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• Case | HBS Case Collection | October 2003 (Revised January 2019)

  Globalizing Consumer Durables: Singer Sewing Machine before 1914

  Geoffrey Jones and David Kiron

  Examines the global strategy of Singer, one of the world's first multinationals, before 1914. Singer, a U.S. pioneer of the modern sewing machine, established its first foreign factory in Scotland in 1867. Investments followed in manufacturing and marketing in other countries, especially Russia. By 1914, Singer held a remarkable 90% share of all sewing machine sales outside the United States and was the seventh largest firm in the world. Examines why sewing machines became one of the world's first global products and the entrepreneurial and organizational factors behind Singer's international success. Taught as the first case in the MBA elective Evolution of Global Business.

  Keywords: History; Multinational Firms and Management; Organizational Culture; Entrepreneurship; Investment;

  Citation:

  Jones, Geoffrey, and David Kiron. "Globalizing Consumer Durables: Singer Sewing Machine before 1914." Harvard Business School Case 804-001, October 2003. (Revised January 2019.)  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | June 2010 (Revised January 2019)

  The Guggenheims and Chilean Nitrates

  Geoffrey Jones and Felipe Tamega Fernandes

  The case describes the growth of Guggenheim Brothers as one of the largest mining companies in the world in the early twentieth century. Global expansion led the firm to Chile, first in copper and later in natural nitrates. Chile's economic growth was driven by the profits from mining, especially its world monopoly of nitrates. The Guggenheims invested in Chilean nitrates after synthetics were developed by German chemists. Their strategies to modernize the industry collapsed with the outbreak of the Great Depression, during which Chile experienced the greatest fall of incomes of any country. The case serves as a vehicle to explore the devastating economic and political impact of the Great Depression on the countries of the South, such as Chile, which had specialized in primary commodities, and on mining and financial capitalists such as the Guggenheims.

  Keywords: History; Venture Capital; Business History; Entrepreneurship; Globalization; Foreign Direct Investment; Financial Crisis; Mining Industry; Chile;

  Citation:

  Jones, Geoffrey, and Felipe Tamega Fernandes. "The Guggenheims and Chilean Nitrates." Harvard Business School Case 810-141, June 2010. (Revised January 2019.)  View Details

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• Teaching Plan | HBS Case Collection | December 2018

  Raj Kapoor: The Socialist Showman

  G. Jones and Sudev J Sheth

  Citation:

  Jones, G., and Sudev J Sheth. "Raj Kapoor: The Socialist Showman." Harvard Business School Teaching Plan 319-070, December 2018.  View Details

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