Publications

February 2010 (Revised November 2013)
Case

Living PlanIT

By: Robert G. Eccles, Amy C. Edmondson, Susan Thyne and Tiona Zuzul

Living PlanIT is a start-up company that has developed a new, innovative business model for sustainable urbanization. This model reflects the software and technology backgrounds of its founders, Steve Lewis and Malcolm Hutchinson, and is in vivid contrast to other... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Startups; Development Economics; Entrepreneurship; City; Technological Innovation; Environmental Sustainability; Urban Development; Construction Industry; Green Technology Industry; Real Estate Industry; Portugal

Article

The Role of Finance and Private Investment in Developing Sustainable Cities

By: John D. Macomber

Three trends will drive urban investment, development, and entrepreneurship in the next two decades. This article provides tools to identify the situations and circumstances that will be most favorable for private sector involvement in consideration of these trends.... View Details

Keywords: Trends; Demographics; Private Sector; Investment; City; Infrastructure; Opportunities; Urban Development

July 2004 (Revised May 2008)
Case

Beacon Lakes

By: Arthur I Segel, Robert Barlick Jr and Jose Gonzalez

In September 2001, Armando Codina, the CEO and chairman of Codina Group, is facing the decision of whether to go ahead as planned with its $220 million Beacon Lakes project, a 6.6-million-square-foot warehouse and office park in Miami's Airport West submarket. Although... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Urban Scope; Business and Government Relations; Natural Environment; Expansion; Environmental Sustainability; Real Estate Industry; Everglades National Park; Miami

April 2015 (Revised April 2022)
Case

Bankruptcy in the City of Detroit

By: Stuart Gilson, Kristin Mugford and Annelena Lobb

The June 2013 bankruptcy of the city of Detroit, Michigan was, at the time, the largest municipal bankruptcy in American history. Detroit had struggled for years with a weakening tax base, high unemployment, a heavy debt load and increasing retiree costs. These... View Details

2009
Article

Acting Globally but Thinking Locally? The Enduring Influence of Local Communities on Organizations

By: Christopher Marquis and Julie Battilana

We develop an institutionally oriented theory of how and why local communities continue to matter for organizations in a global age. Since globalization has taken center stage in both practitioner and academic circles, research has shifted away from understanding... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Business and Community Relations; Local Range; Civil Society or Community; Power and Influence

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2007
Working Paper

Acting Globally but Thinking Locally? The Influence of Local Communities on Organizations

By: Christopher Marquis and Julie Battilana

We develop an institutional theory of how local communities continue to matter for organizations, and why community factors are particularly important in a global age. Since globalization has taken center stage in both practitioner and academic circles, research has... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Local Range; Globalization; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business and Community Relations; Power and Influence

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2016
Working Paper

Infrastructure, Incentives and Institutions

By: Nava Ashraf, Edward L. Glaeser and Giacomo A.M. Ponzetto

Cities generate negative, as well as positive, externalities; addressing those externalities requires both infrastructure and institutions. Providing clean water and removing refuse requires water and sewer pipes, but the urban poor are often unwilling to pay for the... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Urban Development; Organizations; City; Infrastructure; Zambia

February 2005 (Revised June 2007)
Case

Unilever in India: Hindustan Lever's Project Shakti--Marketing FMCG to the Rural Consumer

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Rohithari Rajan

With liberalization of India's economy and the opening up of markets to foreign multinationals such as Procter & Gamble, the Indian subsidiary of Unilever--Hindustan Lever Ltd. (HLL)--was under pressure to grow revenues and profits. HLL had a long and stellar record of... View Details

Keywords: Economy; Market Entry and Exit; Business Subsidiaries; Revenue; Profit; Market Participation; Programs; Rural Scope; Poverty; Multinational Firms and Management; Consumer Products Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; India

Web

First Look: September 2

across geographies is a fool's errand. Best practices simply don't travel well across borders. That's because conditions not just of economic development but of institutional maturity, educational norms,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2007
Chapter

Microeconomic Determinants of Location Competitiveness for MNEs

By: Christian H.M. Ketels

The concept of microeconomic competitiveness based on the frameworks developed by Michael Porter since 1990 are popular with policy makers interested in improving the attractiveness and economic performance of their countries and regions. This concept also has many... View Details

Keywords: Microeconomics; Geographic Location; Multinational Firms and Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Competition

20 Sep 2022
Research & Ideas

How Partisan Politics Play Out in American Boardrooms

percent in 2020. “We were quite surprised by that,” says Kempf. “There's been this perception that corporate America has become more ‘woke’ or more liberal. We don't see that showing up in the C-suite at least.” Geography matters Certain... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds

08 Feb 2017
Blog Post

How I Chose My HBS Recommenders

education, and economic development. There are a few common reasons why most of my classmates wanted to come to HBS. I chose HBS for two reasons. First, it provided me with an opportunity to reflect on my life and career thus far, and... View Details

07 Apr 2009
First Look

First Look: April 7, 2009

for Competitive Advantage, edited by Jeffrey Word. John Wiley, forthcoming Abstract In the early twenty-first century, customers are more demanding than ever, and difficult economic times make them all the more so. As customers tighten... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Web

2022 Reunion Presentations - Alumni

not always research-methods-based online information, political actors have succeeded in giving voice to this set of economic grievances. In this session, we will review online surveys on attitudes towards globalization and View Details

01 Dec 2022
News

Future Vision

out of poverty, providing products and services that have improved people’s standards of living, and creating fulfilling jobs and careers. But the challenges facing the world today require business to do even more—to address persistent View Details

Keywords: Brian Kenny; Educational Support Services; Educational Services

April 2009
Case

Invest Early: Early Childhood Development in a Rural Community

By: Stacey M. Childress and Geoff Eckman Marietta

Invest Early was an early childhood development partnership in rural northern Minnesota between 14 different organizations, which worked together through an advisory board, governing board, and leadership team in order to deliver coordinated early childhood services to... View Details

Keywords: Early Childhood Education; Rural Scope; Management Teams; Managerial Roles; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business and Community Relations; Partners and Partnerships; Social and Collaborative Networks