Publications

May 2005 (Revised October 2022)
Case

The Octopus and the Generals: The United Fruit Company in Guatemala

By: Geoffrey Jones and Marcelo Bucheli

Examines the overthrow of President Jacobo Arbenz of Guatemala in 1954 in a U.S.-backed coup in support of the United Fruit Co. Over the previous half century, United Fruit had built a large vertically integrated tropical fruit business that owned large banana... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Multinational Firms and Management; Policy; International Relations; Business History; Business and Government Relations; Central America; Guatemala; United States

2021
Working Paper

The Business of K-12 Education in China

By: Geoffrey Jones and Yuhai Wu

This working paper examines the evolution of K-12 education in China, especially between 1985 and the present day, drawing extensive interviews with participants in the educational sector. China has been hugely successful in reaching almost 100 percent literacy,... View Details

Keywords: K-12 Education; China; Real Estate; Early Childhood Education; Performance Evaluation; Teaching; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Personal Development and Career; Social Issues; Nonprofit Organizations; Private Sector; Education Industry; Real Estate Industry; China

Read Now

Web

General Management Faculty - Faculty & Research

Lecturer of Business Administration Geoffrey G. Jones Isidor Straus Professor of Business History Rosabeth M. Kanter Ernest L. Arbuckle Professor of Business Administration... View Details

Web

Business & Environment

Ann-Kristin Bergquist and Geoffrey Jones 2025 | Book Chapter This chapter explores when and why private regulatory governance systems became the primary form of global environmental governance. The chapter... View Details

Web

Business History - Faculty & Research

Business History Business History 2014 Book Business History By: Walter A. Friedman and Geoffrey Jones This volume contains a selection of 42 foundational articles on the discipline of business history... View Details

Web

In the News - Creating Emerging Markets

new paper by Geoffrey Jones, Tarun Khanna, Cheng Gao, and Tiona Zuzul. Mint We are in a deglobalization period: Business historian Geoffrey G.... View Details

Web

Published Materials - Creating Emerging Markets

Contesting Gender and Skin Color Stereotypes in the Film Industry in India, 1947–1991 By: Sudev Sheth, Geoffrey Jones and Morgan Spencer 23 APR 2021 Working Paper Faculty Research Spiritual Philanthropy in... View Details

Web

Courses - Entrepreneurship

Sahlman Fall 2023 Q2 1.5 Entrepreneurship and Global Capitalism (also listed under Business, Government & the International Economy and General Management) Geoffrey Jones Fall 2023 Q1Q2 3.0 Entrepreneurship... View Details

June 2012 (Revised December 2017)
Case

Marc Rich and Global Commodity Trading

By: Geoffrey Jones and Espen Storli

Examines the career of Marc Rich, the world's leading commodity trader before his criminal indictment in the United States in 1983. The case surveys the historical growth of commodity trading, especially in metals, from the late nineteenth century, and its evolving... View Details

Keywords: Commodity Market; Natural Resources; Metals and Minerals; Business History; Entrepreneurship; Service Industry; Mining Industry; Africa; Europe; Middle East; North and Central America; Israel; South Africa; Iran

September 2016 (Revised April 2022)
Case

Zhang Xin and the Emergence of Chinese Philanthropy

By: Geoffrey Jones and Amanda Yang

This case examines the recent emergence of Chinese business philanthropy through the case of the SOHO China Foundation established by the wife and husband real estate moguls Zhang Xin and Pan Shiyi. It begins by describing the early careers of Zhang and Pan, and how... View Details

Keywords: China; Philanthropy Funding; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Personal Development and Career; Ethics; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Higher Education; Real Estate Industry; China

August 2020 (Revised November 2022)
Case

George Soros: The Stateless Statesman

By: Geoffrey Jones and Wendy Ying

This case traces the business career and philanthropic activities of George Soros. The Hungarian-born Soros made a fortune as a hedge fund investor after establishing Quantum Fund on the tax haven island of Curaçao in the Netherlands Antilles in 1973 where he was... View Details

Keywords: Hedge Fund; Philanthropy; Populism; Finance; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Political Elections; Personal Development and Career; Leadership Style; Financial Services Industry; Europe; Hungary; United Kingdom; North and Central America; United States

Web

Global Impact of the Collapse | Baker Library | Bloomberg Center | Harvard Business School

Skip to Main Content Lehman Brothers Collection Resources Baker Library Collections Corporate Reports Collection R. G. Dun & Co. Credit Reports HBS Cases Baker Old Class Collection Related Archival Collections Bibliography Site Credits... View Details

Web

General Management Awards & Honors - Faculty & Research

the Association of University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA) for Innovating in Health Care (Wiley, forthcoming). Hubert Joly : Named HEC Paris Person of the Year in 2020. Hubert Joly : Named Retailer of the Year by Forbes in... View Details

November 2003 (Revised September 2021)
Case

Ivar Kreuger and the Swedish Match Empire

By: Geoffrey Jones and Ingrid Vargas

Taught in Evolution of Global Business. Globalization and corporate fraud are the central themes of this case on the international growth of Swedish Match in the interwar years. Between 1913 and 1932, Ivar Kreuger, known as the "Swedish Match King," built a small,... View Details

Keywords: History; International Finance; Globalized Firms and Management; Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Monopoly; Business and Government Relations; Sweden

Web

General Management - Faculty & Research

Ann-Kristin Bergquist and Geoffrey Jones This chapter explores when and why private regulatory governance systems became the primary form of global environmental governance. The chapter explores two... View Details

Web

Events - Business History

Events Events Upcoming Events Business History Seminar The Fall 2025 Business History Seminar, co-organized by Geoffrey Jones and Christina Lubinski, explores the theme... View Details

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

2019
Chapter

Origins and Development of Global Business

By: Geoffrey Jones

This chapter explores how business enterprises have been powerful actors in the spread of global capitalism between 1840 and the present day. Emerging out of the industrialized Western economies, global firms created and co-created markets and ecosystems through their... View Details

Keywords: Global Business; Multinational; Globalization; Business History; Strategy; Africa; Asia; Europe; Latin America; Middle East; North and Central America; Oceania

Find at Harvard

2024
Working Paper

Private Regulation, Institutional Entrepreneurship and Climate Change: A Business History Perspective

By: Ann-Kristin Bergquist and Geoffrey Jones

Private regulatory systems, including voluntary efforts by firms to restrain their own behavior are the primary form of global climate change governance. However, when environmental challenges first rose up on the scientific and political agendas during the 1970s, the... View Details

Keywords: Certification; Climate Change; Environmental Regulation; Business History; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy