Publications

Educators

September 2013 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Olam: Building a Sustainable Supply Chain in Côte d'Ivoire

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Nina Ann George

Describes Olam's development of a sustainable cotton supply chain in Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa. Key dilemma for its managers: feasibility of introducing tractor technology for improving yield. View Details

Keywords: Economic Development; Technology Usage; Development Economics; Agribusiness; Technology Adoption; Supply Chain; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Africa; Côte d'Ivoire

Educators

14 Jan 2015
Research & Ideas

Thriving in the Turbulence of Emerging Markets

well and make very sure that were seen to be doing good and right." It was not only in Kenya that politics proved a challenge. Chandaria's business survived throughout Africa by virtue of persistence, confidence, and forgiveness. "In... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones; Manufacturing; Auto

07 Jun 2017
Research & Ideas

How an African History Scholar Became a Modern Righter of Wrongs

conducting intensive field research in rural Kenya and other parts of the former British Empire, argues that there are clear parallels between academic knowledge and business intelligence. Elkins conducting field research in Kiambu, Kenya... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

08 Nov 2024
Op-Ed

How Private Investors Can Help Solve Africa's Climate Crisis

report from the Global Center on Adaptation suggests that more than $100 billion per year is needed to invest in infrastructure, weather forecasting, and protecting agriculture in Africa to address both poverty and climate stresses. Yet... View Details

Keywords: by John Macomber; Green Technology; Energy

26 Mar 2013
First Look

First Look: March 26

paper integrates the role of entrepreneurship and firms into debates on why Asia, Latin America, and Africa were slow to catch up with the West following the Industrial Revolution and the advent of modern... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

December 2006 (Revised January 2007)
Case

Chief Timothy Adeola Odutola and Nigeria's Manufacturing Sector

By: Nitin Nohria, Anthony Mayo, Foluke Otudeko and Mark Benson

Chief Timothy Adeola Odutola was an important contributor to Nigeria's manufacturing sector, creating a multimillion-dollar conglomerate including three factories, a retail franchise, a cattle ranch, a 5,000-acre plantation, a sawmill, and an exporting business before... View Details

Keywords: History; Business Conglomerates; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Success; Leadership Style; Business History; Market Entry and Exit; Personal Development and Career; Business Startups; Manufacturing Industry; Nigeria

Caroline Elkins is the Thomas Henry Carroll/Ford Foundation Professor of Business Administration in the Business, Government and International Economy unit at HBS. She is also Professor of History and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University, an... View Details

Lakshmi Ramarajan

Professor Ramarajan is the Diane Doerge Wilson Professor of Business Administration in the Organizational Behavior Unit at Harvard Business School. Her research examines the management and consequences of identities in organizations.

She teaches the... View Details

Keywords: nonprofit industry

Research Summary

Overview

By: Marlous van Waijenburg

Professor van Waijenburg’s research focuses on the historical roots of relative African poverty and state fragility. Where sufficiently reliable and comparable records exist, she creates new datasets from a range of qualitative and quantitative archival sources. The... View Details

September 2005
Article

Decolonising Barclays Bank DCO? Corporate Africanisation Programmes in Nigeria, 1945-1969

The reaction of British business to the decolonisation of the Empire has been the focus of much recent research, but few studies have shed light on the continued presence of commercial activities after independence. Barclays Bank DCO in Nigeria began indigenising its... View Details

Keywords: International Relations; Foreign Direct Investment; Banks and Banking; Macroeconomics; Banking Industry; Great Britain; Nigeria

07 Nov 2011
Research & Ideas

The Forgotten Book that Helped Shape the Modern Economy

A British merchant's long-forgotten seventeenth-century book may not only fuel a radical rethinking about how modern economies developed in Europe and America, but also add historical perspective on today's hot-button issue of the proper... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

29 Mar 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Entrepreneurs, Firms, and Global Wealth since 1850

Keywords: by Geoffrey G. Jones

06 Sep 2019
Video

Mo Ibrahim

Mo Ibrahim, the founder of the African telecommunications company Celtel and later a major corporate philanthropist, describes his decisions to leave the large telecommunications company British Telecom and... View Details

2019
Chapter

The Great Divergence and the Great Convergence

By: Geoffrey Jones

This chapter provides a new lens to the extensive debate among economists and economic historians concerning why the West grew rich and the rest of the world lagged behind as modern industrialization took hold in the 19th century. The literature has focused heavily on... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Growth and Development; History; Africa; Asia; Europe; Latin America; Middle East; North and Central America; Oceania

2009
Book

Merchants to Multinationals

By: G. Jones

Merchants to Multinationals examines the evolution of multinational trading companies from the eighteenth century to the present day. During the Industrial Revolution, British merchants established overseas branches which became major trade intermediaries and... View Details

Keywords: Trade; Foreign Direct Investment; Multinational Firms and Management; Business History; Alliances; Groups and Teams; Distribution Industry; Africa; Asia; Great Britain; Latin America

2013
Working Paper

Entrepreneurs, Firms and Global Wealth since 1850

By: G. Jones

This working paper integrates the role of entrepreneurship and firms into debates on why Asia, Latin America and Africa were slow to catch up with the West following the Industrial Revolution and the advent of modern economic growth. It argues that the currently... View Details

SSRN

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2022
Book

Ripe for Revolution: Building Socialism in the Third World

By: Jeremy Friedman

A historical account of ideology in the Global South as the postwar laboratory of socialism, its legacy following the Cold War, and the continuing influence of socialist ideas worldwide.

In the first decades after World War II, many newly independent... View Details

Keywords: Socialism; Economic Systems; Globalization; Government and Politics; Developing Countries and Economies

2000
Book

Merchants to Multinationals

By: Geoffrey Jones

This book examines the evolution of multinational trading companies from the eighteenth century to the present day. During the Industrial Revolution, British merchants established overseas branches which became major trade intermediaries, and later engaged in foreign... View Details

Keywords: Competency and Skills; Trade; Foreign Direct Investment; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Governance; Growth and Development; Human Resources; Information Management; Relationships; Corporate Strategy; Africa; Asia; Latin America