Businesses Beware: The World Is Not Flat

With apologies to Thomas Friedman, managers who believe the hype of a flat world do so at their own risk, says HBS professor Pankaj Ghemawat. National borders still matter a lot for business strategists. While identifying similarities from one place to the next is essential, effective cross-border strategies will take careful stock of differences as well. A Q&A and book excerpt follow.

The Real Wal-Mart Effect

Critics are lining up to take shots at Wal-Mart's treatment of workers and a host of other alleged knocks against society. But the critics miss one big point, says Pankaj Ghemawat: Wal-Mart's overall impact benefits the economy and lower-income consumers.

The Regional Slice of Your Global Strategy

A regional understanding should be part of your overall global strategy, says Professor Pankaj Ghemawat. One key: Recognize that regions don’t stop at national borders. An excerpt from Harvard Business Review.

Microsoft vs. Open Source: Who Will Win?

Using formal economic modelling, professors Pankaj Ghemawat and Ramon Casadesus-Masanell consider the competitive dynamics of the software wars between Microsoft and open source. Read our interview.

Globalization: The Strategy of Differences

Should your global strategy optimize scale or exploit differences? HBS professor Pankaj Ghemawat suggests a mix-and-match strategy in this excerpt from Harvard Business Review.

Researchers Contribute Globalization of Markets Papers

A summary of papers written for the Globalization of Markets Colloquium.

How Business Strategy Tamed the "Invisible Hand"

Theories of competition and strategic planning are essential ingredients in running a global business. In this excerpt from Business History Review, HBS professor Pankaj Ghemawat outlines their development.

How to Look at Globalization Now

How should smart companies position themselves in the global economy? By training a historical lens on the process of globalization and thinking about strategies that can take advantage of its current, intermediate state—what HBS professor Pankaj Ghemawat calls "quasiglobalization."

The Dubious Logic of Global Megamergers

Many of today's huge—and pricey—cross-border mergers are based on a mistaken assumption, write Pankaj Ghemawat and Fariborz Ghadar in the Harvard Business Review. In the face of globalization, they say, companies may have better alternatives than the pursuit of the big deal.

Faculty Research Looks to Latin America

HBS faculty have long found Latin America a fertile landscape for in-depth study. In Buenos Aires, nine members of the faculty presented synopses of their latest research—the raw material for present and future case studies, journal articles, books and new management ideas.

From Emerging Economies to the Global Market: The Case of Embraer