Publications

November 2017
Teaching Note

Amazon.com, 2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Teaching Note for HBS No. 716-402. On January 28, 2016, Amazon announced record 2015 operating profits of $2.2 billion on $107 billion of sales, and the markets responded with cautious optimism. For years, founder and CEO Jeffrey Bezos had prioritized growth and... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Analysis; Retail; E-commerce; Amazon; Amazon.com; AmazonFresh; Jeff Bezos; Cloud Computing; Marketplaces; Streaming; E-reader Market; Digital Media; Mobile App; Online Retail; Shipping; Database; Tablet; Kindle; Kindle Fire; Smartphone; Delivery; Market Platforms; Two-Sided Platforms; Competition; Internet; Corporate Strategy; Online Advertising; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Profit; Revenue; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Taxation; Business History; Human Resources; Resignation and Termination; Books; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Practices and Processes; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Media; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Product Development; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Organizational Culture; Public Ownership; Work-Life Balance; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Integration; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Hardware; Information Technology; Mobile Technology; Online Technology; Technology Networks; Technology Platform; Web; Web Sites; Price; Software; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Working Capital; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Retail Industry; Advertising Industry; Distribution Industry; Electronics Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Information Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Publishing Industry; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry; Video Game Industry; Web Services Industry; United States; Washington (state, US); Seattle

May 2009
Article

The Definitive Guide to Recruiting in Good Times and Bad

By: Claudio Fernández-Aráoz, Boris Groysberg and Nitin Nohria

This article includes a one-page preview that quickly summarizes the key ideas and provides an overview of how the concepts work in practice along with suggestions for further reading. Few companies are thinking about hiring right now, but that's a mistake. If history... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Management Practices and Processes; Managerial Roles

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26 Jul 2023
Research & Ideas

STEM Needs More Women. Recruiters Often Keep Them Out

non-traditional applicants.” Certificate programs often pay off for participants, and ensuring success for all involved—the universities, graduates, and future employers—is big business. Some 40 percent of graduates studied received a... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

Web

About - Case Method Project

developing and implementing full semester or year-long civics courses comprised entirely of History of American Democracy cases. For more information on participating in future workshops or bringing the Case Method to your school or... View Details

July 2023 (Revised October 2024)
Case

Revenue Recognition at Stride Funding: Making Sense of Revenues for a Fintech Startup

By: Paul M. Healy and Jung Koo Kang

The case explores the challenges of revenue recognition and financial reporting for Stride Funding (Stride), a fintech startup that has disrupted the student loan market. Stride leveraged proprietary machine learning and financial models to underwrite alternative... View Details

Keywords: Revenue Recognition; Financial Reporting; Entrepreneurial Finance; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Governance Compliance; Accrual Accounting; Financial Services Industry; United States

05 Nov 2007
Research & Ideas

The Changing Face of American Innovation

many research and policy questions on issues such as the appropriate quota for H1-B temporary visas, the possible crowding out of native students from the science and engineering fields, the brain-drain or brain-circulation effect on sending countries, and the View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Technology

10 Sep 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Feeling Good about Giving: The Benefits (and Costs) of Self-Interested Charitable Behavior

Keywords: by Lalin Anik, Lara B. Aknin, Michael I. Norton & Elizabeth W. Dunn

Web

Behavioral Finance & Financial Stability

price increases do not predict lower returns going forward, these increases do predict substantial heightened probability of a crash. Simple attributes related to the price run up can help predict both the crash probability and future... View Details

2024
Working Paper

Climate Solutions, Transition Risk, and Stock Returns

By: Shirley Lu, Edward J. Riedl, Simon Xu and George Serafeim

Using large language models to measure firms' climate solution products and services, we find that high-climate solution firms exhibit lower stock returns and higher market valuation multiples. Their stock prices respond positively to events signaling increased demand... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Generative Ai; Large Language Models; Climate Finance; Climate Change; Innovation and Invention; Environmental Sustainability; AI and Machine Learning; Investment; Financial Markets

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June 2024
Case

Arete Research on Unity Software

By: Joseph Pacelli and Tonia Labruyere

Richard Kramer had founded Arete Research, an independent financial research provider, in 2000 after a successful career as a sell-side analyst at Goldman Sachs. He reflects on his team's coverage of Unity Software, a U.S.-based mobile games software company, that... View Details

Keywords: Analysis; Initial Public Offering; Analytics and Data Science; Applications and Software; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Valuation; Value Creation; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Model; Reports; Financial Services Industry; Video Game Industry; United Kingdom; United States

November 2023
Case

Swanson Health: Becoming a Super Seller

By: William R. Kerr, Daniel O'Connor and Paige Boehmcke

Founded in 1969, Swanson Health sold vitamins, supplements, natural health products, and organic foods. Over the years, the company had successfully navigated multiple industry transitions as it expanded from a print catalog to sell products on its own... View Details

Keywords: Sales; Transition; Growth Management; Distribution Channels; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Health Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States

August 2023
Article

Anti-Corruption, Government Subsidies, and Innovation: Evidence from China

By: Lily Fang, Josh Lerner, Chaopeng Wu and Qi Zhang

We leverage an exogenous shock—the crackdown on corrupt Chinese officials beginning in 2012—and examine how the allocation of research subsidies and innovative outcomes were affected. We argue that the staggered removal of provincial heads on corruption charges during... View Details

Keywords: Government Subsidies; Research and Development; Innovation and Invention; Crime and Corruption; Government and Politics; China

Article

Credit and Punishment: Are Corporate Bankers Disciplined for Risk-Taking?

By: Janet Gao, Kristoph Kleiner and Joseph Pacelli

We examine whether bankers face disciplining consequences for structuring poorly performing corporate loans. We construct a novel data set containing the employment histories and loan portfolios of a large sample of corporate bankers and find that corporate credit... View Details

Keywords: Syndicated Loans; Credit Events; Career Outcomes; Loan Officers; Banks and Banking; Financing and Loans; Risk Management; Corporate Finance; Personal Development and Career

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April 2017
Case

China Construction Bank's Transformation

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Nancy Hua Dai

On March 29, 2017, Wang Hongzhang, Chairman of China Construction Bank, was considering the next steps in the bank’s transformation. In the challenging backdrop of economic slowdown, deep structure adjustment, interest rate liberalization, entry of financial players... View Details

Keywords: Banking; China; Financial Institutions; Strategy; Transformation; Banks and Banking; Financial Services Industry; Banking Industry; China

2013
Working Paper

Asset Accumulation and Labor Force Participation of Disability Insurance Applicants

By: Pian Shu

Using panel data from the RAND Health and Retirement Study, I show that rejected applicants for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) possess significantly more assets immediately prior to their application and exhibit lower labor force attachment than accepted... View Details

Keywords: Disability Insurance; Asset Accumulation; Labor Force Participation; Assets; Behavior; Employment; Insurance; Insurance Industry; United States

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April–May 2012
Article

Resources or Power? Implications of Social Networks on Compensation and Firm Performance

By: Joanne Horton, Yuval Millo and George Serafeim

Using a sample of 4,278 listed UK firms, we construct a social network of directorship-interlocks that comprises 31,495 directors. We use social capital theory and techniques developed in social network analysis to measure a director's connectedness and investigate... View Details

Keywords: Power and Influence; Social and Collaborative Networks; Compensation and Benefits; Performance; Relationships; Resource Allocation; United Kingdom

July 2009 (Revised July 2009)
Case

Delphi Corp. and the Credit Derivatives Market (A)

By: Stuart C. Gilson, Victoria Ivashina and Sarah Abbott

In 2005, Jane Bauer-Martin, a hedge fund manager, is considering what she should do with the fund's large investment in the publicly traded bonds of Delphi Corp., a financially troubled auto parts supplier. Delphi is General Motor's key auto parts supplier, and, like... View Details

Keywords: Borrowing and Debt; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Bonds; Financial Management; Risk Management

December 2009
Article

Catering Through Nominal Share Prices

By: Malcolm Baker, Robin Greenwood and Jeffrey Wurgler

We propose and test a catering theory of nominal stock prices. The theory predicts that when investors place higher valuation on low-price firms, managers will maintain share prices at lower levels, and vice-versa. Using measures of time-varying catering incentives... View Details

Keywords: Stocks; Stock Shares; Investment; Investment Return; Price; Theory; Valuation