Publications

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February 2001 (Revised April 2001)
Case

CDC Capital Partners

By: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon

In 2001, CDC Capital Partners is facing the greatest challenge in its 53-year history. Founded as part of the U.K. government's post-war colonial reconstruction, it had operated as a developmental finance institution, largely issuing debt to the world's poorest... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Private Equity; Emerging Markets; Cost vs Benefits; Mergers and Acquisitions; Partners and Partnerships; Financial Institutions; Financial Services Industry; United Kingdom

01 Mar 2019
News

Research Brief: Unveiling the Truth about Transparency

Zoë Cullen (photo by Russ Campbell) Zoë Cullen (photo by Russ Campbell) Wage transparency is a concept that is most often rallied against by employers, while employees presume it will benefit them by equalizing wages and reducing the... View Details

Keywords: Jennifer Myers

August 2009
Case

Bank of America Sports Sponsorship

By: Stephen A. Greyser and John L. Teopaco

A major sports sponsor must decide on new, renewal, or withdrawal from significant relations with teams/leagues/events, using a distinctive approach to assessment. View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Decision Choices and Conditions; Partners and Partnerships; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Performance Evaluation; Financing and Loans; Marketing Strategy; Sports Industry

February 2009 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Shanghai Diligence Law Firm (A)

By: Robert G. Eccles and Catherine Zhang

Shanghai Diligence Law Firm, started in January 2006, is a rapidly growing law firm in China's burgeoning legal services market. In addition to the usual challenges facing all professional service firms (picking and retaining talent and building a desired client... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Compensation and Benefits; Retention; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Operations; Motivation and Incentives; Legal Services Industry; China

August 2014 (Revised March 2016)
Case

Thomas Cook Group on the Brink (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Stuart C. Gilson and Aldo Sesia

Harriett Green, the newly appointed CEO of Thomas Cook Group, faces a daunting set of business and financial challenges at the 171-year old UK travel services company. The company has lost almost £600 million in the last three quarters; has seen its stock price fall... View Details

Keywords: Turnaround; Corporate Restructuring; Change Leadership; Female Ceo; Change Management; Communication Strategy; Borrowing and Debt; Cash Flow; Cost Management; Financial Liquidity; Financial Management; Executive Compensation; Leading Change; Crisis Management; Value Creation; Travel Industry; United Kingdom

01 Dec 2013
News

Curing Health Care

back-office burdens from the doctors and support staff to the company. One of the company's software services, for example, translates electronic records from its system to others (no more stuck MRIs), and lets doctors track and manage... View Details

Keywords: Management; Management; Management; Management; Management

May 1985 (Revised October 2001)
Case

Comdisco, Inc.

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin and Rita J. Seymour

Comdisco, the largest independent dealer and lessor of computers and peripheral equipment, needs financing in order to match its market's growth of 20-30% per year. The company has access to two types of risk capital, but there are substantial costs and risks... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Strategy; Cost vs Benefits; Capital Structure; Financing and Loans; Financial Strategy; Corporate Finance; Growth and Development Strategy; Computer Industry; Distribution Industry

Find at Harvard

30 Nov 2017
News

SEAS Complex Reaches for a New Frontier

the Charles River. The development of the new complex was made possible in part by a $400 million SEAS endowment established in 2015 by John A. Paulson (MBA 1980), founder and president of the investment management firm Paulson & Co.... View Details

20 Feb 2013
News

Thanking Veterans Online

U.S. Army Captain Blake Hall (MBA 2010), right, in Afghanistan in 2007 with members of his unit Photo Credit: Tony Overman Blake Hall (MBA 2010) knows from personal experience that US military veterans can easily miss out on the benefits... View Details

Keywords: veterans; identity; Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services; Professional Services; Retail Trade

01 Mar 2018
News

Case Study: On the Record

sell 100 vinyl records a month or have their songs stream on Spotify 1.5 million times,” says Kelleher, who led music app partnerships at Google Play before founding Austin-based record manufacturer Gold Rush Vinyl. The company grew out of a need Kelleher saw in her... View Details

Keywords: April White

05 Oct 2009
Research & Ideas

The Vanguard Corporation

were going to succeed and prosper needed to manage risks better, have a stronger sense of purpose to motivate their employees, and satisfy a public already agitated about scandals such as Enron in the corporate world. What I didn't see... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

29 Nov 2004
Research & Ideas

Caves, Clusters, and Weak Ties: The Six Degrees World of Inventors

outside firms, and that knowledge is diffusing in both directions." One implication for executives: Don't lock your scientists, researchers, and inventors in ivory towers. Your organization will benefit by the knowledge that flows to... View Details

Keywords: by Sara Grant; Publishing

01 Jun 2010
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Social Reporting

reporting of financial and nonfinancial performance in order to improve sustainable strategy. HBS senior lecturer Robert G. Eccles and coauthor Michael P. Krzus explain the benefits and value of the One Report method. Plus: book excerpt.... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

11 Oct 2017
Blog Post

Designing Internship Projects for Greater Impact

managing the recruiting process, and larger institutions may lack the structures needed to accommodate the more entrepreneurial candidate. In either case, large company or small, interns and employers must work together to design an... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship

05 Dec 2013
What Do You Think?

Is Walmart Defying Economic Gravity?

information-driven model by gaining a better understanding of product and customer relationships." Dean Vella cited Walmart's innovation in supply chain management and sustainability as ways in which it is reducing the friction... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Retail

01 Mar 2006
News

Second Acts

grew rapidly during the ’90s and managed to weather the dot-com bust. Eager for new challenges, Meakem sold the company last year for nearly $500 million and has embarked on a career in venture capital and politics. Committed to helping... View Details

Keywords: e-commerce; B2B; Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments; Finance; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information

February 2002 (Revised May 2003)
Case

Endeca Technologies (A)

By: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon

Steve Papa, CEO of Endeca Technologies, must decide among two term sheets raising the same amount of badly needed money for his young software company. One deal is led by insiders and, is offered at a lower price. It continues a board that has worked very well and... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Cost vs Benefits; Financial Condition; Financing and Loans; Management Skills; Financial Strategy; Corporate Finance; Decision Choices and Conditions; Information Technology Industry

November 2000
Background Note

Note on Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) and Phantom Stock Plans

By: Dwight B. Crane and Indra Reinbergs

Provides a brief overview of employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) and phantom stock plans for owners of closely held companies. ESOPs can be used as a tool of corporate financing, and can provide employees with ownership interests. Phantom stock plans can reward... View Details

Keywords: Financing and Loans; Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Motivation and Incentives; Management Teams; Corporate Governance; Ownership Stake; Taxation

October 2018 (Revised September 2022)
Case

Stock-Based Compensation at Twitter

By: Jonas Heese, Zeya Yang and Mike Young

Olivia Nash, an analyst at leading hedge fund BlueShark Capital Management, had just finished listening to the hour-long earnings call for Twitter’s Q4 2017 results. Was Twitter doing well? That depended on which numbers she chose to believe. According to Generally... View Details

Keywords: Twitter; Non-GAAP Disclosure; Stock-based Compensation; Earnings Management; Corporate Disclosure; Compensation and Benefits; Stocks; Measurement and Metrics