Publications

December 2010 (Revised April 2011)
Supplement

Boston Properties (B)

By: Ryan D. Taliaferro and Aldo Sesia

The B case briefly recounts the action that investment manager Eliza Baena takes in the matter of the Boston Properties (BXP) bonds described in the A case. She must decide what to do next. View Details

Keywords: Asset Management; Bonds; Financing and Loans; Investment; Resource Allocation

04 May 2012
Working Paper Summaries

No News Is Good News: CSR Strategy and Newspaper Coverage of Negative Firm Events

Keywords: by Jiao Luo, Stephan Meier & Felix Oberholzer-Gee

16 May 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Growth and the Quality of Foreign Direct Investment: Is All FDI Equal?

Keywords: by Laura Alfaro & Andrew Charlton

May 2009 (Revised June 2009)
Case

Areva

By: V.G. Narayanan and Lisa Brem

Areva, the world's market leader in civilian nuclear power, was positioned to take advantage of the resurgence of nuclear power. However, three issues clouded the positive outlook: (1) a 1.7 billion euro loss on the construction of the first next generation nuclear... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Financial Statements; Energy Generation; Cash Flow; Investment; Energy Industry; Europe

Find at Harvard

Career Coach

Kelly Kung

Kelly wants to help students explore opportunities available to HBS students in finance (New York, London) and start-ups (founder, joiner). Having worked across private equity, investment banking and start-ups, Kelly can provide insights... View Details

October 2022 (Revised June 2024)
Case

Driving Decarbonization at BMW

By: Shirley Lu, George Serafeim and Michael W. Toffel

The case describes BMW’s electrification and decarbonization strategy, and how the company measured carbon emissions throughout the life cycle of its vehicles and used tools like carbon abatement cost curves to evaluate decarbonization opportunities. In mid-2022,... View Details

November 2021 (Revised December 2022)
Case

Farfetch: Digital Transformation for Luxury Brands

By: Sunil Gupta, Jill Avery, Elena Corsi and Federica Gabrieli

Farfetch, a global luxury technology platform and digital marketplace had been surfing the wave of digital transformation in the luxury fashion industry since 2008. While the company’s stock price and market valuation had fluctuated since its IPO in 2018, it had... View Details

February 2019 (Revised February 2020)
Case

Koita Foods

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Elie Ofek and Michael Norris

In 2018, Mustafa Koita, Founder and CEO of Dubai-based organic milk company Koita has to decide whether or not to pursue an investment from a potential competitor who is coming into his local market. View Details

Keywords: Organic Milk; Mom Blog; Entrepreneurship; Cash Flow; Food; Growth Management; Investment; Social Marketing; Ownership Stake; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United Arab Emirates; Dubai

Program

Creating Brand Value

Expand your brand's profitably Develop an effective brand portfolio strategy Manage brand risk Leverage a brand as a significant corporate asset Determine the value of a brand Invest in brands and evaluate the ROI of branding Build... View Details

February 2013 (Revised February 2013)
Case

King Abdullah Economic City in 2009: Population Drivers and Cash Flow

By: John D. Macomber

CEO of high profile new economic city in Saudi Arabia must decide how to allocate limited investment funds across projects under duress. Issues include understanding core economic drivers, planning infrastructure investment and return, attracting multinationals, energy... View Details

Keywords: Urban Development; Infrastructure; Real Estate Industry; Saudi Arabia

April 2023
Article

The Stock Market Valuation of Human Capital Creation

By: Ethan Rouen and Matthias Regier

We develop a measure of firm-year-specific human capital investment from publicly disclosed personnel expenses (PE) and examine the stock market valuation of this investment. Measuring the future value of PE (PEFV) based on the relation between... View Details

Keywords: Intangibles; Valuation; Human Capital; Investment Return

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February 1993 (Revised May 1993)
Background Note

Responsibility Centers and Performance Measurement

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

Introduces the concepts of responsibility centers and performance measurement. Expense centers, financial responsibilities such as profit centers, and investment centers are introduced, defined, and illustrated with simple examples. View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Management Systems

29 Apr 2015
News

Using Personal Experience to Pick Winning Stocks

16 Jun 2023
Video

MBA Program Overview

April 2005 (Revised April 2005)
Background Note

An Overview of Project Finance - 2004 Update

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Aldo Sesia

Introduces the field of project finance and provides a statistical overview of the project-financed investments over the last five years. Defines project finance and contrasts it with other well-known financing structures. Describes the evolution of project finance,... View Details

Keywords: Project Finance; Investment; Projects; Trends

Benjamin Esty is the Roy and Elizabeth Simmons Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. Over the years, he has taught a variety of courses ranging from advanced corporate finance and project finance to competitive strategy and leadership. He... View Details

Keywords: investment banking industry; investment banking industry; investment banking industry; investment banking industry; investment banking industry; investment banking industry; investment banking industry

December 2015 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Unigrains

By: David E. Bell and Natalie Kindred

Unigrains is a French agribusiness-focused private equity firm that has provided specialized financing to France's agribusiness sector for decades and, as a result, cultivated a strong reputation and relationships in that space. Now that the broader investment... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Private Equity; Competitive Advantage; Agribusiness; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; France