Publications

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February 2008 (Revised September 2010)
Case

Enterprise Culture in Chinese History: Zhang Jian and the Dasheng Cotton Mills

By: Elisabeth Koll

This case focuses on the legal and managerial evolution of limited-liability firms in China, using the example of the Dasheng cotton mills in Nantong near Shanghai. Dasheng, one of the earliest and most successful industrial enterprises in pre-war China, was founded by... View Details

Keywords: History; Law; Organizational Culture; Family Ownership; State Ownership; Corporate Governance; Financial Crisis; Business and Government Relations; Entrepreneurship; Change; Manufacturing Industry; Shanghai; China

January 2007 (Revised April 2007)
Background Note

Note on Lobbying

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Libby Cantrill and Patricia Wu

Describes how companies engage the political and legal system and the rules and ethics associated with doing so. Focuses on the U.S. political and legal system, but also seeks to familiarize readers with lobbying norms and structures in the European Union and Japan. View Details

Keywords: Business and Government Relations; Ethics; Labor Unions; Public Administration Industry; Legal Services Industry; United States; Japan; European Union

March 2007 (Revised March 2009)
Case

Cherrypicks

By: William R. Kerr

Cherrypicks is a Hong Kong communications start-up approaching a large Korean mobile operator for a partnership to take the operator's products to markets outside of Korea. SK Telecom's (SKT) Ring Back Tones (RBT) product is a spectacular success in South Korea, but... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Startups; Communication Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Partners and Partnerships; Communications Industry; China; Hong Kong; South Korea

Research Summary

Quality in Service Operations

Rogelio Oliva is interested in understanding how the operational characteristics of service delivery processes interact with human resource and marketing policies to determine the long term productivity, quality, and profitability of a service operation. Specifically,... View Details

August 2020
Case

Sheena Gupta (A)

By: Leslie Perlow and Matthew Preble

Sheena Gupta (A) is a first-person narrative of a Harvard Business School alumna (class of 2008) who has thoughtfully and purposefully crafted the various components of her life in a way that aligns with her personal values and needs. Gupta shares her life story, and... View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Values and Beliefs; Work-Life Balance

02 Mar 2011
News

HBS Faculty on Revolution in the Middle East and North Africa

08 Mar 2021
In Practice

COVID Killed the Traditional Workplace. What Should Companies Do Now?

A year ago, COVID-19 forced many companies to send employees home—often with a laptop and a prayer. Now, with COVID cases subsiding and vaccinations rising, the prospect of returning to old office routines appears more possible. But will employees want to flock back to... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

15 May 2015
Working Paper Summaries

Mobile Money Services-Design and Development for Financial Inclusion

Keywords: by Rajiv Lal & Ishan Sachdev; Banking

April 2000 (Revised November 2000)
Case

Computer Power Group: Designing Brand Architecture

Computer Power Group (CPG), an Australian-based consulting, education, and staffing placement firm in the IT industry, is contemplating a brand architecture capable of structuring its eight branded business units. CEO Peter James is particularly curious about whether a... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Employment Industry; Education Industry; Consulting Industry; Australia

June 20, 2013
Article

The Tyranny of Minority Shareholders

By: Josh Baron and Henry Foley

The article discusses challenges arising from minority ownership in the context of the proposed Empire State Building IPO. It emphasizes the complexities that minority shareholders can introduce in business decisions when families take their assets public. The article... View Details

Keywords: Business and Shareholder Relations; Ownership; Family Ownership; Corporate Governance; Power and Influence

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October 2020
Supplement

Twiga Foods: Revolutionizing African Retail (B)

By: Shikhar Ghosh, Pippa Tubman Amerding and Wale Lawal

Twiga is a leading agricultural produce supplier in Kenya offering services to mostly informal retailers. Under Peter Njonjo, a co-founder and Twiga’s new CEO, the company is considering multiple options for expanding its business, including offering packaged foods and... View Details

Keywords: Expansion; Distribution Channels; Organizational Structure; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Model; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Kenya

In the 2015 survey on U.S. competitiveness, HBS alumni weigh in on the current state and future trajectory of U.S. competitiveness as well as the structural strengths and weaknesses of the U.S. business environment. In addition, alumni delve deeper into two aspects... View Details

June 2017
Case

Veolia: Resourcing the World

By: Gautam Ahuja, Tarun Khanna, Kristina Maslauskaite and Vincent Dessain

In March 2016, Antoine Frérot, CEO of Veolia, a global environmental services provider, was undergoing an important transformation of the company. In 2013, Frérot presented a growth strategy that focused on increasing the share of industrial clients, enhancing growth... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Circular; Emerging Markets; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Growth and Development Strategy; Economy

05 Mar 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, March 5, 2019

Organizational Challenge of Pursuing Joint Social and Financial Goals: Social Enterprise as a Laboratory to Understand Hybrid Organizing By: Battilana, Julie Abstract— While in recent decades the social and business sectors have evolved... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

March 1993 (Revised September 1993)
Case

Praxair: Creating a Board (A)

By: Jay W. Lorsch

Discusses the process a CEO/chairman goes through in creating a new board. Specifically, follows a CEO's decision-making process in selecting board members. Also includes decisions about the selection process for board members and the structure and process of board... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Decision Making; Corporate Governance; Conferences; Business or Company Management; Selection and Staffing

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April 2010 (Revised March 2011)
Case

The Auction for Travelport (A)

By: Andrei Hagiu and Misha Sanwal

A senior Blackstone director is deciding how aggressively to bid for Travelport, a travel distribution business containing several key services and platforms. Travelport's most important properties were Galileo, one of the top 3 global distribution systems (GDSs),... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Product Positioning; Cost vs Benefits; Private Equity; Leveraged Buyouts; Competitive Advantage; Auctions; Industry Structures; Travel Industry

January 2000 (Revised May 2007)
Case

Dressen

By: Thomas R. Piper and Jeremy Cott

Divisional management must decide whether to support a leveraged buyout by a private equity group and, if so, what percent of ownership should go to the various partners involved. The appropriateness of the financing structure and the value of the equity depend on the... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Capital Structure; Valuation; Ownership Stake; Forecasting and Prediction

December 1994
Case

CNW Corporation

The Blackstone Group, an LBO firm, is considering a $1.7 billion leveraged acquisition of CNW Corp., a railroad holding company. Information is provided concerning historic and protected results and the proposed financial structure of the entity. Data is presented... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Capital Structure; Leveraged Buyouts