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- Faculty Publications (31)
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- All HBS Web (257)
- Faculty Publications (31)
- March 2022
- Case
In Data We Trust: Be Mobile Africa and Furthering Financial Inclusion Across the African Continent
By: Lauren Cohen, Grace Headinger and Pierre Marchesseault
To Cédric Jeannot, leveraging technology to promote financial inclusion was personal. After no established financial institution would accept his technology platform to lower transaction costs for free, Jeannot launched FinTech company Be Mobile Africa in May 2020....
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Keywords:
Finance;
Fintech;
Emerging Market;
Fundraising;
Financial Inclusion;
Strategy;
Expansion;
Management;
Entrepreneurship;
Personal Finance;
Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Financial Services Industry;
Banking Industry;
Africa;
Togo;
Nigeria;
Ghana
Cohen, Lauren, Grace Headinger, and Pierre Marchesseault. "In Data We Trust: Be Mobile Africa and Furthering Financial Inclusion Across the African Continent." Harvard Business School Case 222-073, March 2022.
- Web
Fraudulent Mobile Payment Alerts on the Rise | Information Technology
Fraudulent Mobile Payment Alerts on the Rise Mobile payment solutions like Zelle and Venmo have become popular and convenient ways to send money to one another. Like most...
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- May 2022
- Case
Rawbank's Illico Cash: Can 'Fast Money' Overcome Cash Dependency in the DRC?
By: Lauren Cohen and Grace Headinger
Thomas de Dreux-Brézé, the Head of Strategy and Project Management at Rawbank Congo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), was perplexed as he reviewed annual adoption rates for the bank’s launch of Illico Cash 2.0. As the bank’s mobile money app, Illico Cash...
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Keywords:
Fintech;
Inflation;
Deflation;
Rural;
Urban;
Emerging Market;
Mobile Technology;
Finance;
Money;
Inflation and Deflation;
Business Growth and Maturation;
Decision Choices and Conditions;
Demographics;
Developing Countries and Economies;
Corporate Entrepreneurship;
Behavioral Finance;
Currency;
Banks and Banking;
Commercial Banking;
Financial Strategy;
Rural Scope;
Urban Scope;
Innovation Strategy;
Emerging Markets;
Network Effects;
Consumer Behavior;
Mobile and Wireless Technology;
Technology Adoption;
Banking Industry;
Financial Services Industry;
Technology Industry;
Congo, Democratic Republic of the
Cohen, Lauren, and Grace Headinger. "Rawbank's Illico Cash: Can 'Fast Money' Overcome Cash Dependency in the DRC?" Harvard Business School Case 222-084, May 2022.
- 2023
- Working Paper
Personalized Game Design for Improved User Retention and Monetization in Freemium Games
By: Eva Ascarza, Oded Netzer and Julian Runge
One of the most crucial aspects and significant levers that gaming companies possess in designing
digital games is setting the level of difficulty, which essentially regulates the user’s ability to
progress within the game. This aspect is particularly significant in...
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Keywords:
Freemium;
Retention/churn;
Field Experiment;
Field Experiments;
Gaming;
Gaming Industry;
Mobile App;
Mobile App Industry;
Monetization;
Monetization Strategy;
Games, Gaming, and Gambling;
Mobile and Wireless Technology;
Customers;
Retention;
Product Design;
Strategy
Ascarza, Eva, Oded Netzer, and Julian Runge. "Personalized Game Design for Improved User Retention and Monetization in Freemium Games." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 21-062, November 2020. (Revised December 2023.)
- 01 Jun 2011
- News
America the Unequal
people with zero net worth, and even negative net worth, can still believe that they are living the American dream, doing “better” than their parents did while keeping up with the Joneses. Second, poorer Americans’ belief in social View Details
- Awards
Doing Good with Good O.R. Student Paper Competition
Finalist with Karthik Balasubramanian and Doug Fearing for the 2017 Doing Good with Good O.R. Student Paper Award from the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) for “Inventory Models for Mobile Money Agents in the Developing World.”
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- 27 Jan 2015
- First Look
First Look: January 27
transactions and vice versa. This paper estimates the effect of competition and service quality on mobile money demand. In this setting, service quality consists of service reliability (lower stockout and...
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Keywords:
Sean Silverthorne
- March 2017 (Revised March 2019)
- Case
Ant Financial (A)
By: Feng Zhu, Ying Zhang, Krishna G. Palepu, Anthony K. Woo and Nancy Hua Dai
Headquartered in Hangzhou (China), Ant Financial has grown into a fintech “Unicorn.” The fintech empire that the company established spanned verticals such as mobile and online payment (Alipay), money market fund (Yu’e Bao), wealth management (Ant Fortune),...
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Keywords:
Growth and Development Strategy;
Global Strategy;
Finance;
Opportunities;
Financial Services Industry;
Technology Industry
Zhu, Feng, Ying Zhang, Krishna G. Palepu, Anthony K. Woo, and Nancy Hua Dai. "Ant Financial (A)." Harvard Business School Case 617-060, March 2017. (Revised March 2019.)
- 27 Jun 2017
- First Look
First Look at New Research and Ideas, June 27
wide array of robustness tests that address the concerns expressed by AS2016. Our empirical findings reinforce the conclusions of CW2013. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=52775 Inventory Management for View Details
Keywords:
Sean Silverthorne
- 13 Mar 2023
- Research & Ideas
What Would It Take to Unlock Microfinance's Full Potential?
indications to academics that small changes to the structure of microfinance contracts could have big consequences for how people spend the money and its impact on their businesses and their livelihoods. “Ten years ago, India didn’t have...
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- June 2021 (Revised November 2021)
- Case
Equity Bank: Charting the Future
By: Lauren Cohen, Michael Chitavi and Spencer C. N. Hagist
After climbing the ranks among Kenya's financial institutions from 66th to 1st, and toppling a quarter of the market share held by mobile money giant Safaricom, CEO James Mwangi must now guide Equity Bank into its next stage of development beyond "Equity 3.0." Should...
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Keywords:
Growth and Development Strategy;
Leadership;
Decision Making;
Market Entry and Exit;
Developing Countries and Economies;
Financial Institutions;
Economics;
Kenya
Cohen, Lauren, Michael Chitavi, and Spencer C. N. Hagist. "Equity Bank: Charting the Future." Harvard Business School Case 221-105, June 2021. (Revised November 2021.)
- March 2003 (Revised January 2004)
- Case
CDC Capital Partners: December 2002
By: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon
Paul Fletcher, CEO of CDC Capital Partners, a private equity group investing in the world's poorest countries, is wrestling with questions raised by the imminent reorganization of the firm. Previously an arm of the United Kingdom's international aid agency, CDC is...
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Keywords:
Private Equity;
Investment Portfolio;
Privatization;
Venture Capital;
Business and Government Relations;
Emerging Markets;
Infrastructure;
Financial Services Industry;
Banking Industry;
United Kingdom
Hardymon, G. Felda, Josh Lerner, and Ann Leamon. "CDC Capital Partners: December 2002." Harvard Business School Case 803-167, March 2003. (Revised January 2004.)
- 29 Apr 2019
- Research & Ideas
Is the Digital Age Making Us Petty?
With the rise of mobile payment apps like Venmo, many people can easily record the exact charges incurred by a lunch partner and pay back debts to the cent. They see themselves as efficient and fair. Others often have a different word for...
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Keywords:
by Kristen Senz
- 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,...
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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
Gandhi, Vikram S., Caitlin Reimers Brumme, and Amram Migdal. "Blue Haven Initiative: The PEGAfrica Investment." Harvard Business School Case 318-003, February 2018. (Revised August 2018.)
- December 2014 (Revised May 2015)
- Case
Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A)
By: Jeffrey Bussgang and Matthew G. Preble
The four founding members of Bazaart—a young Israeli company whose sole product was its eponymous mobile application (app) which allowed users to create collages from photographs and other images—face an important strategic decision in June 2014. Since its founding...
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Keywords:
Growth Hacking;
Customer Acquisition;
Startup Marketing;
Startup;
Startup Nation;
Business Startups;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Customers;
Marketing;
Social Marketing;
Fashion Industry;
Technology Industry;
Israel
Bussgang, Jeffrey, and Matthew G. Preble. "Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A)." Harvard Business School Case 815-001, December 2014. (Revised May 2015.)
- 14 May 2012
- Research & Ideas
Breaking the Smartphone Addiction
about the possibility of such hard-charging professionals turning off. "It has to be this way," explained one consultant, echoing many of his colleagues. "It is the nature of the work. Clients pay huge sums of money and...
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Keywords:
by Leslie A. Perlow
- 15 May 2018
- First Look
New Research and Ideas, May 15, 2018
money and discuss the emotional costs of valuing time like money. Lastly, we suggest directions for future research examining the causes and consequences of the value that people place on their time. Publisher's link:...
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Keywords:
Dina Gerdeman
- September 2011
- Module Note
Orientation to Leadership Intelligence Days, 2011
By: Joshua D. Margolis and Anthony J. Mayo
Julie Bornstein, senior vice president of Sephora Direct, is seeking to double her budget for social media and other digital marketing initiatives for 2011. A number of digital efforts implemented in the past two years seem to be bearing fruit and there is a desire to...
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Keywords:
Budgets and Budgeting;
Borrowing and Debt;
Investment Return;
Resource Allocation;
Marketing Communications;
Marketing Strategy;
Consumer Behavior;
Online Technology;
Beauty and Cosmetics Industry
Margolis, Joshua D., and Anthony J. Mayo. "Orientation to Leadership Intelligence Days, 2011." Harvard Business School Module Note 412-057, September 2011.
- Article
The Role of Finance and Private Investment in Developing Sustainable Cities
By: John D. Macomber
Three trends will drive urban investment, development, and entrepreneurship in the next two decades. This article provides tools to identify the situations and circumstances that will be most favorable for private sector involvement in consideration of these trends....
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Keywords:
Trends;
Demographics;
Private Sector;
Investment;
City;
Infrastructure;
Opportunities;
Urban Development
Macomber, John D. "The Role of Finance and Private Investment in Developing Sustainable Cities." Journal of Applied Corporate Finance 23, no. 3 (Summer 2011): 64–74.
- August 2021
- Case
Livongo: Scaling a Purpose-Driven Organization in Healthcare
By: Ranjay Gulati, Aseem Shukla and Reva Nohria
When seasoned entrepreneur Glen Tullman founded the chronic health care startup Livongo in 2014, it was personal. His son lived with diabetes, and Tullman knew firsthand how taxing it could be to manage such an unrelenting disease. Livongo set out to empower people...
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Keywords:
Healthcare Industry;
Scaling;
Telehealth;
Health Care and Treatment;
Small Business;
Internet and the Web;
Customer Focus and Relationships;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Opportunities;
Mergers and Acquisitions;
Health Industry
Gulati, Ranjay, Aseem Shukla, and Reva Nohria. "Livongo: Scaling a Purpose-Driven Organization in Healthcare." Harvard Business School Case 422-017, August 2021.