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Business History

Business History

    • 2014
    • Book

    Business History

    By: Walter A. Friedman and Geoffrey Jones

    This volume contains a selection of 42 foundational articles on the discipline of business history written between 1934 and the present day by scholars based in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. A wide-ranging editorial introduction describes the formation and evolution of the discipline from its origins at the Harvard Business School in the late 1920s. Over the following century, the editors show that the discipline and its practitioners often found themselves on the margins of academic discourses and their own institutions. There was a constant struggle to define the borders of the field and the central research questions that it sought to answer. However, the commitment to engage with the complexities of business and the disinclination to rely on models with simplistic assumptions about business behavior also enabled business history to be highly creative and, at times, to exercise a huge impact on management studies more generally, especially strategy and the study of entrepreneurship.

    • 2014
    • Book

    Business History

    By: Walter A. Friedman and Geoffrey Jones

    This volume contains a selection of 42 foundational articles on the discipline of business history written between 1934 and the present day by scholars based in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. A wide-ranging editorial introduction describes the formation and evolution of the discipline from its origins at the Harvard Business...

    • Article

    Making 'Green Giants': Environment Sustainability in the German Chemical Industry, 1950s–1980s

    By: Geoffrey Jones and Christina Lubinski

    This article examines the evolution of corporate environmentalism in the West German chemical industry between the 1950s and the 1980s. It focuses on two companies, Bayer and Henkel, that have been identified as "green giants," and traces the evolution of their environmental strategies in response to growing evidence of pollution and resulting political pressures. The variety of capitalism literature has suggested that the German coordinated market economy model was more conducive to green corporate strategies than liberal market economies such as the United States. This article finds instead that regional influences were more important, supporting sociological theories about the importance of visibility in corporate green strategies. It identifies major commonalities between corporate strategies in the German and American chemical industries until the 1970s, when the two German firms diverged from their American counterparts in using public relations strategies not only to contain fallout from criticism, but also as opportunities for changes in corporate culture aimed at promoting a positive bond with consumers based on new green brand identities.

    • Article

    Making 'Green Giants': Environment Sustainability in the German Chemical Industry, 1950s–1980s

    By: Geoffrey Jones and Christina Lubinski

    This article examines the evolution of corporate environmentalism in the West German chemical industry between the 1950s and the 1980s. It focuses on two companies, Bayer and Henkel, that have been identified as "green giants," and traces the evolution of their environmental strategies in response to growing evidence of pollution and resulting...

    • Spring 2014
    • Article

    Charting Dynamic Trajectories: Multinational Firms in India

    By: Prithwiraj Choudhury and Tarun Khanna

    In this article, we provide a synthesizing framework that we call the "dynamic trajectories" framework to study the evolution of multinational enterprises (MNEs) in host countries over time. We argue that a change in the policy environment in a host country presents an MNE with two sets of interrelated decisions. First, the MNE has to decide whether to enter, exit, or stay in the host country at the onset of each policy epoch; second, conditional on the first choice, it has to decide on its local responsiveness strategy at the onset of each policy epoch. India, which experienced two policy shocks—shutting down to MNEs in 1970 and then opening up again in 1991—offers an interesting laboratory to explore the "dynamic trajectories" perspective. We collect and analyze a unique dataset of all entry and exit events for Fortune 50 and FTSE 50 firms (as of 1991) in India in the period from 1858 to 2013 and, additionally, we document detailed case studies of four MNEs (that arguably represent outliers in our sample).

    • Spring 2014
    • Article

    Charting Dynamic Trajectories: Multinational Firms in India

    By: Prithwiraj Choudhury and Tarun Khanna

    In this article, we provide a synthesizing framework that we call the "dynamic trajectories" framework to study the evolution of multinational enterprises (MNEs) in host countries over time. We argue that a change in the policy environment in a host country presents an MNE with two sets of interrelated decisions. First, the MNE has to decide...

    • Article

    Contested Meanings of Freedom: Workingmen's Wages, the Company Store System and the Godcharles v. Wigeman Decision

    By: Laura Phillips Sawyer

    In 1886, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck down a law that prohibited employers from paying wages in company store scrip and mandated monthly wage payments. The court held that the legislature could not prescribe mandatory wage contracts for legally competent workingmen. The decision quashed over two decades of efforts to end the "truck system." Although legislators had agreed that wage payments redeemable only in company store goods appeared antithetical to the free labor wage system, two obstacles complicated legislative action. Any law meant to enhance laborers' rights could neither favor one class over another nor infringe any workingman's ability to make voluntary contracts. These distinctions, however, were not as rigid and laissez faire-oriented as depicted by conventional history. Labor reformers argued that principles of equity must supplement these categories of class legislation and contract freedom. This essay explores how legal doctrine helped both sides of the anti-truck debate articulate the contested meanings of liberty. Ultimately, the Godcharles ruling enshrined the specialness of workingmen's labor contracts and rejected the use of equity principles to justify contract regulations, but the controversy also informed future labor strategies, especially the turn to state police powers as the rubric under which workers' safety, morals, and health could be protected.

    • Article

    Contested Meanings of Freedom: Workingmen's Wages, the Company Store System and the Godcharles v. Wigeman Decision

    By: Laura Phillips Sawyer

    In 1886, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck down a law that prohibited employers from paying wages in company store scrip and mandated monthly wage payments. The court held that the legislature could not prescribe mandatory wage contracts for legally competent workingmen. The decision quashed over two decades of efforts to end the "truck...

    • Article

    Intermediary Functions and the Market for Innovation in Meiji and Taisho Japan

    By: Tom Nicholas and Hiroshi Shimizu

    Japan experienced a transformational phase of technological development during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. We argue that an important, but so far neglected, factor was a developing market for innovation and a patent attorney system that was conducive to rapid technical change. We support our hypothesis using patent data, and we also present a detailed case study on Tomogorō Ono, a key developer of salt production technology who used attorneys in connection with his patenting work at a time when Japan was still in the process of formally institutionalizing its patent attorney system. In accordance with Lamoreaux and Sokoloff's influential study of trade in invention in the United States, our quantitative and qualitative evidence highlights how inventors and intermediaries in Japan interacted to create a market for new ideas.

    • Article

    Intermediary Functions and the Market for Innovation in Meiji and Taisho Japan

    By: Tom Nicholas and Hiroshi Shimizu

    Japan experienced a transformational phase of technological development during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. We argue that an important, but so far neglected, factor was a developing market for innovation and a patent attorney system that was conducive to rapid technical change. We support our hypothesis using patent data, and...

    • Article

    The Way to Wealth Around the World: Benjamin Franklin and the Globalization of American Capitalism

    By: Sophus A. Reinert

    • Article

    The Way to Wealth Around the World: Benjamin Franklin and the Globalization of American Capitalism

    By: Sophus A. Reinert

Business History Initiative

The Business History Initiative seeks to facilitate learning from the past through innovative research and course development, employing global and interdisciplinary perspectives.
Business History

Harvard Business School has a long tradition of investing in business history, and of asserting its central role in management education. In 1927, the School created the first endowed professorship in the field. It also founded the field’s first journal, the Business History Review. Since the work of Joseph Schumpeter at Harvard's Center for Entrepreneurial History in the 1940s, the School has taken an interdisciplinary and global approach to understanding business history. Today business historians at the School investigate a broad range of themes, including entrepreneurship, innovation, globalization, and environmental sustainability.

Business History Initiative

The Business History Initiative seeks to facilitate learning from the past through innovative research and course development, employing global and interdisciplinary perspectives.

Business History

Recent Publications

Deeply Responsible Business: A Global History of Values-Driven Leadership

By: Geoffrey Jones
  • 2023 |
  • Book |
  • Faculty Research
Corporate social responsibility has entered the mainstream, but what does it take to run a successful purpose-driven business? This book examines leaders who put values alongside profits to showcase the challenges and upside of deeply responsible business. Should business leaders play a role in solving society’s problems? For decades, CEOs have been told that their only responsibility is to the bottom line. But consensus is growing that companies―and their leaders―must engage with their social, political, and environmental contexts. Jones distinguishes deep responsibility, which can deliver radical social and ecological responses, from corporate social responsibility, which is often little more than window dressing. Deeply Responsible Business provides a historical perspective on the social responsibility of business, going back to the Quaker capitalism of George Cadbury and the worker solidarity of Edward Filene and carrying us through to impact investing and the B-corps. Jones profiles exemplary business leaders from around the world who combined profits with social purpose to confront inequality, inner-city blight, and ecological degradation, while navigating restrictive laws and authoritarian regimes.

The business leaders profiled in this book were motivated by bedrock values and sometimes driven by faith. They chose to operate in socially productive fields, interacted with humility with stakeholders, and felt a duty to support their communities. While far from perfect, each one showed that profit and purpose could be reconciled. Many of their businesses were wildly successful―though financial success was not their only metric of achievement. As many companies seek to coopt more ethically sensitized consumers, Jones gives us a new perspective to tackle tough questions and envisions a future in which companies and entrepreneurs can play a key role in healing our communities and protecting the natural world.
Keywords: Corporate Responsibility; Business Ecuation; Socially Responsible Investing; Business Education; Ethics; Leadership; Business History; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Religion; Social Enterprise; Social Issues; Wealth and Poverty; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Banking Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Computer Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Education Industry; Fashion Industry; Financial Services Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Green Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Electronics Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United Kingdom; Germany; United States; Japan; India; Latin America
Citation
Purchase
Related
Jones, Geoffrey. Deeply Responsible Business: A Global History of Values-Driven Leadership. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2023.

Doing Business in Kigali, Rwanda

By: Andy Zelleke, A. Zelleke, Leonard A. Schlesinger, Leonard A. Schlesinger, Pippa Tubman Armerding and Wale Lawal
  • March 2023 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
This case examines the challenges and opportunities of doing business in Rwanda. It highlights Rwanda's economic transformation in the decades leading up to 2023 in the context of its history, culture, and politics. The case gives an overview of some of the main obstacles faced by businesses operating in the country, high transportation costs, some of the most expensive electricity tariffs in sub-Saharan Africa and high levels of government bureaucracy, contrasting these with the efforts undertaken by the government to improve the country's business climate. This is illustrated through the discussion of a business dilemma in which e-mobility startup Ampersand has to assess the extent to which Rwanda's high openness could mean a high threat of competition or plenty opportunities for growth partnerships.
Keywords: Business History; Business and Government Relations; Technological Innovation; Foreign Direct Investment; Economic Growth; Transportation Industry; Tourism Industry; Rwanda
Citation
Educators
Related
Zelleke, Andy, Leonard A. Schlesinger, Pippa Tubman Armerding, and Wale Lawal. "Doing Business in Kigali, Rwanda." Harvard Business School Case 323-089, March 2023.

Doing Business in Buenos Aires, Argentina

By: Nori Gerardo Lietz, Leonard A. Schlesinger and Zeke Gillman
  • February 2023 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
This case examines the challenges and opportunities of doing business in Argentina. It highlights Argentina's economic transformation in the decades leading up to 2023 in the context of its history, culture, and politics. The case gives an overview of some of the main obstacles faced by businesses operating in the country, contrasting these with the efforts undertaken by the government to improve the country's business climate. This is illustrated through the discussion of a business dilemma in which Forever 21 attempts to launch its first store in Buenos Aires.
Keywords: Business History; Business and Government Relations; Corporate Strategy; Fashion Industry; Retail Industry; Argentina; Latin America
Citation
Educators
Related
Lietz, Nori Gerardo, Leonard A. Schlesinger, and Zeke Gillman. "Doing Business in Buenos Aires, Argentina." Harvard Business School Case 323-087, February 2023.

Doing Business in Boston, Massachusetts

By: Laura Alfaro, Leonard A. Schlesinger and Zeke Gillman
  • February 2023 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
This case examines the challenges and opportunities of doing business in Boston, Massachusetts while giving a broad history of the city and surrounding area.
Keywords: Business History; Business and Government Relations; Technological Innovation; Economic Growth; Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Financial Services Industry; Boston; Massachusetts
Citation
Educators
Related
Alfaro, Laura, Leonard A. Schlesinger, and Zeke Gillman. "Doing Business in Boston, Massachusetts." Harvard Business School Case 323-088, February 2023.

Doing Business in Accra, Ghana

By: Hakeem Belo-Osagie, Leonard Schlesinger and Namrata Arora
  • February 2023 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
This case examines the challenges and opportunities of doing business in Turkey. It highlights Ghana economic transformation in the decades leading up to 2023 in the context of its history, culture, and politics. The case gives an overview of some of the main obstacles faced by businesses operating in the country, such as complexity of doing business, slow legal proceedings, limited access to funding, a slow growing manufacturing sector, a large informal sector and changing regulatory environment, contrasting these with the efforts undertaken by the government to improve the country's business climate. This is illustrated through the discussion of a business dilemma in which an entrepreneur is considering setting up a chocolate manufacturing business in Ghana.
Keywords: Business History; Business and Government Relations; Technological Innovation; Foreign Direct Investment; Economic Growth; Financial Crisis; Agribusiness; Food and Beverage Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Ghana
Citation
Educators
Related
Belo-Osagie, Hakeem, Leonard Schlesinger, and Namrata Arora. "Doing Business in Accra, Ghana." Harvard Business School Case 323-090, February 2023.

Chari: Exploring Fintech in Morocco

By: Karen G. Mills and Ahmed Dahawy
  • February 2023 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
This case examines the challenges and opportunities of doing business in Morocco. It highlights Morocco’s unique economy where cash remains a dominant player in the market despite global advancements in digitalization. The case also explores the various cultural and social factors that impact the business environment. This is illustrated through Chari, a Moroccan based inventory procurement app, which hopes to navigate Morocco’s fintech landscape by utilizing the country’s dense network of small mom and pop shops.
Keywords: Business Model; Cultural Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship; Business History; Business and Government Relations; Technological Innovation; Distribution Industry; Financial Services Industry; Morocco
Citation
Educators
Related
Mills, Karen G., and Ahmed Dahawy. "Chari: Exploring Fintech in Morocco." Harvard Business School Case 323-082, February 2023.

Doing Business in Istanbul, Turkey

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury, Leonard A. Schlesinger, Namrata Arora and Umut Arslan
  • February 2023 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
This case examines the challenges and opportunities of doing business in Turkey. It highlights Turkey's economic transformation in the decades leading up to 2023 in the context of its history, culture, and politics. The case gives an overview of some of the main obstacles faced by businesses operating in the country, such as complexity of doing business, slow legal proceedings and a large informal sector and changing regulatory environment, contrasting these with the efforts undertaken by the government to improve the country's business climate. This is illustrated through the discussion of a business dilemma in which Setur is contemplating its business strategy in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic and changing consumer tastes and preferences.
Keywords: Business History; Business and Government Relations; Technological Innovation; Foreign Direct Investment; Economic Growth; Financial Crisis; Technology Industry; Tourism Industry; Turkey
Citation
Educators
Related
Choudhury, Prithwiraj, Leonard A. Schlesinger, Namrata Arora, and Umut Arslan. "Doing Business in Istanbul, Turkey." Harvard Business School Case 323-081, February 2023.

Doing Business in Santiago, Chile

By: Willis Emmons, Leonard A. Schlesinger and Ruth Costas
  • February 2023 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
The case uses the example of the opening of the first IKEA furniture store in Chile – which is operated by Chilean group Falabella – to discuss the opportunities and challenges of doing business in the country. It gives readers an overview of Chile’s economic transformation since its colonial years until late-2022, when a new government, led by former student leader Gabriel Boric, faced the challenge to recover economic growth after the pandemic and as Chile advanced in a tortuous process to rewrite its Constitution. After three decades living under democracy, many Chileans seem to disagree with some aspects of the country’s liberal economic model (which started to be implemented during the regime of general Augusto Pinochet). However, it is still not clear whether the Chilean society will support a radical transformation or merely a mild reform in this model. The case invites readers to discuss, first, the strengths and disadvantages of the Chilean market. Second, how the constitutional process could change the country's environment for businesses, and what are the risks involved in this process for companies such as IKEA and Falabella.
Keywords: Business Cycles; Development Economics; Developing Countries and Economies; Economic Growth; Economic Sectors; Economy; Macroeconomics; Business History; Chile; Latin America
Citation
Educators
Related
Emmons, Willis, Leonard A. Schlesinger, and Ruth Costas. "Doing Business in Santiago, Chile." Harvard Business School Case 323-085, February 2023.

Doing Business in Nairobi, Kenya

By: Archie Jones, Leonard A. Schlesinger, Pippa Tubman Armerding and Kuria Kamau
  • February 2023 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
This case examines the challenges and opportunities of doing business in Nairobi, Kenya. It highlights Kenya's economic transformation in the decades leading up to 2023 in the context of its history, culture, and politics. The case gives an overview of some of the main obstacles faced by businesses operating in the country and contrasting these with the efforts undertaken by the government to improve the country's business climate. This is illustrated through the discussion of a business dilemma in which Enda Sportswear is looking to grow its sales in Kenya through increased domestic production.
Keywords: Business History; Business and Government Relations; Technological Innovation; Foreign Direct Investment; Economic Growth; Financial Crisis; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Fashion Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Retail Industry; Kenya; Nairobi; Africa
Citation
Educators
Related
Jones, Archie, Leonard A. Schlesinger, Pippa Tubman Armerding, and Kuria Kamau. "Doing Business in Nairobi, Kenya." Harvard Business School Case 323-086, February 2023.

Doing Business in São Paulo, Brazil

By: Hise O. Gibson, Leonard A. Schlesinger, Ruth Costas and Pedro Levindo
  • February 2023 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
The case uses the example of a large investment made by French retail group Carrefour in Brazil to discuss the opportunities and challenges of doing businesses in the country. It gives readers an overview of Brazil’s economic transformation since its colonial years until 2023, when leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was sworn in for his third term, after the most polarized elections in the country’s recent history, having to deal with an attack against government buildings in Brasília. The case’s ultimate goal is to foster a discussion about how political and economic uncertainty impacts companies operating in Brazil. For that, it summarizes the key obstacles faced by these businesses, such as the country’s logistical bottlenecks, complex bureaucracy and arcane tax system. At the same time, however, the case also sheds light on the sectors that are thriving despite these difficulties and on some valuable opportunities offered by Brazil’s huge consumer market and diversified economy. The descriptions about Carrefour's business in the country aim to spur a debate about these opportunities and whether they offset the risks of the local market.
Keywords: Business Cycles; Development Economics; Developing Countries and Economies; Economic Growth; Economic Sectors; Economy; Macroeconomics; Business History; Brazil; Latin America
Citation
Educators
Related
Gibson, Hise O., Leonard A. Schlesinger, Ruth Costas, and Pedro Levindo. "Doing Business in São Paulo, Brazil." Harvard Business School Case 323-084, February 2023.
More Publications

Faculty

Geoffrey G. Jones
Tom Nicholas
Richard S. Tedlow
Anthony Mayo
Nitin Nohria
Leonard A. Schlesinger
David A. Moss
Sophus A. Reinert
Nancy F. Koehn
Rosabeth M. Kanter
Ramon Casadesus-Masanell
Tarun Khanna
→See All

HBS Working Knowlege

    • 17 Jan 2023

    Nestlé’s KitKat Diplomacy: Neutrality vs. Shared Value

    Re: Geoffrey G. Jones
    • 12 Apr 2022

    Racism, Colonialism, and Britain's Legacy of Violence

    Re: Caroline M. Elkins
    • 04 Feb 2022

    Beyond the Cold War: Reinventing Socialism in 5 Countries

    Re: Jeremy S. Friedman
→More Articles

Harvard Business Publishing

    • April 2022
    • Case

    Gender Equality in Business: 100 Years of Progress?

    By: Boris Groysberg and Colleen Ammerman
→More Harvard Business Publishing
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