Publications

June 1993 (Revised December 1994)
Case

Milkpak Limited.: International Joint Venture

By: John A. Quelch

Considers a Pakistani company's decision to conduct a joint venture with a foreign multinational. In 1987, Milkpak Ltd. had successfully developed a market for sterilized milk and wanted to produce other value-added food products. The company was evaluating the best... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Multinational Firms and Management; Joint Ventures; Developing Countries and Economies; Food and Beverage Industry; Pakistan

March 2006
Course Overview Note

International Finance: A Course Overview Note

By: Mihir A. Desai

Describes the International Finance course at Harvard Business School, which argues that the forces of globalization have fundamentally changed the scope and activities of firms, thereby altering the practice of finance within these firms. As a consequence of an... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Business Ventures; Integration; Change Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Investment; Risk Management; Competitive Advantage; Motivation and Incentives; International Finance; Capital Markets

May 2017 (Revised November 2019)
Case

The Dubai International Film Festival

By: Rohit Deshpandé and Alpana Thapar

This case follows the conception and emergence of the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF). In an already crowded and highly competitive industry, Abdulhamid Juma was attempting to define and establish a unique brand positioning for DIFF. Committed to its vision,... View Details

Keywords: Brand Positioning; Underdog Brand Building; Business Models; Non-profit; Managing Multiple Stakeholders; Film Entertainment; Brands and Branding; Business Model; Competitive Strategy; Decision Making; Growth and Development Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

March 2001
Case

Corruption in International Business (A)

By: Robert E. Kennedy and Rafael M. Di Tella

Explores various aspects of corruption in international business, in two sections. The first section provides a broad discussion of the ethical, business, and legal aspects of corruption. The second section provides a series of "caselets" that are designed to promote... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Emerging Markets; Policy; Globalization

September 1998
Case

McDonald's: International Expansion Strategy

By: Gary W. Loveman and Sabina M. Ciminero

James Cantalupo, CEO of McDonald's International, and top management have a few months to decide how the McDonald's brand should be transferred into India. Faced with the challenges presented by the Indian market--80% of Indians are Hindus and cherish cows as sacred... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Expansion; Brands and Branding; Strategy; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Service Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; India

16 Aug 2011
Working Paper Summaries

The International Politics of IFRS Harmonization

Keywords: by Karthik Ramanna; Accounting

09 Jan 2019
Video

Interning in the Retail Sector

October 2002 (Revised November 2003)
Case

Wal-Mart Neighborhood Markets

By: David E. Bell, Jeffrey M. Feiner and Iris T. Li

Wal-Mart has been growing at 15% per year for the last 10 years. Can it keep growing at that rate for the next 10 years? CEO Lee Scott reflects on his strategy for achieving such growth, relying on a combination of supercenters, neighborhood markets, and international... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing; Strategy; Retail Industry; United States

11 Jul 2005
Research & Ideas

The New International Style of Management

is inevitably reflected in the way these companies are managed. "There is an increasingly international style of management," declares HBS professor John Quelch, an expert in international View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons

March 2006 (Revised April 2006)
Case

International Place (A): Boston Real Estate Playoff

First International Place, one of Boston's premier office buildings, was the subject of a control contest in 2005, as the New York real estate firm Tishman Speyer purchased the mortgage on the property through a sealed bid auction process and then sought to foreclose... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Mortgages; Auctions; Insolvency and Bankruptcy

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August 2007
Case

Lightspeed Venture Partners -- International Expansion

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

Looks at various international expansion models for a venture capital firm based in Silicon Valley. Lightspeed Venture Partners believed that India had tremendous potential for venture capital returns--the question was how best to tap into that potential while also... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Expansion; Investment Return; Global Strategy; Emerging Markets; Investment; International Finance; Organizational Structure; India; Israel

02 Dec 2014
Working Paper Summaries

International Trade, Multinational Activity, and Corporate Finance

Keywords: by C. Fritz Foley & Kalina Manova

October 1996 (Revised April 1998)
Case

Mobil USM&R (D): Gasoline Marketing

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Mobil US Marketing & Refining has shifted from a centralized staff-driven organization to decentralized business-units. Staff functions now must negotiate service agreements with a buyer's committee consisting of representatives from the profit-center business units.... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Management Teams; Human Resources; Agreements and Arrangements; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Customers; Situation or Environment; Business Units; Energy Industry; Mining Industry; United States

September 2017 (Revised April 2022)
Supplement

Tempur Sealy International (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty

This case explores the long-term relationship between Tempur Sealy (TPX, a mattress manufacturer) and Mattress Firm (MFRM, a bedding retailer and TPX's largest customer). For almost 20 years, the firms enjoyed a mutually beneficial and commercially prosperous... View Details

March 1995
Article

Tests of Conditional Mean-Variance Efficiency of the U.S. Stock Market

By: C. Engel, J. Frankel, Kenneth A. Froot and T. Rodrigues

Keywords: Risk Aversion; Risk; International Investing; CAPM; Capital Asset Pricing; International Finance; Risk and Uncertainty; Asset Pricing; Financial Markets; Foreign Direct Investment; Behavioral Finance; United States

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April 2009 (Revised November 2018)
Case

Sanctuary Soft: International Expansion Strategies

By: Boris Groysberg, Geoff Marietta, Tim Marshall and Adam Hartley

Sanctuary Soft CEO Elizabeth Smalley faced increasing pressure from her primary investor to expand operations internationally. If successful, the expansion could enlarge Sanctuary’s customer base and enable the firm to better serve existing clients’ overseas offices.... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Labor; Laws and Statutes; Market Entry and Exit; Information Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Web Services Industry; Banking Industry; China; India; Germany; United Kingdom; United States