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December 2014 (Revised October 2017)
Case

Social Business at Novartis: Arogya Parivar

By: Michael E. Porter, Mark R. Kramer and David Lane

Late in 2013, Novartis CEO Joseph Jimenez was considering whether or how to deepen the company's investment in Arogya Parivar, its profitable program that sold Novartis medicines in rural India while expanding access to medicine and health information to millions of... View Details

Keywords: Shared Value; India; Kenya; Vietnam; Novartis; Arogya Parivar; Social Business; Multinational Firms and Management; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Pharmaceutical Industry; Viet Nam; Kenya; India

July 2007 (Revised September 2009)
Case

CEMEX's Foundations for Sustainability

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter, Pamela Yatsko and Ryan Raffaelli

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Competitive Strategy; Change Management; Emerging Markets; Construction Industry; Mexico; Egypt; United States

March 2002 (Revised October 2005)
Case

Wal-Mart in 2002

By: David B. Yoffie and Yusi Wang

In its first quarter of 2002, Wal-Mart became the largest company on the globe (by sales) and expanded into Japan. Was the giant retailer unstoppable? This case explores Wal-Mart's top issues in fueling top- and bottom-line growth: diversification into groceries, new... View Details

Keywords: Diversification; Expansion; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Strategy; Global Strategy; Retail Industry; Japan; United States

08 Aug 2023
Research & Ideas

The Rise of Employee Analytics: Productivity Dream or Micromanagement Nightmare?

on what is measured rather than finding the best ways to be effective. There’s also the issue of regulation. Specific data privacy regulations already in place, such as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), impose requirements on View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

February 2008 (Revised December 2011)
Case

Sealed Air China

By: Regina Abrami, William C. Kirby, F. Warren McFarlan and Tracy Yuen Manty

With a 10-year history of doing business in China, Sealed Air was now betting on the country to help propel its growth as a global company. The company identified China as one of the initial investments in the company's Global Manufacturing Strategy that aimed to... View Details

Keywords: Investment Return; Multinational Firms and Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Production; Manufacturing Industry; Shanghai

June 1989 (Revised July 1993)
Case

CIGNA Worldwide

A CIGNA Worldwide (CWW) task group of European country directors and key functional managers is meeting in November 1988 to discuss how CWW should respond to the European Community's plan to remove existing internal barriers and restrictions to the free flow of goods... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Insurance; Competitive Strategy; Emerging Markets; Trade; Insurance Industry; Europe

21 Apr 2015
First Look

First Look: April 21

http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Projects/BPEA/Fall-2014/Fall2014BPEA_Weinzierl.pdf?la=en Working Papers Selection and Market Reallocation: Productivity Gains from Multinational Production By: Alfaro, Laura, and Maggie X. Chen... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel & Sean Silverthorne

13 Dec 2016
First Look

December 13, 2016

impact on discriminatory behavior. Smart choices and transparent experimentation can create markets that are both more efficient and more inclusive. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51982 Selection and Market Reallocation: Productivity... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

September 1996 (Revised March 1999)
Case

EMDICO (A)

The general manager of Fuji Film's Saudi distributorship must decide on a relaunch strategy for Fuji film and cameras in Saudi Arabia. View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Emerging Markets; Product Launch; Brands and Branding; Manufacturing Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Saudi Arabia

December 1998
Case

Pioneer Hi-Bred: Turning Seeds Into Factories

By: F. Warren McFarlan and Melissa Dailey

The agricultural sector is among the preeminent information technology users in our economy," exclaimed an August 1998 Forbes ASAP survey of the U.S. economy's best and worst users of information technology (IT). The survey designated Pioneer Hi-Bred International,... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Multinational Firms and Management; Information Management; Infrastructure; Business Strategy; Information Technology; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Iowa

26 May 2009
Research & Ideas

Improving Market Research in a Recession

Some large multinational marketers, such as Unilever, are shifting research expenditures away from Western Europe and toward emerging markets in Asia and Latin America. Relative to the developed economies, the costs of research in... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

September 1992 (Revised November 1997)
Case

DHL Worldwide Express

The worldwide sales and marketing manager must determine the degree to which pricing strategy and tactics should be standardized or left to the discretion of the DHL subsidiary in each country. View Details

Keywords: Governance; Business Subsidiaries; Price; Marketing Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Sales; Shipping Industry

23 Jun 2016
Op-Ed

Brexit: Should Britain Stay or Go?

Harvard Business School faculty offer their views: Isidor Straus Professor of Business History Geoff Jones, who researches the evolution, impact, and responsibility of global business and has authored numerous books on these topics, including View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey G. Jones & Dante Roscini

22 Jul 2002
Research & Ideas

How Business Strategy Tamed the “Invisible Hand”

for the decade after World War II because wartime destruction led to excess demand, which limited competition as firms rushed to expand capacity. Given the enormous job of rebuilding Europe and much of Asia, it was not until the late 1950s and 1960s that many large... View Details

Keywords: by Pankaj Ghemawat

July 1996 (Revised June 1998)
Case

Gillette Indonesia

The country manager of Gillette Indonesia is reviewing his 1996 marketing plan and considering whether the pace of market development and mix of product sales can be impacted by the level and type of Gillette expenditures in the market. View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Emerging Markets; Forecasting and Prediction; Product Marketing; Manufacturing Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Indonesia

September 1991 (Revised August 1996)
Case

Procter & Gamble Co., The: Lenor Refill Package

The assistant brand manager for Lenor, Procter & Gamble Germany's fabric softener brand, was preparing a presentation on the national launch of an environmentally friendly refill package. View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Environmental Sustainability; Product Launch; Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry; Germany; United States

October 1994 (Revised January 1995)
Case

Rhone-Poulenc (A) and (B) Condensed

Rhone-Poulenc, France's largest chemical firm, has achieved a major position in the United States as the result of an ambitious series of acquisitions. As it expanded in the United States from 1986 to 1990, Rhone-Poulenc management sought to take a "hands-off" approach... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Multinational Firms and Management; Organizational Structure; Chemical Industry; France; United States