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Stories
Global Outposts Expand HBS’s Intellectual Footprint
Since taking over as CEO of Tata Steel in 2013, T. V. Narendran had sought to transform India’s oldest steel manufacturing firm to ready it for a rapidly evolving business world. He instilled financial discipline, acquired new businesses, and launched digital transformation and other new programs at the company. He then turned his attention to the e-commerce platform the firm launched in 2018 to sell products directly to retail consumers. Now, as the case “Digital Transformation at Tata Steel” explains, Narendran had to decide whether to open up this platform to non-Tata Group third-party suppliers of ancillary home construction products, like cement, paint, and other home fittings. Would this create a unique one-stop shop for construction-related goods, or take Tata Steel further away from its core mission?
Dilemmas such as this are at the heart of HBS’s case method. To develop case studies that highlight the opportunities and challenges facing business leaders and managers around the world, the School relies on the expertise and connections of staff members at HBS’s 18 global research outposts in 16 countries. Under the umbrella of the Global Initiative, they support faculty research and an array of programs and activities.
The Initiative has expanded HBS’s intellectual footprint over the years with the creation of 10 global centers and eight regional offices, including the newest addition, the Mid-US office, launched in 2021.
Former Dean Kim Clark established the Global Initiative in 1996 to encourage deeper understanding of and engagement with innovative management practices around the world. Nearly three decades later, more than half of HBS cases published are set internationally or focus on global issues, and more than 1,300 MBA students traveled abroad to 20 countries this year for hands-on, immersive learning experiences.
The centers’ primary focus has been on case writing and facilitating faculty research, explains Executive Director Victoria Winston. Additionally, they organize individualized research immersions for faculty members or help them pursue a particular avenue of inquiry across regions. More recently, the responsibilities of HBS global outposts have expanded to include helping to facilitate student immersions in a variety of markets and enhancing collaborations with alumni and other business leaders.
“The fact that we as a school are strengthening our understanding of businesses around the world and bringing that understanding into our classrooms affirms the HBS mission,” says Winston. “We’ve come a long way from a time when BGIE [Business, Government & the International Economy] was the only course where students encountered global content. I think that’s a tribute to our faculty and their increasingly diverse interests. It’s also a tribute to the centers because they facilitate this research and broaden the School’s impact.”
“Firms and business leaders around the world are helping to solve some of society’s greatest challenges, such as climate change and economic mobility. But because the problems and solutions manifest differently across regions, it’s critical for leaders to have a global perspective.”
— DEBORA SPAR, Jaime and Josefina Chua Tiampo Professor of Business Administration and Senior Associate Dean for Business and Global Society
“Firms and business leaders around the world are helping to solve some of society’s greatest challenges, such as climate change and economic mobility. But because the problems and solutions manifest differently across regions, it’s critical for leaders to have a global perspective.”
— DEBORA SPAR, Jaime and Josefina Chua Tiampo Professor of Business Administration and Senior Associate Dean for Business and Global Society
The following highlights illustrate the breadth of HBS’s global activities during the 2022–2023 academic year, from developing cases to convening thought leaders to conducting business history interviews.
AFRICA RESEARCH CENTER
(Johannesburg; offices in Nairobi and Lagos)
Addressing some of society’s most pressing concerns
The center, with HBS and Harvard alumni associations on the continent, hosted an in-person event last fall in Johannesburg that featured a virtual discussion with Professor Debora Spar, the senior associate dean for Business and Global Society, who leads HBS’s Institute for the Study of Business in Global Society. Spar shared her thoughts on how Africa and African firms can help tackle some of society’s greatest challenges.
ASIA-PACIFIC RESEARCH CENTER
(Hong Kong; office in Singapore)
Striving to achieve sustainability objectives
Professor Forest Reinhardt, the faculty chair of the HBS Agribusiness Seminar, led a virtual discussion about the case “Nestlé: The World’s Largest Food Company Confronts Climate Change” to explore how the company is striving to achieve its sustainability objectives without sacrificing short- term performance and shareholder value. The event was sponsored by the center and HBS Executive Education.
CALIFORNIA RESEARCH CENTER
(Silicon Valley)
Bringing insights from tech industry into the classroom
As West Coast companies make game-changing technological advances in areas such as generative AI, the metaverse, and blockchain, the center develops cases that highlight the resulting entrepreneurial tensions and dilemmas. During discussions about the gaming platform Roblox, AI chatbot Replika AI, and crypto-native venture capital fund Electric Capital, students are exposed to the challenges of the rapidly evolving tech landscape, as well as the emerging opportunities and risks.The California Research Center facilitated the case “Roblox: Virtual Commerce in the Metaverse” about the free platform where users come together in immersive 3-D experiences.
EUROPE RESEARCH CENTER
(Paris)
Leadership approaches for a sustainable future
The Europe Research Center and the HBS Club of France hosted a two-day HBS European Alumni Summit in Paris last fall attended by 250 participants, including Senior Lecturer Brian Trelstad and Professor Gunnar Trumbull. The conference, titled “Re.Invent: Leadership for a Sustainable Future,” featured leaders and experts from industry, academia, and the nonprofit sector deliberating the global business imperative for sustainability in the face of climate change.The conference “Re.Invent: Leadership for a Sustainable Future” explored the role of business in addressing sustainability issues.
HARVARD CENTER SHANGHAI
(Shanghai)
Entrepreneurship and innovation in Asia Pacific
Last fall, the center and the HBS Club of Shanghai hosted the 15th Annual HBS Entrepreneurship Forum. Titled “Convergency in New Dynamics,” it included both an online webinar and an in-person fireside chat that explored branding and innovation in Asia Pacific, the experiences and lessons learned by Chinese companies going global, and leading through uncertainty. In addition, Professor Benjamin Esty, faculty chair of the Asia-Pacific Research Center, provided a School update to regional alumni that was followed by keynote speeches and panels by local entrepreneurs and investors.The 15th Annual HBS Entrepreneurship Forum included a panel discussion on “Leading Through Uncertainty” as noted in the highlight about the work of the Harvard Center Shanghai.
INDIA RESEARCH CENTER
(Mumbai)
Cultivating a digital mindset
Professor Das Narayandas coauthored the case “Bajaj Finance: Building an Omnipresent Financial Services Firm” with center researcher Rachna Tahilyani to examine the challenges bricks-and-mortar firm Bajaj Finance—India’s largest consumer finance company—was facing as it considered entering the digital arena. During an April event for alumni in Mumbai organized by the India Research Center and the HBS Club of India, Narayandas led a case discussion that focused on cultivating a digital mindset before embarking on digital transformation.
JAPAN RESEARCH CENTER
(Tokyo)
Expanding a traditional product line to please today’s customers
Center researchers supported the development of “Toraya,” a case by Professor Lauren Cohen, which explores how Mitsuharu Kurokawa, the 18th-generation leader of family firm Toraya Confectionery Co., faces the challenge of expanding the company’s product line to please today’s customers without affecting Toraya’s brand image. Would Mitsuharu’s long-term goal of improving the quality of the Japanese sweets, made from azuki bean paste and sugar, and expanding the company’s client base to reach global customers be in line with Toraya’s well-being?
LATIN AMERICA RESEARCH CENTERS
(Montevideo and São Paulo; office in Mexico City)
Preparing students for hands-on project work in Buenos Aires
For their FIELD Global Immersion course, first-year students working with business partners in Buenos Aires discussed the case “Doing Business in Buenos Aires, Argentina” written by Senior Lecturer Nori Gerardo Lietz, Baker Foundation Professor Leonard A. Schlesinger, and research associate Zeke Gillman. The case, developed in collaboration with the Latin America Research Centers, highlights Argentina’s economic transformation in the decades leading up to 2023 in the context of its history, culture, and politics. It also highlights several obstacles faced by businesses operating in the country, contrasting these with efforts undertaken by the government to improve Argentina’s business climate. (Read related story.)
MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA RESEARCH CENTER
(Istanbul; offices in Cairo and Dubai)
Business history project serves as a unique research and teaching resource
The center conducted video interviews for the “Creating Emerging Markets” project co-directed by professors Geoffrey Jones and Tarun Khanna. Among the leaders in business and social enterprise interviewed in the Middle East and North Africa region were Ghassan Nuqul (Nuqul Group, Jordan), Said Darwazah (Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Jordan), Helmy Abouleish (SEKEM Initiative, Egypt), Dr. Ahmed Heikal (Qalaa Holdings, Egypt), Melek El Nimer (Social Support Society and Unite Lebanon Youth Project, Lebanon), and Mostafa Terrab (OCP Group, Morocco). The interviews provide insights on family business, sustainability, entrepreneurship, and social impact, as well as the relationship between government and business.In conversations with Professor Geoffrey Jones, Melek El Nimer discussed issues related to her work as founder of the Social Support Society and Unite Lebanon Youth Project in Lebanon.
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