Publications

19 Jan 2010
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Managing the Economic Crisis

companies lose when they cut corporate giving? How Do I Lead In A Crisis? 7 Lessons for Navigating the Storm Leading in crisis requires a combination of skills and behaviors—personal and professional—that can be mastered, says HBS... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

2008
Working Paper

Do Legal Origins Have Persistent Effects Over Time? A Look at Law and Finance around the World c. 1900

By: Aldo Musacchio

How persistent are the effects of legal institutions adopted or inherited in the distant past? A substantial literature argues that legal origins have persistent effects that explain clear differences in investor protections and financial development around the world... View Details

Keywords: History; Law; Development Economics; Investment; Corporate Governance; Finance; Business and Government Relations

November 2020 (Revised February 2021)
Case

Integrating Beam Suntory (A)

By: David G. Fubini, Rawi Abdelal and David Lane

The spring 2014 acquisition of U.S. alcoholic spirits maker Beam Inc. by Japan’s Suntory Holdings vaulted Suntory from 15th to third-largest international spirits company in the world. Yet Suntory had borrowed nearly the entire $16 billion purchase price, and relied on... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Communication; Borrowing and Debt; Globalization; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Retention; Leadership; Supply Chain; Organizational Structure; Ownership; Relationships; Conflict and Resolution; Integration; Value Creation; Food and Beverage Industry; Japan; United States; Chicago

August 2018 (Revised April 2021)
Case

The Fuji-Xerox Merger

By: Guhan Subramanian and Annie Zhao

In January 2018, Xerox, a well-known American digital document firm, convened its board of directors to decide whether to approve a merger with Japanese imaging company Fujifilm. Activist Xerox shareholders were suing to halt the transaction, and documents unearthed... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Negotiation Deal; Negotiation Process; Corporate Governance; Law

11 Aug 2014
News

How to be Sherlock Holmes in the boardroom

January 2017 (Revised January 2019)
Case

The Rise and Fall of Lehman Brothers

By: Stuart C. Gilson, Kristin Mugford and Sarah L. Abbott

With nearly $700 billion in assets, Lehman was the largest U.S. bankruptcy in history. In 2007, Lehman achieved record earnings of over $4 billion on revenues of $60 billion. By September 2008 the fourth largest investment bank in the world was bankrupt. How had a... View Details

November 2012 (Revised August 2013)
Case

A Politician in a Leather Suit and the Paradox of Japanese Capitalism

By: Karthik Ramanna and Matthew Shaffer

Two lost decades later, capitalism in Japan embodies peculiar contradictions—preserving wealth and social stability in the face of declining economic power. Scant transparency in Japanese corporate practices plays an important role in this phenomenon. Sometimes... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Economic Systems; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Fairness; Values and Beliefs; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Civil Society or Community; Japan; Tokyo

Ray Kluender is an associate professor in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit and the Berol Corporation Fellow at Harvard Business School, a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), an invited researcher at the Abdul Latif Jameel... View Details

October 2002 (Revised March 2009)
Background Note

Foreign Direct Investment

By: Laura Alfaro and Esteban Clavell

Briefly reviews motivations and trends behind foreign direct investment and multinational corporations as well as the policy debate that surrounds them. View Details

Keywords: International Finance; Foreign Direct Investment; Multinational Firms and Management; Policy; Business and Government Relations

20 Jun 2013
News

Ray Lane's $100 Million Tax Bill Inflated by Dot-Com Bomb

March 2013 (Revised January 2015)
Technical Note

Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States

By: Karthik Ramanna, Sandra J. Sucher and Ian McKown Cornell

This note on business-government relations introduces students to the state of campaign contributions and lobbying by corporations in the United States. The note develops two hypotheses as to the impact of corporate political engagement: (i) a vehicle to facilitate... View Details

Keywords: Political Economy; Business and Government Relations; Government and Politics; Public Administration Industry; United States

March 2013 (Revised March 2013)
Module Note

Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States

This module note on business-government relations introduces students to the state of campaign contributions and lobbying by corporations in the United States. The note develops two hypotheses as to the impact of corporate political engagement: (i) a vehicle to... View Details

Keywords: Political Economy; Business and Government Relations; Government and Politics; Public Administration Industry; United States

Article

State Activism and the Hidden Incentives Behind Bank Acquisitions

By: Christopher Marquis, Doug Guthrie and Juan Almandoz

A number of studies have shown that, as a result of the ambiguity of U.S. legal mandates, organizations have considerable latitude in how they comply with regulations. In this paper, we address how the different agendas of the federal and state governments increase... View Details

Keywords: Organizations; Opportunities; Government Legislation; Acquisition; Forecasting and Prediction; Banks and Banking; Motivation and Incentives; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Management Practices and Processes; Research; United States

Find at Harvard

20 Nov 2019
Video

Zia Mody

Zia Mody, founder of AZB & Partners, a leading corporate law firm in India, describes the changing relationship... View Details

2025
Chapter

Institutional Entrepreneurship and Climate Change

By: Ann-Kristin Bergquist and Geoffrey Jones

This chapter explores when and why private regulatory governance systems became the primary form of global environmental governance. The chapter explores two different historical paths in such private regulation and how they came about. The first path involved... View Details

Keywords: Institutional Entrepreneurship; Environment; Climate Change; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Environmental Regulation; Standards; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact

Dr. Jill Avery is a Senior Lecturer of Business Administration and C. Roland Christensen Distinguished Management Educator in the marketing unit at Harvard Business School. She is a respected authority on branding and brand management, customer relationship... View Details

Keywords: consumer products; arts; advertising; automobiles; retailing; fashion; hotels ＆ motels; food; beverage

July–August 2013
Article

Building Sustainable Cities

By: John D. Macomber

By 2050 the number of people living in cities will have nearly doubled, to 6 billion, and the problems created by this rampant urbanization are among the most important challenges of our time. Of all resource-management issues, the author argues, water, electricity,... View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Urban Development; Entrepreneurship; Infrastructure; City

Find at Harvard

29 Jun 2017
Research & Ideas

Why Uber Is Worth Saving and How To Do It

responsible company they are, that they’re concerned about the future well-being of society, cities, drivers, women, every stakeholder.” When it comes to its drivers, for example, the company has an opportunity to partner with government... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Transportation

August 2006 (Revised October 2009)
Background Note

Acquisitive Reorganizations - Triangular Mergers

By: Henry B. Reiling and Kevin Wall

Discusses the reasons and uses of triangular or three-party mergers to complete a business acquisition or tax-free corporate reorganization. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Taxation; Organizational Structure