Publications

19 Mar 2006
Research & Ideas

Unlocking Your Investment Capital

Business Review, Merton, a Nobel laureate, urges senior corporate executives and boards to view derivative applications not just as tactical measures but as strategic tools that convey competitive advantage. A first step is distinguishing... View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen; Financial Services

January 2025
Article

Communication Within Firms: Evidence from CEO Turnovers

By: Stephen Michael Impink, Andrea Prat and Raffaella Sadun

This paper uses novel, firm-level communication measures derived from communications metadata several months before and after a CEO transition for 102 firms to study whether and how this organizational event is reflected in employees’ communication flows. We find that... View Details

Keywords: Information; Communication; Management Succession; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Alignment

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July 2009 (Revised June 2011)
Case

RiskMetrics Group

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Kaitlyn Simpson

RiskMetrics Group, a risk and governance consultancy, had a great deal of influence on U.S. companies. This case examines the history and growth of the company, the governance services it offers, the extent of its impact on shareholders, the controversy surrounding its... View Details

Keywords: Conflict of Interests; Risk Management; Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Governance; Power and Influence; Consulting Industry; United States

September 2023
Case

Diamond Standard

By: Lauren H. Cohen, Zhaoheng Gong and Grace Headinger

Cormac Kinney, Founder and CEO of Diamond Standard, was on a mission to transform the U.S. diamond market through unlocking the precious gems as market-traded assets. As a serial FinTech entrepreneur, he hoped to add an additional service to his vault: Carats. The... View Details

2010
Chapter

The Euro as a Reserve Currency for Global Investors

By: Luis M. Viceira and Ricardo Gimeno

This article explores the demand for the euro for risk management purposes and the evidence of stock market integration in the euro area. We define a reserve currency as one that investors demand either because it helps them hedge real interest risk and inflation risk,... View Details

Keywords: Volatility; Inflation and Deflation; Capital Markets; Currency; Stocks; Financial Markets; Financing and Loans; Investment Return; Investment Portfolio; Risk Management

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September 2023 (Revised September 2024)
Case

IBJ, Inc. (A): Seeking Matrimony in Japan

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Akiko Saito

In March 2020, Shigeru Ishizaka, founder and CEO of IBJ, Inc., Japan's largest marriage matching service provider, faced a critical decision regarding the company’s planned ¥3.5 billion (US$32.8 million) acquisition of competitor ZWEI Co., Ltd. IBJ, founded in 2006,... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Risk and Uncertainty; Business Model; Corporate Strategy; Value

January 2008
Article

Do Well by Doing Good? Don't Count on It

By: Joshua D. Margolis, Hillary Anger Elfenbein and James P. Walsh

Research over 35 years shows only a weak link between socially responsible corporate behavior and good financial performance. However, there's no evidence of risk in doing good, only in being exposed for misdeeds. View Details

Keywords: Values and Beliefs; Profit; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Performance Effectiveness; Behavior

Blog

How We Are Keeping HBS—and Our Program Participants—Healthy

Video Coming to Campus? We've Got You Covered If you are planning a trip to campus for one of our Executive Education programs—or for any other reason—you can be sure that HBS is working hard to keep you safe. To prevent surprises and... View Details

January 2008 (Revised May 2009)
Case

Restructuring at Delphi Corporation (A)

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Sarah L. Abbott

Delphi Corporation, operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, has filed a plan of reorganization with the court, under which a consortium of hedge funds led by Appaloosa Management will invest up to $2.6 billion in new equity. Also participating in the plan is... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Capital Structure; Private Equity; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Investment Funds; Labor and Management Relations; Auto Industry; Service Industry

January 2011 (Revised June 2012)
Case

Joe Gifford in Tal Afar, Iraq (A)

By: Joseph Badaracco, Richard Burgess Jr., Robert Carpio III and William Wheeler

A Lieutenant leading a platoon in Iraq must make a complex ethical, military, and leadership decision: whether to risk his life and that of other soldiers to reenter a home rigged with an explosive and save three Iraqis. View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Moral Sensibility; Leadership; Management; Problems and Challenges; Iraq

22 Jun 2020
News

Colleges Brace For Steep Drop In International Enrollment This Fall

December 1988
Article

Strategic Responses to Automobile Emissions Control: A Game-Theoretic Analysis

By: Dennis Yao

This paper examines the dynamics of standard-setting regulation under technological uncertainty and asymmetric information about technological capability. A two-period model which allows fully strategic action is developed and applied to the regulation of automobile... View Details

Keywords: Transportation; Pollutants; Standards; Governance Controls; Technological Innovation; Research and Development; Mathematical Methods

November 1995 (Revised April 1998)
Case

National Insurance Corporation

The case visits the catastrophe insurance business at an interesting time in the history of the insurance markets. A major reinsurer, National Insurance, is taking a look at the new insurance derivatives being traded on the Chicago Board of Trade with a view to using... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Insurance; Capital Markets; Insurance Industry; United States

17 May 2012
News

Safety inspections don't hurt businesses-study

TeachingInterests

Strategy Execution

By: Dennis Campbell

This course takes strategy as given and teaches what students need to know to execute and win in highly competitive markets. Using fundamental building blocks based on accountability systems and structures, this course is divided into seven modules:

1.... View Details

Research Summary

US-China Relations

By: Meg Rithmire

Economic interdependence between the US and China was imagined years ago to be a source of security and prosperity for both countries, but is now the site of concerns about risk and national security on both sides. My work has examined how that shift has come about,... View Details

April 2023
Case

Fizzy Fusion: When Data-Driven Decision Making Failed

By: Michael Parzen, Eddie Lin, Douglas Ng and Jessie Li

This is a case about a fictional New York beverage company called Fizzy Fusion. The business is facing supply chain and inventory management challenges with its new product, SparklingSip. Despite seeking help from a data science consulting firm, the machine learning... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain Management; Production; Risk and Uncertainty; Analytics and Data Science; Food and Beverage Industry