Publications

12 Mar 2014
Research & Ideas

Entrepreneurship and Multinationals Drive Globalization

the making of the global world over the last two centuries. Individual entrepreneurs and managers invented new products and shaped consumer demand. Firms created and diffused technologies and products,... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Beauty & Cosmetics; Manufacturing; Consumer Products; Pharmaceutical

December 2006 (Revised September 2007)
Case

Ponsse: From Finland to Global

By: David E. Bell and Mary L. Shelman

Finland-based Ponsse Oyj, with 2005 turnover of $250 million, is the only dedicated forest equipment company of size that remained in a consolidating industry. Competitors included global giants such as John Deere and Komatsu. Since his arrival at Ponsse in 2004, CEO... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Growth and Development Strategy; Performance Capacity; Expansion; Forest Products Industry; Forestry Industry; Russia; Finland; United States; Brazil

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October 2010 (Revised November 2010)
Case

Belco Global Foods

By: C. Fritz Foley and Matthew Johnson

This case introduces students to the fundamental issues that managers face when deciding what international trade finance terms to use when transacting with other firms. In late 2009, Pam Arnold, the head of global credit at Belco Global Foods, must decide which trade... View Details

Keywords: Trade; Credit; Financing and Loans; International Finance; Globalized Firms and Management; Food and Beverage Industry

Research Summary

Globalization of Human Capital

By: Nitin Nohria

One of the most significant dimensions of the current wave of globalization is the globalization of human capital. Whether it is low cost, skilled manufacturing workers in China, software and customer service professionals in India, or highly skilled employees in... View Details

22 Aug 2005
Research & Ideas

Restoring a Global Economy, 1950–1980

The 1950s onwards saw the beginning of the reconstruction of a new global economy. Between 1950 and 1973 the annual real GDP growth of developed market economies averaged around 5 percent. This growth was smooth, with none of the major... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones

21 Nov 2011
Lessons from the Classroom

The New Challenge of Leading Financial Firms

Business School Professor Paul M. Healy in a recent interview. "The firms in the business have much more complexity in the types of the risks they are managing, in the types of diversity of the businesses they are in, in terms of how... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Financial Services

October 2004 (Revised October 2013)
Case

In Search of Global Regulation

By: Geoffrey Jones, Mona Rahmani and Alexis Gendron

The history of the international regulation of global capitalism is surveyed, addressing the challenges facing firms confronting international, national, and regional regulation. Follows the history of global regulation after 1914, from the League of Nations'... View Details

Keywords: History; Multinational Firms and Management; International Relations; Laws and Statutes; Corporate Governance; Business and Government Relations

March 2022 (Revised April 2022)
Case

In Search of Global Regulation

By: Geoffrey Jones and Mona Rahmani

The history of the international regulation of global capitalism is surveyed, addressing the challenges facing firms confronting international, national, and regional regulation. Follows the history of global regulation after 1914, from the League of Nations;... View Details

Keywords: History; Multinational Firms and Management; International Relations; Laws and Statutes; Corporate Governance; Business and Government Relations

1991
Article

Kei-haku-tan-shou Shouhin no Kaihatsu: Global Shijou deno Nihon Kigyou no Kyousou Yuuisei (Development of Light-Thin-Short-Small Products: Competitive Advantage of Japanese Firms in the Global Market)

By: Hirotaka Takeuchi

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Business Ventures; Japan

March 2022 (Revised February 2024)
Case

Emeritus: Achieving Impact, Providing Access (A)

By: Ashish Nanda and Zack Kurtovich

In June 2019, Emeritus cofounders Ashwin Damera (HBS MBA 2005) and Chaitanya Kalipatnapu were thrilled with the rapid growth of Emeritus. Damera and Kalipatnapu believed that Emeritus, established in July 2015 to offer online executive education, was only in the early... View Details

Keywords: Education Technology; Professional Service Firm; Startup; Digital Strategy; Global Business; Global Firm; Platform Business; Business Startups; Growth and Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Executive Education; Strategy; Education Industry; India

April 2010
Case

Globalization at Komatsu

By: Michael Y. Yoshino

The case captures the challenges Komatsu, the second largest manufacturer of the earth moving equipment faced during the past five decades as it sought to globalize its operations. By 2007, it had become the second largest manufacturer of the earth moving equipment... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Distribution Channels; Production; Organizational Culture; Networks; Partners and Partnerships; Manufacturing Industry; Japan

July 2018
Article

Global Collaborative Patents

By: Sari Pekkala Kerr and William R. Kerr

We study the prevalence and traits of global collaborative patents for U.S. public companies, where the inventor team is located both within and outside of the United States. Collaborative patents are frequently observed when a corporation is entering into a new... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Ethnic Networks; Migration; Technology Transfer; Mobility; Information Technology; Globalized Firms and Management; Diasporas; Patents; Ethnicity; Entrepreneurship; Research and Development; Foreign Direct Investment; Innovation and Invention; Globalization; United States

Read Now

28 Jan 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Does Product Market Competition Lead Firms To Decentralize?

Keywords: by Nicholas Bloom, Raffaella Sadun & John Van Reenen

2013
Article

Multinational Corporations, Global Justice and Corporate Responsibility: A Question of Purpose

By: Nien-he Hsieh

Do multinational corporations (MNCs) have a responsibility to address unjust conditions—not simply by refraining from contributing to injustice, but also by actively working to bring about a just state of affairs? This paper examines whether this question can be... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Corporations; Global Justice; Corporate Purpose; Corporate Responsibility; Human Needs; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact

June–July 2013
Article

Firm Rivalry, Knowledge Accumulation, and MNE Location Choices

By: Juan Alcacer, Cristian Deszo and Minyuan Zhao

The international business (IB) literature has mostly emphasized the impact of location and firm characteristics on location choices. However, industries with a significant presence of multinational enterprises (MNEs) are oligopolistic in nature, which suggests that... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Competition; Multinational Firms and Management; Knowledge Acquisition; Game Theory; Global Strategy

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August 2006 (Revised June 2007)
Case

Shapiro Global

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Michael Brookshire, Monica Haugen, Michelle Kravetz and Sarah Sommer

Su Yee Goh, a director in a Singapore office, considers a proposal by a pregnant female executive for an alternative work arrangement so that she could both continue to work and spend more time with her family. Goh wants to keep the executive at Shapiro Global, but is... View Details

Keywords: Disruption; Globalized Firms and Management; Employee Relationship Management; Retention; Work-Life Balance; Singapore

25 Oct 2012
Research & Ideas

Developing the Global Leader

What skills do today's executives need to develop to become effective global leaders of tomorrow? And how do corporations teach these skills to their own leaders? "The shift from a country-centric corporation to one that is more... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

2010
Working Paper

Does Product Market Competition Lead Firms To Decentralize?

By: Nicholas Bloom, Raffaella Sadun and John Van Reenen

There is a widespread sense that over the last two decades firms have been decentralizing decisions to employees further down the managerial hierarchy. Economists have developed a range of theories to account for delegation, but there is less empirical evidence,... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Employees; Managerial Roles; Organizational Structure; Competitive Strategy; Asia; Europe; North America