Publications

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

Keywords: Managerial Roles; Investment Funds; Performance; Business Startups; Compensation and Benefits; Corporate Finance; Financial Services Industry

September 2005 (Revised May 2007)
Case

OuterLink Corporation (A)

By: Josh Lerner and Brenda Chia

Zero Stage Capital is addressing a troubled investment in OuterLink Corp., which has a capital deficit of $30 million and was written off by all but one of its investors as a victim of the technology bubble. The venture organization must decide whether to shutter the... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Decisions; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Price Bubble; Investment; Financial Services Industry

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2008
Working Paper

Positions of Power and Status: Reciprocity in the Venture Capital Industry

By: Mikolaj J. Piskorski

This paper proposes a straightforward way of differentiating between central network positions that confer power and those that confer status. I argue that actors achieve high status by receiving numerous exchanges from actors who in turn receive numerous exchanges... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Partners and Partnerships; Power and Influence; Social and Collaborative Networks; Status and Position; Financial Services Industry; United States

2008
Working Paper

The Strength of Peripheral Ties: Maintaining Status When Firms Lose Resources

By: Mikolaj J. Piskorski and Bharat N. Anand

This paper examines conditions under which high-status firms can retain their positions, even if they lose resources. Firms are considered high status when they obtain ties from other high-status firms. Among high-status firms, we distinguish between those that also... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Resource Allocation; Rank and Position; Status and Position; Financial Services Industry; United States

November 2004 (Revised May 2005)
Case

Salomon Brothers (B)

By: Lynn S. Paine

Supplements the (A) case. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details

Keywords: Financial Services Industry

November 2004 (Revised February 2009)
Case

Salomon Brothers (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine

Describes Salomon Brothers' recovery from the August 1991 Treasury auction scandal. Details the impact of the firm's disclosure of bidding improprieties and describes how the new management team, led by Warren Buffett and Deryck Maughan, guided the company through the... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Leadership; Crisis Management; Reputation; Financial Services Industry

August 2004
Teaching Note

Accel Partners' European Launch (TN)

By: Josh Lerner, G. Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

Teaching Note to (9-803-021). View Details

Keywords: Financial Services Industry; London; United States

July 2004 (Revised July 2004)
Case

Man Group plc

By: Andre F. Perold and Herve Duteil

In 2004, Man Group was the world's largest packager and distributor of investment vehicles tied to hedge funds. The firm had an equity market capitalization of $10 billion and funds under management of $38 billion. Man's offerings spanned a wide range of risk/reward... View Details

Keywords: Capital Markets; Investment; Investment Return; Investment Funds; Global Strategy; Distribution; Product Development; Financial Services Industry

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June 2004
Teaching Note

Acme Investment Trust: January 2001 (TN)

By: Josh Lerner, G. Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

Teaching Note to (9-202-055). View Details

Keywords: Financial Services Industry

Article

Can They Take It with Them? The Portability of Star Knowledge Workers' Performance: Myth or Reality

By: Boris Groysberg, Linda-Eling Lee and Ashish Nanda

This paper examines the portability of star security analysts' performance. Star analysts who switched employers experienced an immediate decline in performance that persisted for at least five years. This decline was most pronounced among star analysts who moved to... View Details

Keywords: Firm Performance; Hiring; Employee Selection; Employee Retention; Knowledge; Employees; Selection and Staffing; Retention; Performance; Competitive Advantage; Financial Services Industry

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May 2003
Supplement

Morgan Stanley Japan - Eric Best

By: Tarun Khanna

Eric Best, managing director of Morgan Stanley, lectures on markets. View Details

Keywords: Markets; Financial Services Industry

January 2003 (Revised June 2003)
Case

Adams Capital Management: March 2002

By: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon

In March 2002, the five partners of Adams Capital Management (ACM), a venture capital firm investing in information technology telecommunications with $700 million under management, gathered to discuss whether they should change their strategy in view of the prolonged... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Venture Capital; Investment Portfolio; Business or Company Management; Partners and Partnerships; Business Strategy; Financial Services Industry

July 2002 (Revised August 2002)
Case

Nomura Securities, 2002

By: Tarun Khanna and David Lane

In 2002, Nomura, though long the market leader in Japan, lacked global presence and was beset at home by strengthened local competitors, Wall Street firms that were taking the best deals, outdated systems, controls, and staff skills. Was Nomura still a player to fear?... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Local Range; Global Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Japan

July 2002 (Revised August 2003)
Case

Unilever Superannuation Fund vs. Merrill Lynch, The

By: Andre F. Perold and Joshua Musher

In 2001, the Unilever Superannuation Fund sued Merrill Lynch for damages of 130 million British pounds. Over the period 1977 to 1998, the Unilever Fund had significantly underperformed the benchmark, and its trustees contended that the poor returns resulted from... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Lawsuits and Litigation; Performance Evaluation; Agreements and Arrangements; Customer Relationship Management; Risk and Uncertainty; Asset Management; Risk Management; Legal Liability; Financial Services Industry; United Kingdom

December 2001
Teaching Note

Cachet Technologies TN

By: Paul A. Gompers

Teaching Note for (9-200-031). View Details

Keywords: Financial Services Industry

November 2001 (Revised December 2003)
Case

Incentive Pay for Portfolio Managers at Harvard Management Company

By: Brian J. Hall and Jonathan Lim

This case describes the compensation system for portfolio managers at Harvard's portfolio management company, including its formulaic and bonus bank features. Harvard Management Co. President Jack Meyer explains the philosophy behind the incentive pay at his company. View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Investment Portfolio; Compensation and Benefits; Financial Services Industry