Publications

2018
Book

American Fair Trade: Proprietary Capitalism, Corporatism, and the 'New Competition,' 1890–1940

By: Laura Phillips Sawyer

American Fair Trade explores the contested political and legal meanings of the term fair trade from the late nineteenth century through the New Deal era. This history of American capitalism argues that business associations partnered with regulators to... View Details

Keywords: Economic Systems; Competition; Policy; Fairness; History; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; United States

February 2000 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Signature Security: Providing Alarm Systems for the Countries Down Under

Signature Security, an entrepreneurial company, was created to roll up the electronic security industry in Australia and New Zealand. Signature was created by a team of experienced U.S. managers. Original financing was provided by Clairvest, a Canadian merchant bank.... View Details

Keywords: Management Succession; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Australia; New Zealand

Find at Harvard

January 2023
Case

Thomas Buberl: Refounding AXA

By: Hubert Joly, Mihir Desai and Amram Migdal

In 2022, AXA and its CEO Thomas Buberl faced new types of challenges, including systemic risks such as climate change, geopolitical instability, public health crises, and social tensions caused by economic risks. AXA was one of the world’s largest insurers. Since... View Details

March 2015
Case

Guiding Professional Accountants to Do the Right Thing

By: Paul Healy, V.G. Narayanan and Penelope Rossano

The Ethics Advisory Committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) provides training and support for member Chartered Accountants to help them deal with difficult professional situations. Members can seek help through call centers and... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Ethics; Professional Conduct

William Sahlman is a Baker Foundation Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School.

Mr. Sahlman received an A.B. degree in Economics from Princeton University (1972), an M.B.A. from Harvard University (1975), and a Ph.D. in Business... View Details

03 Oct 2023
What Do You Think?

Do Leaders Learn More From Success or Failure?

us to be garbage. There was no relationship. While that in itself might have been a useful finding, it disappointed us. What to do? Throw out more than a year of work and a great deal of data? We were experiencing what felt like failure.... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

12 Jun 2017
Blog Post

Doubts about Applying to HBS

development program. While at SEO, I also started a new business venture – Violet Cycles, a company that offers women a feminine hygiene alternative to traditional underwear. HBS alumni have been the driving force behind my career... View Details

February 2019 (Revised January 2020)
Teaching Note

Renegotiating NAFTA

By: Laura Alfaro and Sarah Jeong

On January 16, 2020, the Senate passed a landmark trade deal that would replace the 26-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Until the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) was signed, considerable debate had surrounded it. The new agreement... View Details

Keywords: NAFTA; Trade; Agreements and Arrangements; Policy; Cost vs Benefits; North America

04 Jan 2012
First Look

First Look: January 4

tribal governments, the history of tribal sovereignty, the origins of Indian gaming, the legal framework that governs tribal gaming activities, as well as an analytic approach to negotiations, this paper explains the Foxwoods deal and its... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

13 May 2014
Op-Ed

The Alibaba Effect

if today's 40 percent personal savings rate is to be reduced, thereby unleashing cash to fuel new growth in consumer spending. Creating this domestic safety net will be crucial to enabling Alibaba to grow even faster. But don't look for... View Details

Keywords: by Bill Kirby & Warren McFarlan; Retail

13 Feb 2024
HBS Seminar

Stijn van Osselaer, Cornell SC Johnson College of Business

2014
Case

Changhong: Journey to Shared Services

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Haiyan Zhang and Guo Jia

Founded in 1958 and headquartered in Mianyang - an emerging inland science and technology city in Sichuan Province, Changhong Electric Co., Ltd., started from the military industry. It then entered the color TV industry and subsequently expanded to a wide range of... View Details

Keywords: China; Appliances; Finance ＆ Insurance; China

April 2006 (Revised May 2009)
Case

Inverness Medical Innovations - Born Global (A)

Ron Zwanziger has just started his third company, having just sold the last one for $1.3 billion to Johnson & Johnson. As part of the deal with J&J, certain assets were transferred to the new company, Inverness Medical Innovations, which, at the time of its creation,... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Mergers and Acquisitions; Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Corporate Finance; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Health Industry; Waltham

January 23, 2020
Article

Sanctions and the End of Trans-Atlanticism: Iran, Russia, and the Unintended Division of the West

By: Rawi Abdelal and Aurélie Bros

Sanctions have become the dominant tool of statecraft in the United States and other Western states, especially the European Union, since the end of the Cold War. But the systematic use of this instrument may produce unintended and somewhat paradoxical geopolitical... View Details

Keywords: Geopolitics; Economic Sanctions; International Relations; United States; Russia; Iran; Europe

Read Now

American Fair Trade explores the contested political and legal meanings of the term fair trade from the late nineteenth century through the New Deal era. This history of American capitalism argues that business associations partnered with... View Details

July 2012
Case

Droga5: Launching Jay-Z's Decoded

By: Anita Elberse and Kwame Owusu-Kesse

In 2010, David Droga and Andrew Essex, co-founders of advertising agency Droga5, hope to convince both John Meneilly, manager of hip-hop star Shawn Carter—better known as Jay-Z—and a partner in Carter's company Roc Nation and Yusuf Mehdi, senior vice president of... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Advertising Campaigns; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Entertainment; Advertising Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

11 Jun 2013
First Look

First Look: June 11

shadow banking system-are outweighed by the risks inherent in this new approach to credit delivery. 2006 Harvard Business Review In Search of a Second Act: Riding the Popularity of a Great First Product Is Easy; Finding the Next One Is... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

February 2011 (Revised July 2013)
Case

A123 Systems: Power. Safety. Life.

By: Richard H.K. Vietor

A123 Systems, the largest manufacturer of lithium ion batteries in North America, is producing and selling batteries for electric vehicles in China and electric buses in Europe and America. It just opened two plants in Michigan, partially funded by a grant from... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Diversification; Machinery and Machining; Renewable Energy; Transportation; Management Skills; Corporate Finance; Auto Industry; Battery Industry