Publications

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December 2014 (Revised January 2018)
Case

Yara International: Africa Strategy

By: Michael E. Porter, Mark R. Kramer, Jorge Ramirez-Vallejo and Kerry Herman

Leading fertilizer producer Yara International demonstrates the concept of creating shared value through the Southern Agricultural Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT) initiative, which brought together multiple organizations to enhance agricultural development in rural... View Details

Keywords: Shared Value; Tanzania; Agriculture Reform; Value Creation; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Chemical Industry; Tanzania

June 1985
Case

Henkel Group: Umbrella Branding and Globalization Decisions

By: Robert J. Dolan

Henkel's adhesive group is considering a major change in the international selling of its two major adhesives products for households. The proposed strategy is based on two concepts: umbrella branding and global standardization. View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Globalization; Expansion; Consumer Products Industry

01 Jul 2025
Video

Business-government collaboration for climate transition

2023
Working Paper

LALIGA—From a Soccer Competition Organizer to a Global Player in the Sports and Entertainment Industry

By: Stephen A. Greyser, Kenneth Cortsen and Juan Fuentes Fernández

LALIGA, the first- and second-tier professional soccer league (known as “football” outside of the U.S. and Canada) in Spain, enters its 100th soccer season later this decade. The most popular game in the world (Giulianotti, 2012) has gone through many changes since... View Details

Keywords: Soccer; ＂Sports Organizations,; Business History; Strategy; Brands and Branding; Technology Adoption; Sports Industry

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March 1996 (Revised August 1997)
Case

World to Mexico--Get a Grip!

By: Huw Pill and Courtenay Sprague

The views of three prominent international economists on the events leading to, and ensuing from, the Mexican peso crisis of December 1994 to March 1995. View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Macroeconomics; Mexico

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27 Apr 2015
News

Leadership Lessons From Outer Space

October 2022 (Revised June 2024)
Case

Driving Decarbonization at BMW

By: Shirley Lu, George Serafeim and Michael W. Toffel

The case describes BMW’s electrification and decarbonization strategy, and how the company measured carbon emissions throughout the life cycle of its vehicles and used tools like carbon abatement cost curves to evaluate decarbonization opportunities. In mid-2022,... View Details

December 2010
Article

Why You Aren't Buying Venezuelan Chocolate

By: Rohit Deshpandé

The article discusses the "provenance paradox," wherein consumers are unwilling to buy high-quality products from regions not commonly associated with excellence in certain product categories. Venezuelan chocolate maker Chocolates El Rey does little international... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Global Strategy; Globalized Markets and Industries; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Emerging Markets; Food and Beverage Industry; Venezuela

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23 Apr 2020
News

What pandemic? How Goldman Sachs and Amazon may bring the office home for these interns.

August 2022 (Revised October 2022)
Case

Sian Flowers: Fresher by Sea?

By: Willy C. Shih, Michael W. Toffel and Pippa Tubman Armerding

The setting for this case is the Sian Flowers, a company headquartered in Kitengela, Kenya that exports roses to predominantly Europe. Because cut flowers have a limited shelf life and consumers want them to retain their appearance for as long as possible, Sian or its... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain; Supply Chains; Sustainability; Sustainable Agriculture; Sustainability Reporting; Carbon Emissions; Supply Chain Management; Quality; Ship Transportation; Cost Management; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Africa; Kenya; Netherlands; Europe

03 Apr 2024
Video

HBS Student Visa Overview

Video

Jorge Cárdenas Gutiérrez

Jorge Cárdenas Gutiérrez, former General Manager of the FNC, outlines the factors which led to the end of the International Coffee Agreement in 1989. View Details

20 Nov 2019
Video

Rosario Bazán

Rosario Bazán, Co-Founder and Genral Manager of Danper Trujillo in Peru, discusses factors for developing agricultural technology internally and building an ecosystem for it.

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October 2003 (Revised December 2020)
Case

Globalizing Consumer Durables: Singer Sewing Machine before 1914

By: Geoffrey Jones and David Kiron

Examines the global strategy of Singer, one of the world's first multinationals, before 1914. Singer, a U.S. pioneer of the modern sewing machine, established its first foreign factory in Scotland in 1867. Investments followed in manufacturing and marketing in other... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Multinational Firms and Management; Global Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Investment; Globalization

Research Summary

Overview

My research lies at the intersection of strategic management and international business, with a focus on how firms’ heterogeneous national environments affect competition, corporate strategy, and firm performance. View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Emerging Markets; Corporate Strategy; Competitiveness; Competitive Dynamics; United States; Brazil; Africa

August 2009
Case

Nomura's Global Growth: Picking Up Pieces of Lehman

By: C. Fritz Foley and Linnea Meyer

What issues commonly arise in international financial management? Kenichi Watanabe and Takumi Shibata, CEO and COO of Nomura Holdings Inc., one of the leading investment banks in Asia, have the opportunity to expand their firm internationally through the acquisition of... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Investment Banking; International Finance; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Expansion; Financial Services Industry; Japan

July 1977 (Revised April 1995)
Background Note

Managing a Task Force

Describes several principles for improving the effectiveness of internal task forces. Suggests a number of guidelines for starting up a task force, conducting the first meeting, managing the group's activities, and completing the project. View Details

Keywords: Management; Groups and Teams

March 2018 (Revised March 2019)
Case

Gender and Free Speech at Google (A)

By: Nien-hê Hsieh, Martha J. Crawford and Sarah Mehta

In August 2017, Google fired James Damore, a 28-year-old software engineer who had been employed by the company since 2013. The move came after Damore penned an internal company memo titled “Google’s Ideological Echo Chamber,” which posited that innate biological... View Details

Keywords: Free Speech; Representation; Diversity; Gender; Race; Human Resources; Employees; Employee Relationship Management; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Labor; Employment; Lawsuits and Litigation; Organizational Culture; Technology Industry; United States; California

February 1999 (Revised October 2009)
Case

Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Mihnea C. Moldoveanu

Working with Shell's country manager for Nigeria, the company's Committee of Managing Directors must decide how to respond to the Nigerian government's decision to impose the death sentence on Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other leaders of a movement for the rights of the... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Multinational Firms and Management; Courts and Trials; Rights; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Government Relations; Environmental Sustainability; Social Issues; Nigeria