Publications

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February 2018 (Revised August 2018)
Case

Blue Haven Initiative: The PEGAfrica Investment

By: Vikram S. Gandhi, Caitlin Reimers Brumme and Amram Migdal

This case examines Blue Haven Initiative (BHI), an impact investing fund and family office, and one of its investments, PEGAfrica (PEG). BHI founder Liesel Pritzker Simmons’ motivations for using her family wealth to start a family office focused on impact investing,... View Details

Keywords: Impact Investing; Family Office; Development; International Development; International Development Investing; Development Fund; Sustainability; Solar Energy; Solar; Pay As You Go; PAYG; MFI; Social Venture; Business Ventures; Acquisition; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Economics; Development Economics; Energy; Energy Conservation; Energy Sources; Renewable Energy; Social Entrepreneurship; Finance; Assets; Asset Pricing; Capital; Capital Budgeting; Capital Structure; Venture Capital; Cash; Cash Flow; Currency; Currency Exchange Rate; Equity; Private Equity; Financial Instruments; Debt Securities; Stock Shares; Financing and Loans; Microfinance; International Finance; Investment; Investment Return; Investment Activism; Investment Funds; Investment Portfolio; Price; Geography; Geographic Location; Emerging Markets; Ownership; Ownership Stake; Private Ownership; Social Enterprise; Value; Valuation; Value Creation; Energy Industry; Financial Services Industry; Green Technology Industry; Africa; United States

Small business lending has remained unchanged for decades, laden with frictions and barriers that prevent many small businesses from accessing the capital they need to succeed. Financial technology, or “fintech,” promises to change this trajectory. In 2010, new fintech... View Details

February 1997 (Revised December 1997)
Case

Arbor Health Care Company

By: Myra M. Hart and Stephanie Dodson

A venture-funded start-up runs into trouble when health care reimbursement policies change radically. With the help of its board, the company develops a new strategy, becomes profitable, and makes a public offering. The second wave of changes introduced by Clinton... View Details

Keywords: Industry Structures; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Succession; Business Startups; Transformation; Strategy; Venture Capital; Policy; Initial Public Offering; Health Industry

26 Apr 2011
Op-Ed

HBS Faculty Comment on Environmental Issues for Earth Day

both nature and humankind. We asked a group of Harvard Business School faculty members to offer their views on the many facets of "going green." Amy C. Edmondson, Novartis Professor Of Leadership And Management The world's cities are... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Energy; Utilities

Article

Returnable Reciprocity: Returnable Gifts Are More Effective than Unreturnable Gifts at Promoting Virtuous Behaviors

By: J.J. Zlatev and Rogers, T.

Increasing virtuous behaviors, such as initiating healthy habits, is an important goal for policymakers and social scientists. To promote compliance with requests to perform virtuous behaviors, we study “returnable reciprocity.” Whereas traditional reciprocity involves... View Details

Keywords: Nudges; Reciprocity; Want-should Conflicts; Wellness; Health; Behavior; Change; Well-being

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March 2024
Case

ixigo

By: Ranjay Gulati and Rachna Tahilyani

Ixigo is India’s second-largest online travel aggregator (OTA) and the market leader among private train OTAs. It has overcome numerous near-death crises to emerge as a customer-centric, profitable firm. It aspires to become the leading OTA in the next billion Internet... View Details

Keywords: Initial Public Offering; Profit; Growth and Development; Product Positioning; Travel Industry; India

Web

Entrepreneurship & Innovation - MBA

health and wellness company provides at-home lab testing kits and digital results to consumers, and offers a suite of validated tests, including; food sensitivity, fertility, STDs, and thyroid. This past year Everlywell did $40M in sales.... View Details

14 Mar 2023
Blog Post

How Inclusive Managers Create Glass-Shattering Organizations

Unless men embrace their role in eliminating gender bias and barriers, organizations and institutions will never leverage the value that women bring to the workplace. “Most positions of power are still held by men,” says Colleen Ammerman, director of the Harvard... View Details

October 1995 (Revised June 1996)
Case

ABN-AMRO Holding N.V. and Smit Transformatoren N.V. (A)

By: Peter Tufano

ABN-AMRO, the largest bank in the Netherlands, must decide whether to take any action in regard to the poor performance of Smit Transformatoren, a Dutch transformer manufacturer. ABN-AMRO acted as lead underwriter for the IPO of Smit, and also released a favorable... View Details

Keywords: Initial Public Offering; Capital Markets; Investment Banking; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; Netherlands

February 2022 (Revised September 2022)
Case

Lilium: Preparing for Takeoff

By: Navid Mojir, Vincent Dessain, Mette Fuglsang Hjortshoej and Emer Moloney

Lilium is a German company focused on developing electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles (eVTOLs) that can be used to offer air taxi services. The company went public in September 2021 through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) deal, raising more than... View Details

February 2018
Teaching Note

Still Leading Series—Issues in Transitioning to New Forms of Service Later in Life

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Rakesh Khurana, James Honan and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

The Still Leading case series includes an introductory note, “Still Leading (A): Issues in Transitioning to New Forms of Service Later in Life” and 10 supplementary cases that cover the transition of highly accomplished and prolific leaders (Hon. Robert McDonald, Hon.... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Personal Development and Career; Transition

August 1994 (Revised May 1995)
Case

Engineering Inspection & Insurance Company

By: Robert H. Hayes

Engineering Inspection & Insurance Co. (EIIC) is a small but highly successful company that offers machinery and boiler inspection and insurance services. After years of above-average growth and profits, both are retreating toward the industry average, policy delivery... View Details

Keywords: Service Operations; Business Strategy; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Insurance; Strategic Planning; Problems and Challenges; Insurance Industry; United States

04 Oct 2017
HBS Seminar

Tania Babina, Columbia Business School

02 Apr 2012
Research & Ideas

Do Online Dating Platforms Help Those Who Need Them Most?

answers depend on the platform. Some products help those who need the most help. Some help only those who have little trouble interacting in the real world anyway. And some platforms offer certain features that help those who need it... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Technology

June 2021
Technical Note

SPAC Space

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In 2020, over half of all initial public offerings (IPOs) in the United States were special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), blank-check companies that typically had two years to find a business to take public, usually through a reverse merger. Together, 248... View Details

Keywords: Special Purpose Acquisition Companies; SPACs; Mergers and Acquisitions; Going Public; Initial Public Offering; Investment; Strategy

15 Mar 2021
Blog Post

REFLECTIONS ON MY TIME AS BEI DIRECTOR

At the end of March, I will retire from my role as Director of the HBS Business and Environment Initiative and turn the reins to BEI’s new Director Lynn Schenk and Coordinator Elise Clarkson. What has changed since I started in the... View Details

19 May 2003
Lessons from the Classroom

Business Plan Winner Targets India Dropouts

any initiative to empower the poor and the equally critical importance of available credit to allow poorer families to invest in their future. Despite the plethora of education-related activities and the rapidly growing success stories in... View Details

Keywords: by Carla Tishler; Financial Services

January 2008 (Revised March 2009)
Case

Fortress Investment Group

By: Malcolm Baker, Carlos M. Galvez and James Quinn

CEO Wesley Edens and the five Fortress principals are contemplating a move unprecedented in the industry: becoming the first hedge fund and private equity firm to complete an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). This case examines potential reasons for a leading... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Public Equity; Initial Public Offering; Investment Funds; Going Public; Valuation; Financial Services Industry

2023
Working Paper

LALIGA—From a Soccer Competition Organizer to a Global Player in the Sports and Entertainment Industry

By: Stephen A. Greyser, Kenneth Cortsen and Juan Fuentes Fernández

LALIGA, the first- and second-tier professional soccer league (known as “football” outside of the U.S. and Canada) in Spain, enters its 100th soccer season later this decade. The most popular game in the world (Giulianotti, 2012) has gone through many changes since... View Details

Keywords: Soccer; ＂Sports Organizations,; Business History; Strategy; Brands and Branding; Technology Adoption; Sports Industry