T. M. Chang Professor of China Studies, Spangler Family Professor of Business Administration
William C. Kirby is Spangler Family Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and T. M. Chang Professor of China Studies at Harvard University. He is a University Distinguished Service Professor. Professor Kirby serves as Chairman of the Harvard China Fund, the University's academic venture fund for China, and Faculty Chair of the Harvard Center Shanghai, Harvard's first University-wide center located outside the United States.
A historian by training, Professor Kirby examines contemporary China's business, economic, and political development in an international context. He writes and teaches on the growth of modern companies in China (Chinese and foreign; state-owned and private); Chinese corporate law and company structure; business relations across Greater China (PRC, Taiwan, Hong Kong); and China's relations with the United States and Europe. He has authored or co-authored more than fifty HBS cases on business in China, ranging from start-ups to SOEs; agribusiness and middle-class consumption; banking and microfinance; healthcare and education; corporate governance and corporate social responsibility; and the global strategies of Chinese firms. His current projects include case studies of trend-setting Chinese businesses and a comparative study of higher education in China, Europe, and the United States. His most recent book is Can China Lead? (Harvard Business Review Press).
William C. Kirby is Spangler Family Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and T. M. Chang Professor of China Studies at Harvard University. He is a University Distinguished Service Professor. Professor Kirby serves as Chairman of the Harvard China Fund, the University's academic venture fund for China, and Faculty Chair of the Harvard Center Shanghai, Harvard's first University-wide center located outside the United States.
A historian by training, Professor Kirby examines contemporary China's business, economic, and political development in an international context. He writes and teaches on the growth of modern companies in China (Chinese and foreign; state-owned and private); Chinese corporate law and company structure; business relations across Greater China (PRC, Taiwan, Hong Kong); and China's relations with the United States and Europe. He has authored or co-authored more than fifty HBS cases on business in China, ranging from start-ups to SOEs; agribusiness and middle-class consumption; banking and microfinance; healthcare and education; corporate governance and corporate social responsibility; and the global strategies of Chinese firms. His current projects include case studies of trend-setting Chinese businesses and a comparative study of higher education in China, Europe, and the United States. His most recent book is Can China Lead? (Harvard Business Review Press).
Before coming to Harvard in 1992, he was Professor of History, Director of Asian Studies, and Dean of University College at Washington University in St. Louis. At Harvard, Professor Kirby has served as Chair of the History Department, Director of the Harvard University Asia Center, Director of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
As Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, he led Harvard's largest school, with 10,000 students, 1,000 faculty members, 2,500 staff, and an annual budget of $1 billion. He initiated major reforms in undergraduate education in Harvard College; enhanced Harvard's international studies at home and abroad; increased substantially financial aid in the College and in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences; supported the growth of the Division (now School) of Engineering and Applied Sciences; and oversaw the construction of major new buildings in the Life Sciences, Engineering, and the Arts. During his tenure, the Faculty expanded at its most rapid rate since the 1960s.
Professor Kirby's research and consulting have focused on strategies for business and education in China. He serves on the Board of Directors of Cabot Corporation; The China Fund, Inc.; The Taiwan Fund, Inc.; the American Council of Learned Societies; Harvard University Press; and Schwarzman Scholars at Tsinghua University. He served as Senior Advisor on China to Duke University in the founding of Duke Kunshan University.
Professor Kirby holds degrees from Dartmouth College, Harvard University, the Freie Universität Berlin (Dr. Phil. honoris causa), the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (Dr. Phil. honoris causa), and Hong Kong Baptist University (Dr. Humanities honoris causa). He has been named Honorary Professor at Tsinghua University, Peking University, Nanjing University, Fudan University, Zhejiang University, Chongqing University, East China Normal University, the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, and National Chengchi University. He has held appointments also as Visiting Professor at University of Heidelberg and the Freie Universität Berlin. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
This book highlights the experiences of international leaders in liberal arts and science education from around the world as they discuss regional trends and models, with a specific focus on developments in and cooperation with China. Focusing on why this model responds to the twenty-first century requirements for excellence and relevance in undergraduate education, contributors examine if it can be implemented in different contexts and across academic cultures, structures, and traditions.
At the time of the American Revolution, China was the strongest, richest, and most powerful civilization in the world. The Great Qing Empire ruled China and dominated East Asia by a combination of power and cultural prestige. China's economy was the world's largest. China seemed without peer. Decline came fast. By 1900, China had been invaded, defeated, and degraded, first by Western nations, and then by Japan. An entire system of governance was blown away. In 1911, an imperial tradition of more than 2,000 years ended. After the subsequent disasters of world war and Maoist utopianism, China was an impoverished third world economy holding 20% of the world's population and barely 5% of its economic activity. Today China has again emerged as a great power. Beijing is once more the capital of a multi-ethnic empire that dominates East Asia. Foreign students flock to China to live, study, and work. New infrastructure of airports, highways, railways, electricity, and telecommunications dominate the landscape. It has a powerful government, appears respected in the world, and for the first extended time in modern history, it faces no real external threats to its security. China's resurgence has been driven by a combination of private entrepreneurship and top-down bureaucratic capitalism, by an unmatched and unchecked culture of engineering ambition, of rote learning and educational experimentation, of sophisticated tastes along with basic concerns with food safety. It is a country that is at once cosmopolitan and confused about what its new global roles should be. How will those conflicting strategies, shortcomings, and achievements play out in the future? How do we imagine this great and resurgent nation with its embedded conflicts and challenges will look in 2034? We examine successively the forces that have made China as we know it today, the history and role of the Party, its success in engineering and infrastructure construction, its challenges in planning and innovation, and the special things that a firm must do to compete successfully in the Chinese market. We conclude with China's approach to the global economy and our prognostication for 2034.
Kirby, William C., Gong Li and Robert Ross, eds. The Normalization of U.S.-China Relations: An International History. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2006. (Also published as Cong jiedong zou xiang jianjiao [From Rapprochement to the Establishment of Sino-American Relations, 1969-1979.] (Beijing: Zhongyang wenxian chubanshe, 2004.)
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Kirby, William C. Germany and Republican China. Stanford University Press, 1984. (With new Chinese introduction and translation, published as Deguo yu Zhonghua minguo [Germany and the Republic of China], Chen Qianping, Chen Hongmin, et al., trans. (Nanjing: Jiangsu renmin chubanshe, 2006). First translated with new Chinese foreword as Jiang Jieshi yu Nacui Deguo [Chiang Kai-shek and Nazi Germany], Chen Jianping, et al., trans., (Beijing: Zhongguo qingnian chubanshe, 1994).)
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Recent geopolitical events, such as Brexit and the retreat from multilateral trade and cooperation by the USA, have created waves of uncertainty, especially in the field of higher education, regarding international cooperation. Meanwhile, China is publicly seeking to take the lead in globalisation, developing its higher education and research systems at speed and actively seeking to cooperate with academic partners along the New Silk Roads in order to attract talent (back). But under which conditions, whose definitions, and based on what values? And what, if any, difference will the “New Silk Road” make in the global educational landscape?
The article examines the role of the Chinese government in transport firm Uber's decision to sell its China operation to a rival Chinese ride-sharing company.
Kirby, William C., and Marijk C. van der Wende. "Editors' Note." Special Issue on New Directions in Liberal Arts and Science Education in Asia. International Journal of Chinese Education 5, no. 1 (2016): 1–4.
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A look at how innovation is happening in China—from the top down, from the bottom up, through acquisition, and through education. Sheds light on the complexities of the issue, highlighting the promise and the problems China faces in its quest to become the world's innovation leader.
Abrami, Regina M., William C. Kirby, and F. Warren McFarlan. "Why China Can't Innovate."Harvard Business Review 92, no. 3 (March 2014): 107–111.
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Kirby, William C. "The Internationalization of China." China Quarterly, no. 150 (June 1997): 443–458. (Translated as "Zhongguo de Guojihua: minguo shidai de duiwai guanxi," Ershiyi shiji [Twenty-first Century] (Hong Kong), no. 44 (Dec. 1997), 33-47.)
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Kirby, William C., and Stephen C. Averill. "Recent American Scholarship on Republican China." Chitake ni arite 16 (November 1989). (corrected version 17 in (May 1990) 43-64. Published also in Zhongguo jindaishi yanjiu tongxun [Research in Modern Chinese History (Taipei)] 9 (1990))
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Kirby, William C. "Zhonghua minguo shiqide hezi he jishu zhuanrang [Joint ventures and technological development under the Republic of China]." Zhongwai shehui kexue [Sino-Foreign Social Science] (December 1987).
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Many books offer information about China, but few make sense of what is truly at stake. The questions addressed in this unique volume provide a window onto the challenges China faces today and the uncertainties its meteoric ascent on the global horizon has provoked.
In only a few decades, the most populous country on Earth has moved from relative isolation to center stage. Thirty-six of the world’s leading China experts—all affiliates of the renowned Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University—answer key questions about where this new superpower is headed and what makes its people and their leaders tick. They distill a lifetime of cutting-edge scholarship into short, accessible essays about Chinese identity, culture, environment, society, history, or policy.
Can China’s economic growth continue apace? Can China embrace the sacrifices required for a clean environment? Will Taiwan reunite with the mainland? How do the Chinese people understand their position in today’s global marketplace? How do historical setbacks and traditional values inform China’s domestic and foreign policy? Some of the essays address issues of importance to China internally, revolving around the Communist Party’s legitimacy, the end of the one-child policy, and ethnic tensions. Others focus on China’s relationship with other nations, particularly the United States. If America pulls back from its Asian commitments, how will China assert its growing strength in the Pacific region?
China has already captured the world’s attention. The China Questions takes us behind media images and popular perceptions to provide insight on fundamental issues.
Book Abstract: This book highlights the experiences of international leaders in liberal arts and science education from around the world as they discuss regional trends and models, with a specific focus on developments in and cooperation with China. Focusing on why this model responds to the twenty-first century requirements for excellence and relevance in undergraduate education, contributors examine if it can be implemented in different contexts and across academic cultures, structures, and traditions.
Kirby, William C. "Global Business Across the Taiwan Strait: The Case of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited." In Mobile Horizons: Dynamics Across the Taiwan Strait, edited by Wen-hsin Yeh, 178–208. Berkeley: University of California, Berkeley, Institute of East Asian Studies, 2013.
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Kirby, William C. "Engineers and the State in Modern China." In Prospects for the Professions in China, edited by William P. Alford, William Kirby, and Kenneth Winston, 283–314. Routledge Studies on Civil Society in Asia. London: Routledge, 2010.
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Kirby, William C. "China's Republican Century: Leaders and Followers on the Mainland and on Taiwan, 1911-2007." In Lun Minguo shiqi lingdao qingying [Leadership Elites in Republican China], edited by Lu Fang-shang, 22–32. Hong Kong: Commercial Press, 2009. (ISBN: 978-962-07-6426-4.)
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Kirby, William C. "Archives and Histories in Twentieth-Century China." In Archives, Documentation and Institutions of Socal Memory, edited by Francis X. Blouin Jr. and William G. Rosenberg. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2006.
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Kirby, William C. "When Did China Become China? Thoughts on the Twentieth Century." In The Teleology of the Modern Nation-State, edited by Joshua A. Fogel, 105–114. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005.
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Kirby, William C. "Introduction." Introduction to Realms of Freedom in Modern China. Vol. 15, edited by William C. Kirby, 1–17. Making of Modern Freedom. Stanford University Press, 2004.
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Kirby, William C. "The Chinese Party-State under Democracy and Dictatorship on the Mainland and Taiwan." In Realms of Freedom in Modern China. Vol. 15, edited by William C. Kirby, 113–138. Making of Modern Freedom. Stanford University Press, 2004.
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Kirby, William C. "Images and Realities of Chinese Fascism." In Fascism Outside Europe: The European Impulse Against Domestic Conditions In The Diffusion Of Global Fascism, edited by Stein Ugelvik Larsen, 233–268. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001.
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Kirby, William C. "The Nationalist Regime and the Chinese Party-State." In Historical Perspectives on Contemporary East Asia, edited by Merle Goldman and Andrew Gordon, 211–237. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2000.
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Kirby, William C. "Engineering China: The Origins of the Chinese Developmental State." In Becoming Chinese, edited by Wen-hsin Yeh, 137–160. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000.
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Kirby, William C. "Intercultural Connections and Chinese Development: External and Internal Spheres of Modern China's Foreign Relations." In China's Quest for Modernization: A Historical Perspective, edited by Frederic Wakeman and Wang Xi, 219–248. Berkeley: University of California, Berkeley, Institute of East Asian Studies, 1997. (published first in Zhongguo xiandaihua wenti [Issues of Chinese modernization] (Shanghai: Fudan daxue chubanshe, 1994))
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Kirby, William C. "The Study of Modern China's Foreign Relations: Trends and Research Agendas." In Politik, Wirtschaft, Kulter: Studien zu den Deutsch-Chinesischen Beziehungen, edited by Mechthild Leutner, 385–406. Munster: Lit Verlag, 1996.
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Kirby, William C. "Chinese-American Relations in Comparative Perspective, 1900-1949." In Pacific Passage: The Study of American East-Asian Relations on the Eve of the Twenty-First Century, edited by Warren Cohen and Akira Iriye, 163–190. New York: Columbia University Press, 1996.
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Kirby, William C. "Traditions of Centrality, Authority and Management in Modern China's Foreign Relations." In Ideas and Interpretations in Chinese Foreign Policy, edited by David Shambaugh and Thomas Robinson, 13–30. New York and London: Oxford University Press, 1994.
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Kirby, William C. "Intercultural Contacts and International Relations: China's Relations with Germany, the Soviet Union and the United States, 1927-1944." In Deutschland und China, edited by Kuo Heng-yü and Mechthild Leutner, 225–252. Munich: Minerva Publikation, 1994.
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Kirby, William C. "The Chinese War Economy: Mobilization, Control, and Planning in Nationalist China." In China's Bitter Victory: The War With Japan, 1937-1945, edited by Steven I. Levine and James C. Hsiung, 185–213. New York: M.E. Sharpe, 1992.
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Chapter
| Minguo dang'an yu minguo shi xueshu taolunhui lunwenji [Proceedings of the Conference on the Archives and History of Republican China]
|
1989
Kirby, William C. "Minguo shiqi Zhongwai jingji jishu hezuo: Meigo zhanshi shengchan quwentuan huan Hua, 1944-1946 [Sino-foreign Economic and Technical Cooporation in Republican China: The U.S. War Production Mission to China, 1944-46]." In Minguo dang'an yu minguo shi xueshu taolunhui lunwenji [Proceedings of the Conference on the Archives and History of Republican China], edited by Zhang Xianwen, et al.. Beijing: Dang'an chubanshe [Archives Press], 1989.
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Kirby, William C. "Technocratic Organization and Technological Development in China, 1928-1953." In Science and Technology in Post-Mao China, edited by Denis Fred Simon and Merle Goldman, 23–44. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1989.
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This case tells the story of how Wang Minghui, Chairman of Yunnan Baiyao Group since 1999, transformed a single-product traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) state-owned enterprise (SOE) into a major diversified consumer health player in China's highly competitive fast-moving consumer goods market. The case also traces the development of the company from a private business to a SOE and then to a SOE under mixed state-private ownership.
Chu, Michael, William C. Kirby, Nancy Hua Dai, and Yuanzhuo Wang. "Yunnan Baiyao: Transforming a Chinese State-Owned Enterprise." Harvard Business School Case 318-078, February 2018. (Revised April 2018.)
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This case provides a brief overview of the success and challenges of the HNA Group between 2015 and late 2017 when it grew rapidly through global acquisitions to become 170 on the 2017 Fortune 500 list. A firm that had begun as a provincial airline in China was now a giant global conglomerate and suddenly the subject of much scrutiny in the international press. How would HNA handle the legal and political queries regarding its governance and finances in an era of increasing scrutiny of big businesses? How would changing Chinese government policies regarding Chinese investments overseas affect the firm?
This case updates Wenzhou Kangning Hospital Co, Ltd.'s activities since its IPO in late 2015, focusing on its strategy and growth since the IPO and challenges for the future.
The city of Wenzhou in the Province of Zhejiang, long known in China for entrepreneurship, now hosts the country’s largest privately owned mental health hospital group. This case traces the development of Wenzhou Kangning Hospital Co, Ltd. from founding to just before its initial public offering to illustrate the extraordinary entrepreneurship happening in China’s healthcare space. It highlights the challenges of China’s mental health sector and the means company founder Guan Weili employed to address some of them. How will the hospital grow in the future?
Duke University had grown from a one room schoolhouse in rural North Carolina in 1859 to one of the leading research universities in the U.S. and the world. Since the late 1950s, Duke’s leaders had consciously used the process of strategic planning to guide the development of the university as a whole, building up programs in interdisciplinarity and initiating ambitious projects in internationalization. Under the leadership of President Richard Brodhead, Duke first built a medical school in Singapore in collaboration with the National University of Singapore, then embarked on a journey to build a university on American standards in the People’s Republic of China with its own four year liberal arts curriculum. Will Duke realize its many “outrageous ambitions” as it transitions to a new president?
UC Berkley, long known as one of the leading public universities in both the U.S. and the world, has seen turbulent times recently. While student enrollment and costs have increased steadily in recent years, the school, which has been fiercely proud of its public mission, received ever diminished funding from the state of California. Although Berkeley survived the financial crisis of 2008 under the leadership of Chancellor Robert Birgeneau, new Chancellor Nicholas Dirks inherited an ongoing structural deficit and a divided faculty. New controversies arose over the process of strategic planning, the building of a “Global Campus” in neighboring Richmond Bay, and allegations of sexual misconduct on the part of faculty and administrators. Can Berkeley overcome these challenges and maintain its distinguished reputation with its current governance structure and status as a privately funded public university?
William C. Kirby, Yuanzhuo Wang, Shuang L. Frost and Adam K. Frost
Starting in 2014, for two years Uber had fought an intense, costly battle for China’s ridesharing market with well-financed and well-connected domestic Chinese competitors. During this time, Uber also had to respond to an ever-shifting regulatory landscape that looked increasingly bleak in 2016. Then on August 1, 2016 Uber CEO Travis Kalanick shocked the global ridesharing industry by selling the company’s China operations to arch rival Didi Chuxing. Given the competition from domestic rivals and the uncertainties of government regulation, was the decision to exit China the right one for Uber? What does this latest reconfiguration of the market mean for China's burgeoning ridesharing industry? What lessons could other tech companies learn from Uber’s experiences in China?
From its humble beginnings as a local Chinese dairy company, the Inner Mongolia Yili Group has become one of the largest dairy companies in the world. To achieve this, Yili has aggressively expanded its footprint overseas including building the world’s largest integrated dairy production base in New Zealand and forming R&D partnerships in Europe and North America. As the company continues its growth in the context of a slowing Chinese economy, how can Yili integrate its new global resources and supply chain to meet local market needs and become a top five global dairy company in the process?
Kirby, William C., and Joycelyn W. Eby. "Augustine Heard & Co.: Building a Family Business in the China Trade (A) and (B)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 317-018, August 2016.
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Augustine Heard Sr. founded Augustine Heard & Company, a commission house focused on trade between China and the United States, in 1840. He welcomed his four nephews into the family business as it expanded in the increasingly complex economic and political environment of 19th century China. By 1861, the business had been flourishing for many years, but the context for foreign trade in China was changing. The four nephews, all having been made partners in the business, faced a decision. Should (and could) they alter the business model that had served their uncle so well for two decades? How could they best take advantage of the changing environment in China? Most importantly, how could they navigate their relationships as both brothers and partners?
In 1861, the Heard brothers faced a decision: should they continue their family firm's business model that had made them a successful commission house in China, or was it time to make fundamental adjustments to their work? This case reveals that the brothers decided to maintain the status quo, primarily because of the lack of a decision-making mechanism amongst the brothers. The firm rapidly went downhill, before declaring bankruptcy in 1875.
In the early 20th century, the University of Hong Kong (HKU) was established in order to serve as a bridge between mainland China and the British Empire. As an elite institution in the 21st century, HKU continued its role as a bridge, connecting mainland China, Hong Kong, and the world, but in a very different global context. President Peter Mathieson believed that HKU still had an important role to play but knew that HKU needed to adapt to China's growing global presence and the increasing influence of mainland Chinese universities. Mathieson needed to break through institutional complacency and unite HKU's oft-divided students, faculty, and administration behind a plan that would allow HKU to thrive in a landscape in which it competed not only with other institutions in Hong Kong, but also with the increasingly strong key universities in China as well as with leading institutions around the world. Would HKU be able to maintain its position as a top institution linking East and West in an increasingly connected and complex global society?
This case describes the megafarm model launched by the CP group as part of their efforts to ensure the safety and quality of their supply chain of agricultural products (particularly, eggs) in China while also promoting the welfare of Chinese farmers. This model was developed in close partnership with the local government, and received financing support from a local bank. The case asks students to discuss the potential for scaling this model across China.
Kirby, William C., and Joycelyn W. Eby. "Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 316-159, May 2016.
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Teaching note for case 316-135, “Uber in China: Driving in the Gray Zone."
Citation:
Kirby, William C., and Joycelyn W. Eby. "Uber in China: Driving in the Gray Zone." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 316-158, March 2016.
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Kirby, William C., and Joycelyn W. Eby. "HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 316-157, April 2016.
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Tsinghua University is one of the most prominent universities in China, and, increasingly, in the world. Its evolution to this position reflects the major developments in Chinese history—outward looking internationalism in the 1920s and 1930s, creative survival in the 1940s, Sovietization in the 1950s and 1960s, chaos in the 1970s, rebuilding in the 1980s, and, since the 1990s, a laser focus on becoming one of the best higher education institutions in the world. This case study traces this institutional history and then examines Tsinghua University's recent attempts at reform in faculty governance, curriculum, and funding as it seeks "world-class" status.
William C. Kirby, Joycelyn W. Eby, Shuang L. Frost and Adam K. Frost
CEO and Founder of Uber Technologies, Travis Kalanick, had made clear to investors and the public that expansion into China was one of his company's major priorities for 2016. Uber had already demonstrated remarkable capacity for rapid, global scaling, and for operating despite its unclear legal status in many markets. But the China market, while offering Uber unprecedented opportunity in terms of customer demand, presented Uber with a host of new challenges, including a murky regulatory framework and a strong, native incumbent, Didi-Kuaidi, that boasted the lion's share of the ride-hailing market. Could Uber overcome these obstacles and thrive in the China market?
By 2015, the HNA Group had grown from its roots as Hainan Airlines, a small airline founded in 1993 into a global conglomerate that ranked #464 in the Global 500. Much of this success it had achieved by cross-industry expansion within China, but since 2008, it had increasingly looked to expand globally. The HNA Group in general and Hainan Airlines in particular were recognized for their quality of service within China. However, this high reputation had yet to be translated across borders. Would HNA Group be able to bring its unique characteristics that made it successful within China to bear on the global marketplace?
The rapid growth in quantity and quality of universities in China since 1978 is the most recent evolution in a long history of higher education. From as early as the Tang Dynasty, academies existed to prepare scholars for the civil service examination, but by the Republican period, higher learning was dominated by a host of well-regarded, cosmopolitan, comprehensive universities. In 1952, these institutions were reorganized according to the Soviet model and remained highly specialized until the resurgence of comprehensive institutions after 1978. This background note describes this history and then elaborates on the system of higher education since 2000, focusing on university governance, funding, faculty policy, admissions systems, and internationalization. It concludes by looking at the tightening of ideological control in universities in 2013 and 2014 and reflects on the potential for China to establish "world-class" universities.
Discussions of "world-class" universities have become an academic cottage industry in the 21st century, and definitions of the term are complex and at times contradictory. This background note traces the origins of university ranking systems and their evolution from a byproduct of lists of great men in the United States to a global phenomenon that has a strong influence on the development of higher education. Then it examines commonalities across various conceptions of "world-class," including productive faculty, excellent students, flexible administration, plentiful funding, and international engagement.
William C. Kirby, Nora Bynum, Erica M. Zendell and Brittany Crow
China faces enormous environmental challenges. This background note looks at the historical, economic and political origins of the environmental crisis that faces the world's fastest-growing economy.
Kirby, William C., Nora Bynum, Erica M. Zendell, and Brittany Crow. "China's Environmental Challenge." Harvard Business School Background Note 315-026, October 2014. (Revised December 2015.)
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Kirby, William C., and Erica M. Zendell. "Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 314-129, April 2014.
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Kirby, William C., and Erica M. Zendell. "Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited: A Global Company's China Strategy." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 314-138, April 2014.
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Kirby, William C., and Erica M. Zendell. "Kunshan, Incorporated: The Making of China's Richest Town." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 314-131, April 2014.
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Kirby, William C., and Erica M. Zendell. "Boardroom Battle Behind Bars: Gome Electrical Appliances Holdings—A Corporate Governance Drama." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 314-134, April 2014.
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Kirby, William C., and Erica M. Zendell. "Taikang Insurance: Standing Out In China's Crowded Insurance Market." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 314-133, April 2014.
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Kirby, William C., and Erica M. Zendell. "Jiamei Dental: Private Health Care in China." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 314-136, April 2014.
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Kirby, William C., and Erica M. Zendell. "Wanxiang Group: A Chinese Company's Global Strategy (B)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 314-139, May 2014.
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Kirby, William C., and Erica M. Zendell. "CP Group: Balancing the Needs of a Family Business with the Needs of a Family of Businesses." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 314-137, April 2014.
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Teach For China was founded in 2008 with the mission of expanding educational opportunity across China. By 2013, Andrea Pasinetti's lofty dream had taken flight: over 300 graduates from top American and Chinese universities were participating in its 2-year teaching fellowships in more than 87 rural Chinese schools. The organization had grown from a founding team of three in a shoebox office to an 80-person operation headquartered in Beijing with teams in six other locations across China. Teach For China adapted the model pioneered by Teach For America to meet the needs of the educationally under-resourced of rural China. Led by an American, could Teach For China reshape its international identity and become an enduring Chinese institution? Could Teach For China manage regulatory risks and challenge public and government skepticism of the still-nascent and highly volatile nonprofit sector? Would Teach For China be able to sustainably scale its model to truly end educational inequality in China?
In 1985, Don St. Pierre Sr. became President of Beijing Jeep, the troubled joint venture between American Motor Corporation and the Chinese government to build Jeep Cherokees in China. Just over a decade later in 1996, leveraging contacts from his time in the automotive industry, he founded ASC Fine Wines with his son, Don Jr. Despite many challenges, from building a distribution network from the ground up to Chinese Customs throwing Don Jr. in prison, the St. Pierres prevailed, and ASC was standing tall as China's number-one fine wine importer by volume and value in 2013. ASC had developed a reputation for quality of product and service, beating out the competition of private wine importers and state-owned enterprises. What lessons had this father-son team learned in their 20 years of doing business in China? Would ASC make the transition from being a family-run business to a part of Suntory Holdings and still thrive? Could ASC under its leadership continue to adapt to the changing market for fine wine in China?
Supplements the A Case 308-058. With an almost forty-year history as a business in China, the Wanxiang Group has navigated through the significantly different political and economic changes in China to succeed as a global leader in the auto parts industry, and to develop into a broad business conglomerate. Beginning in 1994, when it first began its operations in the United States, Wanxiang started to expand its role as a parts supplier into a discerning acquirer of distressed companies in the U.S. While it saw acquisition as an exciting means for growth, company strategy at its Hangzhou, China headquarters also included vertical integration with a goal of developing a full-on electric car. Were these two goals divergent or complementary: mutually supportive or exclusive?
William C. Kirby, Nora Bynum, Tracy Yuen Manty and Erica M. Zendell
In 1980, the city of Kunshan was mere countryside, registering neither on the Chinese government's nor the international business community's radar. By 2010, Kunshan had become the richest city per capita in China and a global technology powerhouse, home to companies such as Foxconn, Compal Electronics, and Wistron. Kunshan's entrepreneurial, self-starting development combined with strategic location and high levels of local government support had been responsible for Kunshan's tremendous growth and success. How could it continue to grow at a rate to maintain its leadership among Chinese entrepreneurial cities? And would the founding of an international, joint-venture campus with Duke and Wuhan University keep the city of Kunshan innovative and ahead of the curve?
As a joint-stock insurance company in China, with both state-owned enterprises and foreign firms as investors, Taikang Insurance was becoming a force in the industry. It not only competed with well-entrenched state-owned rivals, but it was also seen as an entrepreneurial upstart. With the insurance landscape in China growing increasingly competitive, Taikang has had to be innovative and strategic in its ability to maintain its place as the fourth largest insurer in China. Chairman Chen Dongsheng laid a strong foundation when he launched Taikang in 2006; what will he do going forward to enable Taikang to continue to stand out in a crowded field?
Despite widespread news of the incarceration of Gome Electronics' CEO, Huang Guangyu, Bain Capital felt they carefully undertook due diligence before making a significant investment in the company. The venture capital firm was confident that it and the current management could work together to revamp the fortunes of China's leading electronic retailer. However, it did not anticipate the power Huang had behind bars. As the majority shareholder, Huang managed to manipulate shareholder meetings and current management decisions and structure. Was this typical of an investment in China or did Bain Capital just find itself in a unique situation? What can future managers learn from this situation about corporate governance and ethical rules of business in China?
Regina M. Abrami, William C. Kirby, F. Warren McFarlan and Tracy Yuen Manty
Setting up the goal to become one of the top 20 enterprises in the world dairy industry by 2010, the Inner Mongolia Yili Group had ambitious plans. As one of China's biggest national dairy companies, its main challenge was competing as a local company against joint-venture rivals who benefited from perks granted to "foreign" companies. To set itself apart, Yili focused on research and development and innovative ways to improve the industry. Proving that it could shift industry standards and lead a country not accustomed to dairy consumption, to a point where demand is outpacing supply, the Yili Group is making its mark to go global. As an Official Sponsor of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and the Official dairy supplier of the games, it is betting that the brand can go further beyond China. Will the day that tykes from Topeka have a bottle of Yili milk in their hands be coming soon?
Regina Abrami, William C. Kirby, F. Warren McFarlan and Tracy Yuen Manty
With a 10-year history of doing business in China, Sealed Air was now betting on the country to help propel its growth as a global company. The company identified China as one of the initial investments in the company's Global Manufacturing Strategy that aimed to create efficiencies in its operations across the globe. As Sealed Air's new Shanghai plant starts production in 2008, will its almost $50 million investment pay off? Is 10 years of experience in China enough to know how China works?
Abrami, Regina, William C. Kirby, F. Warren McFarlan, and Tracy Yuen Manty. "Sealed Air China." Harvard Business School Case 308-051, February 2008. (Revised December 2011.)
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Grace Vineyard was a rare family-owned, private winery in China that was set on establishing itself as a world-renowned, quality vintner. Judy Leissner, the second-generation company leader, was at a crossroads in how she wanted to grow the business that her father founded in 1997. Their wines were rapidly growing a strong following and had won international awards. How could the company capitalize on this success? Should Grace expand its operations to multiple Chinese provinces? Should Grace continue as a premium boutique winery serving a growing but ultimately limited niche market in China, or should it seek to make a mark internationally? Or should Grace respond to buy-out offers?
With the recent announcement from the Chinese government that the country's healthcare system was going to undergo reform, Jiamei Dental Chairman Liu Jia wondered what that meant for his 15 year-old dental clinic business. Founded in 1993, Jiamei Dental Medical Management Group ("Jiamei") rode the wave of China's rapid economic development and had become China's largest private dental chain with 84 clinics in Beijing and seven other major cities. But China was changing fast, and Liu acknowledged that Jiamei's ongoing expansion depended on many factors beyond its control, notwithstanding government reform, Jiamei was also faced with pressures from its private equity general partners. The year 2009 was shaping up to be a pivotal one for Jiamei. It had planned to open dozens more clinics during the year. At the same time, Liu was facing stiff competition from regional and international private dental clinic competitors, high-end private hospitals, and now possibly the government. These factors offered new complexities into the expansion plans of this entrepreneurial firm.
Focuses on the experience of China's largest shirt manufacturer in managing various aspects of government relations in China. Identifies a wide variety of social initiatives it has undertaken.
William C. Kirby, Michael Shih-ta Chen, Tracy Manty and Yi Kwan Chu
The world's leading Thai agribusiness corporation and largest agribusiness investor in China, CP Group, is facing another crossroads in China as the country starts to undergo rural reform. The issues at hand for Chairman Dhanin Chearavanont is how CP can balance its place as a key investor in China's burgeoning agriculture market with its unstated obligation to also provide guidance and expertise in food safety, technology, as well as jobs for rural farmers while still competing against the growing cadre of international and domestic companies vying to grab share from its operations in China. Was rural reform going to help or hinder CP's position in China and was CP doing all it could to take advantage of these changes?
As a second generation business leader, Chairman Dhanin Chearavanont took over the family agribusiness company and built it to become a major diversified conglomerate in Thailand and expanded the business in SE Asia and China. While growing the business, he and his brothers created a holding company to both maintain and separate the interests of the family with the growing business units. As a third and possibly fourth generation of Chearavanonts enter the company, how has Chairman Dhanin created a business culture that maintains the closeness of a family business with the strategic vision, innovations, and transparency of a professionally run company -- especially given the fact that many business units are public companies? This case seeks to outline the balance of a family business with the needs of a growing and competitive international conglomerate.
William C. Kirby, F. Warren McFarlan, G.A. Donovan and Tracy Manty
China Mobile was the world's leading mobile communications service provider with over 400 million customers. In some cities, its penetration rate was over 100%. With such huge successes, Chairman Wang Jianzhou was exploring ways to expand its customer base. Nearly saturated in the cities, China Mobile needed to broaden its base of subscribers. Wang believed that further investment in China's rural villages was a key strategy that would help the fuel growth for the future. Already deeply invested in the rural areas based on the company's participation in the government-mandated "Connect Every Village" project, China Mobile took advantage of this foundation and created new products and value-added services in order to make its mobile phone network more valuable to the lifestyles of China's rural population. However, the cost of connecting remote locations was high and was often not offset by subscriber fees or usage rates of these populations. Would this investment be relegated to a socially responsible project or would it pay off for China Mobile in the future?
Kirby, William C., and F. Warren McFarlan. "China Mobile's Rural Communications Strategy (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 311-060, September 2010.
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William C. Kirby, J. Megan Greene, Tracy Manty and Yuanzhuo Wang
Relations between the People’s Republic of China (PRC), on the Chinese Mainland, and the Republic of China (ROC), on Taiwan, had improved significantly since 2008. Taiwan investment in China had played a major role in China’s economic boom in recent decades. Investments, partnerships, study, travel, and marriages across the Strait pointed to a future of ever-greater interaction between two parties that brought Asia to the brink of war three times in the last half-century (1954, 1958, 1996). But what does the future hold? Will Taiwan thrive and yet maintain its autonomy as a part of the broader economy of “Greater China”? Will economic integration lead, inexorably, to Taiwan’s incorporation into the People’s Republic of China? Or will the 2016 electoral backlash in Taiwan against integration with the Mainland embolden the new Taiwan leadership to seek a future for Taiwan separate from China?
Abrami, Regina M., William C. Kirby, and F. Warren McFarlan. "China Netcom: Corporate Governance in China (A) and (B)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 311-018, July 2010.
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Abrami, Regina M., William C. Kirby, and F. Warren McFarlan. "Sealed Air China (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 310-088, February 2010.
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Abrami, Regina M., William C. Kirby, F. Warren McFarlan, and Keith Chi-ho Wong. "Wanxiang Group: A Chinese Company's Global Strategy (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 310-089, February 2010.
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After fifty-five years in the semiconductor industry, Morris Chang, founder and Chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), was seeing a change. After four decades of regular double-digit growth the industry was still growing-but now at a much slower pace. In 2004, TSMC entered the China market, the world's second largest for semiconductors, by building a fabrication plant in Shanghai. Was China the market opportunity which TSMC could bet on for expansion, or should its strategy be to focus on new product development and innovation?
Now into their third year at the helm of an Internet start-up in China, Ken Pao and Bill Li were managing a totally different company (with a new name) from the one they first founded in 2006. Having changed their business model from a social networking site to an online gaming business came with new challenges. They hired almost an entirely new staff, cultivated new partnerships, and most urgently sought new funding. However, with three years of experience, they were no longer a "start-up" and now faced the ramifications of mid-life. What would it take to remain a viable competitor in China in a new industry?
China is an ancient civilization, but it is really a very young country. How we understand modern China is rooted in our understanding of history. Thus, the authors examine several myths surrounding important historical themes, including unity, economic and political isolation, the growth and development of capitalism, internationalization, and governance. Following the dispelling of these myths, the authors then examine several lessons of more recent Chinese history, exploring where this young country has been in its first century.
William C. Kirby, Michael Shih-ta Chen, Keith Chi-ho Wong and Tracy Manty
Huang Teng founded Xi'an International University (XAIU) as a private institute of higher education in 1992. Throughout its ensuing years, the school filled a niche and met the demand of students who did not test into one of China's public institutions. In 2008, it was seeking to grow by aggressively pursuing opportunities in other provinces and municipalities. Huang's plan was to franchise his university throughout China. However, in pursuing this strategy in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, China's largest cities, Huang was not receiving warm responses. Local officials feared XAIU would jeopardize the survival of locally run private universities, and competition among private universities was heating up as institutions from the United Kingdom and Hong Kong partnered with public universities to form joint-ventured "independent colleges." Buoyed by the success of XAIU, Huang was confident that despite these setbacks, his franchise model would work. But was an alternative plan of expanding into second- or third-tier cities compromising too much of the groundwork that had already been laid, would it jeopardize XAIU's funding opportunities, and finally, would it hurt the academic quality and integrity XAIU had built up at home?
After graduating from Harvard Business School in June 2006, Ken Pao and Bill Li were ready to fully commit to the Internet start-up they had been working on since they first stepped foot on the business school campus. They moved to Beijing, rounded out their management team, received venture capital investment, developed joint-venture partnerships, and set key milestones to create a full-impact product launch for their social networking Web site catering to the college market. On the day of their launch, they faced a setback from China's Ministry of Education and were forced back to square one. Discusses the pluses and minuses of partnering with China's government ministries, the highs and lows of entrepreneurship, and the numerous opportunities available to entrepreneurship in China today.
Regina M. Abrami, William C. Kirby, F. Warren McFarlan, Ning Xiangdong and Tracy Manty
With its dual listings on the Hong Kong stock market and New York Stock Exchange, state-owned enterprise, China Netcom was mandated to meet the listing requirements of these exchanges. From this initial step, China Netcom's Chairman, Zhang Chunjiang, began a program that sought to further develop the company's corporate governance practices to meet international corporate governance standards. The company hoped that its commitment in developing a globally-accepted governance structure would help the capital markets and potential investors understand that the company was a true, modern corporation, even with the state as a majority owner.
HNA Group, the parent company of Hainan Airlines, was positioning itself to go global and make a mark for itself as the largest private airline in China. Positioned squarely behind the "Big Three" state-owned carriers, Hainan Airlines sought to create a world-class business. Following modern management practices, keeping sharp attention to cost control and capital operations, making aggressive entries into international markets, and maintaining a special corporate culture, Chairman Chen Feng was confident these factors were the engine that would drive HNA's continued growth.
Regina M. Abrami, William C. Kirby, F. Warren McFarlan, Keith Chi-ho Wong and Tracy Manty
With an almost forty-year history as a business in China, the Wanxiang Group has navigated through the significantly different political and economic changes in China to succeed as a global leader in the auto parts industry and to develop into a broad business conglomerate. Beginning in 1994, when it first began its operations in the United States, Wanxiang started to expand its role as a parts supplier into a discerning acquirer of distressed companies in the U.S. While it saw acquisition as an exciting means for growth, company strategy at its Hangzhou, China headquarters also included vertical integration with a goal of developing a full-on electric car. Were these two goals divergent or complementary: mutually supportive or exclusive?
Regina M. Abrami, William C. Kirby, F. Warren McFarlan and Tracy Yuen Manty
Supplements the A case [308027]. With its dual listings on the Hong Kong stock market and New York stock Exchange, state-owned enterprise, China Netcom was mandated to meet the listing requirements of these exchanges. From this initial step, China Netcom's Chairman, Zhang Chunjiang, began a program that sought to further develop the company's corporate governance practices to meet international corporate governance standards. The company hoped that its commitment in developing a globally-accepted governance structure would help the capital markets and potential investors understand that the company was true, modern corporation, even with the state as a majority owner.
Regina M. Abrami, William C. Kirby, F. Warren McFarlan, Luc R. Wathieu, Gao Wang, Fei Li and Tracy Manty
Fiyta had long been on of China's foremost watch brands. However, as China's economy began to improve and the livelihood of many Chinese rose with it, their tastes began to change. Exposed to more luxurious foreign brands, many Chinese strived to purchase a Swiss or Japanese watch. How could Fiyta build up its brand image to a more sophisticated Chinese consumer? What marketing activities should it undertake to reinvigorate its brand? Is it meeting the needs of all segments of Chinese consumers? Should it?
Abrami, Regina M., William C. Kirby, F. Warren McFarlan, Luc R. Wathieu, Gao Wang, Fei Li, and Tracy Manty. "Fiyta - The Case of a Chinese Watch Company." Harvard Business School Case 308-025, August 2007. (Revised March 2008.)
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Regina M. Abrami, William C. Kirby, F. Warren McFarlan, Gao Wang, Fei Li, Tracy Manty and Waishun Lo
After 20 years of expansion, Gome Electronics has become China's largest consumer electronics retailer. It has opened stores in almost every province in China, acquired some of its competitors, and went public in Hong Kong. However, it has begun to experience a slowdown in growth as sales per-square-meter have declined. The company is now being challenged to develop new ideas for growth, including experimenting with its product mix, renegotiating its relationships with suppliers, and developing new business models to maximize profitability.
Abrami, Regina M., William C. Kirby, F. Warren McFarlan, Gao Wang, Fei Li, Tracy Manty, and Waishun Lo. "Gome Electronics: Evolving the Business Model." Harvard Business School Case 308-026, August 2007. (Revised February 2008.)
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Describes the opportunities and strategy facing one of the most innovative global supply-chain companies, and the strategy it has chosen to deal with the expanding demand for its services. Li & Fung links thousands of factories in India, China, and elsewhere to nearly a thousand large retailers, primarily in the U.S. and Europe. It basically does the supply-chain job faster and more accurately with the aid of a sophisticated information system than anyone else.
McFarlan, F. Warren, William C. Kirby, and Tracy Manty. "Li & Fung 2006." Harvard Business School Case 307-077, February 2007. (Revised May 2007.)
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