Faculty & Research
Harvard Business School faculty members have made notable contributions to the history of business. Faculty research is diverse, based in several of the School’s units, and reflects disciplinary backgrounds in economics, history, sociology, strategy, and political science.
- 05 Nov 2021
- Op-Ed
Is the Business World Finally Ready for the Wisdom of Shibusawa?
by Geoffrey Jones and Rei Morimoto
| Legendary financier Eiichi Shibusawa advocated for business prosperity that would also benefit society. One hundred years after his death, his message is resonating with a new generation of leaders, say Geoffrey Jones and Rei Morimoto.
|
- 10 Sep 2021
- News
The Evolution of Black Friday Shopping — And What 2021 May Bring
Re: Nancy Koehn
| The term “Black Friday” originally had no connection to shopping, explained Nancy Koehn, a historian and professor at the Harvard Business School. It described a financial panic in 1869 that resulted from investors Jay Gould and Jim Fisk driving up gold prices and...
|
- Business History
Business Investment in Education in Emerging Markets Since the 1960s
By: Valeria Giacomin, Geoffrey Jones and Erica Salvaj
| This article examines non-profit investments by business in education in emerging markets between the 1960s and the present day. Using a sample of 110 interviews with business leaders from an oral history database, the study shows that more than three-quarters of such...
|
- 17 Aug 2021
- News
HBS Appoints Kenneth J. Peterson Executive Director for Knowledge and Library Services
Re: Kenneth Peterson
| HBS announces today that Kenneth J. Peterson has been named Executive Director for Knowledge and Library Services (KLS).
|
- 13 Jul 2021
- News
Strategies for Underdogs: How Alibaba’s Taobao Beat eBay in China
Re: Felix Oberholzer
| How did underdog Taobao displace eBay in China, and how will it monetize its marketplace for future success?
|
- Summer 2021
- Business History Review
The Cost and Evolution of Quality at Cipla Ltd, 1935–2016
By: Muhammad H. Zaman and Tarun Khanna
| This article examines the evolution of Indian pharmaceutical manufacturer Cipla towards producing drugs that met the quality standards of European and U.S. regulators. It employs new research in Cipla’s corporate archives, the Creating Emerging Markets database, and...
|
- 2021
- Working Paper
The Origins of CE Marking: Standards, Business, and the European Market in the 1980s–1990s
By: Grace Ballor
| Many products—from consumer electronics to machinery to children’s toys—bear the CE Mark, the symbol of conformity to the ‘essential requirements’ of European standards governed by the process of CE Marking. This working paper traces the development of the system of...
|
- June 2021
- Case
One Family Textiles: Stepping Back to Move Forward?
By: V.G. Narayanan, Alpana Thapar and Fares Khrais
| This case explores how a family business builds a board that includes independent directors that helps to professionalize and strengthen governance in the company. The case relates to One Family Textiles, an Abu Dhabi-headquartered manufacturer of garments. The company...
|
- 03 Jun 2021
- News
Walker Webcast: Harvard Business School’s Fritz Foley on the Changing Landscape of Business Education
Re: C. Fritz Foley
| “We can begin to think of HBS as a platform business,” Foley told Walker & Dunlop CEO Willy Walker. In so doing, he added, the school can address the question “how can we best serve learners?”
|
- 07 May 2021
- News
From Dutch Tulips to Internet Stocks, How to Spot a Financial Bubble
Re: Robin Greenwood
| “Periods of great innovation are interesting from an investor’s perspective because you can justify a wide range of valuations,” says Robin Greenwood, a Harvard Business School professor who has studied bubbles. He says another classic example was a 1920s boom in...
|
- 26 Feb 2021
- News
Baker Library Announces New Collection: John Hawkins Research Interviews about Henri Termeer, Longtime Chairman, CEO, and President of Genzyme Corporation
| HBS and Odgers Berndtson jointly announced a new collection for the school’s Baker Library, made up of interviews with the colleagues and family of former Genzyme Corporation Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and President Henri A. Termeer, one of biotech’s early...
|
- 23 Feb 2021
- News
Managing Diversity, A Conversation about John Lewis and the Civil Rights Movement
Re: Nancy Koehn
| Historian and Professor Nancy Koehn shared her latest thinking on a case study she and Research Associate Eugene B. Kogan are creating on Congressman John Lewis and the Civil Rights Movement in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Lewis' death in July 2020 brought to a...
|
Initiative Leadership
Related Faculty