Publications

March 2007
Teaching Note

Latvia: Economic Strategy after EU Accession (TN)

By: Michael E. Porter and Christian H.M. Ketels

Teaching note to 707515. View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Emerging Markets; Market Entry and Exit; Perspective; Opportunities; Retail Industry; Latvia; Russia; China; Germany; India

March 2001 (Revised September 2002)
Case

Merck Latin America (D): Mexico

By: Michael Beer and James Weber

Examines Merck's change effort in Mexico from the perspective of the local employees. View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Multinational Firms and Management; Employees; Operations; Perspective; Pharmaceutical Industry; Mexico

May 1994
Case

Colgate-Palmolive: Managing International Careers

Colgate-Palmolive, the U.S.-based consumer products firm, has long emphasized international experience for its managers and has developed a comprehensive policy to manage expatriate assignments. The rise in dual-career families has made some managers reluctant to... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Personal Development and Career; Experience and Expertise; Consumer Products Industry; United States

January 2002
Case

Noranda Inc.: Mining, Smelting, and Sustainability?

By: Richard H.K. Vietor

Noranda is a $7 billion international mining and smelting company headquartered in Canada. It has been cited for its fine environmental record. This case explores the issue of sustainability--in this case, for a mining company. Over time, and under nongovernmental... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Mining; Cost Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Environmental Sustainability; Mining Industry

12 Sep 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, September 12, 2017

global south to explain how clusters work as major tools for international business. Particularly in the developing world, multinationals have used clusters as platforms for channeling foreign investment, knowledge, and imported inputs.... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

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

16 Dec 2008
First Look

First Look: December 16, 2008

challenge of upward voice. We first undertook in-depth exploratory research in a knowledge-intensive multinational corporation in which employee input was considered crucial. Qualitative data collected in 190 interviews with employees... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

10 Nov 2009
First Look

First Look: Nov. 10

Amazon.com, a $19 billion multinational online retailer, had won its board of directors' approval to offer to merge the two companies. Amazon had been courting Zappos since 2005, hoping a merger would enable Amazon to expand and... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

01 May 2007
First Look

First Look: May 1, 2007

production shifts to the South, Northern resources will be reallocated to R&D, driving an increase in the global rate of innovation. We test the model's predictions by analyzing responses of U.S.-based multinationals and domestic... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 1996 (Revised March 2000)
Teaching Note

Intercon Japan TN

By: Roy D. Shapiro and Marie-Therese M. Flaherty

Teaching Note for (9-688-056). View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Production; Business Subsidiaries; Conflict and Resolution; Supply Chain; Manufacturing Industry; Japan

30 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 30, 2019

multinational corporations in six main world regions: Asia, Europe, India, Latin America, North America, and Oceania (N = 5,852). Consistent with our theorizing, we found cross-cultural evidence that reward satisfaction promoted greater... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

16 Dec 2011
Research & Ideas

Reintroducing Intellectual Ambition to the Study of Business History

picture as firms emerge as weak transferors of knowledge and contribute to income divergence. However, the evidence is partial and patchy. Many topics, from the relations between affiliates and parents in multinational firms, to the... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones & Walter Friedman

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

By: John A. Quelch

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

Find at Harvard

October 1993 (Revised September 1994)
Case

Becton Dickinson: Worldwide Blood Collection Team

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Kathleen Scharf

Describes Becton Dickinson's evolving attempt to develop products and strategies to meet worldwide competitive and market needs. Traces the evolution of a classic parent company-led product-market strategy to truly transnational product and strategy development.... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Product Development; Innovation and Management; Competitive Advantage; Multinational Firms and Management

March 2014
Teaching Note

Roll Back Malaria and BCG: The Change Initiative

By: Nava Ashraf and Natalie Kindred

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Management Practices and Processes; Performance Evaluation; Communication Strategy; Communication Intention and Meaning; Non-Governmental Organizations; Change Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Negotiation; Health Industry