approaches to family planning are on the rise. But few rules govern these measures, medical costs can be prohibitive, and... View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Demand and Consumers; Business and Government Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Genetics; Societal Protocols; Commercialization; Biotechnology Industry; Health Industry

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April 2006 (Revised November 2021)
Case

Endesa Chile: Raising the Ralco Dam (A)

By: Kathleen L. McGinn, Paula J. Laschober and Dina Pradel

Endesa Chile, the largest electricity generation company in Chile, is building a major power plant on the Biobio River in Southern Chile. A historic conflict involving the indigenous people of the Biobio River, the Chilean government, and international conservation... View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Energy Generation; Government and Politics; Negotiation; Business and Community Relations; Natural Environment; Conflict and Resolution; Social Issues; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Energy Industry; Chile

04 Feb 2002
Research & Ideas

How To Do Business in Islamic Countries

commerce, to greater and lesser degrees depending on the country. "This law is seen as deriving from direct, divine command," said Vogel. "This is important to grasp." Frank E. Vogel Executives who understand the basic tenets of the Islamic religion... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

11 Jun 2024
In Practice

The Harvard Business School Faculty Summer Reader 2024

As the vacation season looms, Harvard Business School faculty members share recommendations for a little light reading. Spoiler alert: Lessons in Chemistry tops two of their beach-read lists. For those whose brains can’t—or won’t—turn off, HBS faculty also suggest some... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

22 May 2024
HBS Case

Banned or Not, TikTok Is a Force Companies Can’t Afford to Ignore

you. It doesn’t rely on what you say. It observes what you do and choose not to do and builds a model of who you are.” Ghosh’s analysis debuts at a time when TikTok is drawing fresh scrutiny related to how its Chinese owners influence... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Technology

September 2023
Teaching Note

CMA CGM: Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Container Shipping

By: Willy Shih

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 623-006. Marine transport is the most cost-effective way to move large volumes over long distances, and container shipping is the backbone of international trade in goods. Yet shipping contributed 3% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions,... View Details

Keywords: Greenhouse Gas Emissions; Ship Transportation; Environmental Sustainability; Environmental Regulation; Trade; Energy Conservation; Transportation Industry; Shipping Industry; Europe

November 2005 (Revised December 2016)
Case

Bally Total Fitness (A): The Rise, 1962–2004

By: John R. Wells, Elizabeth A. Raabe and Gabriel Ellsworth

From a single, modest club in 1962, Bally Total Fitness had grown to become—in management’s words—the “largest and only nationwide commercial operator of fitness centers” in the United States in 2004. Bally had faced its share of challenges, but the last couple of... View Details

Keywords: Bally Total Fitness; Fitness; Gyms; Health Clubs; Chain; Securities And Exchange Commission; Paul Toback; Weight Loss; Exercise; Contracts; Personal Training; Retention; Accounting; Accounting Audits; Accrual Accounting; Finance; Advertising; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Customers; Customer Satisfaction; Public Equity; Financing and Loans; Revenue; Revenue Recognition; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Health; Nutrition; Business History; Lawsuits and Litigation; Management; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing; Operations; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business Strategy; Competition; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Segmentation; Trends; Cost Management; Profit; Growth and Development; Leadership Style; Five Forces Framework; Private Ownership; Opportunities; Motivation and Incentives; Competitive Strategy; Health Industry; United States; Illinois; Chicago

September 2023
Supplement

CMA CGM: Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Container Shipping

By: Willy C. Shih

Marine transport is the most cost-effective way to move large volumes over long distances, and container shipping is the backbone of international trade in goods. Yet shipping contributed 3% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, and the deep-sea segment, which... View Details

Keywords: Container Shipping; Trade Links; Decarbonization; Environmental Strategies; Environmental Impact; Globalization; Trade; Environmental Regulation; Supply Chain; Logistics; Shipping Industry; European Union; Asia; North America

Research Summary

Informing Brand Marketing Practice

Susan M. Fournier is involved with several projects relating more generally to brand managment issues. These include boardroom-level projects (with Professors Thomas Madden and Franke Fehle of the University of South Carolina, and sponsored by Interbrand) on the... View Details

01 Aug 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, August 1

brand as well as when the brand with which consumers flirt is similar to their preferred brand. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=53001 April 2017 Business Ethics Quarterly The Responsibilities and Role of Business in View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

1986
Book

Banking and Empire in Iran

By: Geoffrey Jones

This is the first of two volumes of a business history of a major British bank in the Middle East. Volume 1 traces the history of the bank from its foundation in 1889 as The Imperial Bank of Persia, through the years it was the state bank of Iran, and its development... View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; International Relations; Business History; Economic History; Political History; War; Iran; Russia; Great Britain

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17 Apr 2007
First Look

First Look: April 17, 2007

http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=107060 International Capital Markets and Sovereign Debt: Crisis Avoidance and Resolution Harvard Business School Note 707-018 Successive economic crises of the 1990s and early... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

July 3, 2014
Comment

Comment on the Final Round of Iranian Nuclear Talks Before the Joint Plan of Action Expires (on July 20, 2014)

By: James K. Sebenius

As six months of talks soon end with wide gaps likely remaining on key issues, P5+1 and Iranian diplomats will undoubtedly cite some tangible progress, then argue for a six-month extension. This will likely become a pattern, with some version of the interim deal... View Details

Keywords: International Relations; Negotiation Tactics; Negotiation Deal; Iran; United States

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Web

Global Impact of the Collapse | Baker Library | Bloomberg Center | Harvard Business School

Skip to Main Content Lehman Brothers Collection Resources Baker Library Collections Corporate Reports Collection R. G. Dun & Co. Credit Reports HBS Cases Baker Old Class Collection Related Archival Collections Bibliography Site Credits... View Details

Web

Lehman Brothers Timeline | Baker Library | Bloomberg Center | Harvard Business School

Skip to Main Content Lehman Brothers Collection Resources Baker Library Collections Corporate Reports Collection R. G. Dun & Co. Credit Reports HBS Cases Baker Old Class Collection Related Archival Collections Bibliography Site Credits... View Details

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

February 2025
Case

Doing Business in Kigali, Rwanda

By: Andy Zelleke, Martin A. Sinozich, Julianne Bliss and Choetsow Tenzin

Rwanda’s transformation from a post-genocide recovery effort to one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies presents a compelling case for investors and business leaders. With an ambitious Vision 2050 strategy, Kigali has emerged as a regional hub for trade, innovation,... View Details

Keywords: Business History; International Relations; Government and Politics; Foreign Direct Investment; Culture; Transformation; Developing Countries and Economies; Economic Growth; Emerging Markets; Rwanda