Publications

December 2007 (Revised December 2021)
Case

The South Sea Company (A)

By: David A. Moss, Eugene Kintgen, Agnieszka Rafalska and Kimberly Hagan

In early 1720, the South Sea Company and the Bank of England were cometing for the right to issue new shares and to exchange those shares for government bons that were then in the hands of the public. The British government had already executed two such debt conversion... View Details

Keywords: Borrowing and Debt; Debt Securities; Stock Shares; Financial Strategy; Bids and Bidding; Business and Government Relations; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; Great Britain

2005
Working Paper

Direct versus Indirect Colonial Rule in India: Long-term Consequences

By: Lakshmi Iyer

This paper compares economic outcomes across areas in India which were under direct British colonial rule with areas which were under indirect colonial rule. Controlling for selective annexation using a specific policy rule, I find that areas which experienced direct... View Details

Keywords: Governance; Development Economics; Outcome or Result; Great Britain; India

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27 Sep 2018
Working Paper Summaries

UK Competitiveness after Brexit

Keywords: by Michael E. Porter

Spring 2018
Article

The ‘Moral Effect’ of Legalized Lawlessness:: Violence in Britain’s Twentieth Century Empire

By: Caroline M. Elkins

From 1930s Palestine to Kenya in the years following World War II, systematized violence shaped and defined much of Britain’s twentieth-century empire. Liberal authoritarianism, and with it the “moral effect” that coercion had upon colonial subjects, gave rise to the... View Details

Keywords: Colonialism; Authoritarianism; Violence; History; Great Britain

January 2003 (Revised January 2008)
Case

The British Motorcycle Industry at a Crossroads

By: Jan W. Rivkin

By 1975, the collapse of the British motorcycle industry is nearly complete. Only one British manufacturer, NVT, remains in operation. In this setting, the British government commissions the Boston Consulting Group to identify and evaluate strategic alternatives for... View Details

Keywords: Cost; Industry Structures; Business and Government Relations; Mathematical Methods; Competition; Consulting Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Motorcycle Industry; Great Britain

September 1993 (Revised January 2007)
Case

British Satellite Broadcasting versus Sky Television

Describes the rivalry between two competitors who have attempted to become the dominant force in the emerging British satellite television industry. Can be used to examine issues of competitive positioning, technology adoption, and scenario analysis. Helps students... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Technology Adoption; Telecommunications Industry; Great Britain

June 1991 (Revised June 1993)
Background Note

The Decline of the British Cotton Industry (Abridged)

Supplements the general argument concerning the decline of the British economy by showing how vertical specialization, horizontal competition, and entrenched job control combined to create incentives for management to adapt to changing international conditions by... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Business Cycles; Organizational Structure; Consumer Products Industry; Great Britain

spring 2007
Article

Corporate Legitimacy and Advertising: British Companies and the Rhetoric of Development in West Africa, 1950-1970

Around 1960, the first independent African nations emerged, marking the beginning of the momentous political event that, among other things, would change the visual representations and the copy of advertisements. Development, modernity, and industrialization became... View Details

Keywords: Advertising Campaigns; Developing Countries and Economies; Africa; Great Britain

October 2022
Case

Margaret Thatcher: Changing the World

By: Robert L. Simons and Shirley Sun

This case traces the rise of Margaret Thatcher, the daughter of a shopkeeper, from a small industrial town in England to the longest-serving leader in the Western world. The case describes how she became interested in politics at an early age, attended Oxford, and... View Details

Keywords: Politics; Leadership Style; Personal Characteristics; Business ＆ Government Relations; Values And Beliefs; Work-life Balance; Mission And Purpose; Government Administration; Power and Influence; Great Britain; Europe

February 1990
Teaching Note

Steve Shirley, Teaching Note

By: Shoshana Zuboff

Teaching Note for (9-490-004). View Details

Keywords: Europe; Great Britain

16 May 2018
Research & Ideas

How Companies Managed Risk (and Even Benefitted) in World War Internment Camps

international business history story that hasn’t previously been told in great detail, but should be explored, says Giacomin, particularly since internment has long-lasting effects. During their incarceration, the Germans struggled with... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Manufacturing

September 2005
Article

Decolonising Barclays Bank DCO? Corporate Africanisation Programmes in Nigeria, 1945-1969

The reaction of British business to the decolonisation of the Empire has been the focus of much recent research, but few studies have shed light on the continued presence of commercial activities after independence. Barclays Bank DCO in Nigeria began indigenising its... View Details

Keywords: International Relations; Foreign Direct Investment; Banks and Banking; Macroeconomics; Banking Industry; Great Britain; Nigeria

1993
Book

British Multinational Banking 1830-1990

By: Geoffrey Jones

This book provides the first modern history of British multinational banking. It analyses their emergence, growth and performance from their origins in the 1830s until the present day. It is based on a wide range of confidential banking records, which are placed in the... View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Multinational Firms and Management; Growth and Development; Information Management; Performance; Great Britain; United Kingdom

01 Mar 2013
News

Sands of Time

father and English mother, de Carvalho attended school in Switzerland and became such an accomplished skier that he represented Great Britain in the 1968 Winter Olympics, and again in 1972 and 1976, both... View Details

Keywords: Luge; Memorable partying; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Arts, Entertainment

05 Feb 2014
Research & Ideas

Can Putin Score Olympic Gold?

in, and when they did, they saw a warm, welcoming city, with attractive facilities and convenient infrastructure. Team Great Britain also vastly exceeded expectations, earning 65 medals in the Games compared... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Sports; Advertising

2009
Book

Merchants to Multinationals

By: G. Jones

Merchants to Multinationals examines the evolution of multinational trading companies from the eighteenth century to the present day. During the Industrial Revolution, British merchants established overseas branches which became major trade intermediaries and... View Details

Keywords: Trade; Foreign Direct Investment; Multinational Firms and Management; Business History; Alliances; Groups and Teams; Distribution Industry; Africa; Asia; Great Britain; Latin America

Profile

Jonathan Bailey

perspective really distinguish HBS from other business schools," Jonathan believes. "The school sets a higher bar. It's not easy and requires considerable thought and preparation. There's a great deal of attention to bringing... View Details

2012
Book

The Founders and Finance: How Hamilton, Gallatin, and Other Immigrants Forged a New Economy

In 1776 the United States government started out on a shoestring and quickly went bankrupt fighting its War of Independence against Britain. At the war's end, the national government owed tremendous sums to foreign creditors and its own citizens. But lacking the power... View Details

Keywords: History; Sovereign Finance; Ethnicity Characteristics; Economics; Great Britain; United States