Publications

3 PM – 4 PM EDT, 27 Mar 2023
Virtual Programming

Chief Sustainability Officer Panel

As organizations continue to formalize their commitment to the environment through ESG efforts, the opportunities for MBAs to meaningfully contribute to this field continue to grow and evolve. Leadership roles often filled by MBAs include Chief Sustainability Officer... View Details

March 1998 (Revised March 1999)
Case

Shepard Quraeshi Associates (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Harold F. Hogan Jr

Samina Quraeshi, principal of Boston-based Shepard Quraeshi Associates, must decide whether to take legal action against her key employees after they leave her firm to start their own, taking with them key clients and data. Quraeshi sees the situation as reflecting... View Details

Keywords: Ethnicity; Nationality; Ethics; Employees; Gender; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Immigration; Growth and Development Strategy; United States

May 2009 (Revised June 2011)
Case

Going to the Oracle: Goldman Sachs, September 2008

By: Clayton S. Rose and David Lane

On September 23, 2008, in the midst of an historic crisis in the U.S. financial markets, Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway invested $5 billion in Goldman Sachs. Goldman CEO, Lloyd Blankfein, said: "We are pleased that given our longstanding relationship, Warren... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Crisis; Capital Structure; Financial Liquidity; Financial Markets; Investment; Performance Capacity; Financial Services Industry; United States

January 2009
Article

Bank Debt and Corporate Governance

By: Victoria Ivashina, Vinay Nair, Anthony Saunders, Nadia Massoud and Roger Stover

In this paper, we investigate the disciplining role of banks and bank debt in the market for corporate control. We find that relationship bank lending intensity and bank client network have positive effects on the probability of a borrowing firm becoming a target. This... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Borrowing and Debt; Banks and Banking; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Governance Controls; Managerial Roles

SSRN

Find at Harvard

January 2024 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Runa

By: Paul Gompers and Carla Larangeira

In early 2022, Courtney McColgan, founder and CEO of Runa, a human resources and payroll Software-as-a-Service platform, faced an unexpected tech market downturn. Founded in 2018, Runa catered to small and medium-sized businesses in Mexico, offering an affordable and... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Volatility; Entrepreneurship; Decision Making; Leadership; Management; Venture Capital; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business Growth and Maturation; Latin America

2016
Working Paper

The Climate Custodians

By: Robert G. Eccles and Tim Youmans

Can custody banks become key players in climate change? Custody banks joining the battle against climate change will signal a significant shift in governance ideology for this highly regulated industry so critical to the global financial system. While global custody... View Details

Keywords: Pollutants; Climate Change; Capital Markets; Investment Banking; Institutional Investing; Policy

SSRN

Read Now

August 2020 (Revised August 2023)
Case

Nubank: Democratizing Financial Services

By: Michael Chu, Carla Larangeira and Pedro Levindo

Nubank, a wholly-digital solution created to disrupt Brazilian banking, with 6 million clients and a $4 billion valuation after five years, must decide whether to expand to Mexico. The company was founded in São Paulo in 2013 by Colombian-born David Vélez to seize what... View Details

Keywords: Fintech; Financial Inclusion; Digital Banking; Credit Cards; Banks and Banking; Disruption; Expansion; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry; South America; Brazil; North America; Mexico

11 Jul 2023
Blog Post

Second Life: Reflections on Complementing Success with an Encore Career

In 2015, Steve Kloeblen retired and thought he was done with the corporate world. A graduate of HBS Executive Education’s General Management Program, Kloeblen had more than 30 years of experience with IBM, culminating with his transition... View Details

September 2019 (Revised May 2021)
Case

pymetrics: International Expansion

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In August 2018, pymetrics, a solution offering neuroscience-based recruiting tests, closed a $40 million funding round that valued the business at $160 million. Over 60 companies around the globe were using pymetrics tests in their recruiting process, including... View Details

August 2016 (Revised August 2017)
Case

AnswerDash (Abridged)

By: Elie Ofek and Jeffrey D. Shulman

It is 2014 and AnswerDash, a startup backed by venture capital, has not seen the widespread adoption of their online self-service customer support solution that they were expecting based on early success in helping clients save and generate substantial amounts of... View Details

Keywords: Pricing; Economic Value Estimation; Price Metrics; Organizational Selling; Innovation Adoption; Business To Business; Marketing; Customer Lifetime Value; Venture Capital; Customer Relationship Management; Price; Marketing Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Technology Adoption; Business Startups; Sales; Innovation and Invention; Product Marketing; Financial Services Industry

June 2016 (Revised August 2017)
Case

AnswerDash

By: Elie Ofek and Jeffrey D. Shulman

It is 2014, and AnswerDash, a startup backed by venture capital, has not seen the widespread adoption of their online self-service customer support solution that they were expecting based on early success in helping clients save and generate substantial amounts of... View Details

Keywords: Pricing; Economic Value Estimation; Price Metrics; Organizational Selling; Innovation Adoption; Business To Business; Marketing; Customer Lifetime Value; Venture Capital; Customer Relationship Management; Price; Marketing Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Technology Adoption; Business Startups; Sales; Innovation and Invention; Product Marketing; Financial Services Industry

29 Jul 2022
Research & Ideas

Will Demand for Women Executives Finally Shrink the Gender Pay Gap?

search firm executive who was interviewed as part of Healy’s research explained how eager companies are to recruit women to their upper ranks: “Virtually all of my clients [looking to fill a senior role] will go out of their way to... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

Trevor Fetter

Trevor Fetter is a Senior Lecturer on the faculty of Harvard Business School. He teaches two MBA required courses: Leadership and Corporate Accountability, and Financial Reporting and Control and a Short Intensive Program for MBA students called The Life and Role of... View Details

29 Jul 2013
Research & Ideas

A Manager’s Moral Obligation to Preserve Capitalism

possible—indeed, Friedman went further to say that any attempt to curb the free market was harmful to the good of society. This is the view Ramanna grapples with in a new working paper, Managers and Market Capitalism, cowritten with... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

February 2024 (Revised February 2024)
Case

CLSA: Integrating ESG in Stock Valuation

By: Shirley Lu, Aaron Yoon and Billy Chan

In 2023, a senior financial analyst at the Hong Kong-based stock brokerage firm CLSA was surprised to see that, based on his calculations, the financial impact from climate risks on a major Indian cement manufacturing company’s projected earnings could be massive.... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Corporate Governance; Analysis; Stocks; Valuation; Environmental Sustainability; Financial Services Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Hong Kong; China; India; Asia

July 2004 (Revised January 2007)
Case

H&R Block and "Everyday Financial Services"

By: Peter Tufano and Daniel Schneider

H&R Block, the U.S. market leader in tax preparation services, must decide whether to offer financial services to its low-income clients. H&R Block is facing increased competition from branded and nonbranded tax preparers, and the number of returns prepared by the... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Income; Taxation; Product Development; Financial Services Industry; United States

September 2006 (Revised November 2006)
Case

Cathy Benko: WINning at Deloitte (A)

By: Kathleen L. McGinn, Deborah M. Kolb and Cailin B. Hammer

Jim Quigley, CEO of Deloitte and Touche's consulting practice, asks senior partner Cathy Benko to lead Deloitte & Touche's much publicized Initiative for the Retention and Advancement of Women (WIN). Benko, already the Lead Client Service Partner on one of Deloitte's... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Leadership Development; Talent and Talent Management; Personal Development and Career; Gender; Consulting Industry; United States

30 Mar 2020
Research & Ideas

The New Rules for Remote Work: Pandemic Edition

leaders need a new game plan. We asked Harvard Business School professors to provide practical advice for managing large-scale, long-term remote work at a time when many employees are not only distracted by the commotion in their homes,... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

July 2020
Supplement

PeopleAnswers (B): The Infor Acquisition

By: Daniel P. Gross

In the fall of 2009, founder and CEO Gab Goncalves has turned PeopleAnswers, Inc. from a fledgling startup to a steadily growing company of nearly 50 employees and $10 million recurring revenue. PeopleAnswers provides people analytics software which its clients use to... View Details

Keywords: People Analytics; Entrepreneurship; Strategy; Growth and Development; Human Resources; Selection and Staffing; Mergers and Acquisitions