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The Global Initiative

Established in 1996, the Global Initiative builds on a legacy of global engagement by supporting the HBS community of faculty, students, and alumni in their work, encouraging a global outlook in research, study, and practice.

With its rich heritage of global leadership in management education and research, Harvard Business School (HBS) is deeply rooted in the international economy. Working closely with companies, universities, and governments, the School and its faculty help shape the perspective, knowledge, and insight of managers throughout the world.

A History of Global Leadership
Throughout its history, Harvard Business School has been a leader in developing practice-oriented research for management education. Using the case method of teaching, the School has trained tens of thousands of leaders in business, government, and academia. HBS has also helped guide the establishment of leading business schools in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia.

  • 2000 - present
    2008 One third of cases produced by faculty are global in scope.

    Over one-third of the MBA class is international - from 70 countries.

    Nearly 30 percent of alumni live overseas, and more than 75 international alumni clubs are flourishing in 27 countries.
    2006-
    1997     		The School expands its global impact by establishing research centers in key regions to help faculty enrich the global curriculum.
    2006 India Research Centerestablished in Mumbai.
    2004 Gayle and Robert F. Greenhill (MBA Class of 1962) establish the Gayle and Robert F. Greenhill Family Endowment for Global Research. The first major gift of its kind, it provides permanent funding to support the School's international research and course development activities.
    2003 Europe Research Centerestablished in Paris.
    2002 Japan Research Centerestablished in Tokyo.
    2000 Latin America Research Centerestablished in Buenos Aires.
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  • 1975 - 99
    1999 Asia-Pacific Research Centerestablished in Hong Kong.
    1997 California Research Centerestablished in Silicon Valley.
    1996 Established in 1996, the Global Initiative builds on the School's legacy of global engagement by supporting the HBS community of faculty, students, and alumni in their work, encouraging a global perspective in research, study and practice.
    1991 Four students from Soviet republics are admitted to the MBA program. The students were to work for five months in an American firm as an introduction to a market economy, and were to take courses at Harvard University Summer School to become acquainted with the American university system before attending Harvard Business School. After completing the MBA program, the students were to return to the U.S.S.R. to complete a five-year to a Soviet State enterprise.
    1990 Professor Paul Lawrence and Research Fellow Charalambos Vlachoutsicos conduct a senior management seminar on the topic of U.S.-U.S.S.R. joint ventures in Moscow.
    1990 Vast growth in international representation in noted in the MBA program - a jump to 21percent of the First-Year class, with over 58 countries represented in both MBA classes. This prompts the MBA Admissions office to assign members of its staff as "global managers". Assistant directors of Admissions become familiar with the customs, cultures and educational systems of a particular country or region, and act as HBS liaison with that region for MBA recruiting and admissions.
    1986 A research colloquium jointly organized by Professors George Lodge and Ezra Vogel (Harvard University Department of Sociology) brings together 50 corporate managers, government officials, and academics from around the world, to discuss Comparative Ideology in five developed countries-the US, Japan, the UK, France and the Federal Republic of Germany-and in four developing countries-Taiwan, South Korea, Mexico and Brazil.
    1985 Professors Thomas McCraw and M. Colyer Crum lead a colloquium comparing business-government relations in the United States with those in Japan. McCraw draws on research he has conducted while spending his summers in Japan teaching at the Nomura Research Institute's School for Advanced Management. He also presents a yearlong doctoral seminar in business history: "Development of the Modern Corporation in International Perspective."
    1983 Among the topics discussed at a series of HBS 75th Anniversary Research Colloquia are United States Competitiveness in the World Economy, presented by Bruce Scott and George Lodge; World Food Policy Issues, presented by Ray Goldberg and Peter Timmer; and Competition in Global Industries, presented by Michael Porter.
    1981 Prof. Louis Wells, Jr. is named the Herbert F. Johnson Professor of International Business. At the time of the appointment, Wells' responsibilities at the School include teaching a research seminar on international business in the doctoral program, serving as a special field coordinator for international business, sitting on the admissions committee and the policy committee, and chairing a subcommittee which was formed to make recommendations for changes in the requirements of the program, as well as sitting on the faculty council of the Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID).
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  • 1950 - 74
    1973 The International Teachers Program (ITP) moves to Fontainebleau, France, to be managed by a consortium of business schools that includes: CESA (Centre d'Enseignement Supérieur des Affaires in Jouy-en-Josas, France), CEI (Centre d'Etudes Industrielles, Geneva, Switzerland), IMEDE (Lausanne, Switzerland), INSEAD (Fontainebleau, France), London Business School (London, United Kingdom), Manchester Business School (Manchester, United Kingdom), and HBS (Boston, MA, United States).
    1971 The MBA catalogue lists 15 courses dealing with international business; international students comprise 16% of the MBA student body.
    1966 The Division of International Activities, with help from the USAID, establishes a program to provide MBA graduates with action-oriented jobs in developing countries. Seven members of the class of 1966 take specially created positions overseas which are "highly diversified, two-year non-career assignments".
    1964 The faculty accepts the Smith Committee report, which recognizes the desirability of foreign experience for faculty and limits formal HBS/foreign affiliations (involving up to eight faculty members) to three at any given time. No limit is set on leaves for faculty who are independently helping foreign schools.
    1963 At the request of President John F. Kennedy, and with the support of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the School participates in establishing INCAE (Instituto Centroamericano de Administración de Empresas), the Central American business school. Originally located in Antigua, Guatemala, INCAE relocates to Managua, Nicaragua. A faculty team, which includes Professors Henry Arthur, George Lodge, and Thomas Raymond, makes an initial visit to Central America and Panama to investigate possibilities, and Lodge ultimately helps establish the program.
    1962With Harvard's permission, HBS enters into formal agreement in July to help develop an "Institute of Management" in Ahmedabad, India; effort is supported by a Ford Foundation grant and headed by Harry Hansen.
    1960 An international section is added to the Intercollegiate Bibliography of Cases, the chief publication of the Intercollegiate Case Clearing House (ICH). Established in 1954, the ICH is a collaboration of the Executive Committee of the American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business, the Ford Foundation, and the staff of HBS, to centralize the rapidly growing library of business cases. By 1960, more than 235 HBS cases have been translated into one or more of nine foreign languages, and more than 360 cases have been received from foreign institutions all over the globe, many written by former HBS students and/or faculty.
    1958 The Instituto de Estudios Superiores de la Empresa (IESE) is established in Barcelona, Spain, and guided by an HBS team including Professor Ralph Hower. Affiliated with the University of Pamplona, IESE offers the first AMP-type program in Spain.
    1957 MBA students develop the International Business Club, a student-managed organization developed to stimulate interest in international business and affairs. The club runs a student career program that arranges summer positions for American students, as well as U.S. jobs for foreign students at HBS and at certain non-U.S. schools, between the first and second years.
    1956 Fifty teachers are sent to the United States - cosponsored by the European Productivity Agency (EPA) and the International Cooperation Administration (ICA) of the U.S. Department of State - to study business administration at five graduate schools (10 teachers per school): Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of California, University of Illinois, and University of Indiana.
    1955 The Office of International Relations is established at HBS to coordinate activities of faculty abroad and to ensure that foreigners' visits to HBS more meaningful.
    1954 The Ford Foundation awards a grant to help HBS found the Turkish Institute of Business Administration, to be taught by a predominantly Turkish faculty and examine Turkish business. Over the following 10 year period, 17 Turkish teachers receive special training at HBS, and 12 HBS faculty members are released for periods of months to years to assist the Turkish faculty. The program includes a year of instruction in the United States, followed by a year of research and casewriting on Turkish firms. After this preparation period, the Turkish Institute of Business Administration offers its first class of instruction.
    1952 Professor Charles Williams, as a consultant, advises co-sponsors Fiat and Olivetti on the opening of IPSOA (Istituto per lo Studio dell'Organizzazione Aziendale) in Turino, Italy, and begins teaching there. He is one of the first faculty members to engage in this kind of overseas assistance. There is no official connection with HBS, many of the IPSOA faculty are graduates of the HBS programs.
    1951 Harvard Business School joins with several other institutions to found the American Universities Field Staff (AUFS), a nonprofit organization that sends correspondents around the world to research and write reports on the political, economic, and social conditions of the country; give lectures to students at sponsor schools; interview students; and hold seminar lunches with interested faculty members.
    1950 The Economic Cooperation Administration (ECA), an agency of the U.S. government, sponsors groups of Europeans, under the auspices of the Marshall Plan to come to the United States and study U.S. productivity. The program includes a two-week session at the Harvard Business School.
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  • 1925 - 49
    1948 The "Management Training Course" at the University of Western Ontario, an executive program based on the Advanced Management Program, runs for its first 5-week session. HBS professors teach in the initial programs, but gradually turn over the teaching responsibility to the faculty of the University of Western Ontario School of Business Administration. Most of the participants are from Ontario, but other Canadians attend as well.
    1946 Harvey Bishop leaves his position as managing director of Royal Banking Powder Proprietary Ltd in Cape Town, South Africa, to direct the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program (AMP), which he transforms from a "tentative wartime course geared to Army and Navy needs" into a "solid, all-industry management development course".
    1946 The number and quality of foreign MBA students increases, while international enrollment in the Advanced Management Program (AMP) skyrockets.
    1942 J. Anton de Haas, professor of International Relations, goes to Bogotá, Colombia, to assist in planning a college of business administration in that country. The future school will "prepare young South American men in American business methods, and serve as a center where American young men may study South American commerce."
    1940 The profile of the incoming MBA class notes representatives of seven regions: Alaska, Canada, China, Hawaii, India, Switzerland, and Venezuela.
    1934 The faculty approves three new courses: "International Commercial Relations" by Professor de Haas; "Economic and Business Analysis of Foreign Countries" by Prof de. Haas and "Management Problems of Export and Import Trade" by Professor Tosdal.
    1933 In its third year, the Harvard Business School Alumni inaugurates clubs in London, Paris and Shanghai.
    1930 Dean Wallace B. Donham and Professor Georges Doriot participate in the opening ceremonies in Paris for the first European Center for advanced training in business management, the CPA (Centre de Perfectionnement dans l'Administration des Affaires), which Doriot established.
    1930 In the seventh volume of the Harvard Business School Bulletin, Dean Wallace B. Donham reports on newly developed English and French business schools.
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  • 1900 - 24
    1920 The HBS faculty undertakes a complete resurvey of the curriculum and divides it into eight "study groups-"to permit specialization with direction"-among them is Foreign Trade.
    1910 One of the first HBS instructors, Selden O. Martin travels to Latin America to gather information to augment existing courses.
    1908 The first international MBA students - Ting-chi Chu of Shanghai and Charles Le Deuc of Paris - enroll.
    1908 The original MBA curriculum includes courses in French, German and Spanish correspondence, in anticipation that students will require foreign languages in their business and personal dealings.
    1908 Professor Cherington's course, Economic Resources of the United States, "[gives] consideration to foreign trade of the country and the relative position of the US in international trade," and Professor Sprague's course in "Banking" begins by examining the London banking system against New York, and moves on to look comparatively at France and Germany.
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South Asia

South Asia photo

Billions of Entrepreneurs in China and India

Entrepreneurship in both China and India is rising dramatically and thriving under quite different conditions. HBS professor Tarun Khanna explains what it all means in this Q&A about his recently published book.

Executive Education

South Asia Real Estate Seminar
June 17-20, 2008 in Hyderabad, India
The South Asia Real Estate Seminar provides senior leaders with fresh insights and cutting-edge tools to take full advantage of new opportunities in the fast-growing real estate industry.

Featured Research

SKS Microfinance
Shawn Cole and Theresa Chen
June 2008

Patel Food and Chemicals Private Limited
G. Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon
May 2008

Monitor's Opportunities in India (A): Grail Research
Juan Alcacer and Jan W. Rivkin
April 2008

Hariyali Kisaan Bazaar: A Rural Business Initiative
David E. Bell, Nitin Sanghavi, Virginia Fuller, and Mary L. Shelman
March 2008

Asia-Pacific

Asia Pacific photo

Harvard University Opens Shanghai Office

Dean Jay O. Light and William C. Kirby, T. M. Chang Professor of China Studies and Spangler Family Professor of Business Administration at Harvard and Chairman of the Harvard China Fund, announce the opening of a Harvard office in Shanghai.

The Marketing Challenges of the China Olympics

The Olympic Games are normally a marketer's dream. Not so much this year, given widespread protests against the Chinese government. Professor John Quelch outlines the branding challenges posed by this year's Games in Beijing.

Executive Education

Senior Executive Program for China
June 2008; Oct/Nov 2008
Prepares the most senior executives to excel in their careers and lead their companies to achieve sustainable competitive advantage.

Private Equity and Venture Capital—China
October 15-18, 2008 in Beijing, China
Explores the inner workings of private equity and venture capital investing in China and beyond. This program is offered jointly by HBS and the School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University (Tsinghua SEM).

Featured Research

Wanxiang Group: A Chinese Company's Global Strategy
Regina Abrami, William C. Kirby, F. Warren McFarlan, Keith Chi-ho Wong and Tracy Yuen Manty
June 2008

Quanta Computer and the One Laptop Per Child Initiative
Willy Shih, Chintay Shih, and Jyun-Chen Wang
May 2008

Inner Mongolia Yili Group: China's Pioneering Dairy Brand
Regina Abrami, William C. Kirby, F. Warren McFarlan, and Tracy Yuen Manty
May 2008

Sony Digital Entertainment, Japan
Anita Elberse
April 2008

Africa / Middle East

Africa/Middle East photo

The Lessons of Business History: A Handbook

Compiling a handbook on the current thinking in any area of study seems daunting enough, but the just-published Oxford Handbook of Business History carries an even larger mission: bring the lessons of business history to current research in other disciplines and to the practice of business management itself.

Executive Education

Colloquium on Participant-Centered Learning (CPCL)
July 27 - August 2, 2008
CPCL is a six-day seminar offered at HBS for faculty at business schools in emerging economies who are trained in interactive methods of teaching and learning.

Featured Research

China in Africa: The Case of Sudan
Regina Abrami and Eunice Ajambo
May 2008

Partners in Health: The PACT Project
Richard M.J. Bohmer, and Josh Friedman
March 2008

Vegpro Group: Growing in Harmony
David E. Bell, Brian Milder, and Mary L. Shelman
February 2008

Finding Missing Markets (and a disturbing epilogue): Evidence from an Export Crop Adoption and Marketing Intervention in Kenya (pdf)
Nava Ashraf, Xavier Gine, and Dean Karlan
February 2008

Europe

Europe Pacific photo

All Eyes on Slovakia's Flat Tax

The flat tax is an idea that's burst to life in post-communist Eastern and Central Europe, especially in Slovakia. But is the rest of the world ready?

Executive Education

Changing the Game—Europe
June 8 - 13 2008
Designed as a comprehensive program for practical success, Changing the Game - Europe, features courses, cases, and activities that improve every aspect of negotiation, including objective self-assessment tactics, negotiation simulations, situation analyses, and advanced decision-making skill sets that can be shared across the entire organization.

Featured Research

Radiohead: Music at Your Own Price (A)
Elberse, Anita, and Jason Bergsman
June 2008

Can PACIV (Puerto Rico) Serve European Customers?
Isenberg, Daniel
May 2008

Global Climate Change and BP
Reinhardt, Forest, and Mikell Hyman
May 2008

Indesit Company: Does Global Matter?
Bower, Joseph L.
April 2008

Latin America

Latin America photo

A Resource Belief-Curse: Oil and Individualism

Capitalism is not as widespread as economists would hope. Data from surveys of public opinion, as well as on the distribution of political parties, confirm the idea that capitalism doesn't flow to poor countries.

Social Enterprise Knowledge Network (SEKN)

August 4 - 5, 2008
SEKN will host a colloquium, Challenges and Opportunities of Inclusive Businesses, on the HBS campus.

Executive Education

Colloquium on Participant-Centered Learning (CPCL)
July 27 - August 2, 2008
CPCL is a six-day seminar offered at HBS for faculty at business schools in emerging economies who are trained in interactive methods of teaching and learning.

Featured Research

Bank Structure and the Terms of Lending to Small Businesses (pdf)
Rodrigo Canales and Ramana Nanda
June 2008

Banco Compartamos: Life after the IPO
Michael Chu and Regina Garcia Cuellar
May 2008

Partners in Health: The PACT Project
Richard M.J. Bohmer, and Josh Friedman
March 2008

Club Atlético Boca Juniors
Anita Elberse, Alberto Ballve, and Gustavo Herrero
March 2008