Publications

14 Oct 2009
First Look

First Look: October 14

Working PapersCapitalizing On Innovation: The Case of Japan (revised October 2009) Authors:Robert Dujarric and Andrei Hagiu Abstract Japan's industrial landscape is characterized by hierarchical forms of industry organization, which are... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

January 2015 (Revised January 2018)
Technical Note

Note on Comparative Capitalism

By: Clayton S. Rose and Rebecca Henderson

This note draws on academic work, as well as social and economic data across several countries, to provide a basic understanding of some of the differences among capitalist systems. It begins with a description of the system of capitalism, and characteristics that to a... View Details

Keywords: Capitalism; Global; Economic Systems; Global Range; Japan; Germany; China; United States; Sweden

Summer 2008
Editorial

Will the Stork Return to Europe and Japan? Understanding Fertility within Developed Nations

By: James Feyrer, Bruce Sacerdote and Ariel Dora Stern

Only a few rich nations are currently at replacement levels of fertility and many are considerably below. We believe that changes in the status of women are driving fertility change. At low levels of female status, women specialize in household production and... View Details

Keywords: Income; Household; Gender; Japan; Italy; United States; Sweden; Spain

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03 Jan 2007
First Look

First Look: January 3, 2007

organization in China. Purchase this case: http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=207057 Japan Communications, Inc. Harvard Business School Case 805-119 In 2001, Seiji Frank Sanda is facing his worst crisis since... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 1993 (Revised November 1993)
Background Note

Note on International Comparisons Concerning Troubled Companies

Describes the legal and institutional framework by which troubled companies are dealt with in the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, and France. Deals with both out-of-court and in-court restructuring. Provides perspective on how approaches for dealing with... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Japan; France; Germany; United Kingdom; United States

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December 1991
Article

Bargaining and Market Behavior in Jerusalem, Ljubljana, Pittsburgh, and Tokyo: An Experimental Study

By: A. E. Roth, V. Prasnikar, M. Okuno-Fujiwara and S. Zamir

Keywords: Markets; Behavior; Information; Israel; Pittsburgh; Tokyo; Slovenia

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18 Sep 2007
Research & Ideas

How Brand China Can Succeed

China's government given serious attention to the country's international image. Second, China must move towards an economy based on invention rather than imitation. Japan and Korea have made the transition. Brands like Sony and Samsung... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

29 Aug 2017
Book

Using Language to Build a Global Company

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Technology

October 2024
Case

GLIN Impact Capital

By: Ethan Rouen and Akiko Saito

In 2024, the co-founders of the venture capital fund GLIN Impact Capital face a critical inflection point as they consider launching a second, significantly larger impact investment fund in Japan. Founded in 2021 by the three Harvard Business School alumni, GLIN is one... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Investment Funds; Growth and Development Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Power and Influence; Japan

December 2020
Case

Tokio Marine Group (A)

By: David J. Collis, Nobuo Sato and Akiko Kanno

Tokio Marine, Japan's leading insurance company, has spent nearly two decades building a global footprint in different insurance businesses around the world. As the company becomes majority non-domestic it has to make a choice of what organisation structure to adopt to... View Details

Keywords: Organisational Design; Culture; Values; Global Strategy; Organizational Structure; Organizational Culture; Values and Beliefs; Insurance Industry; Japan

July 2019 (Revised November 2022)
Case

Momofuku Ando and the Globalization of Noodles

By: Geoffrey Jones and Megumi Takada

This case examines the entrepreneurial career of Momofuku Ando, the Taiwanese-born Japanese entrepreneur who pioneered instant boodles with his Chicken Ramen (1958) and Cup Noodle (1971) products. It begins by reviewing his many previous unsuccessful ventures,... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career; Failure; Success; Globalization; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Food and Beverage Industry; Japan

July 2018
Case

LIXIL Group Corporation: Building a New Company in an Old Industry

By: Boris Groysberg and Akiko Kanno

In the spring of 2018, Kinya Seto, president and CEO of LIXIL Group Corporation, a major housing and building products and services company, called a meeting at the company’s head office in central Tokyo to discuss how to implement the new three-year strategic plan.... View Details

Keywords: Turnaround; Leadership And Change Management; Consolidation; Change Management; Leadership; Global Strategy; Business Model; Consumer Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Japan

May 1997
Case

Toyota Motor Corporation: Target Costing System

Explores Toyota's target costing system, considered to be the most advanced such system of any major Japanese manufacturer. Specifically, describes Toyota's process of setting rigorous cost-reduction goals and the steps taken to achieve them. View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; Japan

October 1994
Case

Olympus Optical Company, Ltd. (B): Functional Group Management

Documents the emergence of the functional group management system at Olympus's camera manufacturing facility. This system increases the pressure on the work force to decrease costs and improve output by treating the facility's 10 autonomous groups as profit centers,... View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Performance Improvement; Manufacturing Industry; Japan