Publications

February 2005
Case

Mahindra & Mahindra: Creating Scorpio

By: Tarun Khanna, Rajiv Lal and Merlina Manocaran

Details the emergence of a private sector automobile manufacturer in India that has created globally competitive and cheap versions of an SUV commonly available worldwide. Asks us to think about the parent corporation's next steps in leveraging this success. In... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Global Range; Multinational Firms and Management; Emerging Markets; Commercialization; Expansion; Auto Industry; India

16 Oct 2007
First Look

First Look: October 16, 2007

and threats to Unilever's global business in 1978 based on the commercial and political challenges faced by three of its subsidiaries, Lever Brothers in the United States, Hindustan Lever in India, and United Africa Company in West Africa. Management faced several... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 May 2006
What Do You Think?

Who Will Cast a Longer Shadow on the 21st Century: Friedman or Galbraith?

"I think Friedman will cast the longer shadow . . . the expansion of markets has speeded up the process of globalization . . . the corporate power of multinationals has not been as dominant as Galbraith had envisioned." In... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

18 Nov 2014
First Look

First Look: November 18

different review settings. Download working paper: http://www.people.hbs.edu/mluca/OptimalAggregation.pdf International Trade, Multinational Activity, and Corporate Finance By: Foley, C. Fritz, and Kalina Manova Abstract—An emerging new... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

11 Feb 2019
Research & Ideas

The Business of Saving the Planet

"The fact that the benefits of addressing the problem of climate change almost certainly outweigh the costs ... does not make concerted global action to address the problem easy." —Climate Change in 2018: Implications for Business If there is one positive... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Energy; Green Technology

01 Dec 2003
News

HIV/AIDS and Business

social and financial cost of inaction is so high that standing by is not an option, particularly for multinational corporations doing business in countries with high infection rates. “AIDS places a dramatic spotlight on the question of... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Health, Social Assistance

01 Jun 2012
News

Think Locally, Act Globally

managers even as we strengthen our management processes with an eye to future growth.” Africa also looked like fertile ground for the same partnering approach Bharti first developed inside India—blending multinational and local-management... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons; Telecommunications; Information

01 Oct 1999
News

Culture Clash: Exploring Cross Cultural Conflicts in Business

course-development project in 1997. Writing cases on firms in China, Japan, Thailand, Argentina, Nigeria, and Russia, she focused on businesses indigenous to each culture as well as multinationals moving between cultures. She chose... View Details

Keywords: Judith A. Ross

2010
Book

Unilever'i Yenilemek: Dönüşüm ve Gelenek [Renewing Unilever: Transformation and Tradition]

By: Geoffrey Jones

Unilever's brands can now be found in one out of every two households in the world. This arresting and impressive fact shows the scope and scale of this unique global corporation. Geoffrey Jones, a leading business historian from the Harvard Business School, takes us... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Business Growth and Maturation; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Strategy; Organizational Culture; Globalization; Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry

October 2000 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Li & Fung (A): Internet Issues

By: F. Warren McFarlan and Fred Young

This case looks at the issues facing a Hong Kong-based trading company, which links hundreds of factories in India and Asia with major customers like Gap and the Limited in Europe and in the United States. The company has recently launched a dot-com operation to allow... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Multinational Firms and Management; Distribution Channels; Logistics; Networks; Markets; Supply Chain; Retail Industry; Hong Kong; India; Europe; 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

May 1992 (Revised January 2000)
Supplement

ABB: Accountability Times Two (B)

By: Robert L. Simons

Describes internal allocation conflicts in a complex global company structured as a matrix organization. ABB Switzerland has secured and will build an important power station project; however, internal market allocation policies dictate that this work be handled by ABB... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Conflict Management; Complexity; Sweden; Switzerland

January 2004 (Revised August 2015)
Case

Weetman Pearson and the Mexican Oil Industry (B)

By: Geoffrey Jones and Lisa Bud-Freirman

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Business History; Entrepreneurship; Multinational Firms and Management; Business and Government Relations; Energy Industry; United Kingdom; Mexico; Arizona

May 2003 (Revised May 2009)
Case

ZARA: Fast Fashion

Focuses on Inditex, an apparel retailer from Spain, which has set up an extremely quick response system for its ZARA chain. Instead of predicting months before a season starts what women will want to wear, ZARA observes what's selling and what's not and continuously... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Multinational Firms and Management; Competitive Advantage; Manufacturing Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry; Spain

June 1996
Case

Becton Dickinson: Managing the Global Enterprise, 1996

Becton Dickinson, a U.S.-based maker of medical and diagnostic devices, has been organized into a mixed structure of U.S.-based divisions and country/region organizations. In 1995, three businesses shifted to become worldwide divisions, forcing a reexamination of the... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business or Company Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Organizational Structure; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; United States