Publications

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03 Nov 2018
News

The path to economic development is growing more treacherous, again

March 1993 (Revised January 1998)
Case

Gallo Rice

By: John A. Quelch

Describes a company marketing branded rice products to three different countries--Italy, Argentina, and Poland. Explores the differences and similarities between the countries in terms of consumers, competition, products, and margins. View Details

Keywords: Food; Brands and Branding; Food and Beverage Industry; Italy; Poland; Argentina

2021
Working Paper

Closing Costs, Refinancing, and Inefficiencies in the Mortgage Market

By: David Hao Zhang

In the US, borrowers often finance the price of mortgage origination by agreeing to higher mortgage rates for a given principal amount. I show that for standard fixed-rate, prepayable mortgages this contractual feature has two consequences. First, it leads to increased... View Details

Keywords: Mortgage Market; Refinancing; Mortgages; Consumer Behavior

March 2008
Case

Shangri-La Hotels

By: Dennis Campbell and Brent Kazan

In November 2006, Symon Bridle, the newly appointed chief operating officer of Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, was thinking about a number of organizational issues that presented challenges to Shangri-La's rapid expansion strategy. There were three major issues at hand:... View Details

Keywords: Employees; Growth and Development Strategy; Standards; Service Delivery; Organizational Culture; Accommodations Industry; China; Europe; North America

2020
Book

Unleashed: The Unapologetic Leader's Guide to Empowering Everyone Around You

By: Frances X. Frei and Anne Morriss

When leaders and aspiring leaders seek out advice, they're often told to try harder. Dig deeper. Look in the mirror and own your natural-born strengths and fix any real or perceived career-limiting deficiencies.

We offer a different worldview. We argue... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Skills; Belonging; Leadership; Management Skills; Trust; Organizational Culture

31 Oct 2019
Video

Dato' Sri Tahir

Dato’Sri Tahir, founder of a large financial services group in Indonesia, ascribes the frequency of bank failures in the country to their owners diverting funds to support their other businesses, at the expense... View Details

December 1999
Case

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (B): Nurturing Entrepreneurs and Change Agents

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Jane Roessner

Thirty-one "change agents" at Sun Microsystems, Inc. told the story of their most recent significant change project: its origins and goals, the project team, the chronology of the work, the challenges, results, and lessons learned. Their stories answer two questions:... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Projects; Problems and Challenges; Outcome or Result; Learning; Experience and Expertise; Independent Innovation and Invention; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Technology Industry; Computer Industry

May 2023
Article

Political Ideology and International Capital Allocation

By: Elisabeth Kempf, Mancy Luo, Larissa Schäfer and Margarita Tsoutsoura

Does investors' political ideology shape international capital allocation? We provide evidence from two settings—syndicated corporate loans and equity mutual funds—to show ideological alignment with foreign governments affects the cross-border capital allocation by... View Details

Keywords: Capital Flows; Syndicated Loans; Mutual Funds; Partisanship; Polarization; Elections; Political Ideology; Banks and Banking; Institutional Investing; Behavioral Finance; Decision Choices and Conditions

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23 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

China’s 60-Year Road from Revolution to World Power

Editor's note: On October 1, 2009, the People's Republic of China turned 60 years old. To mark this event, the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University held a conference titled "The People's Republic View Details

Keywords: by William C. Kirby

May 2016 (Revised May 2017)
Case

Supply Chain Finance at Procter & Gamble

By: Benjamin C. Esty, E. Scott Mayfield and David Lane

In April 2013, Procter & Gamble (P&G), the world’s largest consumer packaged goods (CPG) company, announced that it would extend its payment terms to suppliers by 30 days. At the same time, P&G announced a new supply chain financing (SCF) program giving suppliers the... View Details

04 Feb 2020
Video

Ratan Naval Tata

Ratan Naval Tata, for Chair of India-based Tata Group, explains his faith in India's future: "I'm an optimist… there is perhaps the highest degree of entrepreneurship in our country… we need to harness... View Details

07 Aug 2006
Research & Ideas

Whatever Happened to Caveat Emptor?

she enters the corner store." What's more, these protections, which have been on a dramatic increase over the last forty years, vary in nature and intent from country to country, influencing the diversity of... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

January 2019 (Revised December 2020)
Case

Angola Starts Now

By: Jeremy Friedman and Sophus A. Reinert

After five centuries of colonialism, four decades of civil war, an extended experiment with Marxism-Leninism, and nearly four decades of rule by a single man, José Eduardo Dos Santos, Angola finally has a chance to realize its enormous economic potential. A country... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Government and Politics; History; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Social Issues; Angola

December 2011 (Revised February 2013)
Case

Branding Yoga

By: Rohit Deshpande, Kerry Herman and Annelena Lobb

Yoga, an ancient discipline, has become popular worldwide. The marketing of yoga and dispute over its origins have led to debate as to whether yoga should be branded at all. Some yoga instructors have gone so far as to copyright their varieties of yoga; others in the... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Marketing

March 1994 (Revised April 1995)
Case

EnClean: Malcolm Waddell's Story (A)

By: David J. Collis

Describes, in the words of its cofounder, the history of EnClean, an industrial and environmental services company, from its origins in 1984. The company grew rapidly and diversified into new businesses and new geographies both through acquisition and internally. It... View Details

Keywords: Diversification; Expansion; Restructuring; Corporate Strategy

2016
Working Paper

Refugee Resettlement

By: David Delacretaz, Scott Duke Kominers and Alexander Teytelboym

Over 100,000 refugees are permanently resettled from refugee camps to hosting countries every year. Nevertheless, refugee resettlement processes in most countries are ad hoc, accounting for neither the priorities of hosting communities nor the preferences of refugees... View Details

Keywords: Refugees; Marketplace Matching; Mathematical Methods

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November 2019 (Revised April 2020)
Case

Purple Innovation, Inc.: The Online to Offline Marketing Challenge

By: Elie Ofek and Nakisha Williams

This case focuses on Purple Innovation Inc. (Purple), a company that started out in the Direct to Consumer (DTC) mattress space. In late 2018, after a successful launch and IPO with sales predominantly originating from its website, Purple was looking to sustain its... View Details

Keywords: Offline Sales; Marketing Strategy; Digital Marketing; Growth and Development Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Retail Industry