Publications

2016
Book

Slavery's Capitalism: A New History of American Economic Development

By: Sven Beckert and Seth Rockman

During the nineteenth century, the United States entered the ranks of the world's most advanced and dynamic economies. At the same time, the nation sustained an expansive and brutal system of human bondage. This was no mere coincidence. Slavery's Capitalism... View Details

Keywords: History; Development Economics; Ethics; Social Issues; United States

December 1997
Case

California: The American Future?

By: Bruce R. Scott and Kevin Price

California has long been a lead state in terms of population growth, income, and societal norms. In the 1990s, California voters approved referenda to restrict benefits to immigrants and to prohibit affirmative action. Is this likely to be another leading indicator for... View Details

Keywords: Fairness; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Laws and Statutes; Civil Society or Community; Public Opinion; California

Educators

06 Feb 2012
Research & Ideas

Kodak: A Parable of American Competitiveness

high-tech products could only be found in the United States. These successes were due in large part to government investment in basic science research and mass production. "During World War II, the View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Manufacturing

January 2007 (Revised May 2008)
Case

Henry Luce and the American Century

By: Nitin Nohria, Anthony Mayo and Logan Wilcox

Henry Luce, founder of the publishing company which produced Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated, created the largest media company in the world by the mid-20th century. Luce's flagship magazine, Time, was able to gross over $20 million in sales during its... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Business History; Leadership Style; Emerging Markets; Publishing Industry; United States

01 Sep 2008
News

Totting Up the Bill for the Iraq War

BILMES AND STIGLITZ: Among a costly war’s casualties, American prestige and power. PHOTOS: (LEFT, RIGHT) DOMINICK REUTER, DAN DEITCH The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict (W.W. Norton, 2008) is not just about... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne; National Security and International Affairs; Government

12 Apr 2004
Research & Ideas

What Great American Leaders Teach Us

and study of the Great American Business Leaders database. The project identified and analyzed the accomplishments of some 860 top executives in the 20th century, and results are now starting to emerge. A portion of the database is free... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

27 Jun 2005
Research & Ideas

Asian and American Leadership Styles: How Are They Unique?

often a trait of the most effective leaders, as it was in the best-respected of all American political leaders, Abraham Lincoln. Once, when the Civil War was not going well for... View Details

Keywords: by D. Quinn Mills

December 2017
Supplement

Piracy in Somalia (B)

By: Sophus A. Reinert and Alissa Davies

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Piracy; Foreign Aid; Civil War; Private Property; Human Rights; Economic Development; Globalization; War; Property; Crime and Corruption; Rights; Development Economics; Moral Sensibility; Somalia

06 Feb 2014
Research & Ideas

The Art of American Advertising

Harvard Business School's Baker Library is hosting a historical exhibit that examines the advertising industry in a bygone era, when marketers still had to depend on printed materials to capture consumer attention. The Art of American... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Advertising

16 Nov 2009
Research & Ideas

The Times Captures History of American Business

encompassed other important inflection points. The end of the Civil War was one. The onset of the Great Depression was another. So, too, was the close of World War II. In each... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Journalism & News

25 Jun 2012
News

Harvard’s prescription for a broken American political system

05 May 2020
Research & Ideas

China Tariffs and Coronavirus a Double Hit to American Retailers

The double-whammy of increased tariffs imposed by the United States on China and fallout from the coronavirus could make it even more difficult for American retailers to weather the storm in the coming months—or increase pressure on them... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

May 2022 (Revised July 2022)
Case

The Voice War Continues: Hey Google vs. Alexa vs. Siri in 2022

By: David B. Yoffie and Daniel Fisher

In 2022, after five years of pursuing a new "AI-first" strategy, Google had captured a sizeable share of the American and global markets for voice assistants. Google Assistant was used by hundreds of millions of users around the world, but Amazon retained the largest... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Artificial Intelligence; Deep Learning; Voice Assistants; Smart Home; Market Share; Globalized Markets and Industries; Competitive Strategy; Digital Platforms; AI and Machine Learning; Technology Industry; United States

Educators

08 Jan 2007
Research & Ideas

Who Rises to Power in American Business?

"outsiders," such as Elizabeth Arden, created their own road to success, overcoming significant odds. The new book Paths to Power: How Insiders and Outsiders Shaped American Business Leadership explores the demographics of... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

2003
Book

The Monied Metropolis: New York City and the Consolidation of the American Bourgeoisie, 1850–1896

By: Sven Beckert

This book, first published in 2001, is a comprehensive history of the most powerful group in the nineteenth-century United States: New York City's economic elite. This small and diverse group of Americans accumulated unprecedented economic, social, and political power,... View Details

Keywords: Literacy; Income; Identity; Culture; Economics; Power and Influence

04 May 2021
Blog Post

Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month at HBS

Class of 2022 In 1942, my grandfather, a California-born Japanese American, left his home with two bags in hand. The U.S. was at war with Japan, and wartime fear had led to xenophobic, racist, and baseless claims that all View Details

2013
Book

Democracy and Its Elected Enemies: American Political Capture and Economic Decline

By: Steven Rosefielde and Daniel Quinn Mills

Democracy and Its Elected Enemies reveals that American politicians have usurped their constitutional authority, substituting their economic and political sovereignty for the people's. This has been accomplished by creating an enormous public service sector... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Government and Politics; Macroeconomics; Public Administration Industry; United States