Publications

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February 1999 (Revised March 2004)
Case

JAFCO America Ventures, Inc.: Building A Venture Capital Firm

By: Walter Kuemmerle, Kiichiro Kobayashi and Chad S Ellis

JAFCO, a large Japanese venture capital firm, is making a second attempt to enter the U.S. venture capital market. The U.S. subsidiary, JAFCO America Ventures, is in the midst of a challenging turnaround. Going forward, the U.S. subsidiary's leadership needs to make a... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Market Entry and Exit; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Japan; United States

October 2014
Case

MCA Matsushita (A)

By: Andrew Wasynczuk and Karen Huang

Keywords: Music Corporation Of America; Matsushita Electric Industra; Negotiation; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; United States; Japan

April 2013 (Revised March 2013)
Teaching Note

GREE, Inc.

By: Andrei Hagiu and Masahiro Kotosaka

Keywords: Strategy; Technology; Multi-Sided Platforms; Two-Sided Platforms; Technology Platform; Technology Industry; Japan; United States

July 1989 (Revised April 1996)
Case

AUCNET: TV Auction Network System

The AUCNET system links buyers and sellers in the wholesale used car market in Japan. Video images delivered via videodisk or satellite along with an inspector's opinion and objective character based data are used to conduct a realtime auction over computers and... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Market Entry and Exit; Auctions; Service Industry; Japan; United States

April 2003 (Revised November 2005)
Teaching Note

Sony AIBO: The World's First Entertainment Robot (TN)

By: Youngme E. Moon

Teaching Note for (9-502-010). View Details

Keywords: Technology Industry; Japan; United States

February 2001
Background Note

National Innovation Systems and Comparative Industry Evolution

Discusses U.S. and Japanese innovation systems. Illustrates these with comparative studies of computer and pharmaceutical industries. Probes effects of labor, capital, and customer market institutions on these sectors in the United States and Japan. View Details

Keywords: Industry Growth; Innovation and Invention; Computer Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Japan; United States

February 1991 (Revised December 1992)
Case

Xerox and Fuji Xerox

Describes the growth and development of Fuji Xerox, Xerox's joint venture in Japan, and the evolving relationship between Fuji Xerox and Xerox. Focuses on the technological development of Fuji Xerox, and on the contributions that Fuji Xerox has made to Xerox's... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Electronics Industry; Japan; United States

1988
Book

Managing Quality: The Strategic and Competitive Edge

By: David A. Garvin

Keywords: Management; Quality; Operations; Japan; United States

Find at Harvard

22 Jan 2013
First Look

First Look: Jan. 22

Leather Suit and the Paradox of Japanese Capitalism Ramanna, Karthik, and Matthew ShafferHarvard Business School Case 113-026 Two lost decades later, capitalism in Japan embodies peculiar contradictions-preserving wealth and social... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

21 Jan 2009
First Look

First Look: January 21, 2009

Case 709-017 Despite a tradition of high household savings, Japan has supported a dynamic and technically sophisticated consumer-lending sector. The high profitability of the sector has periodically attracted interest from domestic banks... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

12 Mar 2006
Research & Ideas

Global Poverty Needs a Global Answer

Asian countries have made spectacular advances. These include post-WWII Japan and more recently Singapore, China, India, South Korea, and Taiwan. Nevertheless most Africans were better off forty years ago than they are today. Average per... View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia Churchwell

July 2024
Case

Wizards of the Coast and Magic: The Rebounding

By: Boris Groysberg and Tom Quinn

This case traces the history and growth of the Magic: The Gathering trading card game. From its development in 1993 by tiny studio Wizards of the Coast, to Wizards’ acquisition by toy giant Hasbro in 1999, to its evolution into a billion-dollar brand in 2023,... View Details

14 Feb 2012
First Look

First Look: February 14

Christopher L. Magee Abstract Many products are manufactured in networks of firms linked by transactions, but comparatively little is known about how or why such transaction networks differ. This paper investigates the transaction networks of two large sectors in View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

19 Jun 2013
Research & Ideas

Analyzing Institutions to Solve Big Problems

New South Wales. Local Construction of a Global Standard: Foreign Share Ownership and Workplace Gender Diversity in Japan explains that historically, the Japanese corporate structure has made it difficult for women to enter into... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel & Anna Secino

04 Mar 2014
First Look

First Look: March 4

The role of private equity in Japan is also explored and allows students to compare the Japanese merger and acquisition market to that of the U.S. and Europe. Purchase this case:... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 1987
Article

America and Japan: Siamese Twins in the World Economy

Keywords: Economy; Global Range; United States; Japan

Find at Harvard

February 1992 (Revised September 1995)
Case

Goldman, Sachs & Co.: Nikkei Put Warrants--1989

By: Peter Tufano

Japanese financial institutions' willingness to sell put options on the Nikkei Stock Average provides investment banks with the raw material from which to create a security that would allow U.S. investors to bet on falls in the Japanese Stock Market. The investment... View Details

Keywords: Debt Securities; Investment Banking; Product Design; Globalized Markets and Industries; Japan; United States

April 1991 (Revised July 1992)
Case

Koito Manufacturing Ltd.

By: W. Carl Kester and Robert W. Lightfoot

Having acquired a 26% stake in Koito Manufacturing, a Japanese automotive parts supplier in the Toyota Group, T. Boone Pickens seeks a seat on Koito's board of directors. Koito's management resists, claiming Pickens is an unhelpful greenmailer, not a true long-term... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Debates; Corporate Governance; Production; Supply Chain; Performance Efficiency; Welfare; Auto Industry; Japan; United States

November 2024
Case

Grand Seiko—The Sleeping Lion

By: Rohit Deshpandé, Nobuo Sato and Akiko Kanno

In 2024, Akio Naito, President of Seiko Watch Corporation, reflected on the global expansion of Grand Seiko, the company’s luxury watch brand. Originally created more than 60 years ago as the luxury model of Seiko watches in Japan, Grand Seiko struggled to... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Luxury; Expansion; Japan; United States