Publications

January 2011
Case

Founder-CEO Succession at Acer

By: Noam T. Wasserman, Michael Shih-ta Chen and Keith Chi-ho Wong

Stan Shih, founder-CEO of Acer, Inc., had proactively chosen and transitioned the "perfect" successor as CEO, but was now faced with major problems. Over the last two years, his heir apparent, Leonard Liu, had made the changes he had been hired to make, including... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Management Style; Management Succession; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Conflict Management

May 2016
Case

The Inexorable Rise of Walmart? 1988—2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In October 2015, Walmart surprised investors by announcing that it expected flat sales growth for 2015 and growth of only 3% to 4% over the coming three years. Profits would also fall due to significant investments in people and technology. The company’s stock price... View Details

Keywords: Asda; Costco; David Glass; Convenience Stores; Discount Retailing; Dollar Stores; Doug McMillon; E-commerce; Online Retail; General Merchandise; Grocery; Lee Scott; Mike Duke; Multichannel Retailing; Omnichannel; Neighborhood Market; Sam Walton; Sam's Club; Store Formats; Supercenter; Supermarket; Warehouse Clubs; Merchandising; Walmart; Wal-Mart; Globalized Firms and Management; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Units; Business Divisions; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Banks and Banking; Price; Profit; Revenue; Food; Global Range; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Global Strategy; Business History; Compensation and Benefits; Employees; Human Capital; Labor Unions; Wages; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Management Succession; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Distribution; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Diversification; Expansion; Segmentation; Information Technology; Internet; Mobile Technology; Online Technology; Web; Web Sites; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Distribution Industry; Banking Industry; United States; Arkansas; Bentonville

March 2024
Case

Funderbeam: Teaming Up or Going Alone?

By: Paul A. Gompers, Elena Corsi and Orna Dan

Funderbeam, a global platform founded in Estonia to enable start-ups to run private syndications and secondaries while offering liquidity for private equity investors, was at a crossroads. Over its ten-year run, the company had expanded its services and areas of... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Business Exit or Shutdown; Transition; Leading Change; Business or Company Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Law; Mergers and Acquisitions; Financing and Loans; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Ownership Stake; Expansion; Business Startups; Venture Capital; Financial Services Industry; Estonia; Republic of Ireland; United Kingdom; Singapore

October 2015 (Revised July 2017)
Case

OMV Petrom: Investment as Partnership—When It Takes Three to Tango

By: Dante Roscini, Emer Maloney and Daniela Beyersdorfer

Petrom was privatized by the Romanian state in 2004 and acquired by Austrian oil company OMV, with the state retaining a 20.6% stake in the company. The situation was particularly challenging for the foreign investor since the sector in which the company operated was... View Details

Keywords: Partners and Partnerships; Privatization; Acquisition; Foreign Direct Investment; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Business and Government Relations; Energy Industry; Austria; Romania

21 Apr 2021
Research & Ideas

The Pandemic Conversations That Leaders Need to Have Now

leaders manage these conversations effectively. Drawing on our insights and those of others, we offer this guide to help leaders have the kinds of discussions we need to be having right now. The four I’s of conversational leadership The... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg, Robin Abrahams, and Katherine Connolly Baden

13 Sep 2010
Research & Ideas

The Consumer Appeal of Underdog Branding

an orphan or a child from a broken home, her character persevered and rose above her disadvantages. Q: In addition to studying Americans, you compared their responses with those of people in a different cultural context, Singapore. Why? What did you find? A: We wanted... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

December 2014 (Revised April 2018)
Case

Dalian Wanda Group: The AMC Entertainment Acquisition (A)

By: Willy Shih

When Dalian Wanda Group of China announced its plan to acquire the AMC Entertainment theatrical exhibition chain in the United States, many people in the U.S. were mystified. Unlike China where theatrical exhibition was experiencing rapid growth, the U.S. market was... View Details

Keywords: Dalian Wanda Group; AMC Entertainment; Wang Jianlin; Theater Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Foreign Direct Investment; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; China; United States

October 2006 (Revised January 2008)
Case

Allianz AG: Becoming a European Company

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Alexis Chernak

Focuses on the decision made by leadership at Allianz AG, the German insurance and financial services company, to complete a cross-border merger with the Italian insurance and financial services company, RAS. Allianz, however, could not complete the cross-border merger... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Organization; Decision Choices and Conditions; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Governing and Advisory Boards; Laws and Statutes; European Union; Germany; Italy

Find at Harvard

November 2007 (Revised June 2011)
Case

ISS A/S (A)

By: Clayton S. Rose

Provides the opportunity to examine the nature and extent of a company's responsibilities to its bondholders, and to develop an enhanced understanding of the challenges in managing contractual obligations, and circumstances under which business leaders might agree to... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Bonds; Contracts; Private Equity; Leveraged Buyouts; Privatization; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Borrowing and Debt; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Europe

July–September 2012
Article

The (Un)Hidden Turmoil of Language in Global Collaboration

By: Tsedal Neeley, Pamela J. Hinds and Catherine D. Cramton

Companies are increasingly relying on a lingua franca, or common language (usually English), to facilitate cross-border collaboration. Despite the numerous benefits of a lingua franca, our research reveals myriad challenges that disrupt collaboration and contribute to... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Loss; Spoken Communication; Performance Productivity; Research; Global Range; Problems and Challenges; Diversity; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues

Read Now

16 Apr 2013
First Look

First Look: April 16

Social Psychology Prosocial Spending and Well-Being: Cross-Cultural Evidence for a Psychological Universal By: Aknin, Lara B., Christopher P. Barrington-Leigh, Elizabeth W. Dunn, John F. Helliwell, Justine Burns, Robert Biswas-Diener,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Sep 2006
News

East to West

language, paying for employee language lessons during a two-year transition period. In 2005, Sumida reported revenues of 39 billion yen ($345 million) with 17,750 employees. Egawa, who holds a Ph.D. in management with a focus on corporate... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training

15 Nov 2016
News

China IFC: Global Access, Global Perspective

and their management teams.” The Business of Going Global, China-Style, one of six IFCs in the MBA Program’s Elective Curriculum in 2016, was designed and led by two faculty members with extensive knowledge of the region. Willy C. Shih,... View Details

11 Jul 2013
News

Program Aims to Develop a Generation of Global Citizens

people deep experience living and working abroad, while cultivating their skills speaking languages and navigating cross-cultural work environments. The need for such experience is clear, she adds. “Two-thirds of business leaders believe... View Details

Keywords: Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training

March 1985 (Revised April 1988)
Case

Industrias Gessy-Lever Limitada

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and John Young

Keywords: Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Management; Brazil

Find at Harvard

31 Oct 2006
HBS Case

Governing Sumida Corporation

period. In 2005, Sumida reported revenues of 39 billion yen ($345 million) with 17,750 employees. Egawa, who holds a PhD in management with a focus on corporate governance, summarizes the macro changes that led to revisions in Japan's... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Electronics

21 Oct 2008
First Look

First Look: October 21, 2008

venture with China-LuQuan on two other types of products. Both parties had to overcome past distrust to work things out on a series of strategic issues: investment, product slate, marketing, technology, management organization, staffing,... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

July 2001 (Revised February 2003)
Case

Recall 2000: Bridgestone Corp. (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine

In September 2000, the president of Bridgestone-Firestone, the U.S. subsidiary of Japan's Bridgestone Corp., was invited to appear before a U.S. congressional subcommittee investigating the August 2000 recall of more than 6.5 million tires made by the subsidiary. The... View Details

Keywords: History; Crisis Management; Business Processes; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; Rubber Industry; Japan; United States