Publications

March 1997 (Revised January 1999)
Case

Cambridge Technology Partners: Corporate Venturing (August 1996)

By: Paul A. Gompers and Catherine M. Conneely

Concerns the decision of Jim Sims, president and CEO of Cambridge Technology Partners (CTP) to form a corporate venture capital subsidiary. CTP is a fast-growing information technology consulting firm that has been presented with many investment opportunities from... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Venture Capital; Leadership; Information Technology; Investment; Opportunities; Customer Focus and Relationships; Business Startups; Business Subsidiaries; Information Technology Industry; Consulting Industry; Cambridge

Find at Harvard

Research Summary

Innovation and Productivity

In this stream of research, Professor Steinwender examines how firms adjust their innovative behavior and productivity in response to changes in the external environment. Analyzing Spanish firm-level data, she finds that two mechanisms proposed in the economic... View Details

October 2024 (Revised May 2025)
Case

Southern California Industrial: Freezer Drive

By: Arthur I Segel, Dwight Angelini and W. Matt Kelly

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, a Boston based real estate private equity firm was seeking to make their very first West Coast investments in hopes of establishing their presence in the strategic region. An exciting property suddenly became available on the... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate Development; Acquisition; Health Pandemics; Risk and Uncertainty; Expansion; Cost vs Benefits; Investment Return; Real Estate Industry

20 Oct 2014
News

Private Equity Titans Open Cloistered World to Smaller Investors

Video

Mostafa Terrab

Mostafa Terrab, Chairman and CEO of Morocco-based OCP Group, outlines the company’s commitments towards sustainability, which include major investments in solar power as well as the development of customized fertilizer with carbon-sequestering potential. View Details

12 Nov 2019
Video

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson and Managing Director of Biocon, India’s largest biopharmaceutical company, relates how gender bias set her on a path to invest in industrial enzymes and the foundation of... View Details

October 2019 (Revised April 2020)
Background Note

Note on Funding Deep Tech Startups

By: Karim Lakhani, Peter Barrett and Noubar Afeyan

This Background Note provides essential information on funding deep technologies—those technologies that were inherently capital intensive, time consuming, risky, and potentially disruptive. Both dilutive and non-dilutive sources of investment are highlighted, along... View Details

25 Aug 2008
Research & Ideas

HBS Cases: Walking Away from a $3 Billion Deal

maintain a company's culture."—Nabil N. El-Hage "The case highlights some interesting tensions and conflicts in the private equity business between generating wealth for the firm's investment professionals via the fee stream,... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Financial Services

01 Dec 2003
What Do You Think?

Is This the Twilight Era for the Managed Mutual Fund?

creation in the 1920s, mutual funds have progressively become the cornerstone of most individuals' investment portfolios, providing the diversity that is generally agreed to be an important element of any View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

November 1972 (Revised December 2000)
Background Note

Note on Forms of Real Estate Ownership

By: Howard H. Stevenson and Thierry Liverman

Examines the legal forms of ownership of real property. Included are the corporation, partnership, limited partnership, business trust, real estate investment trust, sole proprietorship, and joint venture. Tax factors and business management considerations are... View Details

Keywords: Ownership; Property; Taxation; Business Organization

24 Sep 2010
News

Small biz, banks may spurn Obama's $30 bln program

February 2000 (Revised September 2001)
Case

edocs, Inc. (A)

By: Paul A. Gompers

Describes the development of edocs, an Internet company aimed at revolutionizing the on-line bill presentment market. Kevin Laracey must negotiate a venture capital investment with Jonathon Guerster, an associate at Charles River Ventures. Can be used as a role-playing... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Investment; Growth and Development; Negotiation Deal; Internet; Information Technology Industry

September 2010 (Revised September 2011)
Case

B Lab: Building a New Sector of the Economy

By: Christopher Marquis, Andrew David Klaber and Bobbi Thomason

The founders of B Lab are on a mission to create a new sector of the economy and are specifically focused on a three objectives: 1) building a community of Certified B Corporations (B=Benefit) that legally expand their corporate responsibilities to include... View Details

Keywords: Economic Sectors; Social Entrepreneurship; Investment; Policy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Government Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Social Enterprise; Value Creation

2009
Working Paper

Strategic Interactions in Two-Sided Market Oligopolies

By: Emmanuel Farhi and Andrei Hagiu

Strategic interactions between two-sided platforms depend not only on whether their decision variables are strategic complements or substitutes as for one-sided firms, but also -and crucially so- on whether or not the platforms subsidize one side of the market in... View Details

Keywords: Two-Sided Markets; Strategic Complements; Strategic Substitutes; Cost; Investment; Profit; One-Sided Platforms; Two-Sided Platforms; Duopoly and Oligopoly; Competitive Advantage

Read Now

Allison H. Mnookin

Allison Mnookin is a Senior Lecturer of Business Administration in the Technology and Operations Management (TOM) Unit at the Harvard Business School. She currently is the co-chair of the first-year MBA Technology and Operations Management course. In addition, she... View Details

29 Apr 2013
News

Big Week Ahead For the Markets

Laila Tyabji

Keywords: Textiles, NGO

March 2008
Supplement

Carlyle Japan (B)

By: David B. Godes, Masako Egawa and Mayuka Yamazaki

This is a supplement to the (A) case. It shows that the networks that the firm had been investing in-- commercial banks--were becoming less and less valuable over time. Given this, Tamotsu Adachi must think about how to go about building a new set of networks. View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Commercial Banking; Investment; Networks; Value; Japan