Publications

Research Summary

Report - Telegraphs, Shrinking Economic Distances? A preliminary enquiry (1870s-1912)

<< forthcoming on Business Archives: Sources & History >>
This is a very preliminary report on sources and data for my research on telegraphs. Telegraphs are usually analysed in the context of railway expansion and the literature... View Details

2024
Case

EPCorp: Sell on Amazon or Invest in Our Data?

By: Jacob M. Cook

Amidst a history of exponential growth, Electronic Products Company (EPCorp) finds itself at a crossroads as its once thriving retail presence faces a downturn, despite hefty investments into a promising new direct-to-consumer e-commerce platform. Shivani, EPCorp s... View Details

Keywords: E-commerce; Technology Adoption; Cost vs Benefits; Organizational Culture; Retail Industry

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Program Harvard Business School Online MBA Predoctoral Researchers Alumni Alumni Events Alumni Reunions Commencement New Venture Competition Public Events Faculty / Research / Topics Behavioral Finance & Financial Stability Behavioral Lab... View Details

February 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Mibanco: Meeting the Mainstreaming of Microfinance

By: Michael Chu and Gustavo A. Herrero

Mibanco, Peru's leading microfinance bank, faces intense competition as the banking industry rushes into low income segments. Companion video clips bring into the classroom the contemporary reality of a world-class microfinance institution, where the unpaved streets... View Details

Keywords: Microfinance; Profit; Business History; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Marketing Strategy; Service Operations; Performance; Competition; Banking Industry; Peru

February 2024
Article

Archetypes of Product Launch by Insiders, Outsiders, and Visionaries

By: Shane Greenstein

What archetypes emerge from prominent episodes of product launches? This essay examines a set of episodes in information technology history that led to significant changes in industry leadership. It highlights that, in all of these instances, there is an example of a... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Product Launch; Leadership; Market Entry and Exit

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February 2020 (Revised June 2020)
Case

Shaping the Governance Debate at ISS

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Jonah S. Goldberg and Calvin O. Liou

ISS is the world’s largest provider of corporate governance research, data, analytics, and voting services. The case uses the effort of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to impose an array of new regulations that would severely restrict the functioning of... View Details

Keywords: Proxy Advisory Services; Corporate Governance; Research; Investment; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business and Shareholder Relations; Institutional Investing

February 2013 (Revised February 2013)
Case

Wayne Ferrari: iAutomation at a Crossroads

By: Jim Sharpe and Michael Norris

Wayne Ferrari has bridged the gap between being an independent entrepreneur and a "professional manager." After selling his business to a Private Equity (PE) firm, Ferrari takes on the role of CEO and with their support implements a roll-up strategy to attain growth... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Management; Entrepreneurial Organizations; Leveraged Buyouts; Roll-up; Career Planning; Acquisitions; Pricing; Pricing Policies; Pricing Strategy; Pricing Structure; Acquisition; Entrepreneurship; Private Equity; Distribution; Integration; System; Electronics Industry; Distribution Industry; United States

Successful leaders – at any level and in any arena – are inevitably presented with moral and ethical choices. This unique and innovative textbook is designed to encourage students and managers to confront those fundamental moral challenges, to develop skills in... View Details

January 2017
Case

The Six CEOs of Tyco International Ltd.

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In September 2016, Johnson Controls, Inc. completed the acquisition of Tyco International PLC, a $9.9 billion business with operating profits of $884 million. The purchase consideration was $14.4 billion. Although the deal was billed as a merger, Ireland-based Tyco... View Details

Keywords: Tyco; Dennis Kozlowski; Edward Breen; Fire Safety; Fire Protection; Security; Packaging; Securities And Exchange Commission; Fraud; Accounting; Accounting Audits; Earnings Management; Financial Statements; Goodwill Accounting; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Divisions; Business Exit or Shutdown; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Headquarters; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Restructuring; Crime and Corruption; Engineering; Applied Optics; Chemicals; Construction; Metals and Minerals; Ethics; Finance; Cash Flow; Public Equity; Stock Options; Financing and Loans; Initial Public Offering; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Location; Geographic Scope; Global Range; Globalized Firms and Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Disclosure; Health Care and Treatment; Business History; Executive Compensation; Selection and Staffing; Courts and Trials; Lawfulness; Lawsuits and Litigation; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Strategy; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Consolidation; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Horizontal Integration; Value; Chemical Industry; Construction Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Electronics Industry; Energy Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Mining Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Utilities Industry; Republic of Ireland; Switzerland; Bermuda; United States; New Hampshire

January 2017 (Revised May 2020)
Case

Sesame Workshop (A): Bringing Big Bird Back to Health

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ryan Raffaelli and Jonathan Cohen

Sesame Workshop was transforming in 2016. CEO Jeff Dunn had reorganized and shifted the iconic institution to respond to digital disruption and a consensus culture. This case examines his efforts to turn Sesame Workshop around. It notes Sesame's storied history and the... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Information Technology; Education; Media; Strategy; Education Industry

07 Aug 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Debating the Responsibility of Capitalism in Historical and Global Perspective

Keywords: by Geoffrey G. Jones

2016
Chapter

Trade Associations, State Building, and the Sherman Act: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 1912–25

By: Laura Phillips Sawyer

From its founding in 1912 through the interwar years, the Chamber’s history shows a persistent preoccupation with progressive economics and policy making. Rather than flouting the new ideas of institutional economics, which favored federal regulators overseeing data... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Fairness; Supply and Industry; Policy; Business and Government Relations; United States

11 Sep 2012
First Look

First Look: September 11

Carin-Isabel Knoop, and Markus MittermaierHarvard Business School Case 812-002 Using the financing history and exit choices of a German clean-tech startup as a lens, this case explores the reasons why... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

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Business & Environment Initiative +1.617.495.6886 bei@hbs.edu Business History Initiative +1.617.495.1003 bhi@hbs.edu Digital Data Design Institute at Harvard +1.617.496.8274... View Details

2018
Article

Revenue Farming Reconsidered: Tenurial Rights and Tenurial Duties in Early Modern India, ca. 1556–1818

By: Sudev J Sheth

The meaning of land revenue farming in Indian history has eluded consensus. Some view it as an administrative aberration indicating weak state control, while others see it as a strategy for consolidating authority. This essay traces the historical development of iqṭāʻ... View Details

Keywords: Iqṭāʻ; Ijārah; Revenue Farming; Financial Agents; Mughal Empire; Business History; Business and Government Relations; Property; Finance; South Asia

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February 2007 (Revised March 2012)
Compilation

John D. Rockefeller and the Creation of Standard Oil

By: Nancy F. Koehn and Katherine Miller

Reconstructs the entrepreneurial journey of John D. Rockefeller, founder of Standard Oil and one of the most famous business figures in history. Traces his early career as a retailer in Cleveland through his decision to enter the oil industry in the early 1860s to his... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Ethics; Business History; Innovation and Invention; Growth and Development Strategy; Personal Development and Career; Competitive Strategy; Energy Industry

June 2009 (Revised April 2017)
Case

Christian Dior: A New Look for Haute Couture

By: Geoffrey Jones and Veronique Pouillard

The case describes the foundation of Christian Dior, the leading Parisian fashion house, in 1946 and its subsequent globalization strategy. After explaining the historical origins of France's preeminence in upscale fashion, the case explores the challenges to this... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Business History; Innovation Strategy; Luxury; Fashion Industry; France; New York (city, NY)

December 2009
Article

Empire-Building or Bridge-Building? Evidence from New CEOs' Internal Capital Allocation Decisions

By: Yuhai Xuan

This article investigates how the job histories of CEOs influence their capital allocation decisions when they preside over multi-divisional firms. I find that, after CEO turnover, divisions not previously affiliated with the new CEO receive significantly more capital... View Details

Keywords: Business Divisions; Decision Choices and Conditions; Capital Budgeting; Financial Management; Managerial Roles; Resource Allocation