Publications

24 Aug 2010
First Look

First Look: August 24

their country's institutions, some have undertaken wholesale changes, while others have attempted to influence the rules in other countries. We survey past attempts at governance innovation, from private governance in India's industrial cities to View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

14 Feb 2007
Op-Ed

Tata-Corus: India’s New Steel Giant

become the biggest TV manufacturer in the world (by volume, even if not by revenue) in 2004, just twelve years after TCL entered the TV business in mainland China. Tata Steel is acquiring from a position of strength amidst a boom in the... View Details

Keywords: by Tarun Khanna

October 2009 (Revised November 2009)
Case

Acciona and the Battle for Control of Endesa

Acciona, S.A. is a global infrastructure and renewable energy conglomerate that is publicly traded in Spain and controlled by the Entrecanales family. In 2006, the company joined the highly politicized cross-border takeover battle for Spain's largest electric utility,... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Renewable Energy; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Ownership Stake; Business and Government Relations; Business Strategy; Energy Industry; Utilities Industry; Spain

August 2008
Case

Thoma Bravo - Citect Corporation Take-Private

In 2006, Citect Corporation, a publicly traded Australian software company, was the target of a takeover battle between a financial sponsor and a strategic buyer. Thoma Bravo, the U.S.-based private equity firm, had to decide on its acquisition strategy in the face of... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Private Equity; Investment; Negotiation Deal; Privatization; Valuation; Australia

March 2024
Case

Funderbeam: Teaming Up or Going Alone?

By: Paul A. Gompers, Elena Corsi and Orna Dan

Funderbeam, a global platform founded in Estonia to enable start-ups to run private syndications and secondaries while offering liquidity for private equity investors, was at a crossroads. Over its ten-year run, the company had expanded its services and areas of... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Business Exit or Shutdown; Transition; Leading Change; Business or Company Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Law; Mergers and Acquisitions; Financing and Loans; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Ownership Stake; Expansion; Business Startups; Venture Capital; Financial Services Industry; Estonia; Republic of Ireland; United Kingdom; Singapore

February 2012 (Revised August 2014)
Case

Poles Apart on PZU (A)

By: Francesca Gino, Vincent Dessain, Karol Misztal and Michael Khayyat

In October 2008, Andrzej Klesyk, CEO of Poland's largest insurer PZU, reflected on possible ways of resolving a decade-long cross-border shareholder conflict at his company. Owned 55% by the Polish State Treasury and 33% by the Dutch insurer Eureko as of October 2008,... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Trust; Conflict and Resolution; Business and Shareholder Relations; Poland

16 Jan 2007
First Look

First Look: January 16, 2007

http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/07-041.pdf Cases & Course MaterialsBioScale Harvard Business School Case 606-100 Purchase this case: http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=606100 China: "To Get Rich Is... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

22 Dec 2015
First Look

December 22, 2015

enterprises. The focus is on supply- and demand-side factors that help explicate cross-border expansion. The article explores how appropriability-informed and legacy-shaped entrepreneurial imagination motivates a process of creation and... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

January 2023
Case

Rentokil: The Terminix Acquisition

By: Ted Berk, Emily R. McComb and Julia Kelley

When announcing their agreement to merge in December 2021, creating a clear leader in global pest control, UK-based Rentokil and Tennessee-based Terminix described extensive benefits of the cross-border combination. The companies touted the advantages of their combined... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Valuation; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Business and Shareholder Relations

21 Aug 2006
Research & Ideas

How Europe Wrote the Rules of Global Finance

The United States has been both credited and criticized for its powerful role in promoting global financial liberalization—the flow of capital across country borders. But research by Harvard Business School Professor Rawi Abdelal has... View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen

November 2012 (Revised November 2013)
Case

Persephone's Pomegranate: Crédit Agricole and Emporiki

By: Dante Roscini, Daniela Beyersdorfer and Jerome Lenhardt

In 2006 the French bank Crédit Agricole bought the Greek Emporiki bank, for €2.8 billion, at the peak of a bull market for bank takeovers. Six years, a major financial crisis, and €5.2 billion of losses later, in a context of great uncertainty in the European banking... View Details

Keywords: Business and Government Relations; Currency; Development Economics; International Finance; International Relations; Banking Industry; Greece

February 2021 (Revised April 2024)
Case

Shopify: The Conquest for Chinese E-Commerce

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Avani Patel, Samantha Lin and Ariel Yang

In mid-2020, Tobias Lütke, CEO of Shopify, faced a critical decision on how to time potential expansion into the China market. Over the prior 15 years, his Canadian software-as-a-service company had grown from a small e-commerce solutions provider to a full service... View Details

27 Jun 2005
Research & Ideas

Asian and American Leadership Styles: How Are They Unique?

Political connections and family control are more common in Asian businesses than in the United States. In addition, says HBS professor D. Quinn Mills, American CEOs tend to use one of five leadership styles: directive, participative,... View Details

Keywords: by D. Quinn Mills

13 Aug 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Diasporas and Domestic Entrepreneurs: Evidence from the Indian Software Industry

Keywords: by Ramana Nanda & Tarun Khanna; Video Game; Web Services

Contextual Intelligence

I have come to a conclusion that may surprise you: trying to apply management practices... View Details

July 2021
Teaching Note

The Carlyle Group: Carving Out Atotech

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 321-153. On January 31, 2017, The Carlyle Group ("Carlyle") closed its $3.2 billion acquisition of Atotech, an international Specialty Chemicals and Equipment company. In Carlyle's Washington, DC headquarters, the US-based deal... View Details

Keywords: Oil ＆ Gas; Deal; International Acquisition; International; Acquisition; Negotiation; Negotiation Deal; Transformation; Chemicals; Markets; Bids and Bidding; Globalized Markets and Industries; Standards; Chemical Industry; United States; Europe; Asia; Germany

July–September 2012
Article

The (Un)Hidden Turmoil of Language in Global Collaboration

By: Tsedal Neeley, Pamela J. Hinds and Catherine D. Cramton

Companies are increasingly relying on a lingua franca, or common language (usually English), to facilitate cross-border collaboration. Despite the numerous benefits of a lingua franca, our research reveals myriad challenges that disrupt collaboration and contribute to... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Loss; Spoken Communication; Performance Productivity; Research; Global Range; Problems and Challenges; Diversity; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues

Read Now

November 2003 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Drilling South: Petrobras Evaluates Pecom

By: Mihir A. Desai and Ricardo Reisen de Pinho

The Brazilian oil company, Petrobras, is evaluating the acquisition of an Argentine oil company, the Perez Companc Group (Pecom). The acquisition would increase Petrobras' oil reserves and expand its interests outside Brazil, a significant step for the largest company... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Forecasting and Prediction; Financial Crisis; Non-Renewable Energy; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Corporate Governance; Risk Management; Emerging Markets; State Ownership; Performance Evaluation; Risk and Uncertainty; Valuation; Energy Industry; Argentina; Brazil