Publications

2015
Working Paper

The Logic of Agglomeration

By: Gilles Duranton and William R. Kerr

This review discusses frontier topics in economic geography as they relate to firms and agglomeration economies. We focus on areas where empirical research is scarce but possible. We first outline a conceptual framework for city formation that allows us to contemplate... View Details

Keywords: Agglomeration; Clusters; Cities; Innovation; Industry Clusters; City; Innovation and Invention

SSRN

February 2011
Module Note

Business Cycles and the New Challenges of Globalization

By: Diego A. Comin

Business Cycles and the New Challenges of Globalization is one of the core modules in Business Government and the International Economy (BGIE), a course for the required curriculum of the Harvard Business School. BGIE teaches the economic, political and historical... View Details

Keywords: Fluctuation; Business Cycles; Trade; Business Education; Curriculum and Courses; Capital; Cash Flow; Globalization; Problems and Challenges; China

April 2011 (Revised February 2016)
Case

Jamaica's Anemic Growth: The IMF, China and the Debt(th) Trap

By: Rafael Di Tella and Natalie Kindred

This case describes the economic development problems faced by the small Caribbean-island country of Jamaica over most of the past half-century. The Jamaican economy showed relatively strong growth in the 1960s but stagnated in the 1970s. By the end of that decade,... View Details

Keywords: Government Administration; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; International Finance; Crime and Corruption; Poverty; Private Sector; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Economy; Developing Countries and Economies; Borrowing and Debt; Jamaica

Research Summary

Customer-Centricity as a Vehicle for Organic Growth

By: Ranjay Gulati

This body of work examines the mechanics of how firms grow profitably in commoditizing markets. Underlying the "customer-centricity" that many firms embrace today is a factor that will determine their success with this effort: enabling collaboration across... View Details

Summer 2012
Article

Epistemic Contests and the Legitimacy of the World Trade Organization: The Brazil–USA Cotton Dispute and the Incremental Balancing of Interests

By: Arthur A. Daemmrich

The World Trade Organization (WTO) features prominently in studies of international institutions, often cast either as a tool of rich-world domination over the poorer South or as a neutral mediator facilitating a tariff-free world of economic prosperity. This article... View Details

Keywords: Organizations; Trade; Conflict and Resolution; Consumer Products Industry; Brazil; United States

Article

What Professional Service Firms Must Do to Thrive

By: Ashish Nanda and Das Narayandas

When the going gets tough, professional service firms (PSFs) often get desperate and chase all kinds of business just to keep the lights on. Consultancies, financial services firms, VC/PE firms, and the like offer services and sign up clients they should never have... View Details

Keywords: Professional Service Firms; Client Mix; Strategic Positioning; Organizations; Performance Effectiveness; Decision Making; Framework

October 2020 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Automercados Plaza's: Surviving Venezuela's Hyperinflation

By: Alberto Cavallo, Mariana Cal and Carla Larangeira

Under the rule of presidents Hugo Chávez and Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela experienced one of the worst economic and political meltdowns in modern history, culminating with a massive hyperinflation. Remarkably, during this dramatic times Automercados Plaza's had grown to... View Details

Keywords: Hyperinflation; Populism; Inflation and Deflation; Macroeconomics; Management; Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business and Government Relations; Retail Industry; South America; Venezuela

June 2003 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Peace Winds Japan

By: John A. Quelch

Kensuke Onishi, the young entrepreneurial founder of an international Japanese nongovernment organization specializing in humanitarian relief in emerging economies, is considering its future strategic direction. This case includes extensive commentary on Peace Winds'... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Markets; Entrepreneurship; Non-Governmental Organizations; Japan; Afghanistan; Iraq

April 1987 (Revised January 1990)
Background Note

The New Intimacy

By: Benson P. Shapiro

Describes how close relationships with customers require close interfunctional and interdivisional coordination. Explains where the closest vendor/customer relationships arise and how they stress internal coordination. Also enumerates and briefly describes the way in... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships

06 Dec 2015
News

Yahoo board is the latest focus of troubled company

September–October 2024
Article

Where Data-Driven Decision-Making Can Go Wrong

By: Michael Luca and Amy C. Edmondson

When considering internal data or the results of a study, often business leaders either take the evidence presented as gospel or dismiss it altogether. Both approaches are misguided. What leaders need to do instead is conduct rigorous discussions that assess any... View Details

Keywords: Information; Analytics and Data Science; Analysis; Decision Making

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Article

Build It, Buy It, or Both? Rethinking the Sourcing of Advertising Services

By: Alvin J. Silk and Marta M. Stiglin

This paper provides an update on the current state of in-house agencies. Whereas traditional consideration of internalizing advertising services was framed as a binary choice of build or buy, today's advertisers frequently pursue hybrid policies of build and buy to... View Details

Keywords: Operations; Advertising; Advertising Industry

November 1991 (Revised April 2002)
Background Note

Note on Foreign Currency Swaps

By: W. Carl Kester

Provides descriptive background about the development of an international market for currency swaps and, by means of a detailed example, instructs readers in the determination of swap flows and all-in costs of financing using market swap rates. A rewritten version of... View Details

Keywords: Currency

November 1997
Case

National Pork Producers Council

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Tom Clay

Al Tank, CEO of the National Pork Products Council, is facing an environmental and structural crisis in the U.S. pork industry. Can he resolve the environmental and image problems of his industry in time? Can he receive the support of both his growers and the... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Situation or Environment; Crisis Management; Environmental Sustainability; Business and Community Relations; Animal-Based Agribusiness; Industry Structures; Reputation; Food and Beverage Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States

03 Sep 2020
News

How to Measure a Company’s Real Impact

19 Dec 2023
Research & Ideas

$15 Billion in Five Years: What Data Tells Us About MacKenzie Scott’s Philanthropy

finished giving, but with more than $15 billion granted to nearly 2,000 organizations, some meaningful patterns have begun to emerge. We parsed all the Yield Giving donation information available to date and matched it with Internal... View Details

Keywords: by Matthew Lee, Brian Trelstad, and Ethan Tran

27 May 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Voting Trusts and Antitrust: Rethinking the Role of Shareholder Rights and Private Litigation in Public Regulation, 1880s to 1930s

Keywords: by Naomi R. Lamoreaux and Laura Phillips Sawyer

February 1999 (Revised February 2001)
Case

CAMPFIRE Program, The: Wildlife Management in Zimbabwe

By: Robert E. Kennedy and Karen Beth Kaufman

Examines an innovative, village-based management program in Zimbabwe. While the program has been quite successful, executive director Steven Kasere is concerned about the future. The program has become quite controversial in the environmental community, and the U.S.... View Details

Keywords: Programs; Financing and Loans; Environmental Sustainability; Conflict and Resolution; United States; Zimbabwe