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- 2019
- Working Paper
Collusive Investments in Technological Compatibility: Lessons from U.S. Railroads in the Late 19th Century
By: Daniel P. Gross
Collusion is widely condemned for its negative effects on consumer welfare and market efficiency. In this paper, I show that collusion may also in some cases facilitate the creation of unexpected new sources of value. I bring this possibility into focus through the... View Details
Keywords: Collusion; Compatibility; Railroads; Rail Transportation; Standards; Integration; Trade; History; United States
Gross, Daniel P. "Collusive Investments in Technological Compatibility: Lessons from U.S. Railroads in the Late 19th Century." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 17-044, December 2016. (Accepted at Management Science.)
- Research Summary
Railroads and the Making of Modern China
My current book project is entitled Railroads and the Making of the Modern China and explores China’s economic and socio-political transformation from the last decades of the empire to the present using railroad infrastructure as a focus. Based on a large... View Details
- January 2014 (Revised May 2014)
- Background Note
Rail Transportation in the United States
By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Matthew Guilford
In the 20th century, automobiles and airlines pushed rail into the background as an often-troubled and neglected mode. After a review of the long history of rail in the U.S., this paper examines the situation in the 21st century, including the rail market structure,... View Details
Kanter, Rosabeth Moss, and Matthew Guilford. "Rail Transportation in the United States." Harvard Business School Background Note 314-084, January 2014. (Revised May 2014.)
- June 1991 (Revised June 1993)
- Case
Railroads and the Beginnings of Modern Management (Abridged)
By: Thomas K. McCraw
Consists of three selections by the most innovative of the early American railroad managers describing the organizational structures and control systems they created. Questions to be asked are: why and how such managerial techniques were created, how well they worked,... View Details
Keywords: Business History; Rail Transportation; Organizational Structure; Management Systems; Rail Industry; United States
McCraw, Thomas K. "Railroads and the Beginnings of Modern Management (Abridged)." Harvard Business School Case 391-131, June 1991. (Revised June 1993.)
- January 2019 (Revised February 2020)
- Case
Jay Gould, 'The Most Hated Man in America'
By: Tom Nicholas, John Masko and Matthew G. Preble
Railroad magnate Jay Gould, a controversial figure in the history of U.S. capitalism, was a disruptive influence on an industry that had previously relied on formal and informal agreements to move traffic long distances across lines operated by different companies.... View Details
Keywords: Railroads; Gould; Vanderbilt; Rail Transportation; History; Consolidation; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Competition; Strategy; Rail Industry; United States
Nicholas, Tom, John Masko, and Matthew G. Preble. "Jay Gould, 'The Most Hated Man in America'." Harvard Business School Case 819-006, January 2019. (Revised February 2020.)
- August 1983 (Revised March 1995)
- Case
Railroad Problem and the Solution
A vehicle for a discussion of the causes and consequences of the Interstate Commerce Act. View Details
Keywords: Transportation; Rail Transportation; Fluctuation; Outcome or Result; Public Sector; Government and Politics; Business History; Complexity; Problems and Challenges; Rail Industry
Tedlow, Richard S. "Railroad Problem and the Solution." Harvard Business School Case 384-032, August 1983. (Revised March 1995.)
- 18 Nov 2002
- Research & Ideas
Enterprising Women—a History
Museum of our National Heritage in Lexington, Massachusetts and to explore the question of how this exhibit changes our understanding of women's roles in American economic history. Virginia G. Drachman, a professor of history at Tufts... View Details
Keywords: by Laura Linard
- 16 Nov 2009
- Research & Ideas
The Times Captures History of American Business
From the dawn of the U.S. transcontinental railroad in 1869 to the widespread embrace of consumer products like cell phones and iPods in our time, the story of American business is in constant motion, never at rest—or at ease. A new... View Details
- First Quarter 2013
- Article
Big Data in the Age of the Telegraph
By: Caitlin C. Rosenthal
Daniel McCallum's 1854 organizational chart for the New York and Erie Railroad resembled a tree rather than a pyramid. It empowered frontline managers by clarifying data flows. View Details
Keywords: Big Data; Telegraph; Organizational Charts; History; Data and Data Sets; Business History; Information Technology; Organizational Structure; Rail Industry
Rosenthal, Caitlin C. "Big Data in the Age of the Telegraph." McKinsey Quarterly, no. 1 (First Quarter 2013): 13–18.
- 2015
- Book
MOVE: Putting America's Infrastructure Back in the Lead
Americans are stuck. We live with travel delays on congested roads; shipping delays on clogged railways; and delays on repairs, project approvals, and funding due to gridlocked leadership. These delays affect us all, whether you are a daily commuter, a frequent flyer,... View Details
Keywords: United States; Railroad History; Airlines; Airline Industry; Air Transportation; Passenger Transportation; Cities; Urban Planning; Freighting; Change; Leadership; Public Policy; Change Leadership; Public Finance; Infrastructure; Policy; Technological Innovation; Change Management; Leading Change; Urban Development; Project Finance; Entrepreneurship; City; Transportation; Transportation Industry; Shipping Industry; Rail Industry; Air Transportation Industry; United States
Kanter, Rosabeth M. MOVE: Putting America's Infrastructure Back in the Lead. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2015.
- Research Summary
Markets of Progress: Coffee, Commerce, and Community in the Soconusco, Chiapas, 1867-1920
Markets of Progress presents a new holistic story of rural development in Mexico at the turn of the century. In the Soconusco, as in regions throughout the world, the accelerating circulation of commodities and capital, ideas and immigrants reshaped society... View Details
Keywords: Commodities; Coffee; Mexico; Foreign Investment; Institutions; Immigration; Developing Agriculture; Development; Export Crop; Emerging Market; Property Rights; Labor History; History; Capital Markets; Business History; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Latin America; Mexico; Central America
- 2009
- Chapter
Chinese Railroads, Local Society, and Foreign Presence: The Tianjin-Pukou Line in pre-1949 Shandong
By: Elisabeth Koll
This chapter explores issues of how Chinese railroads improved social mobility and standards of living along major trunk lines, and how foreign investment shaped the integration of the Chinese railroad network from the early 1900s to 1949. As this case study of the... View Details
Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment; Business History; Industry Growth; Welfare or Wellbeing; Rail Transportation; Rail Industry; China
Koll, Elisabeth. "Chinese Railroads, Local Society, and Foreign Presence: The Tianjin-Pukou Line in pre-1949 Shandong." In Manchurian Railways and the Opening of China: An International History, edited by Bruce A. Elleman and Stephen Kotkin, 123–148. New York: M.E. Sharpe, 2009.
- 13 Dec 2016
- First Look
December 13, 2016
protection. Our results support theoretical arguments that IPR protection strengthens firms’ incentives to innovate and that private sector firms are more sensitive to IPR protection than SOEs. Download working paper:... View Details
Keywords: Carmen Nobel
- 20 Dec 2010
- Research & Ideas
Panama Canal: Troubled History, Astounding Turnaround
the limits of attempts by outside governments to improve business and political conditions in other countries. Answering them, however, required a long and detailed romp through the history of US involvement with what Secretary of War... View Details
- 15 Jun 2007
- Research & Ideas
Remembering Alfred Chandler
in the School's Business History Group to reflect on Chandler's legacy and to share personal memories. To listen to this interview with professor Richard Tedlow, click on the triangular play button below. The Macromedia Flash plug-in is... View Details
Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne
- 11 Sep 2012
- First Look
First Look: September 11
surprisingly, local governments exercise the greatest control over urban land in cities that adopted market reforms earliest. Slavery's Scientific Management: Accounting for Mastery Author:Caitlin C.Rosenthal Publication:In Slavery's Capitalism: A New View Details
Keywords: Sean Silverthorne
- 22 Jul 2002
- Research & Ideas
How Business Strategy Tamed the “Invisible Hand”
clearer in the second half of the nineteenth century. In the United States, the building of the railroads after 1850 led to the development of mass markets for the first time. Along with improved access to capital and credit, mass markets... View Details
Keywords: by Pankaj Ghemawat
- 16 Jan 2013
- Research & Ideas
The Messy Link Between Slave Owners and Modern Management
Caitlin C. Rosenthal didn't intend to write a book about slavery. She set out to tackle something much more mundane: the history of business practices. But when she started researching account books from the mid-1800s, a period of major... View Details
Keywords: by Katie Johnston
- 25 Jan 2021
- Book
In a Nutshell, Why American Capitalism Succeeded
History Initiative and a lecturer at Harvard Business School. Sean Silverthorne: Tell me a little about the book. Walter Friedman: My assignment was to write a narrative history, stretching roughly from the arrival of European merchants... View Details
- 20 Aug 2020
- Book
From the Plow to the Pill: How Technology Shapes Our Lives
Spar: Yes, if this moment demonstrates anything, it’s that science matters and that we need to invest more of our talent and resources to scientific inquiry. Now that doesn’t mean that scientists always get everything right. But the long View Details
Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman