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- All HBS Web (192)
- Faculty Publications (64)
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- November 2019
- Case
Chile: Unrest in the Copper Nation
By: Laura Alfaro and Sarah Jeong
For decades, Chile was heralded as South America’s pillar of stable economic growth. Chile was the world’s largest producer of copper and enjoyed a long period of over 30 years of world demand for its resources. In 2013, the commodity boom ended and was replaced by a... View Details
Keywords: Copper Production; Protests; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Metals and Minerals; Production; Price; Mining Industry; Chile
Alfaro, Laura, and Sarah Jeong. "Chile: Unrest in the Copper Nation." Harvard Business School Case 320-051, November 2019.
- 03 Mar 2014
- HBS Case
Decommoditizing the Canned Tomato
competitive troubles experienced by other food companies such as Barilla in the home country. Like many national brands in Italy, Barilla was being squeezed by private-label products—store brands that had been created in response to consumer demand for low View Details
- December 2008 (Revised February 2017)
- Case
Olam International
By: David E. Bell and Mary Shelman
In 20 years, Sunny Verghese had built Singapore-based Olam International from a small Nigerian export company into a $5 billion global leader in agricultural commodities with a core competence in Africa. Olam's growth had come by pursuing product and geographic... View Details
Keywords: Financial Crisis; Trade; Growth and Development Strategy; Supply Chain; Expansion; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Africa; Singapore
Bell, David E., and Mary Shelman. "Olam International." Harvard Business School Case 509-002, December 2008. (Revised February 2017.)
- June 2013 (Revised November 2022)
- Exercise
Competition Simulator Exercise
In the Competition Simulator Exercise, students explore through trial and error some important economic foundations of competitive strategy and managerial economics. In particular, the nine simulator exercises let students explore horizontal differentiation with and... View Details
Keywords: Competition; Economics; Game Theory; Competitive Strategy; Learning; Mathematical Methods; Analysis
Van den Steen, Eric J. "Competition Simulator Exercise." Harvard Business School Exercise 713-804, June 2013. (Revised November 2022.)
- June 2012 (Revised July 2013)
- Exercise
Competition Simulator Exercise: Instructions
In the Competition Simulator Exercise, students explore through trial and error some important economic foundations of competitive strategy and managerial economics. In particular, the nine simulator exercises let students explore horizontal differentiation with and... View Details
Van den Steen, Eric. "Competition Simulator Exercise: Instructions." Harvard Business School Exercise 712-498, June 2012. (Revised July 2013.)
- May 2020 (Revised July 2020)
- Case
COVID-19: The Global Shutdown
By: Laura Alfaro and Sarah Jeong
In the first months of 2020, a pandemic overwhelmed the world. COVID-19, commonly known as the coronavirus, spread from China and created a severe public health emergency across countries. While an immediate fear of the disease’s impact on human life permeated society,... View Details
Keywords: Trade; Microeconomics; Macroeconomics; Financial Crisis; Economy; Economic Systems; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Economic Sectors; Health Pandemics
Alfaro, Laura, and Sarah Jeong. "COVID-19: The Global Shutdown." Harvard Business School Case 320-108, May 2020. (Revised July 2020.)
- 2021
- Working Paper
Hidden Software and Veiled Value Creation: Illustrations from Server Software Usage
By: Raviv Murciano-Goroff, Ran Zhuo and Shane Greenstein
How do you measure the value of a commodity that transacts at a price of zero from an economic standpoint? This study examines the potential for and extent of omission and misattribution in standard approaches to economic accounting with regards to open source... View Details
Keywords: Server Software; Open Source Distribution; Applications and Software; Analytics and Data Science; Economics; Value Creation; Measurement and Metrics
Murciano-Goroff, Raviv, Ran Zhuo, and Shane Greenstein. "Hidden Software and Veiled Value Creation: Illustrations from Server Software Usage." NBER Working Paper Series, No. 28738, April 2021.
- January 2011 (Revised April 2011)
- Case
CME Group
By: Forest L. Reinhardt and James Weber
The case describes CME Group, the world's largest commodities exchange, futures and options on futures contracts, history, regulation, and the strategic choices the company faced. CME Group was formed from the oldest and most well-known exchanges in the world. Traders... View Details
Keywords: Financial Crisis; Stocks; Goods and Commodities; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Risk Management; Market Participation; Market Transactions; Financial Services Industry; United States
Reinhardt, Forest L., and James Weber. "CME Group." Harvard Business School Case 711-005, January 2011. (Revised April 2011.)
- 09 Jan 2008
- Working Paper Summaries
A Resource Belief-Curse: Oil and Individualism
- 07 Apr 2015
- First Look
First Look: April 7
brand and introduce an entirely new pricing scheme. Early financial results from the strategic shift are not favorable. Based on the experience of U.S. retailer J.C. Penney, the piece raises fundamental questions about repositioning... View Details
Keywords: Sean Silverthorne
- 1985
- Working Paper
Sequential Innovation and Market Structure
By: Jerry R. Green and Jean-Jacques Laffont
This paper concerns the introduction of a sequence of new, higher-quality durable products in a market in which there already exists a lower-quality substitute. The product has the further attribute that a real resource cost is incurred at the time a higher-quality... View Details
Green, Jerry R., and Jean-Jacques Laffont. "Sequential Innovation and Market Structure." Harvard Institute of Economic Research Discussion Paper, No. 1185, October 1985.
- December 2019
- Case
CME Group in 2019
By: José B. Alvarez, Forest Reinhardt and Natalie Kindred
Chicago-based CME Group is the world’s largest futures and options marketplace, with annual trading volume of over 4.8 billion contracts in 2018. This case is set in late 2019, as heightened perceptions of risk stemming from the U.S.-China trade war are driving record... View Details
Keywords: Financial Markets; Risk Management; Futures and Commodity Futures; Trade; Price; Competition; Risk and Uncertainty; Competitive Strategy; United States; China; Brazil
Alvarez, José B., Forest Reinhardt, and Natalie Kindred. "CME Group in 2019." Harvard Business School Case 520-048, December 2019.
- April 2022 (Revised April 2023)
- Case
Highland Park Wood Co. (Abridged)
By: David E. Bell
A major home builder wishes to purchase lumber (Southern pine). The builder wants delivery in six months but prefers to lock-in the price near current rates. The lumber wholesaler must decide on a pricing and sourcing strategy. Examples include: 1) buy & hold, 2) wait... View Details
Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Goods and Commodities; Futures and Commodity Futures; Price; Forest Products Industry; Construction Industry
Bell, David E. "Highland Park Wood Co. (Abridged)." Harvard Business School Case 122-098, April 2022. (Revised April 2023.)
- 2019
- Chapter
From Coast to Hinterland: Fiscal State Formation in British and French West Africa, c. 1880–1960
By: Ewout Frankema and Marlous van Waijenburg
This chapter contrasts and compares the ways different colonial states in West Africa developed local fiscal capacity. We show that per capita revenues were higher in the more commercialised coastal export economies than in remote parts of the interior. We argue that... View Details
Keywords: Fiscal Capacity; Public Debt; French West Africa; British West Africa; Geography; History; Africa
Frankema, Ewout, and Marlous van Waijenburg. "From Coast to Hinterland: Fiscal State Formation in British and French West Africa, c. 1880–1960." In Fiscal Capacity and the Colonial State in Africa and Asia, c. 1850–1960, edited by Ewout Frankema and Anne Booth, 161–192. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019.
- August 2020 (Revised May 2021)
- Case
PayPal: The Next Chapter
By: Michael Porter, Mark Kramer and Annelena Lobb
Can a social purpose and stakeholder capitalism confer a powerful competitive advantage in the age of COVID-19? For PayPal, the answer is yes. After spinning off from eBay in a 2015 IPO, the company declared its purpose as "democratizing financial services" by ensuring... View Details
Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Finance; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Social Entrepreneurship; Competitive Advantage; Financial Services Industry
Porter, Michael, Mark Kramer, and Annelena Lobb. "PayPal: The Next Chapter." Harvard Business School Case 721-378, August 2020. (Revised May 2021.)
- January 2009 (Revised November 2010)
- Case
The Dojima Rice Market and the Origins of Futures Trading
By: David A. Moss and Eugene Kintgen
In 1730, Japanese merchants petitioned shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune to officially authorize trade in rice futures at the Dojima Exchange, the world's first organized (but unsanctioned) futures market. For many years, the Japanese government had prohibited the trade of... View Details
Keywords: Futures and Commodity Futures; Price; Food; Business History; Market Transactions; Business and Government Relations; Japan
Moss, David A., and Eugene Kintgen. "The Dojima Rice Market and the Origins of Futures Trading." Harvard Business School Case 709-044, January 2009. (Revised November 2010.)
- July 2020
- Teaching Note
COVID-19: The Global Shutdown
By: Laura Alfaro and Sarah Jeong
In the first months of 2020, a pandemic overwhelmed the world. COVID-19, commonly known as the coronavirus, spread from China and created a severe public health emergency across countries. While an immediate fear of the disease’s impact on human life permeaacted... View Details
- December 2014
- Article
The Real Product Market Impact of Mergers
By: Albert Sheen
I document sources of value creation in mergers by analyzing novel data on the quality and price of goods sold by merging firms. When two competitors in a product market merge, their products converge in quality, and prices fall relative to the competition. These... View Details
Sheen, Albert. "The Real Product Market Impact of Mergers." Journal of Finance 69, no. 6 (December 2014).
- 09 Aug 2010
- Research & Ideas
How to Speed Up Energy Innovation
to do.” The third and last difference is that with the exception of agriculture, all the other industries we consider were moving into empty spaces. An IT industry? There was no IT industry. Biotechnology? It didn't exist. So, it's a View Details
- 17 Apr 2009
- Working Paper Summaries