Publications

February 2010 (Revised August 2010)
Case

Sheikh Mohammed and the Making of 'Dubai, Inc.'

By: Anthony Mayo, Nitin Nohria, Umaimah Mendhro and Johnathan Cromwell

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has converted Dubai from a sleepy little coastal village into a world-class city, famous for its ambition, drive, and economic promise. He is the founder, part-owner, and visionary behind companies such as Emirates Airlines, a... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Leadership Style; Emerging Markets; Personal Development and Career; Business and Community Relations; Business and Government Relations; Dubai

October 1997 (Revised April 1998)
Case

C-Car

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Marie Bell

C-Car was the first automobile retailer in the United States to go public. Subsequently the owner, Mr. Gilliland, must decide how to invest the capital raised from the public ownership. This case describes in detail C-Car's highly profitable strategy of managing its... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Cost vs Benefits; Management Practices and Processes; Profit; Acquisition; Business Strategy; Public Ownership; Auto Industry; Retail Industry

November 2018
Case

David Hysong and SHEPHERD Therapeutics

By: Ananth Raman, John Masko and Aldo Sesia

In 2016, David Hysong, at age 27, found out he had a rare, incurable cancer. Rather than wait around to die, Hysong, a recent graduate of Harvard Divinity School, decided to launch a biotechnology company called Shepherd Therapeutics to development treatments for his... View Details

Keywords: Cancer; Therapeutics; Drugs; Health Care and Treatment; Business Startups; Product Development; Financing and Loans; Growth and Development Strategy; Problems and Challenges

24 Jun 2020
News

Why Are Black and Latino People Still Kept Out of the Tech Industry?

November 1994
Case

Spectrum Equity Investors, L.P.

Brion Applegate and Bill Collatos had already started a fund-raising campaign for their new venture-capital fund when the principals of a prestigious Wall Street investment bank asked them to become the two senior partners of an in-house $150 million fund. The case... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Personal Development and Career; Entrepreneurship

June 2021
Case

Modern Endowment Management: Paula Volent and the Bowdoin Endowment

By: Luis M. Viceira, Emily R. McComb and Dean Xu

This case examines modern endowment investment management through the lens of a leadership transition between Chief Investment Officers (CIOs). In March 2021, Paula Volent is about to step down as the CIO of the endowment of Bowdoin College after twenty-one years, and... View Details

Keywords: Investment Portfolio; Investment Banking; Growth Management; Investment Return; Capital Markets; Interest Rates; Competition; Cost Management; Risk Management; Financial Liquidity; Performance Evaluation

16 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

Angels Face the Innovator’s Dilemma

The venture capital industry is ripe for disruption: just like other leading mainstream companies have been for years, according to HBS professor Clayton M. Christensen. As a keynote speaker at the conference and author of the managerial... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Financial Services

January 2025
Technical Note

Get Cool: Air Conditioning Industry Background

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jacob A. Small

The “air conditioning paradox” is tied to climate change: the more the planet warms, the greater the need for cooling (due to the dangers of extreme heat as well as comfort within buildings), but the use of electricity-powered AC contributes to further warming. There... View Details

Keywords: Appliances; Global Warming; Energy Efficiency; Climate Change; Venture Capital; Demand and Consumers; Distribution Channels; Green Technology; United States; Asia

16 Jul 2020
Video

VC Perspectives on Entrepreneurial Opportunities in Today's World

April 1995 (Revised January 2003)
Case

Anasazi Exclusive Salon Products, Inc.

By: William A. Sahlman and Jason Green

Anasazi, a hair-care products start-up based in the Midwest, is having growing pains as it tries to develop a new distribution model for the professional hair salon industry. The company has completed several rounds of venture financing but, to continue, needs to raise... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Financial Condition; Venture Capital; Financial Strategy; Financing and Loans; Expansion; Planning; Fashion Industry; Iowa

August 2023
Article

Can Security Design Foster Household Risk-Taking?

By: Laurent Calvet, Claire Célérier, Paolo Sodini and Boris Vallée

This paper shows that securities with a non-linear payoff design can foster household risk-taking. We demonstrate this effect empirically by exploiting the introduction of capital guarantee products in Sweden from 2002 to 2007. The fast and broad adoption of these... View Details

Keywords: Financial Innovation; Household Finance; Structured Products; Stock Market Participation; Finance; Innovation and Invention; Household; Personal Finance; Risk and Uncertainty; Behavior; Market Participation

01 Oct 2019
News

Today’s venture capitalists owe something to 19th-century whalers

06 Jun 2016
News

Your Investment Tool Is Failing You

12 Feb 2025
Video

Who owns it? The Ownership Project on how property rights shape business

March 1992 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Lada do Brasil

By: James E. Austin and Helen Shapiro

In an effort to capitalize on the entrepreneurial opportunity presented by the Brazilian government's trade liberalization, a Panamanian automobile trading company launched a business of importing the Russian made Lada cars into Brazil. The company confronts a complex... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Transformation; Economics; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Capital; Policy; Competition; Auto Industry; Brazil