Publications
Publications
Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(1,932)
- Faculty Publications (164)
- July 2005 (Revised December 2005)
- Case
General Motors U.S. Pension Funds
By: Luis M. Viceira and Helen Tung
In June 2003, General Motors Corp. (GM) successfully marketed the largest corporate debt offering in U.S. history, worth $17.6 billion. The offering included $13.6 billion worth of debt denominated in dollars, euros, and pounds and $4 billion dollars denominated in... View Details
- December 2004 (Revised March 2006)
- Background Note
Decision Trees
By: Robin Greenwood and Lucy White
This case introduces decision analysis. Using a simple example, it illustrates the use of probability trees and decision trees as tools for solving business problems. View Details
Keywords: Decision Making
- January 2004 (Revised November 2004)
- Case
Rwandan Tea Industry, The: Looking into the Future
By: Debora L. Spar
In 2003, the Rwandan government was focused on transforming the nation's tea industry into a world-class competitor. To accomplish this objective and stave off the downward prices that plagued the international tea market, the government believed that the industry... View Details
- December 2003
- Case
Manville Corporation Fiber Glass Group (C) (Abridged)
By: Lynn S. Paine
Manville Corp.'s senior managers are surprised when Japanese government officials advise them not to go forward with their plan to add a cancer warning label to diatomaceous earth (DE) products sold in Japan. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has ruled... 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 January 2004)
- Case
Giant Cinema
The owner of Giant Cinema must decide whether to invest in a digital projector, a new technology for screening films, or purchase a traditional projector. The impact of the new technology is uncertain, and the case describes probabilities for different outcomes that... View Details
- summer 2003
- Article
Patents, Invalidity, and the Strategic Transmission of Enabling Information
By: James J. Anton and Dennis A. Yao
The patent system encourages innovation and knowledge disclosure by providing exclusivity to inventors. Exclusivity is limited, however, because a substantial fraction of patents have some probability of being ruled invalid when challenged in court. The possibility of... View Details
- September 2002 (Revised January 2003)
- Case
A-Rod: Signing the Best Player in Baseball
This case analyzes a large investment decision considered by the Texas Rangers in 2000: whether to spend $252 million for the services of shortstop Alex Rodriguez. The signing was probably the most controversial sports contract of the past decade. View Details
- January 2001 (Revised July 2003)
- Case
Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development
By: Malcolm P. Baker, Richard S. Ruback and Aldo Sesia
Pharmacyclics (NASDAQ: PCYC), a pharmaceutical company that manufactures products that will improve existing therapeutic treatments for cancer, arteriosclerosis, and retinal disease, was considering a $60 million private placement in February 2000. The company had more... View Details
- October 2000 (Revised March 2003)
- Case
Merck & Company: Evaluating a Drug Licensing Opportunity
By: Richard S. Ruback and David B Krieger
This explores the valuation of an opportunity to license a compound before it enters clinical trials. Describes Merck's decision tree evaluation process is presented. Information required to evaluate a specific licensing opportunity is provided, including the costs of... View Details
- August 1997
- Article
Independence on Relative Probability Spaces and Consistent Assessments in Game Trees
By: Elon Kohlberg and Philip J. Reny
Keywords: Games, Gaming, and Gambling
- 1996
- Working Paper
Independence on Relative Probability Spaces and Consistent Assessments in Game Trees
By: Elon Kohlberg and Philip J. Reny
- 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
- February 1994 (Revised May 1999)
- Case
Manville Corp. Fiber Glass Group (C)
By: Lynn S. Paine and Sarah Gant
Manville Corp.'s senior managers are surprised when Japanese government officials advise them not to go forward with their plan to add a cancer warning label to diatomaceous earth (DE) products sold in Japan. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has ruled... View Details
- November 1983
- Article
Subjective Probability and the Theory of Games: Some Further Comment
By: A. E. Roth and F. Schoumaker
- Article
The Nature of Stochastic Equilibria
By: Jerry R. Green and Mukul Majumdar
This paper formulates the notion of stochastic equilibria as invariant probability distributions consistent with the behavior patterns of individuals and the disequilibrium adjustment mechanism of the economy. Conditions for existence, uniqueness, and stability of such... View Details
- summer 1970
- Article
Marketing Strategy and Bank Service Interaction: A Probability Model
By: D. B. Crane
- Forthcoming
- Article
An AI Method to Score Celebrity Visual Potential from Human Faces
By: Flora Feng, Shunyuan Zhang, Xiao Liu, Kannan Srinivasan and Cait Lamberton
It has long been a mantra of marketing practice that, particularly in low-involvement situations, spokespeople should be physically attractive. This paper suggests there is a higher probability of gaining fame and influence (i.e., celebrity potential) than is captured... View Details
- Research Summary
Bringing Individuals Back In: The Effects of Career Experience on New Firm Founding (forthcoming Industrial and Corporate Change, 2003)
By: Rakesh Khurana
In this paper (with Scott Shane) the link between the career experiences of potential entrepreneurs and the decision to found a new firm is explored. Because of methodological and theoretical obstacles, sociological research on organizational foundings has largely... View Details
- Teaching Interest
Decision Making Under Uncertainty
By: David E. Bell
Many of the decisions we face are made complicated by having uncertain consequences: how should I set my inventory when I don’t know what demand will be, should I refinance my mortgage when rates might go lower, how big a bet shall I make in a new business, and so... View Details