Publications

February 6, 2021
Editorial

The Chinese Debt Trap Is a Myth: The Narrative Wrongfully Portrays Both Beijing and the Developing Countries It Deals With.

By: Deborah Brautigam and Meg Rithmire

Our research shows that Chinese banks are willing to restructure the terms of existing loans and have never actually seized an asset from any country, much less the port of Hambantota. A Chinese company’s acquisition of a majority stake in the port was a cautionary... View Details

Keywords: Financing and Loans; Developing Countries and Economies; International Relations; China

2025
Article

Educating Students and Professionals on the Business Implications of Climate Change

By: Michael W. Toffel

As climate change poses unprecedented challenges and opportunities, the private sector must play a pivotal role in both adaptation and mitigation efforts. This article discusses the new Harvard Business School Online course, Business and Climate Change, designed to... View Details

Keywords: Climate Impact; Online Courses; Online Education; Decarbonization; Mitigation Policies; Climate Risk; Climate Change; Risk Management; Science; Policy; Business Education; Adaptation

24 Feb 2021
Lessons from the Classroom

What History's Biggest Wars Teach Us About Leading in Peace

Outside the classroom, Harvard Business School Professor Deepak Malhotra’s abiding interest is war and peace–how wars begin and end, how they could have been avoided, and what lessons can be learned from them. Along with studying wars, Malhotra has advised nations with... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

December 1992 (Revised September 1995)
Exercise

Negotiation Exercise on Tradeable Pollution Allowances: General Background Information

By: Willis M. Emmons III

Designed to teach students about the trade-offs faced by firms exploring alternative approaches to complying with pollution control regulations. The setting is the U.S. electric utility industry in 1993. In accordance with the provisions of the 1990 Clean Air Act,... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Pollutants; Laws and Statutes; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Governance Compliance; Utilities Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

December 2011 (Revised May 2015)
Case

Aviva Investors

By: George Serafeim

The Aviva Investors case describes the challenge of integrating sustainability considerations into the strategy and business practices of companies and into the decision making process of the investment community. Steve Waygood, Chief Responsible Investment Officer at... View Details

Keywords: Investing; Investment Management; Shareholder Activism; Disclosure; Stock Exchanges; Sustainability; Sustainable Development; Sustainability Reporting; ESG; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; Social Impact; Activism; Investment; Management; Business and Shareholder Relations; Environmental Sustainability; United Kingdom

March 2013
Case

NovaStar Financial: A Short Seller's Battle

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Amy Kaser

The NovaStar case describes the challenges faced by short seller Marc Cohodes of hedge fund Rocker Partners as he tried to expose what he thought was widespread fraud in mortgage lender NovaStar Financial. The case is set in the time period from 2001 to 2007 and tracks... View Details

20 Mar 2007
First Look

First Look: March 20, 2007

are an enabling force legally astute management teams can use to manage the firm more effectively. In particular, it proposes that legally astute management teams can, inter alia, use formal contracts as complements to relational View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

06 Jun 2016
Research & Ideas

Skills and Behaviors that Make Entrepreneurs Successful

management and governance turned out to be another non-obvious differentiator. “Financial management is a skill that all of our HBS alumni should feel confident in applying,” Kraus says. “Yet among the alumni surveyed in the pilot, those... View Details

Keywords: by HBS Working Knowledge

Web

Partners - Case Method Project

2 of 5 Suzanne Bailey Virgil Grissom High School Huntsville, AL AL 3 of 5 Marcee Hinds Baker High School Mobile, AL AL 4 of 5 Michele Olejnik Huntsville High School Huntsville, AL AL 5 of 5 Mark Tenhundfeld McGill-Toolen Catholic High School Mobile, AL Subjects: AP US... View Details

09 Jun 2015
First Look

First Look: June 9, 2015

been fanciful given Mibanco's preeminent role in Peruvian microfinance, which has made it the country's fifth largest bank. The case examines why Mibanco is on the block, while also relating the evolution of Edyficar and its own... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

25 Aug 2015
First Look

First Look Tuesday

extraordinary government support to help stabilize the funding of global financial institutions. In light of the problems that emerged during the crisis, a number of MMF reforms have been proposed, which we analyze in this paper. We... View Details

2014
Working Paper

Who Runs the International System? Power and the Staffing of the United Nations Secretariat

By: Paul Novosad and Eric Werker

National governments frequently pull strings to get their citizens appointed to senior positions in international institutions. We examine, over a 60 year period, the nationalities of the most senior positions in the United Nations Secretariat, ostensibly the world's... View Details

Keywords: International Relations; Global Range; Power and Influence

SSRN

Web

Social Enterprise - Faculty & Research

Standards ; Tradeoffs ; Global Supply Chains ; Internal Governance Structure ; Public Opinion ; Supply Chain ; Corporate Accountability ; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact ; Working Conditions Citation Read Now View Details

August 2008 (Revised July 2009)
Case

Gazprom (A): Energy and Strategy in Russian History

By: Rawi E. Abdelal, Sogomon Tarontsi and Alexander Jorov

Critics have accused Gazprom, the world's largest natural gas producer, of eschewing market principles in favor of the foreign policy priorities of the Russian government, ever since the energy giant cut off the supply to Ukraine in January of 2006. The purported... View Details

Keywords: History; International Relations; Trade; Energy Industry; Russia; Soviet Union; Ukraine; Europe

23 Jul 2013
First Look

First Look: July 23

profitable, loyal customers into high maintenance customers whose value stemming from their frequent purchasing is eroded by their increasing cost-to-serve. The case advocates a deeper appreciation of the two-way, reciprocating nature of customer View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

September 2002 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Environmental Power Corporation: Changing Manure Into Gold?

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Laure Mougeot Stroock

In 2002, Environmental Power Corp. (EPC), a small company developing renewable energy projects, was attempting to commercialize its "digester," a facility that extracted methane from manure, reduced manure's environmental impact, and generated electricity. The company... View Details

Keywords: Commercialization; Energy Generation; Renewable Energy; Environmental Sustainability; Investment; Projects; Wastes and Waste Processing; Corporate Finance; Business and Government Relations; Energy Industry

January 2006 (Revised October 2007)
Background Note

Managing Networked Businesses: Course Overview for Students

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

Provides an overview for students of the MBA elective course Managing Networked Businesses (MNB). MNB focuses on management challenges in businesses that exhibit network effects. The first section of the note explains that such businesses comprise a large and growing... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Capital Structure; Business or Company Management; Network Effects; Organizational Design; Business and Government Relations; Social and Collaborative Networks; Competitive Strategy