Publications

12 Aug 2008
First Look

First Look: August 12, 2008

that Enhance the Effectiveness of Workforce Diversity Initiatives in Knowledge Intensive Firms Authors: Modupe N. Akinola, David A. Thomas Abstract Workforce diversity continues to be a key focus for organizations, driven by globalization... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2000 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Li & Fung (A): Internet Issues

By: F. Warren McFarlan and Fred Young

This case looks at the issues facing a Hong Kong-based trading company, which links hundreds of factories in India and Asia with major customers like Gap and the Limited in Europe and in the United States. The company has recently launched a dot-com operation to allow... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Multinational Firms and Management; Distribution Channels; Logistics; Networks; Markets; Supply Chain; Retail Industry; Hong Kong; India; Europe; United States

24 Mar 2015
First Look

First Look: March 24

Committing to Africa In 2012, Syngenta, one of the world's largest agricultural input companies, committed to build a $1 billion business in View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2010 (Revised December 2013)
Supplement

Hang Lung Properties and the Chengdu Decision (B)

By: John D. Macomber, Michael Shih-Ta Chen and Keith Chi-Ho Wong

Second phase of auction for a prime retail development parcel in Chengdu, China. Competition forces the firm to revisit all of its land purchase criteria. Hang Lung Properties is known for rigorous due diligence, for discipline in buying property, and for good... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Auctions; Bids and Bidding; Infrastructure; Competitive Strategy; Valuation; Real Estate Industry; Chengdu

April 2014
Supplement

Ingrid Johnson: Reflections on Leading Change

By: Michael Tushman

This case discusses the issue of leading change at the business banking division of Nedbank, a prominent South African bank, between 2005 and 2009. (This timeframe, beginning just 11 years after Apartheid's end, covers Ingrid Johnson's leadership of this division... View Details

Keywords: Leading Change; Restructuring; Personal Development and Career; Commercial Banking; Banking Industry; South Africa

29 Jul 2008
First Look

First Look: July 29, 2008

908-412: http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=908412 The Rong Family: A Chinese Business History Harvard Business School Note 308-066 Provides the complex historical background to understanding the development of family... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

February 2014
Case

BGI: Data-driven Research

By: Willy Shih and Sen Chai

BGI has the largest installed gene-sequencing capacity in the world, and to Zhang Gengyun, general manager of the Life Sciences Division, this represented an opportunity to apply his training as a plant breeder and his early career work as a biochemist to improving... View Details

June 2011 (Revised June 2013)
Case

Sino-Ocean Land: Responding to Change

By: Nicolas P. Retsinas, Jeffrey Hu and Runjiao Xu

In 2010, Sino-Ocean Land Holdings Limited was a highly successful, large real estate developer based in Beijing, China. Sino-Ocean Land had three main business segments—property development, property investment/management, and other real estate related businesses. From... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategic Planning; Diversification; Property; Policy; State Ownership; Business Strategy; Business and Government Relations; Real Estate Industry; Beijing

03 Dec 2012
HBS Case

HBS Cases: Against the Grain

Corruption doesn't announce itself with a capital C. It is subtler and thornier than that—as one HBS student found out the hard way during a recent summer internship in Tanzania. In a new case detailing his... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Food & Beverage

November 2023
Case

From Imitation to Innovation: Zongshen Industrial Group (Abridged)

By: Willy Shih and Nancy Dai

Like other small shops based in Chongqing, China, Zongshen Industrial Group started by assembling motorcycles from "standard" parts. The quality of its early products was good enough for rural Chinese buyers, though wealthier consumers usually purchased premium... View Details

Keywords: Disruptive Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Competitive Strategy; Supply Chain; Product Positioning; Manufacturing Industry; Motorcycle Industry; China

03 Jan 2007
First Look

First Look: January 3, 2007

http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=207077 Framedia Harvard Business School Case 207-057 Examines an acquisition in the highly competitive new media advertising industry in View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

23 Dec 2013
Research & Ideas

Just How Independent are ‘Independent’ Directors?

In theory, a board of directors protects the rights of shareholders. Independent directors are supposed to be just that—independent—free to dissent from a decision of the majority. The reality is more complex. Directors are tied to one... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

05 Jun 2012
First Look

First Look: June 5

French General and Harvard Business School professor, Georges Doriot, who established the American Research and Development Corporation (ARD) in 1946. Purchase this case:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/812110-PDF-ENG Bharti Airtel... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Teaching Interest

Overview

By: Geoffrey G. Jones

I currently teach the history of global entrepreneurship over the last 200 years. The 28-session course called Entrepreneurship and Global Capitalism has become one of the most popular second year electives in the MBA program at the Harvard Business School. The cases,... View Details

September 2017 (Revised June 2021)
Supplement

Tempur Sealy International (C)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Lauren G. Pickle

Analyzes the commercial relationship between Tempur Sealy and Mattress Firm following the events discussed in the (B) case. View Details

December 2001
Case

SinoSecurities.com

By: F. Warren McFarlan and Fred Young

Describes a complex software project that has run into difficulties. Students must decide whether to press forward, stop the project, or reconfigure it. Illustrates many of the similarities to challenges facing U.S. and Chinese companies in this difficult arena. View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Applications and Software; Decisions; Problems and Challenges; Financial Services Industry; China; United States