Publications

October 2023 (Revised November 2023)
Case

Rheaply: Circularity For Every Business

By: Rembrand Koning and Alicia Dadlani

In March 2023, Garry Cooper, cofounder and CEO of Chicago-based Rheaply, needed to demonstrate that Rheaply’s expanded vision could translate into building cash flows and metrics needed to raise a Series B and turn the business into a model for financial and... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Social Entrepreneurship; Technological Innovation; Environmental Sustainability; Entrepreneurial Finance; Technology Industry; Green Technology Industry; United States; Illinois; Chicago

November 2018
Case

Goldman Sachs: The 10,000 Small Businesses Program

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and Aldo Sesia

In 2008, Goldman Sachs started the 10,000 Small Businesses program to help small businesses in the United States by providing education and a network of support—at no cost —and access to capital. It required the firm to create a new business ecosystem with a wide... View Details

Keywords: Ecosystem; Public/private Partnership; Small Business; Programs; Education; Partners and Partnerships; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; United States

2019
Book

Fintech, Small Business & the American Dream: How Technology Is Transforming Lending and Shaping a New Era of Small Business Opportunity

By: Karen G. Mills

Fintech, Small Business & the American Dream describes the needs of small businesses for capital and demonstrates how technology—novel data sources, artificial intelligence, machine learning—will transform the small business lending market. This market has been... View Details

July 1994 (Revised December 1994)
Case

CIGNA Corporation, Inc.: Managing and Institutionalizing Business Reengineering

Provides a longitudinal view of business reengineering at CIGNA Corp., a leading provider of insurance and related financial services throughout the United States and the world. CIGNA has been practicing business reengineering since 1989, completing over 20 projects.... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Business Processes; Financial Services Industry; Insurance Industry

September 2011 (Revised November 2011)
Case

CP Group: Balancing the Needs of a Family Business with the Needs of a Family of Businesses

By: William C. Kirby and Tracy Yuen Manty

As a second generation business leader, Chairman Dhanin Chearavanont took over the family agribusiness company and built it to become a major diversified conglomerate in Thailand and expanded the business in SE Asia and China. While growing the business, he and his... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Family Business; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Conglomerates; Family Ownership; Growth and Development; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Thailand; China; Southeast Asia

February 2017
Article

The Effect of Prohibiting Deal Protection on M&A Activity: Evidence from the United Kingdom

By: Fernán Restrepo and Guhan Subramanian

Since 2011, the UK has prohibited all deal protections—including termination fees—in M&A deals. Prior to 2011, the UK permitted termination fees up to 1% of deal value and there was no prohibition on other protection devices. We examine the effect of this regulatory... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; United Kingdom

Read Now

Article

Should Business Have Human Rights Obligations?

By: Nien-he Hsieh

Businesses and their managers are increasingly called upon to take on human rights obligations. Focusing on the case of multinational enterprises (MNEs), the paper argues we have reason to reject assigning human rights obligations to business enterprises and their... View Details

Keywords: Human Rights; Ruggie Principles; Corporate Responsibility; Multinationals; Rights; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact

27 Apr 2009
Research & Ideas

Building Businesses in Turbulent Times

decade, money from around the world has poured into the United States. Despite massive investments, when adjusted for inflation, U.S. GDP grew slowly, with much of the growth from professional and business... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

May 2012
Case

BoldFlash: Cross-Functional Challenges in the Mobile Division

By: Michael Beer and Rachel Shelton

Roger Cahill has spent less than a year as head of the Mobile Division of BoldFlash, a flash memory component maker. On the corporate level, BoldFlash has adapted to an evolving and difficult marketplace, but the Mobile Division is struggling. The four groups within... View Details

Keywords: United States; Massachusetts; Morale; Human Resource Management; Technology; Leadership; Opportunities; Organizational Design; Conflict and Resolution; Product Development; Change Management; Information Infrastructure; Business Processes; Manufacturing Industry; Electronics Industry; Massachusetts

17 Oct 2016
HBS Case

Business Solutions That Help Cut Food Waste

As much as 40 percent of food grown in the United States for human consumption is wasted. Source: Eivaisla After decades of wasteful food practices, where perfectly good food is discarded even as poverty keeps many families hungry, solutions are starting to come... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Food & Beverage

September 2001
Background Note

Note on Application of the Antitrust Laws to the New Economy: An Analysis of United States v. Microsoft Corporation

Analyzes the 1991 decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in the seminal New Economy antitrust case United States vs. Microsoft Corp., 253 F.3rd 34 (D.C. Cir. 2001), which arose out of Microsoft's efforts to promote Internet Explorer... View Details

Keywords: Lawsuits and Litigation; Software; Intellectual Property; Monopoly; Laws and Statutes; Information Technology Industry; District of Columbia

03 May 2004
Research & Ideas

Business History around the World

decade. Ten years ago our knowledge of the history of business was heavily concentrated on the cases of the United States, Japan, Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia. Since then there has been... View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia Churchwell

24 Sep 2014
Research & Ideas

The Business of Climate Change

On Sunday, 300,000 activists took to the streets of New York for the People's Climate March, the biggest climate protest in history, and the United Nations on Tuesday held the Climate Summit. In the spirit of Climate Week, we present insights from members of the... View Details

Keywords: Re: Multiple Faculty; Energy; Utilities

2010
Chapter

Business Groups in Historical Perspectives

By: Geoffrey Jones and Asli M. Colpan

Business groups-collections of legally independent firms interconnected by multiple economic and social linkages that exhibit widely diversified product portfolios-are viewed as the prototypical large-enterprise form in contemporary emerging economies. By exploring the... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Management Skills; Emerging Markets; Alliances; Groups and Teams; Competitive Advantage; Great Britain

27 Dec 2010
Research & Ideas

HBS Faculty on 2010’s Biggest Business Developments

scenarios in Europe have already made clear, the United States will ultimately suffer the same fate as all countries that spend way beyond their means. Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ernest L. Arbuckle Professor of View Details

Keywords: by Staff

January 2006 (Revised December 2006)
Case

Wal-Mart's Business Environment

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee

In 2004, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. proposed to build a new supercenter in Inglewood, a low-income community near Los Angeles. The proposal was a part of Wal-Mart's strategy to bring its supercenter format to California. Introduced in the late 1980s, supercenters added a... View Details

Keywords: Goals and Objectives; Expansion; Market Entry and Exit; Corporate Strategy; Labor Unions; Conflict and Resolution; Retail Industry; Los Angeles