Publications

August 2024
Case

Quickmart: Sustaining Growth in a Challenging Economic Environment

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Kuria Kamau

In July 2023, Peter Kang’iri, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Quickmart, Kenya’s second-largest retail chain, sat in his Nairobi office reviewing the company’s first half financial results before the weekly executive committee (EXCO) meeting. The company was in... View Details

Keywords: Distribution; Supply Chain; Logistics; Business Strategy; Expansion; Business Earnings; Growth and Development Strategy; Strategic Planning; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Africa; Kenya; Nairobi

September 2018
Case

Haier in the U.S.: Transforming GE Appliances

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jonathan Cohen

Chinese appliance company Haier's 2016 acquisition of iconic GE Appliances (GEA) ushered in strategic and structural changes to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship at the U.S. company and to help it grow. Haier, which had a model designed to bring the company... View Details

Keywords: Iconic Brands; Appliances; Digital; Innovation; Entrepreneur; Microenterprise; Management; Entrepreneurship; Transformation; Innovation and Management; Acquisition; Consumer Products Industry; United States; China

February 2019
Teaching Note

Haier in the U.S.: Transforming GE Appliances

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jonathan Cohen

Chinese appliance company Haier's 2016 acquisition of iconic GE Appliances ushered in strategic and structural changes to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship at the U.S. company, and to help it grow. Haier, which had a model designed to bring the company closer... View Details

Keywords: Iconic Brands; Appliances; Digital; Innovation; Entrepreneur; Microenterprise; Management; Entrepreneurship; Transformation; Innovation and Management; Acquisition; Consumer Products Industry; United States; China

2025
Working Paper

Exports in Disguise? Trade Rerouting During the U.S.-China Trade War

By: Ebehi Iyoha, Edmund Malesky, Jaya Wen and Sung-Ju Wu

This paper introduces a new measure of tariff evasion through rerouting and applies it to the 2018 U.S.–China trade war, focusing on Vietnam as a transit country. We use transaction-level trade data and define rerouting as the flow of a granular eight-digit Harmonized... View Details

Keywords: Trade; International Relations; Logistics; China; Viet Nam; United States

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April 1999 (Revised March 2002)
Case

Aluminum Smelting in South Africa: Alusaf's Hillside Project

With prices at all-time lows at the beginning of 1994, South Africa's sole primary aluminum producer--Alusaf--is considering building the world's largest greenfield smelter. Using cost estimates in this case, students can evaluate the relative cost position of this... View Details

Keywords: Metals and Minerals; Analysis; Markets; Profit; Capital; Industrial Products Industry; South Africa

30 May 2018
What Do You Think?

Should Intellectual Property be Protected in International Trade?

Summing Up Does IP Ownership Belong in International Trade Deals? Intellectual property (IP) regulation remains an active issue in trade negotiations between the China and the... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Technology

January 2013
Case

Luotang Power: Variances Explained

By: Robert Simons and Craig Chapman

The general manager of Luotang Power, a coal-fired power plant located in central China, reviews annual results before a meeting with the board of directors. He thought the company performed well during the year and both plant availability and fuel economy had improved... View Details

Keywords: China; Financial Statements; Management Accounting; Variance Analysis; Environmental Regulations; Incentives; Electric Power Generation; Contracts; Valuation; Energy Generation; Accounting; Performance Evaluation; Energy Industry; China

13 Jul 2011
Research & Ideas

Experimental Researcher Helps Improve Health Care in Zambia

Sometimes big ideas start with small experiments. That's been the experience of Harvard Business School professor Nava Ashraf, whose experimental approach to research in developing countries has produced insights that have influenced... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson; Health

March 2015 (Revised November 2017)
Case

Bonitas

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Natalie Kindred

Bonitas, a South African medical scheme (i.e., health insurer), must navigate highly restrictive regulations that make it difficult for Bonitas to innovate, grow, and compete with market leader Discovery as well as providers of alternative insurance products. Bonitas... View Details

Keywords: Health Insurance; Health Care; South Africa; Medical Scheme; Public Policy; Bonitas; Bonitas Medical Fund; National Health Insurance; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Insurance; Policy; Health Industry; Insurance Industry; South Africa; Johannesburg; Africa

October 2012 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Privatization of the Power Sector in Nigeria (A)

By: Eric Werker, Onyechi Ezekwueche, Olatomiwa Igun and Alice Wei

In spite of its abundant energy resources, Nigeria in 2012 had one of the lowest levels of energy use in the world. Self-generation of power from costly generators was double that of grid-supplied electricity. The history of its power sector was one of inefficient... View Details

Keywords: Privatization; Energy; Nigeria

16 Feb 2016
Working Paper Summaries

Diversity and Team Performance in a Kenyan Organization

Keywords: by Benjamin Marx, Vincent Pons, and Tavneet Suri; Public Administration; Public Relations

January 2016
Case

COFCO

By: David E. Bell and Natalie Kindred

In 2015, COFCO, China's state-owned agribusiness giant, was working to protect China's food security (a key national security priority) by extending its control of the global food system through overseas acquisitions. At the same time, COFCO sought to grow its market... View Details

March 2020
Article

Synergistic Value in Vertically Integrated Power-to-Gas Energy Systems

By: Gunther Glenk and Stefan Reichelstein

In vertically integrated energy systems, integration frequently entails operational gains that must be traded off against the requisite cost of capacity investments. In the context of the model analyzed in this study, the operational gains are subject to inherent... View Details

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December 2008 (Revised May 2009)
Background Note

Corporate Governance in China: Current Practice, Key Problems

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Joanne Xu and Tracy Manty

This note introduces the current corporate governance system in China, identifies its key problems and assesses recent improvements and future challenges. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Practice; Problems and Challenges; China

March 2023
Teaching Note

ALDDN: Advancing Local Dairy Development in Nigeria

By: Meg Rithmire

Teaching Note for HBS No. 721-026. View Details

Keywords: Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Africa; Nigeria

01 Jun 2014
News

Taking the Lead in Support of HBS

Angeles, CA "I support the School because I have benefited tremendously from what I learned at HBS about innovation and building businesses, especially from outstanding professors." —Jennifer Yan (MBA 2000) Partner, Steamboat Ventures Asia Shanghai, View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Finance

2011
Teaching Note

The Haidilao Company

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Zheng Xiaoming and Ziqian Zhao

Haidilao Hot Pot brings customers delightful dining experiences. Like most restaurants, its workforce is mostly composed of young employees born in underdeveloped suburban areas. Instilled with the founder's unique entrepreneurial values, they are enthused and... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Customer Service; Employee Empowerment; Global Corporate Cultures; Organizational Values; Transformations; China; Restaurants; China