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Global Centers Broaden Understanding of Business and the Pandemic
Topics: Health-Health PandemicsResearch-GeneralEducation-FacultyAs the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic spread around the world, HBS’s 15 global centers and offices have been instrumental in supporting faculty members’ research into the business impact of the pandemic and supporting alumni who have faced unprecedented challenges in its wake.
More than half of HBS faculty are actively involved in international research, often working in collaboration with specific HBS research centers to pursue particular avenues of inquiry. In FY20, all of the School’s global outposts helped to coordinate more than 50 interviews in 10 countries to further Professor Raffaella Sadun’s examination of how resilient businesses can effectively and safely restart as COVID-19 abates. (Sadun’s findings are summarized in the report “Re-starting under Uncertainty: Managerial Experiences from around the World.”
“Thanks to the ingenuity and effort of the research centers, we were able to understand how firms are approaching the tremendous uncertainty related to COVID-19. One of the aspects of this research that has impressed me the most is how, for many companies, this crisis has created an opportunity to renew their commitment to customers, suppliers, and employees. Others are even approaching the crisis as an opportunity to enter new segments,” Sadun says. “There is tremendous energy across firms, and I hope that the report will be able to provide useful examples for other companies navigating these hard times.”
In recent months, the centers have also helped connect alumni and friends with fellow alumni, faculty members, and other experts around a variety of issues related to the pandemic. Highlights of their efforts include the following:
Africa Research Center—In June, the center launched the “Africa Webinar Series—COVID-19: Reflections, Challenges and Next Steps,” which consisted of four weekly online discussions for HBS and Harvard alumni in Africa. The series of hour-long webinars featured eight HBS faculty (led by Senior Lecturers John Macomber, Euvin Naidoo, and Hakeem Belo-Osagie and Assistant Professor Siko Sikochi), together with eight prominent African business leaders, including several HBS alumni who shared insights on macroeconomics, strategy, leadership, and execution relevant to Africa. The webinars were targeted to a business audience and emphasized participant-centered learning. The goal was to introduce alumni and friends across Africa to the HBS professors who are leading work related to the continent, and to share with them the lessons that Africa has for the rest of the world.
Asia-Pacific Research Center—The Asia-Pacific Research Center helped produce the case “Sercomm: Operating in China Amid COVID-19 and Beyond” by Prithwiraj Choudhury, the Lumry Family Associate Professor of Business Administration; Gary Pisano, the Harry E. Figgie, Jr. Professor of Business Administration; and researcher Bonnie Yining Cao. The case explores how CEO James Wang (MBA 1996) handled the telecom equipment maker's production in Suzhou amid COVID-19, while exploring the bigger problem of China's labor shortage of migrant workers. Choudhury will teach the case in his elective course, Managing Global Operations, next spring.
California Research Center—When the pandemic forced people around the world to work remotely, use of the video conferencing platform Zoom exploded. In the case “Zoom Video Communications and COVID-19,” authors Associate Professor Scott Duke Kominers and George Gonzalez, the center’s senior researcher, examine Zoom’s strengths and weaknesses as a platform, its role in society, and how the company can maintain its predominance once the crisis subsides. Kominers taught the case (remotely, via Zoom) in spring 2020 in the Making Markets elective course.
Europe Research Center—To further HBS’s COVID-related research, the center worked with Professor Mitchell Weiss to develop a background note with details on the unfolding of the pandemic and the policies implemented to manage the outbreak in 19 European countries and the EU. The center also co-authored a library case study, “COVID-19: Tracing the Virus in Europe and Italy”, focused on the EU and Italy’s response to the outbreak. The case study was discussed during a live broadcast presented through the Bloomberg Harvard Initiative in April for 120 US mayors and 600 guests from around the world.
Harvard Center Shanghai—In response to the pandemic, the center cohosted an online event in April with the HBS Entrepreneurship Club, HBS Greater China Club, and HBS Association of Beijing that brought together current MBA students and a panel of 10 HBS alumni. During the Zoom gathering, the alumni provided insights from their experiences navigating the economic downturns of 2002 and 2008 and shared their views about long-term career development.
India Research Center—The center debuted in April 2020 its “Alumni on Air” series of monthly webinars cohosted with the HBS Club of India during which alumni from South Asia share their perspectives about the current crisis, business frameworks, and leadership styles. Among those who have been featured are Rishad Premji (MBA 2005), chair of Wipro Ltd., which is supporting COVID-19 relief efforts in India; Ameera Shah (OPM 42, 2012), promoter and managing director of Metropolis Healthcare, a diagnostics business in India’s health care sector; and Ajay Bijli (OPM 28, 1999), chair and managing director of PVR Cinemas.
Latin America—On May 7, the center hosted the first of a series of online events. Nicolas Shea, the founder and board chair of Cumplo.com, a crowdfunding platform in Latin America, spoke to some 120 alumni and friends. The gathering, moderated by Senior Lecturer Michael Chu, addressed topics such as financing small and medium businesses during the pandemic, managing through crisis, and understanding the new normal. On June 10, Carlos Mario Giraldo, CEO of Grupo Exito, a leading supermarket chain in Colombia, spoke to 120 participants about his company’s efforts to help customers, employees, essential workers, and those who are vulnerable, and what he envisions for the new normal. Senior Lecturer José Alvarez moderated the discussion. This series marks the center’s 20th anniversary.
Middle East and North Africa Research Center—In May, the center hosted two virtual events, each attended by some 180 alumni in the region. Professor Suraj Srinivasan discussed COVID-19 crisis management and the outlook for business with Alain Bejjani, CEO of Majid Al Futtaim Holding, a Dubai-based company that operates retail and leisure establishments in the Middle East and North Africa. In addition, Professor Felix Oberholzer-Gee spoke with Fiba Group leaders Hüsnü Özyeğin (MBA 1969), founder and honorary chair, and Murat Özyeğin (MBA 2003), chair, about the speed of recovery in the aftermath of the pandemic and opportunities that may arise during the downturn in the region.
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