Publications

April 1995 (Revised July 1996)
Supplement

Governance at Metallgesellschaft (B)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Samanta Graff

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Corporate Accountability; Business Conglomerates; Governing and Advisory Boards; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Corporate Governance; Mining Industry; Chemical Industry; Germany; United States

April 1995 (Revised July 1996)
Case

Governance at Metallgesellschaft (A)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Samanta Graff

MG Corp., a U.S. subsidiary of Germany's international conglomerate, Metallgesellschaft, engaged in a disastrous hedging strategy that nearly dragged the entire enterprise into bankruptcy. This case explores issues of responsibility and accountability among the... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Corporate Accountability; Business Conglomerates; Governing and Advisory Boards; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Corporate Governance; Mining Industry; Chemical Industry; Germany; United States

July 1983 (Revised July 1991)
Case

Hintz-Kessels-Kohl A.G.

By: Thomas R. Piper

A truck manufacturer must decide whether to bid on the sale of 120 trucks to a private firm in Costa Rica. If a bid is submitted, a decision must be made on whether to protect against the credit, exchange rate, and sovereign risks. View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Currency Exchange Rate; Truck Transportation; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; Germany; Costa Rica

October 2001 (Revised December 2001)
Case

EU Takeover Directive

By: Guhan Subramanian and Michelle Kalka

The draft 13th Company Law Directive, originally written in the 1980s and first formally proposed in 1990, was intended to harmonize the takeover laws of the member states of the European Union (EU). From its inception, though, this bill was controversial. Nations... View Details

Keywords: Conflict of Interests; Mergers and Acquisitions; Laws and Statutes; Policy; Problems and Challenges; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Germany; United Kingdom; European Union

Find at Harvard

October 1987 (Revised March 1989)
Case

United Parcel Service (B)

With expansion into other countries (Germany), new areas of service (air express), and new ventures (two small acquisitions), UPS had to decide how to adjust its human resource policies to businesses and people which were substantially different from its traditional... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Expansion; Organizational Culture; Human Resources; Service Industry; Germany; United States

January 1990 (Revised May 1991)
Case

Hoechst and the German Chemical Industry

Describes the rise of the German chemical industry and the specific country-based factors that contributed to the rise. Focuses on the German firm Hoechst: its history, its position after World War II, and its subsequent internationalization. Set in 1986 when Hoechst... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Competitive Advantage; Acquisition; Chemical Industry; Germany; United States

03 Apr 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 3, 2018

British Foreign Secretary Lord Edward Grey contemplated whether to advise King and Parliament to declare war on Germany in the wake of the country’s invasion of Belgium or to stay out of what quickly was becoming a world war triggered by... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

24 Nov 2014
Research & Ideas

Corrupting Silence: Companies Must Speak Up Against Bribes

corporate culture— and not against the law in Germany until 1999. The competitive environment and permissive culture both played a role in the future bribery scandal. "There are three elements that lead individuals in companies to get... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

February 2009
Teaching Note

AMD Dresden: Copy Inexactly! (TN)

By: Willy C. Shih

Teaching Note for [609004]. View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development; Production; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Culture; Investment; Industry Clusters; Groups and Teams; Motivation and Incentives; Competency and Skills; Engineering; Science; Geographic Location; Semiconductor Industry; Germany; Europe; United States

January 2006 (Revised February 2006)
Case

E.ON Corporate Strategy

By: Forest L. Reinhardt and Sebastian Frankenberger

Examines the corporate strategy of German energy giant E.ON. The firm is vertically integrated, horizontally diversified across electricity and natural gas, and active in numerous countries in Europe as well as in the United States. Explores the costs and benefits of... View Details

Keywords: Diversification; Vertical Integration; Corporate Strategy; Globalization; Energy Sources; Economics; Energy Industry; Germany; United States; Europe

2014
Working Paper

Waste, Recycling and Entrepreneurship in Central and Northern Europe, 1870–1940

By: Geoffrey Jones and Andrew Spadafora

This working paper examines the role of entrepreneurs in the municipal solid waste industry in industrialized central and northern Europe from the late nineteenth century to the 1940s. It explores the emergence of numerous German, Danish, and other European... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Entrepreneurship; Business History; Entrepreneurship; Health; History; Green Technology Industry; Germany; Denmark; Hungary; United Kingdom

SSRN

Read Now

29 Jul 2008
First Look

First Look: July 29, 2008

strengths and weaknesses. Which should he recommend to the partners for additional resources and what does a recommendation mean for his career? Purchase this case: http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=808125 Thomas J. Watson, IBM and Nazi... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

February 2022 (Revised September 2022)
Case

Lilium: Preparing for Takeoff

By: Navid Mojir, Vincent Dessain, Mette Fuglsang Hjortshoej and Emer Moloney

Lilium is a German company focused on developing electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles (eVTOLs) that can be used to offer air taxi services. The company went public in September 2021 through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) deal, raising more than... View Details

23 May 2011
Op-Ed

Leading and Lagging Countries in Contributing to a Sustainable Society

median between High and Low. Sustainable Or Unsustainable? Based on this analysis we were able to classify countries, for each of environmental and social performance metrics, into the following categories: In Sustainable countries—such as View Details

Keywords: by Robert G. Eccles & George Serafeim

16 May 2016
HBS Case

Food Safety Economics: The Cost of a Sick Customer

Margaret L. Rodriguez, Mérieux NutriSciences: Marketing Food Safety Testing. Food safety problems can be quite costly. An E. coli outbreak in Germany in 2011 caused $1.3 billion in losses to the global agricultural industry. Yet, a... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Food & Beverage

08 Jun 2010
First Look

First Look: June 8

http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/10-101.pdf Corporate Governance and Internal Capital Markets Authors:Zacharias Sautner and Belén Villalonga Abstract We exploit an exogenous shock to corporate ownership structures created by a recent tax reform in View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

22 Nov 2022
News

Alumni Summit Explores Leadership for a Sustainable Future

content, intellectual challenge, and friendly interactions,” says Oliveau. “The gorgeous weather and the Paris autumn atmosphere helped make this event quite unforgettable for everyone.” The Paris summit was the first since 2017, when the HBS Association of View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley

September 2002 (Revised February 2012)
Background Note

Europe: Data Supplement, 1950-2011

By: Huw Pill, Lakshmi Iyer, Marie-Laure Goepfer and Ingrid Vogel

Supplements The Blair Wealth Project: Antecedents and Prospects, Renewing Germany: Kohl's Legacy and Schroder's Dilemma, Italy: A New Commitment to Growth, and The Netherlands: Is the Polder Model Sinking? View Details

Keywords: Data and Data Sets; United Kingdom; Germany; Italy; Netherlands