Publications
Publications
Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(1,628)
- Faculty Publications (311)
- Working Paper
Benchmarking Against the Performance of High Profile 'Scandal' Firms
By: Emre Karaoglu, Tatiana Sandino and Randy Beatty
In recent years, several high profile firms engaged in accounting fraud that resulted in severe investor losses and erosion of trust in the capital markets. We examine high profile accounting "scandals" prosecuted by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Unlike most... View Details
- June 2006 (Revised January 2012)
- Case
Teena Lerner: Dividing the Pie at Rx Capital (A)
By: Boris Groysberg, Victoria Winston and Robin Abrahams
Teena Lerner started her own hedge fund firm in 2001 after nearly 20 years as a star biotechnology analyst and hedge fund manager. After the start-up phase, her firm became highly profitable. In 2004, however, one of her four analysts lost a lot of money for the firm.... View Details
- March 2006
- Course Overview Note
International Finance: A Course Overview Note
By: Mihir A. Desai
Describes the International Finance course at Harvard Business School, which argues that the forces of globalization have fundamentally changed the scope and activities of firms, thereby altering the practice of finance within these firms. As a consequence of an... View Details
- January 2006
- Case
Jack Strang at SequenceLabs
By: Mukti Khaire, John J. Gabarro and Lynda M. Applegate
How can entrepreneur manage his firm if things go wrong despite having a great idea, a solid team, and financial backing? Jack Strang founded a biotech firm with his friend Peter Evans, to develop molecular pathway-based "cures" for metabolic disorders. The idea was... View Details
- December 2005 (Revised May 2007)
- Case
Cynthia Fisher and the Rearing of ViaCell
By: Robert F. Higgins, Richard G. Hamermesh and Ingrid Vargas
Describes the start up of Viacord, a Boston-based medical services firm founded by Cynthia Fisher (HBS MBA) in 1993. Told from Fisher's perspective, the entrepreneur details the conceptualization and launch of the business and the many obstacles and expenses faced in... View Details
- September 2005 (Revised April 2007)
- Case
Spyder Active Sports - 2004
By: Belen Villalonga, Dwight B. Crane and James Quinn
David Jacobs founded a high-end ski apparel company in 1978. He successfully built and grew the company, establishing a major international brand that appealed to ski racers and other active skiers. In 1995, he sought external financing to support further growth of the... View Details
- August 2005 (Revised May 2008)
- Case
Pawson Foundation: August 2006
By: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon
A top-tier venture capital firm has encountered challenging conditions for its recent funds, which have raised "clawback" liabilities. In response, it is charging its investors the difference between the lower budget-based fee that it used and the maximum that the... View Details
- April 2005 (Revised January 2007)
- Case
Furman Selz LLC (A): A Tale of Two Acquisitions
By: Nancy D. Beaulieu, Boris Groysberg and Kyle Doherty
Profiles a firm that was reacquired by two companies with different degrees of success. Highlights integration challenges present in acquisition deals when the primary assets of the target are human capital. Focuses on Furman Selz's acquisition by Xerox in 1987; its... View Details
- February 2005
- Article
European Integration and Corporate Restructuring: The Strategy of Unilever c1957-c1990
By: Geoffrey Jones and Peter Miskell
This article examines the role of the large Anglo-Dutch consumer products company in promoting European integration. It shows that Unilever contributed financially to campaigns to support the creation of the European Union, and its subsequent expansion, despite a... View Details
- January 2005 (Revised August 2006)
- Case
Lean Forward Media
By: Teresa M. Amabile and Victoria Winston
Jeff Norton and Michelle Crames, the co-founders of Lean Forward Media, face several options for producing the world's first interactive DVD film for children. Their vision is to build a company whose products simultaneously entertain children, engage them actively in... View Details
- September 2004
- Case
Valhalla Partners Due Diligence
By: William A. Sahlman and Dan Heath
The Valhalla Partners venture capitial firm introduced a new approach to the due-diligence process. An internal due-diligence report analyzes Telco Exchange, a startup company in the IT software space. An extended excerpt examines the trade-offs involved in the new... View Details
- May 2004 (Revised October 2007)
- Background Note
Best Practices: Decision Making Among Venture Capital Firms
By: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon
Describes investment decision-making processes, based on interviews with 56% of the top 38 venture capital firms in the country. Discusses some implications for the future growth of the industry. View Details
- April 2004 (Revised March 2008)
- Case
Precise Software
By: Paul A. Gompers and Sara Bergson
Yossi Sela, general partner at Gemini Venture capital, considers a new investment in Precise Software. The firm is at a crisis point, and Sela needs to decide whether he will fire the firm's chief executive officer. Conflicts between the American CEO and the Israeli... View Details
- April 2004
- Case
Case Vignette: The Salesman Saga
By: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon
A venture capitalist faces a situation in which a struggling portfolio company has found a promising vice president of sales through a recruitment agency. The candidate would be an excellent fit for another one of the investor's companies--one that is doing much... View Details
- February 2004 (Revised April 2004)
- Case
Orchid Partners: A Venture Capital Start-up
By: Myra M. Hart and Kristin Lieb
The development of a new venture partnership and the challenges associated with raising its first fund are chronicled. The decision to focus on early-stage investments, the determination of the appropriate size of the fund, the fund-raising process, and the steps in... View Details
- January 2004
- Article
Corporate Venturing: The Origins of Unilever's Pregnancy Test
By: Geoffrey Jones and Alison Kraft
The relative ability of different sizes of firm and organisational designs to develop and sustain dynamic capabilities in innovation and create new businesses remains a matter of contention. While Chandler among many others has emphasised the pre-eminent role of large... View Details
- November 2003 (Revised March 2004)
- Case
Dewberry Capital
In 2003, key executives of Dewberry Capital, a fast-growing, Atlanta-based real estate company, are evaluating their growth strategy and the resultant organizational issues. John Dewberry, the entrepreneurial founder of the firm, has developed a portfolio of... View Details
- October 2003
- Article
The Determinants of Board Structure at the Initial Public Offering
By: Malcolm Baker and Paul Gompers
This paper describes board size and composition and investigates the role of venture capital in a sample of 1,116 firms' initial public offerings. First, firms backed by venture capital have fewer insider and instrumental directors and more independent... View Details
- September 2003 (Revised April 2004)
- Case
Charles River Partnership XI
Describes a situation confronting the management of a highly successful venture capital firm in April 2002. The industry has changed materially since it raised a $1.2 billion dollar fund, and the partners must decide whether to scale back the size of the fund. View Details