Capital Rules
by Rawi Abdelal
(Harvard University Press)

How and why did the world shift from an orthodoxy of free capital movements in 1914 to capital controls in 1944 and back again by 1994? Contrary to conventional accounts, Associate Professor Abdelal argues that it was European policymakers who conceived and promoted the multilateral, liberal rules comprising the international financial architecture. Whereas U.S. policymakers have tended to embrace unilateral, ad hoc globalization, European policymakers have promoted a rules-based, “managed” globalization. This contest over the character of globalization continues today.

Business Solutions for the Global Poor
edited by V. Kasturi Rangan, John A. Quelch, Gustavo Herrero, and Brooke Barton
(Jossey-Bass Publishers)

This book, edited by HBS professors and associates, presents the papers read at HBS’s 2005 conference on business approaches to poverty alleviation. Leading academics and corporate, nonprofit, and public-sector managers discuss how businesses, NGOs, and government organizations can use business solutions to improve the lot of the world’s poorest 3 billion people. The contributors draw on practical insights gained from experiences in more than twenty countries. (See cover story)

How Countries Compete
by Richard H.K. Vietor
(HBS Press)

Professor Vietor examines the different social, economic, cultural, and historical forces shaping governmental approaches to economic growth in China, India, Japan, Singapore, the United States, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa. Vietor challenges the widespread notion that, in market-driven economies like the United States, a strong government can only hinder business success. He offers insights into how the business environment has evolved in these nations and what it might look like in the future.

Challenges in Managing Large Projects
by J. Ronald Fox and Donn B. Miller
(Defense Acquisition University Press)

How do the challenges of managing multibillion-dollar engineering, development, and construction projects differ from managing other large industrial activities? How does one evaluate the reasonableness of a manager’s performance on large projects where traditional outcome methods don’t seem to apply? HBS emeritus professor Fox and his coauthor answer these questions based on records and interviews with managers of more than twenty large projects.