Publications

2016
Working Paper

Overcoming Institutional Voids: A Reputation-Based View of Long Run Survival

By: Cheng Gao, Tiona Zuzul, Geoffrey Jones and Tarun Khanna

Emerging markets are characterized by underdeveloped institutions and frequent environmental shifts. Yet they also contain many firms that have survived over generations. How are firms in weak institutional environments able to persist over time? Motivated by 69... View Details

Keywords: Institutional Voids; Intangible Resources; Business Ventures; Business or Company Management; Business History; Reputation; Emerging Markets

SSRN

Article

Business Investment in Education in Emerging Markets Since the 1960s

By: Valeria Giacomin, Geoffrey Jones and Erica Salvaj

This article examines non-profit investments by business in education in emerging markets between the 1960s and the present day. Using a sample of 110 interviews with business leaders from an oral history database, the study shows that more than three-quarters of such... View Details

Keywords: Economic History; Oral History; Education; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Business History; Emerging Markets; Reputation; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Education Industry; Africa; Asia; Latin America; Middle East; India; Chile; Colombia; Sri Lanka; Kenya

2017
Chapter

Gapponshugi in Global Perspective: Debating the Responsibility of Capitalism

By: Geoffrey Jones

This chapter places the concepts of ethical capitalism developed by the 19th century Japanese venture capitalist Shibusawa Eiichi in a global historical perspective. The chapter reviews the similarities and differences over time and between countries of proponents of... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Responsibility; Business Ethics; Ethics; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Business History; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact

November 2003 (Revised July 2014)
Case

'Walking on a Tightrope': Maintaining London as a Financial Center

By: Geoffrey Jones and Meghan Gallagher-Kernstine

Focuses on the development of London as a leading international financial center and the difficulties it faces maintaining its status. Examines London's history as a financial center from Roman times to the present day. London's position in the 19th century rested on... View Details

Keywords: International Finance; Geographic Location; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business History; Status and Position; Financial Services Industry; Europe; London

Educators

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

2012
Working Paper

'Power from Sunshine': A Business History of Solar Energy

By: Geoffrey Jones and Loubna Bouamane

This working paper provides a longitudinal perspective on the business history of solar energy between the nineteenth century and the present day. It covers early attempts to develop solar energy, the use of passive solar in architecture before World War 2, and the... View Details

Keywords: Renewable Energy; Business History; Policy; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Invention; Business Model; Energy Industry

September 2023 (Revised January 2024)
Case

Helmy Abouleish: Making a Desert Bloom

By: Geoffrey G. Jones and Maxim Pike Harrell

This case examines the history of prominent Egyptian-based social enterprise SEKEM from its foundation in 1977 until the COP27 conference held in Sharm El-Sheikh in 2022. Led by father and son team Ibrahim and Helmy Abouleish, SEKEM turned desert into farmland using... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Climate Change; Values and Beliefs; Social Enterprise; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Egypt

Educators

21 Dec 2010
First Look

First Look: December 21

PIC joint venture. Purchase this case:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/211020-PDF-ENG Rupert Murdoch: The Last Tycoon Geoffrey G. Jones and Hari BalkrishnaHarvard Business... View Details

2013
Working Paper

Historical Origins of Environmental Sustainability in the German Chemical Industry, 1950s-1980s

By: Geoffrey Jones and Christina Lubinski

This working paper examines the growth of corporate environmentalism in the West German chemical industry between the 1950s and the 1980s. German business has been regarded as pioneering corporate environmentalism after World War II. In contrast, this study reveals... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Green Business; Pollution; Environmental Sustainability; Business History; Chemical Industry; Germany; United States

SSRN

20 Apr 2010
First Look

First Look: April 20

Industry Author: Geoffrey Jones Publication: Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2010 Abstract The global beauty business permeates our lives, influencing how we... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

March 2012
Article

Managing Political Risk in Global Business: Beiersdorf 1914-1990

By: Geoffrey Jones and Christina Lubinski

This article is concerned with business strategies of political risk management during the twentieth century. It focuses especially on Beiersdorf, a pharmaceutical and skin care company in Germany. During World War I, the expropriation of its brands and trademarks... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Government and Politics; Risk Management; Brands and Branding; Problems and Challenges; Communication Technology; Cost; Trademarks; Strategy; Pharmaceutical Industry; Germany

2021
Chapter

Sostenibilidad y negocios verdes en América Latina

By: Geoffrey Jones

This chapter in the first-ever business history textbook on Latin America examines the impact of modern business enterprise on the natural environment of the region between the 19th century and the present day. It argues that although global capitalism created much... View Details

Keywords: Environment; Business History; Environmental Sustainability; Latin America; North and Central America

27 Sep 2011
First Look

First Look: September 27

case:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/312029-PDF-ENG Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism Geoffrey G. View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

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 written between 1934 and the present day by scholars based in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. A wide-ranging editorial introduction describes the... View Details

Keywords: Economic History; Business History; History

Fall 2017
Article

The Alternative Business History: Business in Emerging Markets

By: Gareth Austin, Carlos Davila and Geoffrey Jones

This article suggests that the business history of emerging markets should be seen as an alternative business history rather than merely adding new settings to explore established core debates. The discipline of business history evolved around the corporate strategies... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; History; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Developing Countries and Economies; Business History; Asia; Latin America; Africa

19 May 2009
First Look

First Look: May 19, 2009

Working PapersDon't Just Survive—Thrive: Leading Innovation in Good Times and Bad (revised) Authors:Lynda M. Applegate and Bruce Harreld Abstract Battered by contracting... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

May 2016 (Revised April 2019)
Case

Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World

By: Geoffrey Jones and Essie Alamsyah

This case considers the entrepreneurial career of Olivia Lum, who founded the Singaporean water company Hyflux in 1989. An orphan born in Malaysia, Lum provides a rare case of an entrepreneurial success in a country whose economic success has primarily rested on... View Details

Educators