Publications

March 2024 (Revised June 2024)
Case

Kashat: Navigating the Uncertainties of the Egyptian Fintech Market

By: Paul A. Gompers and Ahmed Dahawy

Karim Nour, the founder of Kashat, an Egyptian nano-lending fintech company, is contemplating how to manage the growth of his startup. Over the summer of 2022, Kashat's loan disbursements had grown by nearly 40%, fueled by macroeconomic instability in Egypt. However,... View Details

Keywords: Fintech; Business Model; Developing Countries and Economies; Acquisition; Business Exit or Shutdown; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Financing and Loans; Capital; Banking Industry; Banking Industry; Egypt

June 2001
Teaching Note

Garanti Bank: Transformation in Turkey TN

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

Teaching Note for (9-300-114). View Details

Keywords: Banking Industry; Banking Industry; Turkey

September 2000 (Revised March 2001)
Case

Old Mutual

By: Tarun Khanna, Krishna G. Palepu and Kirsty O'Neil-Massaro

Designed to explore the demutualization and listing overseas of one of Africa's largest financial institutions, Old Mutual, and the effects that these actions have on South Africa's domestic capital markets. Explores the particular difficulties that arise as a result... View Details

Keywords: Financial Institutions; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Structure; Global Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Capital Markets; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business Education; Financial Strategy; Business or Company Management; Banking Industry; Banking Industry; South Africa

Find at Harvard

December 1998
Background Note

Retail Financial Services in 1998

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Takia Mahmood

Provides an overview of the current restructuring that is taking place in the retail financial services industry. Provides a brief overview of the structural changes in banking, brokerage, insurance, and mutual funds. Used as background for examining the strategies of... View Details

Keywords: Economic Sectors; Economy; Financial Institutions; Financial Markets; Industry Growth; Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Banking Industry; Banking Industry

1992
Chapter

International Financial Centres in Asia, the Middle East and Australia: A Historical Perspective

By: G. Jones

Keywords: History; International Finance; Financial Institutions; Banking Industry; Banking Industry; Asia; Australia; Middle East

10 Mar 2009
First Look

First Look: March 10, 2009

and develop a construction budget and financing plan. Students are asked to evaluate the prospective financials for this development and assess the viability of the development plan and its prospective returns. The case then ends with a change in the fundamental... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

29 Jan 2019
Research & Ideas

'Green Bonds' May Be Our Best Bet for Environmental Damage Control

Green Bonds, written with Daniel Bergstresser of Brandeis University and Jeffrey Wurgler of NYU’s Stern School of Business. While green bonds have been issued by banks and corporations as well, the researchers focused on municipal bonds,... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Energy; Utilities; Construction; Green Technology; Public Administration

25 Oct 2017
Research & Ideas

Will Machine Learning Make You a Better Manager?

stock and see if it is positive or negative.” Finance is another field in which Teodorescu predicts that machine learning will become more common, as banks and financial companies will use data about how customers use money to predict... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Information Technology

29 May 2001
Research & Ideas

Good News, Not Blues, For the Inner City

seen the inner city as a separate part of the economic landscape. Almost always, he said, entrepreneurs would rather borrow money from a leading local bank than from a community development bank. "The challenge [is] to connect the... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

14 Jun 2011
First Look

First Look: June 14

Wellfleet Bank: All That Glisters Is Not Gold Anette MikesHarvard Business School Case 110-011 Inspired by one of the few banks that successfully weathered the 2007-2009 credit crisis, the case illustrates risk management in the world of... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

May 2025 (Revised June 2025)
Background Note

Social Enterprise in Latin America

By: Brian L. Trelstad and Karina Souza

This research note provides an overview of the social enterprise ecosystem in Latin America, exploring current dynamics across key markets, including country-specific insights on Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, and Central America. In a region characterized... View Details

April 2009 (Revised November 2018)
Case

Sanctuary Soft: International Expansion Strategies

By: Boris Groysberg, Geoff Marietta, Tim Marshall and Adam Hartley

Sanctuary Soft CEO Elizabeth Smalley faced increasing pressure from her primary investor to expand operations internationally. If successful, the expansion could enlarge Sanctuary’s customer base and enable the firm to better serve existing clients’ overseas offices.... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Labor; Laws and Statutes; Market Entry and Exit; Banking Industry; Banking Industry; Banking Industry; Banking Industry; China; India; Germany; United Kingdom; United States

2014
Discussion Paper

The Promise of Microfinance and Women's Empowerment: What Does the Evidence Say?

By: Dina D. Pomeranz

The microfinance revolution has transformed access to financial services for low-income populations worldwide. As a result, it has become one of the most talked-about innovations in global development in recent decades. However, its expansion has not been without... View Details