Publications

Read Now

Research Summary

Dissertation topic: The invisible hand and the good of communities: How institutional logics matter in local banks

How do individuals’ backgrounds and identities influence the strategies and success of newly founded ventures? In my dissertation, I explore the impact on local bank startups of their founders’ community and financial identities. Those identities have... View Details

August 28, 2018
Article

Maintaining Trust When Agents Can Engage in Self-deception

By: Andres Babino, Hernan A. Makse, Rafael Di Tella and Mariano Sigman

The coexistence of cooperation and selfish instincts is a remarkable characteristic of humans. Psychological research has unveiled the cognitive mechanisms behind self-deception. Two important findings are that a higher ambiguity about others’ social preferences leads... View Details

Keywords: Behavioral Economics; Cognitive Neuroscience; Corruption; Cooperation; Self-deception; Trust; Behavior

Find at Harvard

Read Now

Teaching Interest

Digital Marketing Strategy

By: John A. Deighton

When the tools of marketing change, strategies change too. The focus of this course is on firms trying to navigate the transition from offline to online market-making and strategy development. Our concern is primarily with corporations that have products and... View Details

03 Mar 2011
Working Paper Summaries

How Firm Strategies Influence the Architecture of Transaction Networks

Keywords: by Jianxi Luo, Daniel E. Whitney, Carliss Y. Baldwin & Christopher L. Magee

September 2007 (Revised November 2008)
Case

Sinopec: Refining its Strategy

By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Julia Galef

China's oil industry, with majority ownership vested in the government, had engaged in an "equity oil" strategy for the past few years-acquiring equity interests in oil producing nations including Sudan, Angola, and Iran. Outside critics, however, suggested that the... View Details

Keywords: Non-Renewable Energy; Equity; Foreign Direct Investment; Growth and Development Strategy; Demand and Consumers; State Ownership; Energy Industry; China

Research Summary

Competitive Strategy

By: Michael E. Porter

Porter is engaged in a major new body of work on the theoretical foundations of competitive positioning and the underpinnings of sustainable competitive advantage. This research highlights the distinction between positioning and operational effectiveness; the... View Details

Teaching Interest

Global Strategy and Implementation

Professor Vijay Govindarajan

This course focuses on the challenges of developing and implementing strategies in global industries. The aim is to provide students with a conceptual and practical understanding of the strategic and organizational... View Details

March 2019 (Revised March 2023)
Case

Accion's Fintech Strategy

By: V. Kasturi Rangan, Michael Chu and Tricia Gregg

Accion, an NGO, had been a pioneer in microfinance since its entry into that sector in the early 1970s. Its investments in Banco Compartamos paid off, when the microfinance bank went IPO in 2007, leaving an influx of $138 million for Accion. Under a new CEO, Michael... View Details

Keywords: Fintech; Impact Investing; Financial Inclusion; Technological Innovation; Strategy; Strategic Planning; Performance Effectiveness; Non-Governmental Organizations; Microfinance; Financial Institutions; Business Growth and Maturation; Customer Focus and Relationships; Industry Growth

2024
Working Paper

Private Regulation, Institutional Entrepreneurship and Climate Change: A Business History Perspective

By: Ann-Kristin Bergquist and Geoffrey Jones

Private regulatory systems, including voluntary efforts by firms to restrain their own behavior are the primary form of global climate change governance. However, when environmental challenges first rose up on the scientific and political agendas during the 1970s, the... View Details

Keywords: Certification; Climate Change; Environmental Regulation; Business History; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy

Read Now

June 2009
Journal Article

Taxes, Institutions and Foreign Diversification Opportunities

By: Mihir Desai and Dhammika Dharmapala

Investors can access foreign diversification opportunities through either foreign portfolio investment (FPI) or foreign direct investment (FDI). The worldwide tax regime employed by the U.S. potentially distorts this choice by penalizing FDI, relative to FPI, in... View Details

Keywords: International Finance; Foreign Direct Investment; Investment Portfolio; Multinational Firms and Management; Taxation; Diversification; United States

SSRN

Find at Harvard

16 Jun 2020
Research & Ideas

Your Customers Have Changed. Here's How to Engage Them Again.

pace or with more limited offerings. And whether demand has declined or increased during such unprecedented times, all firms and organizations need to ask: What is my minimum viable strategy going forward during this period? About the... View Details

Keywords: by Rohit Deshpandé, Ofer Mintz, and Imran S. Currim; Retail; Service

February 2024 (Revised March 2025)
Case

Moving Science: The Rowland Institute at Harvard

By: Maria P. Roche

Set in 2022, this case describes the considerations involved in organizing the physical relocation of the Rowland Institute at Harvard (RIH), a research institute established in 1980 by Edwin H. Land, the founder of the Polaroid Corporation, for the advancement of... View Details

Keywords: Optics; Engineering; Higher Education; Strategy; Science; Buildings and Facilities; Research and Development; Real Estate Industry; Biotechnology Industry

February 2006 (Revised November 2012)
Case

Corporate Responsibility & Community Engagement at the Tintaya Copper Mine (A)

By: V. Kasturi Rangan, Brooke Barton and Ezequiel Reficco

Located in the highlands of Peru, the Tintaya copper mine has long been a source of intense conflict between local community members and mine operators. The mine, which was owned and managed first by the Peruvian state and later by BHP Billiton, stands on 2,300... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Multinational Firms and Management; Agreements and Arrangements; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Community Relations; Non-Governmental Organizations; Conflict Management; Mining Industry; Australia; Peru

21 Jun 2010
Research & Ideas

Strategy and Execution for Emerging Markets

also shows how nontransferable certain business ideas are when you take them to contexts without key institutions. In fact, part of Vizio's global strategy is to only go to those markets where Costco is... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

September 2006 (Revised May 2008)
Supplement

Corporate Responsibility & Community Engagement at the Tintaya Copper Mine (B)

By: V. Kasturi Rangan, Brooke Barton and Ezequiel Reficco

Engaging local stakeholders and building strong relations has become a strategic imperative for multinational firms in the often politically charged mining, oil, and gas sectors. For BHP Billiton, the world's second largest mining company, its Tintaya copper mine in... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mining Industry

2009
Chapter

The Role of Resources in Institutional Entrepreneurship: Insights for an Approach to Strategic Management That Combines Agency and Institution

By: Julie Battilana and Bernard Leca

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Resource Allocation; Corporate Strategy; Management Style

Find at Harvard

April 2011
Teaching Note

Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences (TN)

By: Willy Shih and Sen Chai

Teaching Note for 611057. View Details

Keywords: Patents; Rights; Infrastructure; Multinational Firms and Management; Research and Development; Complexity; Commercialization; Technology Adoption; Motivation and Incentives; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Shanghai