Publications

01 Sep 2011
News

‘Green’ Trailblazers

dedicated to creating and advancing solutions to the core issues driving climate change Matthew Commons (MBA 2007) FloDesign Wind Turbine Corporation Waltham and Wilbraham, Massachusetts Wind turbine manufacturer Patricia A. Connolly (MBA... View Details

Keywords: Health, Social Assistance; Management; Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services; Professional Services

Web

Digital Archival Resources - Edwin H. Land & Polaroid | Harvard Business School

related to finance and marketing. George E. Bates. Polaroid Corporation . Harvard Business School Case 246-006, 1948. Milton P. Brown. Polaroid Corporation: Price a New Product . Harvard Business School... View Details

01 Jan 2004
News

Minoru Makihara, 75th AMP, 1977

Senior Corporate Advisor, Former Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer, Mitsubishi Corporation Return to Alumni Achievement Awards main page EARLIER EDUCATION Harvard College, 1969 A.B., Government... View Details

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Paid for Success: Options for Compensating CEOs

relative to that of other corporate leaders. No stock option package can provide motivation, however, if it isn't understood. Given the complexity of these arrangements, this is often a problem, even among those who serve as chief... View Details

Keywords: by Judith A. Ross

01 Dec 2004
News

Ideas: Books

Case Studies in International Entrepreneurship by Walter Kuemmerle (McGraw-Hill) This collection of 29 cases based on real situations compares opportunities, financing contexts, valuation approaches, and entrepreneurial styles in the... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

04 Aug 2014
Op-Ed

Why Small-Business Lending Is Not Recovering

Federal Reserve's 2003 Survey of Small Business Finances indicated that the average PAYDEX score of those surveyed was 53.4. By contrast, the 2011 NFIB Annual Small Business Finance Survey indicated that the... View Details

Keywords: by Karen Mills; Banking; Financial Services

March 2009
Background Note

Note on the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA)

By: Stuart C. Gilson

In 2005, new legislation was passed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by the President that introduced a number of major amendments to U.S. bankruptcy law, affecting both business and consumer bankruptcies. This legislation, called the Bankruptcy Abuse... View Details

Keywords: Government Legislation; Restructuring; Personal Finance; Laws and Statutes; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Corporate Finance

01 Sep 2009
News

Over the Top

incentives embedded in those plans is key to resolving the current crisis and preventing another. That task falls, by law, to corporate boards, clubby groups that are widely criticized as the handpicked “captives” of self-serving... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Finance; Finance; Finance; Finance

22 Aug 2007
Research & Ideas

The Hedge Fund as Activist

Managers of public corporations sometimes need to be reminded that they work for shareholders. Without proper monitoring, managers may receive excess compensation or perks, or misuse free cash flow. Historically, poorly performing... View Details

Keywords: by Robin Greenwood; Financial Services

17 Jul 2017
Blog Post

HBS Summer Interns: Discover Their Career Passions

corporate strategy, giving him a holistic view of how organizations think about future growth. Pallavi Thatai, who joined Tesla in San Francisco and transitioned from a finance background, is hoping to gain... View Details

Keywords: Consulting; Technology; Manufacturing; Consumer Products / Retail

01 Mar 2011
News

Tax and Grow

prod corporations to put some of their remarkable cash hoards to productive use. Estimates of the cash held by U.S. public corporations easily exceed $1 trillion; several technology companies alone are... View Details

Keywords: Mihir A. Desai; Administration of Economic Programs; Government; Corporate, Subsidiary, and Regional Managing Offices; Management

August 2020
Background Note

US Private Equity Firms: ESG and Impact (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Holly Fetter

This Note has two parts. The first part (A) explores how U.S. private equity firms are incorporating ESG (Environmental, Social, & Governance) factors and impact objectives into their investment strategies and firm practices. It is based on publicly available... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Social Issues; Financial Services Industry; United States

February 2018
Case

Whole Foods and JANA Partners

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Quinn Pitcher

In 2017, JANA Partners decided to launch an activist campaign at struggling supermarket chain Whole Foods Market. The company had struggled for the past several years, and JANA thought the presence of new directors could help turn around its operations, while Whole... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Information Technology; Institutional Investing; Investment Activism; United States

November 2012
Case

Sugar Bowl

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Alisa Zalosh

Shelby Givens, a recent business school graduate, returned home to Raleigh, North Carolina, to help rescue her family's ailing and outdated bowling alley, Westlake Lanes. Although she cut costs and addressed inefficiencies, moving the business from near-bankruptcy to... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Entrepreneurship; Operations; Performance; Business Strategy; Corporate Finance; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Raleigh

19 Oct 2023
Blog Post

New Venture Competition 2023: Business and Environment Ventures

urban Nigerians with affordable financing for clean, reliable energy. We leverage group financing and carbon accounting to lower costs and risk in the energy transition of Nigeria's $14B fuel-based, off-grid... View Details

October 2019 (Revised February 2025)
Case

A Conversation with Ellen J. Kullman, Chairman & CEO of DuPont, 2009-2015

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

Ellen J. Kullman, the retired Chairman and CEO of DuPont, describes how she guided the storied science and technology company through a contentious proxy battle with activist investor Trian Partners, which acquired DuPont shares in 2013 and sought to break up the... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Capital Structure; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Institutional Investing; Leadership; Leadership Style; Management; Transformation; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Chemical Industry; United States

13 Dec 2010
Research & Ideas

Managing the Support Staff Identity Crisis

behavior. It becomes a vicious, self-fulfilling prophecy.” Perplexed, he posed the same question to employees from the human resources department of another corporation, and then again to the corporate View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

20 Aug 2012
Research & Ideas

The Acquirers

private equity firms and strategic companies. With this effect, a strategic company financing multiple long-term projects won't be as drawn to take advantage of cheap debt just because it's available, for the reason that it will still... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Financial Services

August 2017
Case

Boston Public Schools' Long Term Financial Plan

By: C. Fritz Foley, Victor Wu and F. Katelynn Boland

In the fall of 2016, the senior leadership team of Boston Public Schools prepared a report indicating that costs were expected to grow faster than revenues for many years to come. They faced questions about whether the projections would be believed and about how to... View Details

Keywords: Financial Planning; Education Reform; Education; Budgets and Budgeting; Corporate Finance; Public Administration Industry; United States; Boston