Real Options - Publications - Faculty & Research

30 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

Managing the Family Business: Preparing to Sell

the right owners for your next chapter of wealth-generating (and social value-generating) ventures. Selling a family business can be a wrenching decision, but is an option more families should follow. ©iStock.com/PeopleImages But it's... View Details

Keywords: by Jonathan Pellegrin; Food & Beverage; Retail

08 Sep 2015
First Look

September 8, 2015

the need for increased upfront financing, but this protection lowers the real option value of the new venture. In equilibrium, financing risk disproportionately impacts innovative ventures with the greatest... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

08 Jun 2011
Lessons from the Classroom

Twenty-first Century Skill: Trading Carbon Credits

system function when it's implemented in the real world? For the exercise, the class is divided into groups of five students. Several days before the exercise, each student receives private information regarding his or her role in the... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Energy; Utilities

24 Aug 2009
Research & Ideas

SuperCorp: Values as Guidance System

everywhere." Talent magnets and motivation machines. Talented people with many options are increasingly attracted to companies and stay there because of compatible values. Banco Real became one of... View Details

Keywords: by Rosabeth Moss Kanter

14 Oct 2013
Research & Ideas

Time that Government Reopens for Business

the US economy? A: The immediate direct impact on the real economy is measurable but modest. About 800,000 people are now taking unpaid days off, and they are generally people of middle- or upper-middle- class incomes, so they are... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner

14 Apr 2003
Research & Ideas

Andy Grove on the Confident Leader

wait; investment decisions or personal decisions don't wait for that picture to be clarified.— Andy Grove AG: None of us have a real understanding of where we are heading. I don't. I have senses about it. But decisions don't wait;... View Details

Keywords: by Walter Kiechel; Technology

21 Sep 2009
Research & Ideas

Excessive Executive Pay: What’s the Solution?

shareholders the right to place board nominees on the company's proxy ballot. Said SEC chairman Mary Schapiro: "This would turn what would otherwise be a somewhat illusory [shareholder] right to nominate [directors] into something that is real—and has a View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson

05 Mar 2013
First Look

First Look: March 5

unconscious) and Type 2 (slow, deliberative, conscious). We propose, considering a wealth of real world phenomena, that this taxonomy is incomplete. Examples of these phenomena are creativity, 'sleeping on it,' etc. These phenomena seem... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

30 Nov 2016
Op-Ed

Where Could More Regulation Help Small Businesses? Online Lending.

paperwork, borrowers complete applications in minutes, with approval times cut to days, or even just a few minutes. And, in instances where borrowers want to shop and compare myriad options in one place, they can turn to marketplaces like... View Details

Keywords: by Karen Mills and Brayden McCarthy; Financial Services

06 Feb 2006
What Do You Think?

Should CEOs of Public Companies Offer Earnings Guidance?

will drive investors away to other companies." Guillermo Estefani concurs, saying, "It is important to show all real information available from the company, so investors can track its behavior and learn whether it is really... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Financial Services

14 Aug 2007
First Look

First Look: August 14, 2007

simulate counterfactuals, and develop tentative implications for pricing policy. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/07-034.pdf Cases & Course MaterialsBT Plc: The Broadband Revolution (A) Harvard Business School Case 407-001 This paper proposes... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

24 Jan 2012
First Look

First Look: Jan. 24

This chapter proposes a new lens to understand corruption, using internal records collected from firms that pay bribes. We examine widespread corruption in three industries in an Asian developing country: procurement, pharmaceutical sales, and construction. Using data... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Dec 2003
What Do You Think?

Is This the Twilight Era for the Managed Mutual Fund?

probably seen the beginning of the decline of the actively managed mutual fund," Charles Broming expressed the hope that "money management will become another technical job and compensation will reflect its real added... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

21 Aug 2012
Research & Ideas

How to Sink a Startup

there's a real danger in splitting equity too soon and setting it in stone. It is inevitable that change will come to the venture and the founding team, putting that early split into disarray and imperiling the team. Splitting equity... View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons

10 Oct 2018
Research & Ideas

The Legacy of Boaty McBoatface: Beware of Customers Who Vote

social media, responses are immediate.” Also, votes allow companies to perform consumer research cheaply, generating new ideas for products or flavors, or testing consumer preference for options it might be considering. “Firms can... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Advertising

07 May 2013
First Look

First Look: May 7

reduction of firm variability, we do not find this offsetting beneficial effect to be strong. Download working paper: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2252200 Return Predictability in the Treasury Market: Real Rates, Inflation, and Liquidity By:... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

20 Jun 2016
Research & Ideas

When Predicting Other People's Preferences, You're Probably Wrong

predicting other people’s tastes, we tend to assume that liking one thing precludes enjoying another, dissimilar option. (Photo: iStockphoto) For example, a real estate agent might forego the opportunity to show a mid-century modern home... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Retail

29 Sep 2009
First Look

First Look: September 29

to make a minimum of 3x on its initial Merlin investment through the dividend recapitalization and at least 5x through the Tussauds acquisition. A third option arose while Blackstone was in negotiation with DIC. This was the opportunity... View Details