Publications

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

September 2005 (Revised January 2006)
Case

Restating Revenues and Earnings at INVESTools, Inc. (A)

By: Michael D. Kimbrough and F. Warren McFarlan

Relates the events leading up to the announcement in February 2005 that INVESTools, a Utah-based provider of investor education services, would be restating prior-year financial statements due to inappropriate revenue recognition. View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Accounting Audits; Financial Statements; Capital Markets; Currency Exchange Rate; Corporate Disclosure; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Utah

September 2005 (Revised January 2006)
Supplement

Restating Revenues and Earnings at INVESTools, Inc. (B)

By: Michael D. Kimbrough and F. Warren McFarlan

Keywords: Earnings Management; Revenue; Financial Services Industry

September 2005 (Revised January 2006)
Supplement

Restating Revenues and Earnings at INVESTools, Inc. (D)

By: Michael D. Kimbrough and F. Warren McFarlan

Keywords: Earnings Management; Revenue; Financial Services Industry

September 2005
Teaching Note

Hedging Currency Risks at AIFS (TN)

By: Mihir A. Desai and Kathleen Luchs

Keywords: Currency; Risk and Uncertainty; Financial Services Industry

August 2005 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Politics and Prudential Supervision: ABN Amro's Bid for Antonveneta (A)

By: Rawi E. Abdelal and Christopher Bruner

Involves the March 2005 takeover bid launched by ABN Amro, the Dutch bank, for Padua-based Banca Antoniana Popolare Veneta S.p.A. (Antonveneta)--a bid that many would view as a test of Italy's commitment to the creation of a single European market for financial... View Details

Keywords: History; Transformation; Business and Government Relations; Integration; Competitive Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Emerging Markets; Financial Markets; Banks and Banking; Financial Services Industry; European Union; Italy

August 2005 (Revised January 2007)
Supplement

The Board of Directors at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter (B)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Alexis Chernak

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Financial Services Industry

August 2005 (Revised April 2014)
Teaching Note

Innocents Abroad: Currencies and International Stock Returns

By: Mihir A. Desai, Kathleen Luchs, Elizabeth A. Meyer and Mark Veblen

What do international stocks contribute to the portfolio of a U.S. investor? How do currencies interact with stock price movements in determining the benefits of international diversification? This case helps students compare the risks and returns of foreign stock... View Details

June 2005 (Revised January 2006)
Case

Investment Policy at the Hewlett Foundation (2005)

By: Luis M. Viceira

In early January 2005, Laurance Hoagland Jr., VP and CIO of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (HF), and his investment team met to finish their recommendations to the HF Investment Committee for a new asset allocation policy for the foundation's investment... View Details

Keywords: Investment Portfolio; Risk and Uncertainty; Public Equity; Globalization; Investment; Property; Risk Management; Asset Management; Financial Services Industry

June 2005
Case

Furqan Nazeeri and the IMTrader Spin-Out

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Brian DeLacey

Furqan Nazeeri is looking to spin out a promising set of products and technologies from an established financial services firm. Designed as an exercise in negotiation. Includes material from the original business plan, and it is possible to simulate a negotiation... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Business or Company Management; Negotiation Process; Product Development; Technology Adoption

June 2005
Article

Currency Returns, Intrinsic Value, and Institutional Investor Flows

By: K. A. Froot and T. Ramadorai

Keywords: Currencies; Exchange Rates; Purchasing Power Parity; Real Exchange Rate; Forecasting and Prediction; Behavioral Finance; Investment Return; Market Transactions; Performance Expectations; Personal Characteristics; Asset Pricing; Financial Services Industry

April 2005
Case

Merrill Lynch in 2003: Sunny Skies Ahead?

By: Boris Groysberg, Paul M. Healy and David Kiron

Merrill Lynch (ML) is at a crossroads. Stan O'Neal became its CEO and implemented a radical cost-cutting program. In addition, the company dot-com continues to recover from the fallout from the Enron and dot-com scandals. What are the future prospects for ML? Can the... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Forecasting and Prediction; Financial Condition; Investment; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States

April 2005 (Revised June 2006)
Case

NTT DoCoMo, Inc.: Mobile FeliCa

By: Stephen P. Bradley, Thomas R. Eisenmann, Masako Egawa and Akiko Kanno

Managers of DoCoMo, Japan's largest mobile phone company, are formulating a strategy for mobile FeliCa: contactless integrated circuits that will be built into DoCoMo phones, allowing them to be used for quick and convenient retail or commuter fare payments, building... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Expansion; Alliances; Wireless Technology; Information Technology Industry; Communications Industry; Japan

April 2005 (Revised January 2006)
Case

Protege Partners: The Capacity Challenge

By: Randolph B. Cohen

In February 2005, Jeffrey Tarrant (HBS '85) and Ted Seides (HBS '99) considered their strategy for Protege Partners, founded in July 2002 as a fund of hedge funds (FOHF) specializing in small hedge funds. Protege's assets under management had grown to $1.1 billion, and... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business Growth and Maturation; Investment Funds; Financial Services Industry

April 2005 (Revised January 2007)
Case

Furman Selz LLC (A): A Tale of Two Acquisitions

By: Nancy D. Beaulieu, Boris Groysberg and Kyle Doherty

Profiles a firm that was reacquired by two companies with different degrees of success. Highlights integration challenges present in acquisition deals when the primary assets of the target are human capital. Focuses on Furman Selz's acquisition by Xerox in 1987; its... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Transition; Valuation; Human Capital; Compensation and Benefits; Integration; Organizational Culture; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States

March 2005
Article

Sovereign Debt As a Contingent Claim: A Quantitative Approach

By: Laura Alfaro and Fabio Kanczuk

We construct a dynamic equilibrium model with contingent service and adverse selection to quantitatively study sovereign debt. In the model, benefits of defaulting are tempered by higher future interest rates. For a wide set of parameters, the only equilibrium is one... View Details

Keywords: Sovereign Finance; Borrowing and Debt; Interest Rates; Balance and Stability; Risk and Uncertainty; Risk Management; Mathematical Methods; Management Style; Segmentation; Debt Securities; Banking Industry

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February 2005
Case

Nomura Holdings

By: Tarun Khanna, Masako Egawa and Atsuko Nakajima

Nomura Holdings, Japan's largest investment bank, faced with intensifying competition in the global financial markets, was trying to decide how global its operations should be despite its Japan-centered business. Was the question of how global Nomura should be related... View Details

Keywords: Global Range; Corporate Governance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Corporate Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Japan

January 2005 (Revised October 2005)
Case

Private Capital and Public Policy: Standard & Poor's Sovereign Credit Ratings

By: Rawi E. Abdelal and Christopher Bruner

Describes Standard & Poor's sovereign credit ratings business. Provides background on the history of credit ratings agencies, the meaning of credit ratings, the expansion of the sovereign ratings business over recent decades, and the market for credit ratings. Also,... View Details

Keywords: Sovereign Finance; History; Policy; Business and Government Relations; International Finance; Country; Globalized Economies and Regions; Decision Choices and Conditions; Capital Markets; Debates; Financial Services Industry; United States