Publications

June 2024
Case

Wemade: (Re)Establishing Trust in Blockchain Games (A)

By: Jung Koo Kang, Charles CY Wang, David Allen and Kwangmoon So

This case explores the fundamental challenges and accounting issues arising from the integration of blockchain technology into traditional business models. It features Wemade, a South Korean online gaming company that has staked its future on blockchain-based games.... View Details

Keywords: Blockchain; Cryptocurrency; Video Games; Accounting; Financial Reporting; Revenue Recognition; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Corporate Disclosure; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Accounting Industry; Information Technology Industry; Video Game Industry; South Korea

February 2005 (Revised March 2008)
Case

Shinhan Financial Group (A)

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Ryan Raffaelli

Mr. Young Hwi Choi, president and CEO of Shinhan Financial Group, embarked on an unconventional post-merger integration strategy with recently acquired Chohung Bank. The strategy focused on integrating traditional operations while attending to employees' reactions to... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Change Management; Employees; Leading Change; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Emotions; Integration; South Korea

December 1995 (Revised January 2008)
Case

Lenzing AG: Expanding in Indonesia

By: Debora L. Spar

In 1994, Lenzing AG, the world's largest rayon manufacturer, is deciding whether to expand production in South Pacific Viscose, its Indonesian subsidiary. Indonesia is a booming market for rayon, but management still has some concerns about the expansion. First, for... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Production; Expansion; Logistics; Manufacturing Industry; Indonesia

Program

Senior Executive Leadership Program—India

leaders, or general managers leading successful, established companies in India and South Asia with 10+ years of experience who want to sharpen their management and leadership skills and are preparing to... View Details

April 2008 (Revised June 2008)
Case

Korea: On the Back of a Tiger (Abridged)

What caused the 1997 Korea crisis? Did the International Monetary Fund (IMF) help or hinder recovery? Did democracy help or hinder recovery? Seen as an economic miracle, Korea succumbed to the wave of currency crises sweeping Asia in late 1997. Did the same state-led... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Trade; Currency Exchange Rate; Foreign Direct Investment; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business and Government Relations; Asia; South Korea

August 2001
Case

Pharmaceutical Industry and the AIDS Crisis in Developing Countries, The

Explores the controversy over the pricing of AIDS drugs in poor countries. This issue has received wide publicity due to two events: 1) a court case in South Africa that seeks to force drug companies to license their patents and 2) the announcement by the Indian... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Developing Countries and Economies; Business and Government Relations; Pharmaceutical Industry; South Africa; India

Web

Employment Data

Finance 38% General Management 13% Marketing 11% Other 5% Strategic Planning 8% Locations United States: 88% Mid-Atlantic 5% Midwest 6% Northeast 49% South 5% Southwest 6% West 17% International: 12% Asia 5%... View Details

D. Quinn Mills

Daniel Quinn Mills provides thought leadership in several fields including leadership, strategy, venture capital, finance, economics and geopolitics. He has been a director of publicly-listed firms and is currently a director of several closely-held private... View Details

Keywords: accounting industry; banking; brokerage; computer; construction; consulting; e-commerce industry; education industry; information technology industry; investment banking industry; management consulting; professional services; publishing industry; venture capital industry

February 2008 (Revised March 2011)
Case

Sandhar Technologies Group, Ltd.

By: G. Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

Jayant Davar, CEO and founder of Sandhar Technologies Group, a privately held auto components maker in India, is trying to decide how best to grow the company. He recently took a $22 million investment from Actis Capital, a major emerging markets private equity firm,... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Business Growth and Maturation; Competitive Advantage; Entrepreneurship; Mergers and Acquisitions; Emerging Markets; Growth and Development Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; India

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19 Mar 2007
Research & Ideas

Handicapping the Best Countries for Business

If you are an executive of a multinational looking for geographies in which to expand your markets, operations, and investments, is China more attractive than India? South Africa better than Mexico? Does Russia have more promise than the... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

March 2011 (Revised May 2011)
Case

China Construction America (A): The Road Ahead

How did a Chinese state-owned construction company strike one deal after another in South Carolina despite political backlash and in New York where well-established competitors dominate? The case examines the U.S. market entry strategy of the CSCEC, China's leading... View Details

Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment; Global Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Negotiation Deal; State Ownership; Construction Industry; China; United States

June 2017
Case

AKB48: Going Global? (A)

By: Juan Alcácer, Kotaro Sasamoto, Tee Chayakul and Mayuka Yamazaki

After a remarkable success in Japan, the producer of the Japanese female singing group AKB48 evaluates market opportunities overseas for his artistic creation. This case introduces the business model behind the AKB48 concept and allows students to identify what... View Details

June 2017
Teaching Note

Succession Planning at Samsung: The Merger Formula of Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T

By: Gwen Yu

A merger deal of two Samsung group companies becomes a center of a corruption scandal. The merger of Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T was seen as a crucial step to transfer power to Lee Jae Yong, the heir of Samsung group. The deal was criticized to purposefully... View Details

Keywords: Merger; Mergers and Acquisitions; Crime and Corruption; Business and Government Relations; South Korea

October 2007 (Revised May 2008)
Case

Transforming Korea Inc: Financial Crisis and Institutional Reform

By: Laura Alfaro and Renee Kim

South Korea, as one of the Asian "tiger" economies, transformed itself into the world's 11th largest economy and major exporter by 1996, emerging from being one of the lowest income countries in the region back in the 1960s. Yet one year later in 1997, Korea was swept... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Financial Crisis; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business and Government Relations; South Korea

Teaching Interest

IFC Asia: China's Belt & Road Initiative

By: Willy C. Shih

The course objective is to provide students perspectives and insight into one of the major political and economic development programs of China – its Belt and Road Initiative, a strategy that involves infrastructure development and investments in countries spanning... View Details

Keywords: China; Globalization; Trade; Infrastructure; China; Southeast Asia; South Asia; Central Asia

April 2006
Case

Finance Leadership in Novartis Consumer Health Businesses

By: Boris Groysberg and Ingrid Vargas

Describes and contrasts the roles and challenges of three high-performing finance heads at Novartis Consumer Health businesses in Australia, Japan, and Venezuela. All three faced tremendous pressures in terms of managing time and limited resources, but the particular... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Financial Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Leadership Style; Health Industry; Japan; Australia; Venezuela

Dorothy Leonard*, the William J. Abernathy Professor of Business Administration Emerita, joined the Harvard faculty in 1983 after teaching for three years at the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has taught MBA courses in... View Details

Keywords: computer; consulting; education industry; electronics; federal government; high technology; information technology industry; software; venture capital industry

Article

Putting Patients First: Social Marketing Strategies for Treating HIV in Developing Nations

By: Zoe Chance and Rohit Deshpandé

It is more than mere coincidence that the highest rates of HIV occur in the world's poorest countries. Of the over 40 million people currently living with HIV, 95 percent are in the developing world. The first part of this paper explores the economics of HIV and... View Details

Keywords: Health Disorders; Developing Countries and Economies; Poverty; Health Care and Treatment; Social Marketing; Perspective; Customer Focus and Relationships; Profit; Africa; Asia; South America

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January 2020
Case

SK Group: Social Progress Credits

By: George Serafeim, Ethan Rouen and David Freiberg

SK Group was one of the largest companies South Korea. A family-run conglomerate consisting of around 120 subsidiaries and employing more than 100,000, SK was tightly knit into the fabric of Korean society. SK viewed their future success as contingent upon the strength... View Details