Publications

27 Jan 2011
Working Paper Summaries

A Brief Postwar History of US Consumer Finance

Keywords: by Andrea Ryan, Gunnar Trumbull & Peter Tufano; Banking

Research Summary

Dawn Matsumoto's research investigates managers' financial reporting decisions including the incentives driving these decisions and the impact of these decisions on capital market participants. She is interested in the role of financial intermediaries (such as... View Details

February 2020
Case

Highfields Capital and McDonald's

By: Mark Egan and Robin Greenwood

McDonald’s reported its fifth consecutive quarter of declining same-store sales growth in early 2015. Despite McDonald’s recent poor performance, Jonathon S. Jacobson, the founder and Chief Investment Officer of Boston-based Highfields Capital Management, had initiated... View Details

Keywords: McDonald's; Stocks; Performance Improvement; Operations; Finance; Restructuring; Value Creation; Financial Services Industry

May 1999 (Revised August 1999)
Case

Westfield America

By: William J. Poorvu, Richard S. Tedlow and Daniel J. Rudd

The company is attempting to duplicate its Australian formula for successful mall ownership in the U.S. market. It must deal with rapidly evolving financial markets while recognizing and capitalizing on emerging trends in retailing. View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Adaptation; Financial Markets; Property; Trends; Retail Industry; Real Estate Industry; Australia; United States

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June 2019 (Revised April 2020)
Teaching Note

Vox Capital: Pioneering Impact Investing in Brazil

By: Julie Battilana, Marissa Kimsey and Falko Paetzold

Teaching Note for HBS No. 417-051. This Teaching Note provides conceptual foundations and teaching plan recommendations for the case on Vox Capital, a firm that launched one of the first impact investing funds in Brazil. The learning objectives are to understand how an... View Details

Keywords: Impact Investing; Social Performance Measurement; Social Entrepreneurship; Investment Funds; Social Enterprise; Brazil

April 2013
Case

Europe: An Ever Closer Union?

By: Gunnar Trumbull, Jonathan Schlefer and Diane Choi

In 2010, the European Union faces the challenges of the global financial crisis. With 27 member states, each facing different challenges, can new EU institutions respond effectively? Will its new currency, the euro, survive? View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Money; Trade; Currency; Policy; Government and Politics; European Union

October 2022 (Revised June 2024)
Case

Driving Decarbonization at BMW

By: Shirley Lu, George Serafeim and Michael W. Toffel

The case describes BMW’s electrification and decarbonization strategy, and how the company measured carbon emissions throughout the life cycle of its vehicles and used tools like carbon abatement cost curves to evaluate decarbonization opportunities. In mid-2022,... View Details

April 1995 (Revised August 1995)
Case

Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield (A)

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Ramona Hilgenkamp

Mounting financial losses and increasing public scrutiny present many challenges to the board of directors of a large nonprofit health insurer. This case series presents chronologically the increasing problems of the company. View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Governance; Financial Condition; Organizational Culture; Problems and Challenges; Nonprofit Organizations; Insurance Industry

October 2008
Case

The Talbots, Inc., and Subsidiaries: Accounting for Goodwill

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

In 2006, Talbots, Inc., a specialty women's retailer, purchased a competitor, J. Jill. The transaction created a large goodwill account along with accounts for trademarks and other intangible assets. Using prevailing accounting standards (Statement of Financial... View Details

Keywords: FASB; Intangible Assets; Standards; Financial Statements; Goodwill Accounting; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry

January 2004 (Revised August 2004)
Supplement

Innovation at the Treasury: Treasury Inflation-Protection Securities (B)

By: Kenneth A. Froot, Peter A. Hecht and Christopher Edward James Payton

In 1997, the U.S. Treasury was deciding whether to proceed with a proposal to issue inflation-indexed bonds. This case explores the challenges facing innovation in the financial markets as the Treasury tries to determine whether to introduce Treasury... View Details

Keywords: Inflation; Innovation; Federal Government; Securities; Financial Instruments; Inflation and Deflation; Financial Markets; Government and Politics; Financial Institutions; Innovation and Invention; United States

Web

Find Answers - MBA

but you will not be able to write more than 300 words. Financing your MBA What is the estimated cost for one year at HBS? While living expenses vary from student to student, the Financial Aid and Scholarship Board uses the standard... View Details

August 2000
Case

AMVESCAP in 1999

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Kathleen E. E Danoher

Deals with the problems faced by a major mutual fund company as it attempts to respond to the threats and opportunities posed by the explosion of the Internet and the changing landscape of retail financial services. View Details

Keywords: Trends; Investment Funds; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Problems and Challenges; Alignment; Internet; Financial Services Industry

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Web

Faculty & Advisors - MBA

of AI-enabled health and longevity for all. Paul Clancy MBA, Columbia University; BS, Babson College Paul has worked in the biotech industry for the last twenty-three years and spent fourteen years in the consumer products industry. He served as the Chief View Details

June 1990 (Revised August 1995)
Case

RJR Nabisco--1990

By: Andre F. Perold

Describes the situation facing RJR Nabisco one year after the leveraged buyout by Kohlberg Kravis and Roberts. A vehicle for analyzing the financial restructuring of a highly leveraged, but operationally healthy, company. View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Restructuring; Financial Strategy; Problems and Challenges

Spring 2014
Article

The High Price of Customer Satisfaction

By: Timothy Keiningham, Sunil Gupta, Lerzan Aksoy and Alexander Buoye

Managers often assume that improving customer satisfaction and financial performance go hand in hand. The reality, however, is much more complex. View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Performance

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March 1988 (Revised June 1993)
Background Note

Leveraged Betas and the Cost of Equity

The objective is to delineate on methodology for measuring the risk associated with financial leverage and estimating its impact on the cost of equity capital. View Details

Keywords: Cost of Capital; Capital Structure; Equity