Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(3,252)
- Faculty Publications (607)
- February 2021 (Revised June 2021)
- Case
Barbarians at the Gate or Turnaround Gurus? Private Equity and the Rise of the LBO
By: Tom Nicholas and John Masko
During the 1980s, leveraged buyouts (LBOs) and the private equity (PE) firms responsible for carrying them out revolutionized both investment and management in the U.S. Between 1980 and 1989, buyout activity in the U.S. surged from $1 billion per year to $60 billion.... View Details
Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Restructuring; Borrowing and Debt; Private Equity; Bonds; Investment Return; Institutional Investing; Profit Sharing; Business History; Management Style; Private Ownership; Performance Effectiveness; Value Creation; Financial Services Industry; United States
- February 2021
- Case
The Tulsa Massacre and the Call for Reparations
By: Mihir Desai, Ruth Page, Suzanne Antoniou and Leanne Fan
How should historic social injustices be addressed? Survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre and their descendants, including Representative Regina Goodwin of Tulsa, believe they should be addressed through reparations and have consequently continued to push the government... View Details
Keywords: Costs And Consequences; Decisions; Judgment And Decision-making; Lawsuit; Leading Change; Conflict Resolution; Perspective Taking; Prejudice; Bias; Reparations; Decision Making; Decision Choices and Conditions; Cost vs Benefits; Judgments; Race; Ethics; Fairness; Moral Sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Conflict Management; Governance; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Government and Politics; Government Legislation; History; Lawsuits and Litigation; Legal Liability; Mission and Purpose; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Motivation and Incentives; Civil Society or Community; Social Issues; Oklahoma; Tulsa; United States
- 2021
- Chapter
Sostenibilidad y negocios verdes en América Latina
By: Geoffrey Jones
This chapter in the first-ever business history textbook on Latin America examines the impact of modern business enterprise on the natural environment of the region between the 19th century and the present day. It argues that although global capitalism created much... View Details
- 2021
- Working Paper
Bollywood, Skin Color and Sexism: The Role of the Film Industry in Emboldening and Contesting Stereotypes in India after Independence
By: Sudev Sheth, Geoffrey Jones and Morgan Spencer
This working paper examines the social impact of the film industry in India during the first four decades after Indian Independence in 1947. It shows that Bollywood, the mainstream cinema in India and the counterpart in scale to Hollywood in the United States, shared... View Details
- 2021
- Chapter
International Business History and the Strategy of Multinational Enterprises: How History Matters
By: Geoffrey Jones and Teresa da Silva Lopes
This chapter provides an overview of the evolution of international business over the long-run as well as the strategies of MNEs. It highlights how strategies became more complex over time with MNEs moving from being coordinators of resources and managers of... View Details
- 2020
- Book
American Business History: A Very Short Introduction
By: Walter Friedman
By the early twentieth century, it became common to describe the United States as a "business civilization." President Coolidge in 1925 said, "The chief business of the American people is business." More recently, historian Sven Beckert characterized Henry Ford's... View Details
- October 2020 (Revised April 2022)
- Case
When Institutions Fail: HIV/AIDS in the 1980s
By: Tom Nicholas and Christian Godwin
During the early 1980s, young gay men in urban centers such as San Francisco and New York City began contracting a mysterious illness that would come to be known as HIV/AIDS. A diagnosis meant almost certain death, with a less than 1% survival rate. Conflicting... View Details
Keywords: Ethics; Policy; Government and Politics; Health Pandemics; History; Rights; Media; Organizations; Business and Community Relations; Religion; Social Psychology; Identity; Prejudice and Bias; Social Issues; Public Opinion; Pharmaceutical Industry; Biotechnology Industry; Health Industry; Journalism and News Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Public Administration Industry; United States
- Fall 2020
- Article
Christo and Jeanne‐Claude: The Negotiation of Art and Vice Versa
Over the past two decades the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School (PON) has named thirteen people as Great Negotiators. The project, directed by my colleague Jim Sebenius, has given us the opportunity to commend our honorees’ outstanding work and to learn from... View Details
- September 2020 (Revised January 2021)
- Case
Comviva: Exploring New Frontiers (A)
By: Dante Roscini and Mahima Rao-Kachroo
Comviva, a mobile solutions provider active in India and 94 other countries, has had a rich history and been successful across many emerging and complex markets: Latin America, South-East Asia, Africa. What are the lessons learnt from expansion, cultural fits, and... View Details
- September 2020 (Revised April 2021)
- Case
Hitachi Rail Limited (A)
By: David J. Collis, Akiko Kanno and Nobuo Sato
Hitachi must decide whether to make a British executive, who has successfully built its European rail business from scratch, head of its global rail division even though the bulk of revenues for the unit still come from Japan. The case describes the history of Hitachi... View Details
- September 2020
- Case
Uber at a Crossroads (2017)
By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Karen Elterman
This case describes the history of Uber, its business model—including the ways it differed from that of the traditional taxi industry—and its competition with Lyft. The case is set in 2017, a year in which Uber was plagued by even more scandals than usual, though its... View Details
Keywords: Business Startups; Business Model; Customer Satisfaction; Fairness; Values and Beliefs; Price; Profit; Revenue; Investment; Government Legislation; Business History; Compensation and Benefits; Resignation and Termination; Employment; Wages; Lawfulness; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Management Style; Market Entry and Exit; Digital Platforms; Product Design; Organizational Culture; Problems and Challenges; Attitudes; Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Expansion; Transportation Networks; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Valuation; Transportation Industry; Technology Industry; United States
- September 2020
- Case
Keeping It in the Family at the Hayden Saw Company
By: V.G. Narayanan and John Masko
In 2019, Board Chair and third-generation shareholder Helen Fullerton was preparing for a meeting to discuss Ohio-based Hayden Saw Company’s (Hayden) future as a family business. As the company entered its fifth decade, the Hayden family was dealing with three distinct... View Details
- August 2020 (Revised July 2021)
- Case
From Farm Boy to Financier: Eiichi Shibusawa and the Creation of Modern Japan
By: Geoffrey Jones, Gabriel Ellsworth and Ryo Takahashi
This case describes the career of Eiichi Shibusawa (1840-1931), a serial entrepreneur who is widely known as the “father of Japanese capitalism” and as a pioneer of socially responsible investment. Born in feudal Edo Japan, following the Meiji Restoration in 1868... View Details
- August 2020 (Revised February 2021)
- Case
Luckin Coffee (A): Caffeine-fueled Growth?
By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Karen Elterman
This case describes the founding of Chinese coffee chain Luckin Coffee in 2017 and its path to surpassing Starbucks as the largest coffee chain in China (by number of stores) in 2019. Unlike Starbucks stores, which were designed to be welcoming “third places” for... View Details
Keywords: Business Model; Business Earnings; Cost; Cost Management; Financial Statements; Financial Condition; Financial Management; Stocks; Profit; Revenue; Price; Food; Business History; Employment; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Marketing Strategy; Business Strategy; Expansion; Competitive Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Technology Industry; Asia; China
- July 2020 (Revised September 2021)
- Case
Mr. Five Percent: Calouste Gulbenkian and the Origins of Global Oil
By: Geoffrey Jones and Yazeed Al-Rashed
This case describes the business career of Calouste Gulbenkian, a skilled intermediary who was able to secure 5 percent of a vast oil concession covering much of the Middle East that was signed in 1928. Gulbenkian was an ethnic Armenian born in the Ottoman Empire,... View Details
Keywords: Oil; Globalization; Energy Sources; History; Biography; Energy Industry; Turkey; Central Asia; Middle East
- June 2020
- Article
Lazy Prices
By: Lauren Cohen, Christopher J. Malloy and Quoc Nguyen
We explore the implications of a subtle "default" choice that firms make in their regular reporting practices, namely that firms typically repeat what they most recently reported. Using the complete history of regular quarterly and annual filings by U.S. corporations... View Details
- April 2020 (Revised June 2020)
- Case
Oriental Land Co., Ltd.—Tokyo Disney Resort
By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Akiko Kanno
This case describes the history of Oriental Land Co. Ltd.’s (OLC's) Tokyo Disney Resort (TDR), its operations, the extent of vertical integration, and the challenges it faced in 2018 as OLC's chairman and CEO, Toshio Kagami, contemplated how best to deal with... View Details
Keywords: Strategy For Multi-business Firm; Business Models; Growth; Theme Parks; Disney; Disney Parks; Licensing; Royalties; Two-part Tariffs; Oriental Land Co.; Tokyo Disneyland; Tokyo DisneySea; Tokyo Disney Resort; Tokyo Disney; Growth Strategy; Hotels; Hotel Industry; Partnership; Development; Attractions; Rides; Urayasu; Kagami; Congestion; Pricing; Amusement Parks; Amusement Park Industry; Brand; Branding; History; OLC; Corporate Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Business History; Price; Retention; Growth and Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Agreements and Arrangements; Contracts; Operations; Vertical Integration; Problems and Challenges; Partners and Partnerships; Business Strategy; Expansion; Rail Transportation; Transportation Networks; Accommodations Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Tourism Industry; Asia; Japan; Tokyo; United States
- April 2020
- Case
Apple Inc. in 2020
By: David B. Yoffie and Daniel Fisher
After a decade as CEO, Tim Cook is facing one of his biggest strategic transitions of his tenure. While Apple had performed spectacularly well under Cook, Apple's core business was maturing. Sales of iPhones, iPads, and Macs were flat or down. However, Apple's new... View Details
Keywords: Innovation; Market Positioning; Marketing Implementation; Planning; Products; Strategic Positioning; Strategy; Information Technology; Competitive Strategy; Technological Innovation; Competitive Advantage; Product Positioning; Communication; Competition; Leadership; Strategic Planning; Computer Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Technology Industry
- March 2020 (Revised April 2020)
- Case
CarTrade
By: Rajiv Lal and Shreya Ramachandran
Vinay Sanghi, the founder and CEO of CarTrade, had been trying different business strategies to keep the company, which he founded in 2010 as an online marketplace for used and new cars, profitable and on track for growth. In a crowded and disorganized dealer... View Details
- Article
History-informed Strategy Research: The Promise of History and Historical Research Methods in Advancing Strategy Scholarship
By: Nicholas Argyres, Alfredo De Massis, Nicolai J. Foss, Federico Frattini, Geoffrey Jones and Brian Silverman
Recent years have seen an increasing interest in the use of history and historical research methods in strategy research. This article discusses how and why history and historical research methods can enrich theoretical explanations of strategy phenomena. The article... View Details