Publications

04 Feb 2021
Research & Ideas

Inside CEOs' Pandemic Worries: Uncertainty, Employees, and Kids

How will my children learn via Zoom? We interviewed 10 CEOs in July about how they are managing the unprecedented stressors of the COVID-19 pandemic, and then checked in with them again at the end of 2020. The interviewees hail from... View Details

Keywords: by Gamze D. Yucaoglu, Robin Abrahams, and Boris Groysberg

18 Aug 2009
First Look

First Look: August 18

http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/809068-PDF-ENG Risk Management at Wellfleet Bank: Abridged Harvard Business School Case 110-011 Inspired by one of the few banks that successfully weathered the... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

01 Jun 2009
News

Too Big To Fail

gained broad support from a wide range of influential economists, lawmakers, and interest groups. In March 2008, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson (MBA ’70) proposed that the Federal Reserve be empowered as a super regulator to seek out and View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; federal bailouts; Credit Intermediation and Related Activities; Finance

January 2008
Background Note

Index Options

By: Joshua Coval and Erik Stafford

The goal of this simulation is to understand the patterns in index option prices that are not predicted by the Black-Scholes model. In particular, the simulation focuses on two properties of options prices. First, at-the-money implied volatilities from index options... View Details

Keywords: Volatility; Stock Options; Investment; Price; Profit; Risk Management; Mathematical Methods

July 1997 (Revised June 2001)
Case

H.E. Butt Grocery Company: A Leader in ECR Implementation (B) (Abridged)

By: Robert D. Austin and F. Warren McFarlan

H.E. Butt Grocery Co. led the grocery industry in adopting many innovations, including category management, electronic data interchange, and continuous replenishment. They have also moved aggressively and profitably into newer applications such as Scanner-based payment... View Details

Keywords: Information Management; Independent Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Invention; Business Organization; Risk and Uncertainty; Science-Based Business; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Risk Management; Electronics Industry; Computer Industry

17 Jun 2014
First Look

First Look: June 17

suggested by theories concerning conflicts between managers and owners over risk-taking. We argue that managers holding equity of their bank take less risk because they have... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 1985 (Revised August 2008)
Case

Arrow Electronics

Arrow Electronics is the fastest growing distributor of electronic components in North America and the second largest. Its capital structure policy of heavy reliance on debt financing contrasts sharply with that of its leading competitor, Arnet. Students are asked to... View Details

Keywords: Borrowing and Debt; Capital Structure; Financial Management; Risk Management; Distribution; Competition; Hardware; Electronics Industry; United States

24 Mar 2009
First Look

First Look: March 24, 2009

Information" (CWCI). The instructions that follow use datasets from three of the cases in the course: "Slots, Tables, and All That Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel," HBS No. 106-029;... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

12 Oct 2016
Research & Ideas

Break the Rules of How Business is Done

Taking a risk by breaking with standard operating procedure can make your company more innovative. Credit: maxsattana In addition to creating a new company that is disrupting the status quo, many founders are also challenging the old... View Details

Keywords: by Julia B. Austin

January 1973 (Revised September 1990)
Case

Carrefour S.A.

By: William E. Fruhan Jr.

Involves a very rapidly growing retail chain that is financing itself in an unusual (and at first glance) risky fashion. View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Financing and Loans; Risk and Uncertainty; Retail Industry

2012
Working Paper

Reaching for Yield in the Bond Market

By: Bo Becker and Victoria Ivashina

Reaching-for-yield—the propensity to buy riskier assets in order to achieve higher yields—is believed to be an important factor contributing to the credit cycle. This paper analyses this phenomenon in the corporate bond market. Specifically, we show evidence for... View Details

Keywords: Fixed Income; Reaching For Yield; Financial Intermediation; Insurance Companies; Insurance; Bonds; Assets; Risk Management; Investment Return; Investment Portfolio; Insurance Industry

SSRN

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01 Apr 2000
News

Award-Winning Article Urges Companies to Loosen Ties that Bind

focused mainly on avoiding risk -- and more on resource attraction, which nurtures innovation. For the past 41 years, the McKinsey Foundation for Management Research has offered awards recognizing the two... View Details

17 Jun 2025
Blog Post

Alumni in Climate Networking Series: San Francisco - Addressing Extreme Weather, Climate Risk, and Resilience

systemic resilience. Panelist Dave Jones (JD/MPP ’88), Director of the Climate Risk Initiative at UC Berkeley School of Law, brought extensive experience in public service and regulatory leadership, having served two terms as California’s... View Details

1 Mar 2013 - 2 Mar 2013
Conference Presentation

The Value of Flexibility in Baseball Roster Construction

By: Timothy Chan and Douglas S. Fearing

Drawing inspiration from the theory of production flexibility in manufacturing networks, we provide the first optimization-based analysis of the value of positional flexibility (the ability of a player to play multiple positions) for a major league baseball team in the... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Design; Production; Resource Allocation; Groups and Teams; Adaptation; Sports

01 May 2006
Research & Ideas

What Companies Lose from Forced Disclosure

the one hand, more measures provide more dials to turn to get the manager to take actions consistent with the firm's best interests. On the other hand, more public information imposes more risk on the View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen; Financial Services

July 1983 (Revised July 1991)
Case

Hintz-Kessels-Kohl A.G.

By: Thomas R. Piper

A truck manufacturer must decide whether to bid on the sale of 120 trucks to a private firm in Costa Rica. If a bid is submitted, a decision must be made on whether to protect against the credit, exchange rate, and sovereign risks. View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Currency Exchange Rate; Truck Transportation; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; Germany; Costa Rica