Publications

14 Jan 2015
Research & Ideas

Thriving in the Turbulence of Emerging Markets

long-standing business leaders from emerging economies across the globe. They offer compelling insights into how entrepreneurs based in these countries survived turbulence and change, and the lessons that can be learned from their... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones; Manufacturing; Auto

22 Jul 2019
Book

How to Be a Digital Platform Leader

becomes, which lowers the likelihood of a winner-take-all outcome. Lastly, the truly successful firms in a platform world tend to have meaningful supply-side scale economies. Markets with large economies of... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

November 2023
Case

Will Fintechs and Central Banks Play in Emtech's Sandbox?

By: Daniel Isenberg and William R. Kerr

In February 2023, Emtech’s founder Carmelle Cadet is facing a dilemma. Rapidly running out of cash, Cadet has a term sheet from a leading VC but has a choice of how to structure the investment. The decision will have significant implications for Cadet’s own stake, as... View Details

Keywords: Cryptocurrency; Business Startups; Venture Capital; Cash Flow; Currency; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Digital Platforms

February 2016 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Greening Walmart: Progress and Controversy

By: Rebecca Henderson and James Weber

In 2005, Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, launched a sustainability initiative aimed at reducing waste and making the company more environmentally and socially conscious. By 2015, the company had made progress on multiple dimensions: energy efficiency in its... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business or Company Management; Motivation and Incentives; Reputation; Environmental Sustainability; Retail Industry; United States

19 Jul 2011
First Look

First Look: July 19

claims about the benefits of broader operational scope. The performance benefits of focus are typically attributed to reduced complexity, lower uncertainty, and the development of specialized expertise, while the benefits of greater breadth are linked to the View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2019 (Revised June 2020)
Case

Russia: A Drama In Three Acts

By: Rawi Abdelal, Rafael Di Tella, Galit Goldstein and Sogomon Tarontsi

The collapse of central authority in the Soviet Union in 1991 ushered in a period of revolutionary transformations for the states that emerged in its wake. The leaders of Russia, the USSR's successor, struggled to reestablish central authority while also seeking to... View Details

10 Jul 2000
Research & Ideas

Entrepreneurship in Europe

in the world is crazy." It's evident in labor markets, where the case of India and the software industry is just one example of how incredibly active things are right now. "Of course, the idea market is what scares us all,"... View Details

Keywords: by Kenneth Liss

13 Oct 2015
Research & Ideas

Does Business Get Done the Same Way in Emerging and Developed Countries?

markets. Sean Silverthorne: When we think of developing economies or countries, instability is often seen as a negative. Should you build a business in a place where the rule of law is suspect? But Hamdi Akın seemed to have thrived in the... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

16 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

Making the Most of Government Upheaval

Beginning with Chile more than twenty years ago, Latin America has experienced a wrenching yet exciting transformation of its predominantly inward-looking, state-driven economies to a robust acceptance and practice of open-market... View Details

Keywords: by Nancy O. Perry

September 2024
Case

Aramco: Navigating the Energy Transition

By: Tarun Khanna and Gizem Cihan Dincsoy

In March 2024, Amin Nasser, president, and CEO of the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Aramco), had just delivered a speech about the future of energy at a global energy conference. The world was behind schedule in meeting long-term climate change goals. The global shift... View Details

Keywords: Energy Transmission; Oil ＆ Gas; Economic Diversification; International Business; Business Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Leadership; Transition; Non-Renewable Energy; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Energy Industry; Saudi Arabia

October 2009 (Revised October 2010)
Case

Cosan: Thinking Outside the Barrel

By: Forest L. Reinhardt, Noel Maurer and Ricardo Reisen de Pinho

The Cosan case introduces students and executive education participants to political economy and business strategy in the biofuels industry. Cosan, based in Brazil, is the largest grower and processor of sugarcane in the world and the largest sugar and ethanol producer... View Details

Keywords: Renewable Energy; Global Strategy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Industry Structures; Business and Government Relations; Business Strategy; Vertical Integration; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Energy Industry; Brazil

January 2004
Article

Cross-country Technological Adoption: Making the Theories Face the Facts

By: Diego Comin and Bart Hobijn

We examine the diffusion of more than twenty technologies across twenty-three of the world's leading industrial economies. Our evidence covers major technology classes such as textile production, steel manufacture, communications, information technology,... View Details

Keywords: Technology Adoption; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Development Economics; Human Capital; Government and Politics; Trade; Production; Information Technology; Steel Industry; Communications Industry

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22 Oct 2014
Research & Ideas

An Economic Principle For Us All: Comparative Advantage

The first edition of A Concise Guide to Macroeconomics, by David A. Moss was published in 2007—just as one of the world's great economic downturns was taking off. The second edition has just been published, which includes an epilogue on the crisis and the contrasting... View Details

Keywords: Re: David A. Moss

08 Mar 2016
Research & Ideas

Solving an Economic Mystery Surrounding Argentina and Chile

streets of Buenos Aires. Yet this kind of globalized economy also created distortions, as it was the owners of land and commodities who became rich. When globalization came to a shuddering halt with the Great Depression, there was a... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

23 Mar 2003
Research & Ideas

Globalization: Little Impact on the Continent

Experts on the African economies say globalization has yet to benefit the continent in a significant way, and that what is really needed is political change and more investment from within its own borders. The comments came during a panel... View Details

Keywords: by Julie Jette

July 2005 (Revised August 2011)
Case

Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corporation

By: Nitin Nohria, Anthony Mayo and Bridget Gurtler

Jesse Holman Jones is regarded as one of the most influential men in reviving the American economy from the Great Depression. With only an 8th grade education, he rose to the top of the banking, real estate, and lumber industries, as well as the upper echelons of... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Financial Strategy; Business History; Leading Change; Managerial Roles; Business and Government Relations; Power and Influence

14 Jan 2002
Research & Ideas

Countries on the Cusp: The Power of Nationalism

What does nationalism mean for the world economy? And what does it have to say in a world of ever-increasing globalization? We recently put those questions to political scientist and HBS professor Rawi... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

Article

Business Groups, Entrepreneurship and the Growth of the Koç Group in Turkey

By: Geoffrey Jones and Asli M. Colpan

This article examines the emergence and development of what became the largest business group in Turkey, the Koç Group. This venture was an important factor in the emergence of modern business enterprise in the new state of the Republic of Turkey from the 1920s. After... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Governance; History; Strategy; Auto Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Service Industry; Turkey