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Faculty & Research - Business History

Faculty & Research Faculty & Research Harvard Business School faculty members have made notable contributions to the history of business. Faculty research is diverse, based in several of the School’s units, and reflects disciplinary... View Details

November 2007 (Revised February 2009)
Background Note

Myths and Lessons of Modern Chinese History

By: William C. Kirby and Brittany Crow

China is an ancient civilization, but it is really a very young country. How we understand modern China is rooted in our understanding of history. Thus, the authors examine several myths surrounding important historical themes, including unity, economic and political... View Details

Keywords: Economic Systems; Globalization; Government and Politics; History; China

Educators

March 2012
Article

Fixing What's Wrong with U. S. Politics

By: David A. Moss

In America today there's a growing sense that the political system is broken and that its ineffectiveness is a major threat to U.S. competitiveness. Why do so many think the political system is not working? Research shows that in Congress, Republicans and Democrats are... View Details

Keywords: Government and Politics; System; Conflict Management; Performance Productivity; Policy; Public Administration Industry; United States

November 2007 (Revised September 2010)
Background Note

The Rong Family: A Chinese Business History

By: Elisabeth Koll

Provides the complex historical background to understanding the development of family businesses in China from the late 19th century to the present. Using the example of the Rong family, China's most prominent industrialist family in pre-1949 China, analyzes the... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Business History; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Alliances; Business and Government Relations; Social and Collaborative Networks; China

Educators

11 Dec 2018
Research & Ideas

Free Trade Needs Nurturing—and Other Lessons from History

Question: What patterns emerge from history that can help us better understand where we are today? Sophus Reinert: To many people, globalization is teleological, something that necessarily becomes stronger over time and leads to an... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Auto; Aerospace; Chemical; Consumer Products; Electronics; Energy; Industrial Products; Manufacturing; Shipping; Transportation

Web

Teaching Resources - Business History

Teaching Resources Harvard Business School has taught business history since 1927. Today around half of the 900 students in the second year of the Harvard MBA take one or more of the business history... View Details

16 Dec 2011
Research & Ideas

Reintroducing Intellectual Ambition to the Study of Business History

The 85-year-old Business History Review, published quarterly by Harvard Business School, is the acknowledged leading peer-reviewed journal in the field. (BHR has recently been made available online through Cambridge University Press.) So... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones & Walter Friedman

Web

Historical Data Visualization - Business History

Historical Data Visualization To facilitate understanding the history of global capitalism in its broad societal context, this tool provides historical data on broad economic, social and political trends... View Details

26 Mar 2007
Research & Ideas

Learning from Failed Political Leadership

often prevailed not because of our political leadership, but in spite of it. We posit that this occurs with corporations as well. Could this be true of your company? A successful leader must be able to persuade people to follow a certain... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

16 Nov 2009
Research & Ideas

The Times Captures History of American Business

a collection of interesting articles across the history of the paper. There were already a few publications on more specific subjects: For example, Floyd Norris, a well-respected columnist at the Times, edited a book on the View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Journalism & News

16 Aug 2011
Working Paper Summaries

Managing Political Risk in Global Business: Beiersdorf 1914-1990

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones & Christina Lubinski; Beauty & Cosmetics

28 May 2014
Research & Ideas

Building Histories of Emerging Economies One Interview at a Time

The corporate histories of Apple, Coca-Cola, and Honda are well-documented stories that offer a window into the nuances of business in a particular place, at a particular time. As such, they're invaluable resources for research that... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

2011
Book

Translating Empire: Emulation and the Origins of Political Economy

By: Sophus A. Reinert

Historians have traditionally used the discourses of free trade and laissez-faire to explain the development of political economy during the Enlightenment. But from Sophus Reinert's perspective, eighteenth-century political economy can be understood only in the context... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Government and Politics

21 Aug 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Traveling Agents: Political Change and Bureaucratic Turnover in India

Keywords: by Lakshmi Iyer & Anandi Mani

2011
Working Paper

Managing Political Risk in Global Business: Beiersdorf 1914-1990

By: Geoffrey Jones and Christina Lubinski

This working paper examines corporate strategies of political risk management during the twentieth century. It focuses especially on Beiersdorf, a German-based pharmaceutical and skin care company. During World War I the expropriation of its brands and trademarks... View Details

Keywords: History; Risk Management; Business History; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Strategy; Intellectual Property; Cooperation; Business and Government Relations; Germany

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Historical Data & Sources - Business History

Download Data Set in Excel IBM: Countries of Operation J. Connolly, History of Computing in Europe, 1967 IBM Annual Reports, various years Directory of American Firms Operating in Foreign Countries , various editions OneSource Map created... View Details

2019
Book

The Economic Turn: Recasting Political Economy in Enlightenment Europe

By: Steven L. Kaplan and Sophus A. Reinert

The mid-eighteenth century witnessed what might be dubbed an “economic turn” that resolutely changed the trajectory of world history. From the birth of new agricultural practices and the foundation of private societies to the sustained and popular theorization of... View Details

Keywords: Economic Systems; Trade; History; Markets; Society; France; Europe

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