Publications

There is growing interest in impact investing, the idea of deploying capital to obtain both financial and social or environmental returns. Examination of every equity investment made by the International Finance Corporation, one of the largest and... View Details

January 2000 (Revised September 2002)
Case

Hitting the Wall: Nike and International Labor Practices

By: Debora L. Spar and Jennifer Burns

In the mid-1990s Nike, one of the world's most successful footwear companies, is hit by a spate of alarmingly bad publicity. After years of high-profile media attention as the company that can "just do it," Nike is suddenly being portrayed as a firm that relies on... View Details

Keywords: Wages; Developing Countries and Economies

Article

Liquidity in Retirement Savings Systems: An International Comparison

By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, Joshua Hurwitz, David Laibson and Brigitte C. Madrian

We compare the liquidity that six developed countries have built into their employer-based defined contribution (DC) retirement schemes. In Germany, Singapore, and the UK, withdrawals are essentially banned no matter what kind of transitory income shock the household... View Details

Keywords: Saving; Financial Liquidity; Retirement; Canada; Germany; Australia; United Kingdom; United States; Singapore

March 2011
Case

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Company in 2011

By: Willy Shih and Jia Cheng

When David Wang took over as the CEO of SMIC, he knew that if he was to capitalize on the company's strategic location in the China market, he would have to transform the company mindset and its operating structure from its roots in the manufacturing of DRAMs to the... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Resource Allocation; Market Entry and Exit; Business Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Customization and Personalization; Semiconductor Industry; China

23 Jul 2018
Blog Post

Summer Snapshot: Interning at a Robotics Start-Up

HBS Career & Professional Development (CPD) asked students to describe their career interests and what they are up to this summer. Current Position: Business Analysis & Operations Intern Company and... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Technology

Article

Health App Policy: International Comparison of Nine Countries' Approaches

By: Anna Essén, Ariel Dora Stern, Christoffer Bjerre Haase, Josip Car, Felix Greaves, Dragana Paparova, Steven Vandeput, Rik Wehrens and David W. Bates

An abundant and growing supply of digital health applications (apps) exists in the commercial tech-sector, which can be bewildering for clinicians, patients, and payers. A growing challenge for the health care system is therefore to facilitate the identification of... View Details

Keywords: Digital Health; Apps; Health Care and Treatment; Internet and the Web; Policy; Global Range; Applications and Software

April 2012
Article

Local R&D Strategies and Multi-location Firms: The Role of Internal Linkages

By: Juan Alcacer and Minyuan Zhao

This study looks at the role of firms' internal linkages in highly competitive technology clusters, where much of the world's R&D takes place. The leading players in these clusters are multilocation firms that organize and integrate knowledge across sites worldwide.... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Technological Innovation; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Research and Development; Risk and Uncertainty; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Technology

Research Summary

Antecedents and Consequences of Trust in Interorganizational Relations: An International Comparison

The objective of this research project is to build from the conceptual development described above and test the sources and effects of trust in a different empirical setting. The level of analysis is also interorganizational but narrowed to the level of a specific... View Details

1980
Book

Product Innovation and Directions of International Trade

By: L. T. Wells Jr.

Keywords: Product Development; Globalization

Often considered one of the major forces behind economic growth and development, the entrepreneurial firm can accelerate the speed of innovation and dissemination of new technologies, thus increasing a country's competitive edge in the... View Details

January–February 2023
Article

External Interfaces and Internal Processes: Market Positioning and Divergent Professionalization Paths in Young Ventures

By: Alicia DeSantola, Ranjay Gulati and Pavel Zhelyazkov

We explore how the initial market positioning of entrepreneurial ventures shapes how they professionalize over time, focusing specifically on the development of functional roles. In contrast to existing literature, which has presumed a uniform march toward... View Details

Keywords: Market Positioning; Professionalization; Scaling; Entrepreneurship; Strategy; Business Startups; Growth and Development; Organizational Structure

2015
Working Paper

Business Groups Exist in Developed Markets Also: Britain Since 1850

By: Geoffrey Jones

Diversified business groups are well-known phenomena in emerging markets, both today and historically. This is often explained by the prevalence of institutional voids or the nature of government-business relations. It is typically assumed that such groups were much... View Details

Keywords: Business Groups; Business History; Economic History; Conglomerates; Entrepreneurship; Globalization; Management; Organizations; United Kingdom

SSRN

2022
Article

Sea Level Rise and Pacific Small Island Developing States: Implications and Pathways

By: Srimayi Tenali

Sea level rise poses severe consequences for the economic stability, habitability, and existence of Pacific Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Recent legal developments have offered conflicting interpretations of the 1982 'UN Law of the Sea Convention', but under... View Details

Keywords: Natural Environment; Climate Change; Adaptation; Environmental Law; Oceania

24 Nov 2015
Research & Ideas

Developing Your Next CEO for the Family Business

Staley, and the company has developed effective Non-Family Insiders ever since (CEOs Greg Page and David MacLennan). These executives really understand the company’s internal systems and respect its culture.... View Details

Keywords: Re: Andi Wang; Retail; Auto

November 1993 (Revised September 2018)
Case

Rudi Gassner and the Executive Committee of BMG International (A)

By: Linda Hill and Katherine Seger Weber

Explores the roles of CEO Rudi Gassner and the 9-person executive committee in leading BMG International. BMG International is the international music subsidiary of Bertlesmann, a German company that is the second-largest media conglomerate in the world. Describes a... View Details

Keywords: Managerial Roles; Management Teams; Decision Making; Business Plan; Growth and Development Strategy; Global Strategy; Leadership Style; Organizational Culture; Business Subsidiaries; Business Conglomerates; Cost Management; Change Management; Music Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Germany

Web

Business, Government & the International Economy - Faculty & Research

Business, Government & the International Economy Overview Faculty Curriculum Seminars & Conferences Awards & Honors Doctoral Students 2025 Working Paper Public Displays of Alignment: Firm Speech in Autocratic Regimes By: Joris Mueller,... View Details

Research Summary

Antecedents and Consequences of Trust in Intraorganizational Relations: An International Comparison

This project moves the level of analysis to the intraorganizational level. The empirical context consists of internal relationships between the Information Systems (IS) function and the user groups. Are better project management techniques, better software development... View Details

Research Summary

Creating Trust in International Joint Ventures in Asia: An Empirical Comparative Study

In the wake of the currently ongoing financial crisis in Asia, we anticipate a rapid increase of international joint ventures between Asian and Western firms. However, so far, the sources of success in international joint ventures have not been well understood. Why do... View Details

April 2021 (Revised December 2021)
Case

The Carlyle Group: Carving Out Atotech

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter

On January 31, 2017, The Carlyle Group ("Carlyle") closed its $3.2 billion acquisition of Atotech, an international Specialty Chemicals and Equipment company. In Carlyle's Washington, DC headquarters, the US-based deal team—Martin Sumner, Greg Nikodem, Tanaka Maswoswe... View Details

Keywords: Oil ＆ Gas; Deal; International Acquisition; International; Acquisition; Negotiation Deal; Transformation; Chemicals; Chemical Industry; United States; Europe; Asia; Germany