Publications

15 Sep 2021
Video

Okechukwu "Okey" Enelamah

Okey Enelamah, the former Nigerian Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment (2015-2019) and Founder of African Capital Alliance, discusses the importance of creating the correct environment to encourage the development of economies throughout Africa. View Details

January 2001 (Revised May 2010)
Case

BP Amoco (A): Policy Statement on the Use of Project Finance

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Michael Kane

Following the BP/Amoco merger in December 1998, CFO David Watson asked Bill Young to recommend when and under what circumstances the firm should use external project finance instead of internal corporate funds to finance new capital investments. As part of this... View Details

Keywords: Project Finance; Mergers and Acquisitions; Policy; Capital Budgeting

January 2017
Case

The Six CEOs of Tyco International Ltd.

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In September 2016, Johnson Controls, Inc. completed the acquisition of Tyco International PLC, a $9.9 billion business with operating profits of $884 million. The purchase consideration was $14.4 billion. Although the deal was billed as a merger, Ireland-based Tyco... View Details

Keywords: Tyco; Dennis Kozlowski; Edward Breen; Fire Safety; Fire Protection; Security; Packaging; Securities And Exchange Commission; Fraud; Accounting; Accounting Audits; Earnings Management; Financial Statements; Goodwill Accounting; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Divisions; Business Exit or Shutdown; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Headquarters; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Restructuring; Crime and Corruption; Engineering; Applied Optics; Chemicals; Construction; Metals and Minerals; Ethics; Finance; Cash Flow; Public Equity; Stock Options; Financing and Loans; Initial Public Offering; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Location; Geographic Scope; Global Range; Globalized Firms and Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Disclosure; Health Care and Treatment; Business History; Executive Compensation; Selection and Staffing; Courts and Trials; Lawfulness; Lawsuits and Litigation; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Strategy; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Consolidation; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Horizontal Integration; Value; Chemical Industry; Construction Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Electronics Industry; Energy Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Mining Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Utilities Industry; Republic of Ireland; Switzerland; Bermuda; United States; New Hampshire

14 Oct 2002
Research & Ideas

The Widening Rift Between Corporations and Society

field questions from HBS Working Knowledge senior editor Martha Lagace in an e-mail interview.Lagace: In The Support Economy, you make the case that managerial capitalism, invented a hundred years ago, desperately needs an overhaul. How and why do you believe... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

20 Dec 2006
Op-Ed

Investors Hurt by Dual-Track Tax Reporting

goal. Profits reported to tax authorities and to capital markets were essentially the same. Over time, well-considered exceptions—expensing of investments, for example—were introduced to advance policy goals such as stimulating... View Details

Keywords: by Mihir Desai

04 Aug 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Private Equity and Financial Fragility During the Crisis

Keywords: by Shai Bernstein, Josh Lerner, and Filippo Mezzanotti; Financial Services

August 2002 (Revised January 2003)
Case

Australia-Japan Cable: Structuring the Project Company

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Carrie Ferman

In late September 1999, representatives from Telstri, Japan Telecom, and Teleglobe met to discuss the structure of the Australia-Japan Cable (AJC) project, a $520 million submarine cable system that would run from Australia to Japan. The sponsors, excited by the... View Details

Keywords: Information Infrastructure; Cooperative Ownership; Organizational Structure; Investment; Ownership; Capital; Corporate Governance; Management Teams; Communication Technology; Projects; Compensation and Benefits; Corporate Finance; Telecommunications Industry; Australia; Japan

July 2019
Supplement

Omidyar Network's Impact Investment Framework

By: Vikram S Gandhi

A team of investors at Omidyar Network explore two different investment possibilities in the budding financial inclusion space using their investment framework to consider capital alternatives available for both investments, each of which carries highly divergent... View Details

Keywords: Impact Investing; Micro Finance; Investment; Investment Return; Investment Activism; Investment Portfolio; Microfinance; Framework; India; Philippines

05 Jul 2016
News

AmEx Challenges Square, On Deck With Online Loan Marketplace

DJ DiDonna

Dennis “DJ” DiDonna has dedicated his career to commercializing social science research to create organizations which positively impact the world.

He is a Senior Lecturer in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit at Harvard Business School where he teaches the... View Details

September 2008
Article

Does Innovation Cause Stock Market Runups? Evidence from the Great Crash

By: Tom Nicholas

This article examines the stock market's changing valuation of corporate patentable assets between 1910 and 1939. It shows that the value of knowledge capital increased significantly during the 1920s compared to the 1910s as investors responded to the quality of... View Details

Keywords: History; Technological Innovation; Patents; Stocks; Valuation; Financial Crisis; Financial Services Industry; United States

Read Now

15 Sep 2021
News

Impact Investing’s Next Challenge

October 1999 (Revised November 1999)
Case

Wit Capital: Evolution of the Online Investment Bank

Wit Capital brings democracy to the IPO process via the World Wide Web. This case encourages debate about the role service will play in this technology-intermediated investment bank and the sources and sustainability of its competitive advantage. View Details

Keywords: Initial Public Offering; Service Delivery; Competitive Advantage; Investment Banking; Web; Banking Industry

Video

Amina Laraki Slaoui

Amina Laraki Slaoui, President of AMH Group, describes the organization's early days and how she coordinated a series of fundraisers to raise the capital needed to build a rehabilitation center (Noor Center for Physical and Functional Rehabilitation). View Details

October 1994 (Revised April 1996)
Case

Patricia Ostrander

By: Nancy F. Koehn, Donald J. Edwards and Antonio F. Weiss

Analyzes the career of former money manager Patricia Ostrander. Focuses on Ostrander's purchase of stock warrants issued in connection with the 1985 leveraged buyout of Storer Communications and on her later indictment and conviction for accepting unlawful... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Ethics; Capital Markets; Managerial Roles; Outcome or Result; United States

08 Dec 2011
Working Paper Summaries

Are There Too Many Safe Securities? Securitization and the Incentives for Information Production

Keywords: by Samuel G. Hanson & Adi Sunderam; Financial Services

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

Read Now

February 1991 (Revised October 1991)
Case

Fenchel Lampshade Co.

By: William A. Sahlman

Describes the proposed purchase of a lampshade manufacturer by Steven and Michele Rogers, recent graduates of the Harvard Business School. Focuses on their plans to raise the capital necessary to buy the company. Among the issues raised are how to structure the deal... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Negotiation Deal; Business or Company Management; Cost vs Benefits; Manufacturing Industry

October 2013 (Revised August 2016)
Case

NOWaccount

By: Ramana Nanda, William A. Sahlman and Lauren Barley

It was September 2013, and NOWaccount Network Corporation (NOW®) co-founders John Hayes and Lara Hodgson were putting the final touches on the presentation deck for their annual shareholders' meeting. Along with co-founder Stacey Abrams, the pair had designed NOW's... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Finance; Finance; Entrepreneurship