Publications

October 2012 (Revised September 2014)
Case

Doing Business in Vietnam

By: Alan MacCormack, Michael Shih-ta Chen and Dawn H. Lau

This case gives an overview of the current business environment in Vietnam as of 2012. The first part of the case introduces the main economic, political and cultural aspects of the country of which anyone who has business interest in the country ought to be aware.... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Market Finance; Emergent Countries; Business History; Economic History; Emerging Markets; Business Ventures; Strategy; Viet Nam

09 Aug 2017
News

Non-Executive Directors Need To Align With Managers -- Without Losing Their Independence

17 Aug 2023
Research & Ideas

‘Not a Bunch of Weirdos’: Why Mainstream Investors Buy Crypto

equity market, but a growing force to be reckoned with, according to the research. "Crypto is seeing large-scale adoption," Di Maggio says. At the same time, the industry finds itself in the spotlight of regulators who are exploring ways... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

October 2016
Case

The Quiet Ascension of LA Fitness

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In 2016, LA Fitness was the largest chain of non-franchised fitness clubs in North America, operating 676 clubs, serving 4.9 million members, and generating revenues of over $1.9 billion. Founded by Chinyol Yi, Louis Welch, and Paul Norris in 1984, the privately held... View Details

Keywords: LA Fitness; Health Clubs; Fitness; Gyms; Chain; Exercise; Personal Training; Retention; Bally Total Fitness; 24 Hour Fitness; Planet Fitness; Buildings and Facilities; Acquisition; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Customers; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Demographics; Age; Gender; Income; Residency; Borrowing and Debt; Capital; Capital Structure; Cash; Cash Flow; Cost; Private Equity; Financial Condition; Financial Liquidity; Financing and Loans; Investment Return; Price; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Location; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Business History; Employees; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Human Capital; Contracts; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Operations; Service Operations; Leasing; Private Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Sales; Salesforce Management; Situation or Environment; Opportunities; Sports; Strategy; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Segmentation; Information Technology; Mobile Technology; Technology Platform; Health Industry; United States; California; Los Angeles

18 Apr 2017
First Look

First Look at New Ideas, April 18

March 27, 2017 Harvard Business Review How the Water Industry Learned to Embrace Data By: Cespedes, Frank V., and Amir Peleg Abstract—Most current talk about “big data” seems to assume the disintermediation or replacement of physical... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

18 Feb 2002
Research & Ideas

Wrap-up: Software, Telecom, and Recovery

Venture capital firms ask themselves tough questions these days. Among them: how can they dig out of the dot-com collapse? How should they invest going forward? How should the leader of a firm strike the right note for the future? And is... View Details

Keywords: by Wendy Guild & Martha Lagace; Financial Services; Technology; Communications; Telecommunications

June 2024
Case

Tremblant Capital: Launching an Active ETF

By: Robin Greenwood, Luis M. Viceira and Robert Ialenti

The case highlights deliberations led by Brett Barakett, CEO and chief investment officer of Tremblant Capital, just months prior to launching an actively managed ETF, Tremblant Global (TOGA). However, his team continued to have reservations around the launch. On the... View Details

Keywords: Asset Management; Investment Funds; Product Launch; Risk and Uncertainty; Financial Services Industry

December 2010 (Revised January 2012)
Case

Zespri

By: Jose B. Alvarez and Mary Louise Shelman

Grower-owned Zespri is the sole exporter of New Zealand-grown kiwifruit outside of Australia and New Zealand. Facing growing international competition, Zespri invested in consumer branding and innovation, which has led to new types of kiwifruit that taste better and... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Globalized Firms and Management; Innovation and Invention; Patents; Brands and Branding; Cooperative Ownership; Competition; Corporate Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; New Zealand

November 1999
Case

Long-Term Capital Management, L.P. (A)

By: Andre F. Perold

Long-Term Capital Management, L.P. (LTCM) was in the business of engaging in trading strategies to exploit market pricing discrepancies. Because the firm employed strategies designed to make money over long horizons--from six months to two years or more--it adopted a... View Details

Keywords: Fluctuation; Capital; Financial Liquidity; Financing and Loans; Investment Funds; Investment Portfolio; Corporate Governance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Management; Risk Management; Marketing; Motivation and Incentives; Financial Services Industry

25 Apr 2005
Research & Ideas

New Learning at American Home Products

penicillin for Canada's armed forces, provided American Home Products with a learning base in the antibiotic revolution at its very beginning. Early in the postwar era, American Home Products moved out of chemicals but continued to expand its other lines, both by... View Details

Keywords: by Alfred D. Chandler Jr.; Chemical; Health; Manufacturing; Pharmaceutical

June 2014
Case

Starbucks Coffee Company: Transformation and Renewal

By: Nancy F. Koehn, Kelly McNamara, Nora N. Khan and Elizabeth Legris

Starbucks Coffee Company: Transformation and Renewal analyzes the turnaround and reconstruction of Starbucks Coffee Company from 2008 to 2014 as led by CEO and co-founder Howard Schultz. The case offers executives and students an opportunity to examine in depth how... View Details

June 2005 (Revised November 2005)
Case

The Harrison and HIA

By: Jay O. Light

A large East Coast insurance company is thinking of selling its investment management subsidiary. Several Eurobanks are thinking of acquiring this subsidiary. View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Business Subsidiaries; Investment; Bids and Bidding; Negotiation; Valuation; Insurance Industry

Find at Harvard

2009
Working Paper

Prices or Knowledge? What Drives Demand for Financial Services in Emerging Markets?

By: Shawn A. Cole, Thomas Sampson and Bilal Zia

Financial development is critical for growth, but its micro-determinants are not well understood. We test leading theories of low demand for financial services in emerging markets, combining novel survey evidence from Indonesia and India with a field experiment. We... View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Saving; Knowledge Acquisition; Emerging Markets; Motivation and Incentives; Financial Services Industry; India; Indonesia

Read Now

03 Jan 2007
First Look

First Look: January 3, 2007

available for download Banking Deregulation, Financial Constraints, and Entrepreneurship Authors:William R. Kerr and Ramana Nanda Abstract We study how U.S. branch banking deregulations affected the entry of... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

May 2016 (Revised June 2017)
Case

India's Amul: Keeping Up with the Times

By: Rohit Deshpandé, Tarun Khanna, Namrata Arora and Tanya Bijlani

Amul is an Indian dairy cooperative founded in 1947—eight months before India's independence from British rule—and owned by over three million farmers in the state of Gujarat. It is India's largest food product marketing organization, selling 46 products, including... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Expansion; Dairy; India; Cooperatives; Milk; Leadership; Agriculture; Agribusiness; Competition; Marketing; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; India

22 Nov 2011
First Look

First Look: November 22

close with an attempt to identify strategies to close the gap between the unethical people we are and the ethical people that we strive to be. Publisher's Link: http://www.taylorandfrancis.com/books/details/9780415873246/ Working PapersLocal View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 1999 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Infox System GmbH

Apax, a private equity firm, has an opportunity to invest in a travel-related print-materials distribution business in Germany. Infox is typical of many buyout opportunities. One of the founders seeks to exit the business, and recently hired managers will have to... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Leveraged Buyouts; Entrepreneurship; Investment; Financial Services Industry; Germany

October 1998
Case

Farallon Capital Management: Risk Arbitrage (B)

By: Andre F. Perold and Robert Howard

Farallon Capital Management, an investment firm that specializes in risk arbitrage, has taken significant long and short positions in MCI Communications and British Telecommunications, respectively, in the belief that the proposed merger of these firms will be... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Capital Markets; Investment; Risk Management; Strategy; Financial Services Industry

June 2009 (Revised January 2011)
Case

Target Corporation: Ackman versus the Board

By: Krishna G. Palepu, Suraj Srinivasan and James Weber

After 15 years of great performance, Target's faltering performance during an economic downturn led an activist shareholder to initiate a proxy fight. Target Corporation, the second largest discount store retailer in the U.S., had competed successfully against industry... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Investment Activism; Governing and Advisory Boards; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business Strategy; Value; Retail Industry