General Management

- 2025
- Working Paper
Bank Financing of Global Supply Chains

By: Laura Alfaro, Mariya Brussevich, Camelia Minoiu and Andrea Presbitero

Finding new international suppliers is costly, so most importers source inputs from a single country. We examine the role of banks in mitigating trade search costs during the 2018–2019 U.S.-China trade tensions. We match data on shipments to U.S. ports with the U.S. credit register to analyze trade and bank credit relationships at the bank-firm level. We show that importers of tariff-hit products from China were more likely to exit relationships with Chinese suppliers and to find new suppliers in other Asian countries. To finance their geographic diversification, tariff-hit firms increased credit demand, drawing on bank credit lines and taking out loans at higher rates. Banks offering specialized trade finance services to Asian markets eased both financial and information frictions. Tariff-hit firms with specialized banks borrowed at lower rates and were 15 pps more likely and 3 months faster to establish new supplier relationships than firms with other banks. We estimate the cost of searching for suppliers at $1.9 million (or 5% of annual sales revenue) for the average U.S. importer.
- 2025
- Working Paper
Bank Financing of Global Supply Chains

By: Laura Alfaro, Mariya Brussevich, Camelia Minoiu and Andrea Presbitero

Finding new international suppliers is costly, so most importers source inputs from a single country. We examine the role of banks in mitigating trade search costs during the 2018–2019 U.S.-China trade tensions. We match data on shipments to U.S. ports with the U.S. credit register to analyze trade and bank credit relationships at the bank-firm...
- May 1, 2025
- Article
How to Build a Life: Why Are Young People Everywhere So Unhappy?

By: Arthur C. Brooks
- May 1, 2025
- Article
How to Build a Life: Why Are Young People Everywhere So Unhappy?

By: Arthur C. Brooks
- 2025
- Chapter
Institutional Entrepreneurship and Climate Change

By: Ann-Kristin Bergquist and Geoffrey Jones

This chapter explores when and why private regulatory governance systems became the primary form of global environmental governance. The chapter explores two different historical paths in such private regulation and how they came about. The first path involved certification and standards programs designed to facilitate the growth of green industries and the early stages of ESG investing. The second path, which developed from the 1970s, grew out of the interest of big business which sought an alternative route to governmental regulations they regarded as costly and as a threat to international trade. A key agent was the International Chamber of Commerce during the 1990s. The chapter argues that self-regulation proved an inadequate response to climate change, and resulted in confusing metrics, lack of transparency, and blatant greenwashing. Yet it is not apparent that government regulation was practical or would have produced better results. The governments of democracies as a whole prioritize generating wealth over the environment, because it translates into votes.
- 2025
- Chapter
Institutional Entrepreneurship and Climate Change

By: Ann-Kristin Bergquist and Geoffrey Jones

This chapter explores when and why private regulatory governance systems became the primary form of global environmental governance. The chapter explores two different historical paths in such private regulation and how they came about. The first path involved certification and standards programs designed to facilitate the growth of green...

About the Unit

The General Management Unit is concerned with the leadership and management of the enterprise as a whole. This concern encompasses:

the personal values and qualities of effective general managers and enterprise leaders;
the philosophies, values, and strategies that inform successful enterprises; and
the relation of enterprise to the broader community and other external constituencies.

The Unit's work is conceived and carried out principally in four interest groups, each of which has its own leadership, research agenda, and teaching programs:

Management Policy and Process
Management Information Systems
Society and Enterprise
Leadership, Values, and Corporate Responsibility

Recent Publications

Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (B): A New Model in Kansas City

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jonathan Cohen

May 2025 |
Teaching Note |
Faculty Research

This Teaching Note helps instructors teach students the HBS Case, Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (B): A New Model in Kansas City. In late 2016, Bridj was expanding its digital platform to help address urban mobility problems faced by cities across the country and the world. Its founder and CEO, Matt George, weighed up several possible strategies for growth as he aimed to responsibly build the company. George continued to engage with key stakeholders, and had decided to form a partnership with Kansas City and Ford to expand Bridj's reach to the midwest.

Keywords: Transportation; Urban Development; App Development; Innovation; Stakeholder Engagement; Collaboration; Startup; Ride-sharing; Entrenchment; Disruption; Digital

Citation

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Bank Financing of Global Supply Chains

By: Laura Alfaro, Mariya Brussevich, Camelia Minoiu and Andrea Presbitero

2025 |
Working Paper |
Faculty Research

Finding new international suppliers is costly, so most importers source inputs from a single country. We examine the role of banks in mitigating trade search costs during the 2018–2019 U.S.-China trade tensions. We match data on shipments to U.S. ports with the U.S. credit register to analyze trade and bank credit relationships at the bank-firm level. We show that importers of tariff-hit products from China were more likely to exit relationships with Chinese suppliers and to find new suppliers in other Asian countries. To finance their geographic diversification, tariff-hit firms increased credit demand, drawing on bank credit lines and taking out loans at higher rates. Banks offering specialized trade finance services to Asian markets eased both financial and information frictions. Tariff-hit firms with specialized banks borrowed at lower rates and were 15 pps more likely and 3 months faster to establish new supplier relationships than firms with other banks. We estimate the cost of searching for suppliers at $1.9 million (or 5% of annual sales revenue) for the average U.S. importer.

Keywords: Financial Institutions; International Finance

Citation

Read Now

How to Build a Life: Why Are Young People Everywhere So Unhappy?

By: Arthur C. Brooks

May 1, 2025 |
Article |
The Atlantic

Citation

Blue Frontier: Disrupting Air Conditioning

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jacob A. Small

April 2025 |
Teaching Note |
Faculty Research

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 325-088.

Citation

Purchase

Institutional Entrepreneurship and Climate Change

By: Ann-Kristin Bergquist and Geoffrey Jones

2025 |
Chapter |
Faculty Research

This chapter explores when and why private regulatory governance systems became the primary form of global environmental governance. The chapter explores two different historical paths in such private regulation and how they came about. The first path involved certification and standards programs designed to facilitate the growth of green industries and the early stages of ESG investing. The second path, which developed from the 1970s, grew out of the interest of big business which sought an alternative route to governmental regulations they regarded as costly and as a threat to international trade. A key agent was the International Chamber of Commerce during the 1990s. The chapter argues that self-regulation proved an inadequate response to climate change, and resulted in confusing metrics, lack of transparency, and blatant greenwashing. Yet it is not apparent that government regulation was practical or would have produced better results. The governments of democracies as a whole prioritize generating wealth over the environment, because it translates into votes.

Keywords: Institutional Entrepreneurship; Environment; Climate Change; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Environmental Regulation; Standards; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact

Citation

Purchase