Publications

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March 2007 (Revised August 2014)
Case

Survey Masters LLC (A)

By: William J. Bruns

Partners in a service firm are reviewing results for 2006, wondering whether large or small projects are more profitable. Present reports make small projects look more profitable. However, activity-based accounting reveals that large projects are more profitable and... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Financial Reporting; Cost vs Benefits; Financial Strategy; Service Industry

February 2006 (Revised August 2006)
Case

Kevin McCarthy and Westlake Chemical Corporation (A)

Examines forecasting earnings/performance for a commodity chemical firm during a period of high uncertainty, highlighting the combined effects of input process (natural gas), industry capacity/utilization, and cyclicality. Assuming the role of Kevin McCarthy (the top... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Futures and Commodity Futures; Forecasting and Prediction; Chemicals; Chemical Industry

13 Oct 2010
First Look

First Look: October 13, 2010

http://hbr.org/2010/10/the-power-of-alumni-networks/ar/1 Prices or Knowledge? What Drives Demand for Financial Services in Emerging Markets? Authors:Shawn A.Cole, Thomas Sampson, and Bilal Zia Publication:Journal of Finance (forthcoming)... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

10 Jul 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, July 10, 2018

companies, where decision rights and incentives can be murky, and the effects of any given choice can be tough to pin down. So the authors chose a “lab rat” with fewer barriers to understanding—the venture capital industry. VC firms are... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

September 2006 (Revised April 2007)
Case

Medtronic Vision 2010

By: Lynda M. Applegate

Describes the company's year-long efforts to transition from a medical device company selling products to physicians for use with patients suffering chronic end-stage disease, to a medical technology company providing life-long solutions for people with chronic... View Details

Keywords: Business Plan; Transition; Decision Choices and Conditions; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Financial Management; Financing and Loans; Health Care and Treatment; Innovation and Invention; Strategic Planning; Health Industry

Web

Field Course: Venture Capital Journey - Course Catalog

in the course will be intentionally diverse and include both students who came from the field as well as those who are keenly interested in the field, having had some exposure during their time at HBS through RC courses like TEM and View Details

Web

Systems for Scaling Ventures (SSV) - Course Catalog

organizations prioritizing innovation and employee empowerment, rather than standardization and tight monitoring of rote processes. This is not a course about launching a startup or financing it, nor a course about highly stable,... View Details

01 Jun 2017
News

Better Hiring Through Brain Science

the difference between consulting and finance and marketing and entrepreneurship,” says Polli. Career paths in accounting or consulting, for example, usually correlated to attention to detail and a lack of impulsive behavior, she says;... View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell

24 Apr 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, April 24, 2018

Hernando, María Luz González-Gadea, Rafael Di Tella, Agustín Ibáñez, and Mariano Sigman Abstract—Previous studies in adults demonstrated that beliefs and sharing decisions in social scenarios are closely related. However, to date, little... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Forthcoming
Article

Public Perception and Autonomous Vehicle Liability

By: Julian De Freitas, Xilin Zhou, Margherita Atzei, Shoshana Boardman and Luigi Di Lillo

The deployment of autonomous vehicles (AVs) and the accompanying societal and economic benefits will greatly depend on how much liability AV firms will have to carry for accidents involving these vehicles, which in turn impacts their insurability and associated... View Details

Keywords: Moral Sensibility; Judgments; Legal Liability; Insurance; Perception

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2016
Working Paper

Saving More in Groups: Field Experimental Evidence from Chile

By: Felipe Kast, Stephan Meier and Dina Pomeranz

We test the impact of a peer group savings program on precautionary savings through two randomized field experiments among 2,687 microcredit clients. The first experiment finds that the Peer Group Treatment, which combines public goal setting, monitoring in the group,... View Details

Keywords: Saving; Decision Making; Interest Rates; Planning; Performance Effectiveness; Economics; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development; Social Enterprise; Global Range; Chile

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October 2006 (Revised May 2007)
Case

Academia Barilla

By: David E. Bell and Mary L. Shelman

Barilla, the world's largest pasta company, has introduced a new high-quality, high-priced product line that features a range of authentic Italian food products sourced from artisan producers. Management believes the line will appeal to consumers seeking healthier... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Brands and Branding; Decision Choices and Conditions; Family Ownership; Nutrition; Product Development; Investment; Food and Beverage Industry; Italy

March 2007 (Revised March 2013)
Teaching Note

Edelnor (TN) (A) and (B)

By: Jordan I. Siegel

Teaching note to 707473 and 707530. View Details

Keywords: Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Restructuring; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Energy Industry; Chile

13 Sep 2012
Research & Ideas

Why Public Companies Underinvest in the Future

Sageworks, a financial information company based in Raleigh, North Carolina. When Sageworks decided to open up its nearly 250,000 private-firm database of detailed accounting information to academic researchers, Ljungqvist was one of the fortunate few the company... View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish

Web

Managing and Innovating in Financial Services - Course Catalog

HBS Course Catalog Managing and Innovating in Financial Services Course Number 1509 Professor David Scharfstein Spring; Q3Q4; 3.0 credits 27 Sessions Exam Course Content Financial services firms play a critically important role in the global economy. They View Details

February 2014
Teaching Note

Mylan Lab's Proposed Merger with King Pharmaceuticals

By: Lucy White

Perry Capital owns shares in King and, to facilitate approval of the merger, buys shares in Mylan, whilst hedging out its economic exposure to Mylan's share price using derivatives. The price at which Mylan proposes to merge with King is generous to King shareholders,... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Voting; Ethics; Stock Shares; Investment; Lawsuits and Litigation; Ownership Stake

January 2009 (Revised February 2014)
Case

Mylan Lab's Proposed Merger with King Pharmaceutical (Abridged)

By: Lucy White

Perry Capital owns shares in King and, to facilitate approval of the merger, buys shares in Mylan, whilst hedging out its economic exposure to Mylan's share price using derivatives. The price at which Mylan proposes to merge with King is generous to King shareholders,... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Voting; Ethics; Stock Shares; Investment; Lawsuits and Litigation; Ownership Stake

December 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Goldman Sachs: A Bank for All Seasons (A)

By: Lena G. Goldberg and Tiffany Lynne Obenchain

Facing the worldwide financial crisis, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein considered his options including whether his company could avoid a forced marriage and what steps Goldman Sachs should take to try to restore confidence in financial services companies. View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Crisis; Commercial Banking; Investment Banking; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Crisis Management; Business Strategy; Banking Industry

September 2024
Case

Cathay Cargo: Turnaround Short Haul, or Double Crew Long Haul?

By: Willy Shih and Billy Chan

Tom Owen, Director Cargo at Cathay Pacific Airways, had a problem. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the grounding of passenger flights meant the sudden loss of 50% of the airline's cargo carrying capacity. But the bigger challenge was that the Hong Kong government imposed... View Details

Keywords: Operations; Resource Allocation; Cash Flow; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Health Pandemics; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Air Transportation Industry; Hong Kong