Publications

March 2020
Case

China's Management of COVID-19 (A): People's War or Chernobyl Moment?

By: Meg Rithmire and Courtney Han

In late 2019, a novel respiratory virus appeared in a province in central China. Government officials in Wuhan, Hubei province had to respond to the new virus in the shadow of the 2002–2003 outbreak of SARS in China and within the context of the country’s public health... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Coronavirus; Pandemics; Public Health; COVID-19 Pandemic; Health Pandemics; Government Administration; Social Issues; Policy; Decision Making; China

27 Aug 2007
Op-Ed

Mattel: Getting a Toy Recall Right

million toys manufactured in China with lead paint and/or loose, potentially dangerous magnets. Clearly Mattel did not have sufficiently tight quality control procedures in its... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Consumer Products

TeachingInterests

Senior Executive Leadership Program—China

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee

Today's global business environment offers many exciting prospects for talented executives and ambitious organizations. To take full advantage of emerging opportunities in China and beyond, businesses need exceptional leaders—forward-thinking executives who are... View Details

22 Nov 2010
News

Harvard University Announces Appointment of Jeffrey R. Williams as Executive Director of Harvard Center Shanghai

17 Nov 2011
News

Migration and business: Weaving the world together

2011
Article

Group Size and Incentives to Contribute: A Natural Experiment at Chinese Wikipedia

By: Michael Zhang and Feng Zhu

In this paper, we examine the causal relationship between group size and incentives to contribute in the setting of Chinese Wikipedia, the Chinese language version of an online encyclopedia that relies entirely on voluntary contributions. The group at Chinese Wikipedia... View Details

Keywords: Rights; Motivation and Incentives; Internet and the Web; Valuation; Groups and Teams; Knowledge Sharing; Behavior; Satisfaction; Size; Government and Politics; Economics; Information Technology Industry; Hong Kong; Taiwan; Singapore

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February 2005 (Revised November 2005)
Case

SAIF: May 2004

By: G. Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

The Softbank Asia Infrastructure Fund (SAIF) team has just learned that the price at which its portfolio company, the Chinese gaming firm Shanda, was planning to go public must be reduced. As a result, the partners think through the entire genesis of the deal and the... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Investment; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Initial Public Offering; Price; China; United States

August 2014 (Revised March 2015)
Case

Reinventing Retail: ShopRunner's Network Bet

By: Benjamin Edelman and Karen Webster

ShopRunner considers adjustments to improve its online shopping service which offers no-charge two-day shipping as well as easy returns and other conveniences. Competitors' diverse pricing models and ancillary benefits raise questions about how to structure and price... View Details

Keywords: Shopping Club; Coop; Pricing; Shipping; Marketing Channels; Global Strategy; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Information Technology Industry; Retail Industry; United States; China

11 Oct 2006
Research & Ideas

U.S. Tops Business Competitiveness Index 2006

The United States and Germany remain atop the latest Business Competitiveness Index, with China continuing to slip in the rankings while India ascends, according to a report released from Harvard Business... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

September 2017
Case

Tencent

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Tencent had undergone many transformations since it was founded in 1998 as a simple messaging service. In 2017, it was the largest online games provider in China with a wide range of game types, China’s largest social networking service provider with several of the... View Details

Keywords: Tencent; Tencent Holdings; WeChat; Social Networking; Social Networks; Gaming; Gaming Industry; Video Games; Computer Games; Mobile Gaming; Portals; Payments; Mobile Payments; O2O; Online-to-offline; E-commerce; Messaging; Subscription Model; Freemium; Mobile App Industry; Smartphone; PC; Monetization Strategy; Antitrust; Streaming; Cloud Computing; Artificial Intelligence; Big Data; Alibaba; Facebook; JD.com; Tesla; Bundling; Synergies; Digital Strategy; Imitation; Licensing; Agility; Entry Barriers; Online Platforms; Advertising; Digital Marketing; Business Ventures; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Units; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Joint Ventures; Restructuring; Communication; Communication Technology; Blogs; Interactive Communication; Interpersonal Communication; Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Investment; Investment Portfolio; Price; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Scope; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Business History; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Positioning; Social Marketing; Network Effects; Emerging Markets; Market Entry and Exit; Digital Platforms; Industry Growth; Monopoly; Media; Distribution Channels; Product Development; Service Delivery; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Business and Government Relations; Groups and Teams; Networks; Opportunities; Social and Collaborative Networks; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Commercialization; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Cooperation; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Segmentation; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Information Infrastructure; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Value Creation; Communications Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Financial Services Industry; Information Industry; Information Technology Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Service Industry; Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Video Game Industry; Web Services Industry; Asia; China; Canton (province, China)

Krishna Palepu attended the annual meeting of the Board and Academic Advisory Board of the IAE Business School in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he spoke on emerging markets and the speed with which they are growing. Professor Palepu refers to Latin America as part of... View Details

January 2008 (Revised March 2009)
Case

Framedia (A) Abridged

By: Li Jin, Carliss Y. Baldwin, Li Liao, Huabing Li and Jielun Zhu

Examines an acquisition in the highly competitive outdoor media advertising industry in China in late 2005. The transaction leads to eventual consolidation of the whole industry and positive stock reactions. Discusses equity consideration in the context of an M&A... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Venture Capital; Equity; Private Equity; Corporate Governance; Emerging Markets; Organizations; Consolidation; Valuation; Advertising Industry; China

October 2010 (Revised July 2013)
Case

ActionAid International: Globalizing Governance, Localizing Accountability

By: Alnoor Ebrahim and Rachel Gordon

As a global NGO working in 45 countries, ActionAid International aims to eradicate poverty by addressing its underlying causes such as injustice and inequality. This case follows a series of radical transformations implemented by the organization's CEO, Ramesh Singh—a... View Details

Keywords: Local Range; Globalized Firms and Management; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Leading Change; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Nonprofit Organizations; Power and Influence; Johannesburg; London

April 2006 (Revised April 2012)
Case

Ghana: National Economic Strategy

By: Michael E. Porter and Kjell Ke-Li Carlsson

Set in the year 2001, as President John Kufuor contemplates a national economic strategy following his election in the first democratic transfer of power in Ghana's history. Focuses on Ghana's long history of poor economic performance and intractable poverty,... View Details

Keywords: History; Economic Growth; Government Administration; Developing Countries and Economies; Growth and Development Strategy; Ghana

February 2015
Case

Abby Falik at Global Citizen Year

By: Robert Steven Kaplan and Lauren Barley

Abby Falik, founder and CEO of Global Citizen Year (GCY), quickly read through the most recent news updates regarding the Ebola crisis in West Africa as she prepared for her board call on July 31, 2014. Based in Oakland, California, GCY was a five-year-old... View Details

Keywords: Not-for-profit; Public Service; Developing Countries; Secondary Education; Nonprofit Organizations; Higher Education; Developing Countries and Economies; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving

May 2012 (Revised October 2012)
Case

Yum! Brands

By: Jordan Siegel and Christopher Poliquin

Yum!, the owner of KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell, asks what might be the lessons from its success in China for currently contemplated expansion into India and Africa. Also, the company contemplates whether Taco Bell can succeed abroad as part of a new expansion push.... View Details

Keywords: International Business; International Marketing; Global Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Europe; Australia; Africa; Asia

2024
Working Paper

Case Studies of the Emulation of Chinese Entrepreneurial Business Models

By: Josh Lerner, Junxi Liu, Jacob Moscona and David Yang

This working paper presents four short case studies of emerging market businesses whose founders emulated Chinese firms. These examples are part of a more systematic pattern, documented extensively in Lerner et al. (2024), in which businesses developed in China were... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Markets; Business Ventures

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June 2020
Teaching Note

Global Brand Management of Anheuser Busch InBev's Budweiser

By: Jill Avery

Brian Perkins, chief architect of the $6 billion Budweiser brand, was excited about 2018, in which the company would launch Budweiser into several new markets in Africa and Latin America. He was feeling the pressure to finalize a global brand strategy that would define... View Details

Keywords: Brand Management; Global Brands; Brand Equity; Brand Storytelling; Brand Communication; Brand Positioning; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Communications; Global Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States; China; Africa; Latin America

2012
Chapter

China: The Indigenization of Insurance

By: Elisabeth Koll and David Faure

The concept of insurance was introduced to China in the early nineteenth century by Westerners trading in Guangzhou and practised essentially among them. We argue that indigenization of insurance, in particular life insurance, was a slow process that stretched from the... View Details

Keywords: History; Insurance; Insurance Industry; China

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