Publications

22 Apr 2024
Research & Ideas

When Does Impact Investing Make the Biggest Impact?

The idea of supporting social change has propelled impact investing assets to more than $1 trillion. But what if those funds aren’t as impactful as investors expect? Recent Harvard Business School research... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

September 2022 (Revised December 2022)
Case

QED Invests in Africa

By: Álvaro Rodríguez Arregui and James Barnett

In March 2022, investors at venture capital firm QED consider strategy for establishing business in Africa. View Details

Keywords: Analysis; Investment; Geography; Markets; Operations; Strategic Planning; Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Africa; Nigeria; North America; Canada; Europe; Asia; Latin America

25 Apr 2014
News

Investing in Innovation

and society have never been more divided. Even as the economy has recovered, trust has not. As business leaders, we need to remind the public that business is a force for good and is fundamental to societal... View Details

Keywords: HBS Fund; Educational Services

02 Dec 2017
News

A Leveraged Investment

expanded his business almost tenfold since attending the program. Hesham was so enthusiastic about OPM that he convinced his wife, Adlina, that she should attend. Adlina was at a key juncture with her business—a consumer electronics... View Details

17 Apr 2014
News

A Family Investment

Murat Özyeg in (MBA 2003) always knew that eventually he would join the Fiba Group, the investment firm he watched his father, Hüsnü Özyeg in (MBA 1969), build in the 1980s. He was also aware that education would be key to his ability to... View Details

22 May 2017
News

Two On-Track Investments

Photo via the Baltimore Sun Photo via the Baltimore Sun There are no sure bets in Thoroughbred racing—but for many, the thrill of watching a horse thundering down the track far outweighs the risk of loss, whether the stake is a $2 bet or a $200,000 View Details

Keywords: horse racing; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Arts, Entertainment

21 Sep 2017
Cold Call Podcast

State Street’s SHE: Investing in Women Leaders

Keywords: Re: Vikram Gandhi; Financial Services

April 1993 (Revised May 1993)
Case

Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal

By: Robert J. Dolan

The business products division has developed a business proposal asking for $50 million to fund the creation of a new telephone system for the small business market. The company's last entry into this marketplace lost $70 million. The new product would face 100... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Communication Technology; Market Entry and Exit; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Investment; Product Development; Telecommunications Industry; Canada

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2007
Working Paper

Intra-Industry Foreign Direct Investment

By: Laura Alfaro and Andrew Charlton

We use a new firm level data set that establishes the location, ownership, and activity of 650,000 multinational subsidiaries—close to a comprehensive picture of global multinational activity. A number of patterns emerge from the data. Most foreign direct investment... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Activity; Horizontal FDI; Vertical FDI; Stages Of Production; Multinational Firms and Management; Business Subsidiaries; Foreign Direct Investment; Competency and Skills; Production

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September 2011
Article

On Testing Business Models

By: D. Huelsbeck, K. Merchant and Tatiana Sandino

This study explored management decisions regarding formal empirical testing of business models. It documented a test of one company's business model under seemingly favorable conditions for such a test – a successful single product firm following a consistent strategy... View Details

Keywords: Performance Measurement; Non-financial Performance Measures; Business Models; Management Control; Decisions; Business Model; Performance Evaluation

SSRN

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December 2022 (Revised August 2023)
Case

Ribbit Capital and the Gauntlet Investment Opportunity

By: Shai Bernstein and Allison M. Ciechanover

Ten-year-old, Palo Alto-based Ribbit Capital is best-known for its global investments in fintech. The firm was also an early advocate of crypto and blockchain, having invested in more than two dozen startups in the space in the past decade. In the Spring of 2022,... View Details

Keywords: Alternative Assets; Cryptocurrency; Business Startups; Investment Portfolio; Decision Choices and Conditions; Negotiation Deal; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Venture Capital; Financial Services Industry; California

Video

What Is Return on Investment (ROI)?

December 2006
Case

Southern Company's Investment in CEMIG

In the spring of 1997, Southern Company had the opportunity to acquire a significant portion of the electric utility in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. The shares in the utility, CEMIG, were being sold by the state government as part of a comprehensive... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Privatization; Investment; Acquisition; Globalized Markets and Industries; Utilities Industry; Brazil

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August 2008 (Revised May 2009)
Case

Kmart and ESL Investments (A)

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Sarah Abbott

A major bankrupt retailer is poised to emerge from Chapter 11. Two activist hedge funds ("vulture investors") will own over 50% of reorganized Kmart's common stock, based on prior investments in Kmart's debt claims, and an infusion of new equity financing. The Chapter... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Capital Structure; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Investment; Investment Activism; Valuation; Financial Services Industry; Retail Industry; United States

September 2012 (Revised September 2015)
Case

Doing Business in Turkey

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Robin J. Ely, Daniela Beyersdorfer, Emilie Billaud and Cigdem Çelik

In a rather flat international business environment characterized by shrinking markets and economic turmoil, Turkey promoted itself as one of the safe havens for investments. Led by the strong domestic demand of a young population, the country had tripled its GDP... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Market Finance; Emergent Countries; Business History; Economic History; Fieldwork; Emerging Markets; Business Ventures; Strategy; Turkey

14 Oct 2011
Working Paper Summaries

The Cost of Capital for Alternative Investments

Keywords: by Jakub W. Jurek & Erik Stafford

January 2022 (Revised December 2022)
Case

TotalEnergies’ Investment in Hyzon Motors

By: Vikram S. Gandhi and David Lane

In November 2021, Girish Nadkarni, the head of TotalEnergies’ corporate venture capital arm (TEV) was considering whether, and on what terms, to exit an investment in Hyzon Motors, a start-up supplier of hydrogen-powered trucks. TEV had invested $4 million in Hyzon,... View Details

Keywords: Business Units; Communication Intention and Meaning; Renewable Energy; Venture Capital; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Design; Standards; Commercialization; Investment Portfolio; Market Transactions; Energy Industry; Financial Services Industry; Transportation Industry; Europe; New York (city, NY)