Publications

2009
Chapter

Chinese Railroads, Local Society, and Foreign Presence: The Tianjin-Pukou Line in pre-1949 Shandong

By: Elisabeth Koll

This chapter explores issues of how Chinese railroads improved social mobility and standards of living along major trunk lines, and how foreign investment shaped the integration of the Chinese railroad network from the early 1900s to 1949. As this case study of the... View Details

Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment; Business History; Industry Growth; Welfare or Wellbeing; Rail Transportation; Rail Industry; China

12 May 2008
Research & Ideas

Accounting Information as Political Currency

the firm in the future (the politicians and firms have a good history together), one can argue that the earnings management is "well spent." It is ambiguous, however, whether earnings management or other forms of political... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

02 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

The Secret of How Microsoft Stays on Top

Perhaps no technology company outside of IBM has been able to keep on top of the industry as much as Microsoft. What's more, Bill Gates & Co. have achieved this success during times of incredible technological transformation, usually... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

01 May 2020
Blog Post

5 Reasons to Join a Club at HBS

‘celebrities’ performed the 47th annual HBS Show live over Zoom for the first time in the show’s history to thousands of students and alumni around the world. In short, our clubs are unstoppable. 1. Community When students arrive on... View Details

19 Dec 2017
First Look

New Research and Ideas, December 19, 2017

but also in explaining the number of different uses. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=49447 Creating the Market for Organic Wine: Sulfites, Certification, and Green Values By: Jones, Geoffrey, and Emily Grandjean Abstract—This... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

09 Feb 2021
News

Investing in Entrepreneurship

that gave Venrock 10 percent of the company—his reputation for integrity, hard work, and picking people is what he finds most satisfying. “No Venrock company ever went bankrupt,” he noted in the Computer View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

February 2023 (Revised February 2024)
Case

Doing Business in Helsinki, Finland

By: Martin A. Sinozich, Lena Duchene, Tonia Labruyere and Daniela Beyersdorfer

This case examines the challenges and opportunities of doing business in Finland. It highlights Finland's economic transformation in the decades leading up to 2024 in the context of its history, culture, and politics. The case gives an overview of some of the main... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Business and Government Relations; Corporate Strategy; Research and Development; Foreign Direct Investment; Crisis Management; Culture; Environmental Sustainability; International Relations; Food and Beverage Industry; Finland; Europe

01 Feb 1999
News

Too Much of a Good Thing?

layoffs and lost revenues, for example - weak companies are artificially supported," he explains. "Other firms won't or can't restructure themselves or exit unprofitable businesses because they are too set in their ways, lack sound... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons

Article

Creating Ecotourism in Costa Rica, 1970–2000

By: Geoffrey Jones and Andrew Spadafora

Between the 1970s and the 2000s, Costa Rica became established as the world’s leading ecotourism destination. This article argues that although Costa Rica benefited from biodiversity and a pleasant climate, the country’s preeminence in ecotourism requires more than a... View Details

Keywords: Ecotourism; Entrepreneurship In Emerging Markets; Sustainable Business And Innovation; Tourism; Green Business; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development; History; Business History; Tourism Industry; Latin America; Costa Rica

Find at Harvard

16 Jun 2009
First Look

First Look: June 16

Purchase this case: http://hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=309034 Enel: Power, Russia, and Global Markets Harvard Business School Case 709-046 Although the global trend toward liberalization of electric utilities forced Enel, the largest power View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Web

The Idea of Instant Photography - Edwin H. Land & Polaroid | Harvard Business School

Clubs Faculty & Research Business & Environment Business History Christensen Center for Teaching & Learning Entrepreneurship Faculty & Research Global Healthcare HBS Working Knowledge Institute for Strategy & Competitiveness Leadership... View Details

February 2025
Case

Doing Business in Manila, Philippines

By: Jill Avery, Harold Zhu and Billy Chan

This case explores the opportunities and challenges of doing business in the Philippines, focusing on its economic transformation from "the sick man of Asia" to a rising force in Southeast Asia in the decades leading up to 2024. It examines key obstacles like... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Competitive Strategy; Emerging Markets; Globalization; Logistics; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Transformation; Fashion Industry; Asia; Philippines

05 Jul 2006
First Look

First Look: July 5, 2006

limit their equity exposures in politically risky countries by sharing ownership with local partners and by serving foreign markets with exports rather than local production. The residual political risk borne by parent companies leads... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2010 (Revised January 2019)
Case

The Guggenheims and Chilean Nitrates

By: Geoffrey Jones and Felipe Tamega Fernandes

The case describes the growth of Guggenheim Brothers as one of the largest mining companies in the world in the early twentieth century. Global expansion led the firm to Chile, first in copper and later in natural nitrates. Chile's economic growth was driven by the... View Details

Keywords: History; Venture Capital; Business History; Entrepreneurship; Globalization; Foreign Direct Investment; Financial Crisis; Mining Industry; Chile

13 Nov 2013
Research & Ideas

Should Men’s Products Fear a Woman’s Touch?

remnant from ancient history is very much alive and well in contemporary culture," says Avery. "Because most cultures are androcentric, it's more socially acceptable for women to demonstrate masculine traits than it is for men... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Consumer Products; Food & Beverage; Auto

July 2020 (Revised September 2021)
Case

Mr. Five Percent: Calouste Gulbenkian and the Origins of Global Oil

By: Geoffrey Jones and Yazeed Al-Rashed

This case describes the business career of Calouste Gulbenkian, a skilled intermediary who was able to secure 5 percent of a vast oil concession covering much of the Middle East that was signed in 1928. Gulbenkian was an ethnic Armenian born in the Ottoman Empire,... View Details

Keywords: Oil; Globalization; Energy Sources; History; Biography; Energy Industry; Turkey; Central Asia; Middle East

April 2004 (Revised December 2004)
Case

Jazztel

By: Marc L. Bertoneche, Laurent Jacque, Kenneth Hynes and Jennifer Woolman

Jazztel--an upstart Spanish telecom--is considering an IPO on the NASDAQ (rather than the Madrid Bolsa) for funding its ambitious capital expenditure program estimated at $750 million over the next 10 years. The alternative would be another round of high-yield debt.... View Details

Keywords: History; Initial Public Offering; Valuation; Privatization; Financing and Loans; Financial Strategy; Telecommunications Industry; Spain