Publications

30 Sep 2008
First Look

First Look: September 30, 2008

competition effect whereby increasing rivalry shapes, and often decreases, incentives to expend effort and invest in innovation; and 2) a parallel search effect whereby adding greater numbers of "searchers" benefits innovation... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

September 2020 (Revised January 2021)
Case

Catalys Pacific

By: Joshua Lev Krieger

In 2019, BT Slingsby founds Catalys Pacific, the first biotech “venture creation” fund in Tokyo. After convincing some of the biggest Japanese pharmaceutical firms to invest, BT hopes the fund can make a big splash and transform biotechnology innovation in Japan. After... View Details

Keywords: Pharmaceutical Companies; Biotech; Health Care; Entrepreneur; Innovation; International Business; Entrepreneurial Finance; Entrepreneurship; Finance; Innovation Strategy; Venture Capital; Strategy; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Pharmaceutical Industry; Biotechnology Industry; Tokyo

May 2016
Case

The Inexorable Rise of Walmart? 1988—2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In October 2015, Walmart surprised investors by announcing that it expected flat sales growth for 2015 and growth of only 3% to 4% over the coming three years. Profits would also fall due to significant investments in people and technology. The company’s stock price... View Details

Keywords: Asda; Costco; David Glass; Convenience Stores; Discount Retailing; Dollar Stores; Doug McMillon; E-commerce; Online Retail; General Merchandise; Grocery; Lee Scott; Mike Duke; Multichannel Retailing; Omnichannel; Neighborhood Market; Sam Walton; Sam's Club; Store Formats; Supercenter; Supermarket; Warehouse Clubs; Merchandising; Walmart; Wal-Mart; Globalized Firms and Management; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Units; Business Divisions; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Banks and Banking; Price; Profit; Revenue; Food; Global Range; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Global Strategy; Business History; Compensation and Benefits; Employees; Human Capital; Labor Unions; Wages; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Management Succession; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Distribution; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Diversification; Expansion; Segmentation; Information Technology; Internet; Mobile Technology; Online Technology; Web; Web Sites; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Distribution Industry; Banking Industry; United States; Arkansas; Bentonville

13 Feb 2007
First Look

First Look: February 13, 2007

A. Desai, and C. Fritz Foley Abstract This paper examines how costly financial contracting and weak investor protection influence the cross-border operational, financing and investment decisions of firms. We... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

April 2025
Case

Techint: Strategic Choices for Community Impact

By: Lauren Cohen, Virak Prum, Kenneth Charman, Pedro Levindo and Mariana Cal

In early 2024 Erika Bienek, Chief Community Relations Officer at Techint, had to decide whether to invest in a new company-owned and operated technical school in Veracruz, Mexico, or invest instead in strengthening the city’s public education system. Techint, a global... View Details

Keywords: Technical Institutes; Community Relations; Social Impact; Argentina; Mexico; Brazil; Conglomerate; Stakeholder Management; Government And Business; Community Impact; Philanthropy; Business Conglomerates; Business Subsidiaries; Business Headquarters; Family Business; Decision Making; Private Sector; Public Sector; Education; Curriculum and Courses; Middle School Education; Secondary Education; Teaching; Training; Learning; Energy; Engineering; Construction; Values and Beliefs; Geography; Global Range; Local Range; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Globalized Firms and Management; Government Legislation; Recruitment; Innovation and Invention; Disruptive Innovation; Knowledge; Resource Allocation; Industry Clusters; Infrastructure; Family Ownership; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Business and Community Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Business and Government Relations; Creativity; Reputation; Social and Collaborative Networks; Civil Society or Community; Social Issues; Poverty; Strategy; Construction Industry; Education Industry; Energy Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Steel Industry; Europe; Italy; Latin America; North and Central America; Mexico; North America; United States; South America; Argentina; Buenos Aires; Brazil

September 1995
Case

Richina Capital Partners Limited

By: William A. Sahlman and Jason Green

Richard Yan and Suzanne Foels raise a $52.5 million fund to invest in Chinese companies in concert with major multinational companies. They face all the challenges of starting a business from scratch in addition to the challenges of operating in a cross-cultural... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Venture Capital; Problems and Challenges; Emerging Markets; Multinational Firms and Management; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Governance Compliance; Business Strategy; Expansion; Investment Return; China

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September 2003 (Revised June 2006)
Case

"American Challenge, The:" Europe's Response to American Business

By: Geoffrey G. Jones and Meghan Gallagher-Kernstine

Examines the tensions multinationals cause by focusing on Europe's reaction to the growing U.S. multinational investment in the 20th century. Initially, Europeans rarely felt threatened by U.S. investments, however, tensions grew over time. After the Second World War,... View Details

Keywords: Management Practices and Processes; Investment; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; United States; Europe

24 Apr 2007
First Look

First Look: April 24, 2007

case: http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=407076 PublicationsMultinationals as Arbitrageurs? The Effect of Stock Market Valuations on Foreign Direct Investment Authors:Malcolm C. Baker, Fritz Foley, and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2001 (Revised March 2002)
Case

Korea First Bank (A)

In December 1999, Newbridge Capital, an equity investment fund based in San Francisco, successfully negotiated with the Korean government to acquire a controlling interest in Korea First Bank. It was the first time a foreign financial institution acquired a Korean... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Process; Negotiation Participants; Foreign Direct Investment; Acquisition; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; San Francisco; South Korea

January 2025 (Revised April 2025)
Case

Doing Business in Cairo: Navigating a Path to Economic Resilience

By: A. Zelleke and Ahmed Dahawy

Egypt has long been a pivotal force in the Middle East and North Africa. Located at a crossroads of global trade routes, the country was a strategic partner for numerous regional and global powers. However, a substantial currency devaluation in 2016 brought many... View Details

Keywords: Egypt; Economy; Business; Country; Developing Countries and Economies; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Inflation and Deflation; Macroeconomics; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Globalized Economies and Regions; International Relations; Emerging Markets; Risk and Uncertainty; Culture; Egypt

May 2008
Article

Why Doesn't Capital Flow from Rich to Poor Countries? An Empirical Investigation

By: Laura Alfaro, Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan and Vadym Volosovych

We examine the empirical role of different explanations for the lack of capital flows from rich to poor countries—the "Lucas Paradox." The theoretical explanations include cross country differences in fundamentals affecting productivity and capital market... View Details

Keywords: International Finance; Wealth and Poverty; Development Economics; Income; Capital Markets; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Australia; Peru

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July 2006 (Revised May 2007)
Case

Dubailand: Destination Dubai

Under the leadership of the al-Maktoum family, Dubai, a member of the United Arab Emirates, invested heavily in its infrastructure to reduce national dependence on oil and gas reserves. As an established international destination for shipping, business initiatives, and... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Entertainment; Forecasting and Prediction; Projects; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Dubai

27 Jun 2005
Research & Ideas

Asian and American Leadership Styles: How Are They Unique?

investment concern. It then was an early entrant into China's telecom and IT wave of the early 1990s, and became a market leader. Li is a man who seeks to establish a positive legacy. He created a foundation in 1980 to help young Chinese... View Details

Keywords: by D. Quinn Mills

June 2024 (Revised August 2024)
Case

Cementos Argos in the U.S.: Go Big or Go Home?

By: Jorge Tamayo, Ruth Costas, Pedro Levindo and Karina Souza

In April 2011, Colombian group Cementos Argos had to decide on whether to double down its business in the U.S., amidst the U.S. cement industry’s lowest performance in 30 years. Argos— Colombia’s leading cement producer and one of the “jewels” of Grupo GEA, the... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Organization; Business Subsidiaries; Talent and Talent Management; Cost vs Benefits; Financial Crisis; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Global Strategy; Business Strategy; Construction Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Latin America; South America; North and Central America; United States; Colombia

January 2009
Article

FDI, Productivity, and Financial Development

By: Laura Alfaro, Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan and Selin Sayek

This paper examines the effect of foreign direct investment (FDI) on growth by focusing on the complementarities between FDI inflows and financial markets. In our earlier work, we found that FDI is beneficial for growth only if the host country has well-developed... View Details

Keywords: Human Capital; Income; Performance Productivity; Financial Markets; Foreign Direct Investment; Financial Institutions; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues

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Read Now

December 2014 (Revised April 2018)
Case

Dalian Wanda Group: The AMC Entertainment Acquisition (A)

By: Willy Shih

When Dalian Wanda Group of China announced its plan to acquire the AMC Entertainment theatrical exhibition chain in the United States, many people in the U.S. were mystified. Unlike China where theatrical exhibition was experiencing rapid growth, the U.S. market was... View Details

Keywords: Dalian Wanda Group; AMC Entertainment; Wang Jianlin; Theater Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Foreign Direct Investment; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; China; United States

13 Dec 2022
Research & Ideas

The Color of Private Equity: Quantifying the Bias Black Investors Face

that fund young businesses are owned by Black or Hispanic founders and partners, traditionally the most likely source of capital for minority business ventures, says Josh Lerner, the Jacob H. Schiff Professor of Investment Banking at... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds; Financial Services

06 Dec 2006
Op-Ed

India Needs to Encourage Trade with China

remain very far from the historical benchmark of mutual relevance. Advantage China I would venture to say that China gets a lot more out of India than India does out of China currently, both by selling more and better things to India and by welcoming Indian View Details

Keywords: by Tarun Khanna

March 2009 (Revised January 2025)
Background Note

A Strait of Uncertainty: Taiwan's Development in the Shadow of China

By: William C. Kirby, J. Megan Greene, Tracy Yuen Manty, Daniel Fu, Yuanzhuo Wang, Noah B. Truwit and Aqib Zakaria

Relations between the People’s Republic of China (PRC), on the Chinese Mainland, and the Republic of China (ROC), on Taiwan, had improved significantly since 2008. Taiwan investment in China had played a major role in China’s economic boom in recent decades. ... View Details

Keywords: History; Development Economics; Investment; Economic Growth; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Financial Crisis; China; Taiwan