Publications

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January 2009
Background Note

Financial Networks and Informal Banking in China: From Pawnshops to Private Equity

By: Elisabeth Koll

Provides an analysis of why informal financial networks and institutions still play an extremely important role in China's economy in the 21st century. Although China has emerged as one of the fastest growing economies in the world, it still suffers from a weak... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Private Equity; Banks and Banking; Financing and Loans; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; State Ownership; Business and Government Relations; Networks; China

November 2010
Case

Esquel Group: Building a Sustainable Partnership with Cotton Farmers in Xinjiang (A)

By: James K. Sebenius and Jason Cheng Qian

Esquel Group, leading manufacturer of quality shirts, sought to negotiate long-term partnerships with often-exploited farmers in Xinjiang (western China) to procure a superior cotton variety. Seeking to secure a large supply of specialty cotton in an ethical and... View Details

Keywords: Contracts; Agreements and Arrangements; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Leasing; Business and Community Relations; Business and Government Relations; Partners and Partnerships; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Hong Kong; Xinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu

May 2021
Case

The SMA Foundation: Steering Therapeutic Research and Development in a Rare Disease

By: Amitabh Chandra, Spencer Lee-Rey and Caroline Marra

This case explores incentives for rare disease drug development by chronicling the role of the Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Foundation in forming strategic partnerships with the scientific research community and pharmaceutical developers to transform the trajectory... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Strategy; Business or Company Management; Society; Health; Public Administration Industry; Health Industry; United States

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Field Course: Innovating in Health Care, Q2 - Course Catalog

access, and costs bedevil all countries. Health care—inefficient, erratic in quality and access, ripe for massive technological and consumer-facing innovations—is one of the largest and ripest sectors for innovation. This course focuses... View Details

August 2023 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Dicerna Pharmaceuticals: Decision Making in Clinical Trial Design and Operations

By: Satish Tadikonda and Amanda McEwen

The success or failure of Dicerna Pharmaceuticals (Dicerna) as an emerging pharmaceutical company would likely hinge on its lead drug candidate Nedosiran and the company’s ability to see it successfully through clinical development. Ralf Rosskamp, Chief Medical... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Health Testing and Trials; Product Development; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Pharmaceutical Industry

November 2003 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Dow Chemical's Bid for the Privatization of PBB in Argentina

By: Mihir A. Desai and Alexandra de Royere

What price should Dow Chemical bid for PBB, a petrochemical complex that is being privatized by the Argentine government? To answer this question, students are forced to consider the role of country risk, the underlying currency exposure of the business, and how to... View Details

Keywords: Bids and Bidding; Privatization; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Cash Flow; Emerging Markets; Valuation; Business and Government Relations; Multinational Firms and Management; Risk and Uncertainty; Energy Industry; Argentina

28 Mar 2019
News

California Alumni Explore Role of Capitalism in Addressing Climate Change

Clubs News Clubs News If capitalism is to blame for climate change, can it also be the best hope to stop it? That’s the paradox that HBS alumni in Southern California confronted in a sold-out, faculty-led... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley

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Archival Collections - A Concrete Symbol: The Building of Harvard Business School 1908-1927 – Baker Library | Bloomberg Center, Historical Collections

Harvard Business School and building of the HBS campus include historical documents and photographs, correspondence, financial records, pamphlets, clippings, maps, ephemera, blueprints, and architectural drawings. Relevant information can... View Details

13 Jul 2015
Research & Ideas

‘Humblebragging’ is a Bad Strategy, Especially in a Job Interview

generous to them” Humblebragging runs rampant on Twitter, but it turns out to be a lousy self-promotion tactic, especially in business situations such as job interviews, according to recent research by... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

June 2014
Article

The Capitalist's Dilemma

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Derek C. M. van Bever

Sixty months after the 2008 recession ended, the economy was still sputtering, producing disappointing growth and job numbers. Corporations seemed stuck: Despite low interest rates, they were sitting on massive piles of cash and failing to invest in new initiatives. In... View Details

Keywords: Capital Investments; Creating Markets; Evaluating Business Investments; Innovation; Emerging Markets; Investment; Economic Growth; Capital; Innovation and Invention

10 Feb 2021
Research & Ideas

Has #MeToo Changed How Hollywood Hires?

be particularly sympathetic to #MeToo’s call to empower women and are the main driver of the shift to hire more women following the scandal, write Hong Luo and Laurina Zhang, the paper's authors. Luo is the... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Media & Broadcasting

2023
Working Paper

Centralization and Organization Reproduction: Ethnic Innovation in R&D Centers and Satellite Locations

By: William R. Kerr

We study the relationship between firm centralization and organizational reproduction in satellite locations. For decentralized firms, the ethnic compositions of inventors in satellite locations mostly resemble their host cities, with little link to the inventor... View Details

Keywords: Ethnicity; Business Offices; Research and Development; Innovation and Invention; Organizational Design

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February 2023
Supplement

Grupo Sancor Seguros: Facing the Digital Transformation of Insurance in Argentina (B)

By: Jorge Tamayo, Jenyfeer Martínez Buitrago and Mariana Cal

In 2021, Alejandro Simón, CEO of Sancor Seguros Group, had to reassess the Group’s digital transformation strategy. View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Cooperative Ownership; Strategy; Business Strategy; Adaptation; Technology Adoption; Insurance Industry; Latin America; South America; Argentina

September 2010
Teaching Note

Acumen Fund: Measurement in Impact Investing (TN) (A) and (B)

By: Alnoor Ebrahim

Teaching Note for 310011 and 310017. View Details

Keywords: Projects; For-Profit Firms; Networks; Health Care and Treatment; Performance Evaluation; Investment Portfolio; Asset Pricing; Competition; Multinational Firms and Management; Venture Capital; Investment Return; Poverty; Financial Services Industry; Kenya

Web

Concrete Symbols - A Concrete Symbol: The Building of Harvard Business School 1908-1927 – Baker Library | Bloomberg Center, Historical Collections

The Competition McKim, Mead & White The Campus Emerges Concrete Symbols The Dedication Building the Campus Research Links Bibliography Archival Collections Digital Resources Site Credits Concrete Symbols “The buildings . . . were developed View Details

September 1997
Case

Information at the World Bank: In Search of a Technology Solution (A)

By: W. Earl Sasser, Josep Valor and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Information Technology Services Director Mohamed Muhsin planned to restructure the World Bank's information technology in response to President Jim Wolfensohn's call to build a knowledge bank. Several reorganization efforts taken by the bank in the 1980s led to a... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Information; Knowledge Management; Mission and Purpose; Technology; Public Administration Industry