Publications

21 May 2018
HBS Case

How Would You Price One of the World's Great Watches?

taseffski When Stefan Thomke finished writing the Harvard Business School case study on A. Lange & Söhne, he sent it to the German watchmaker for feedback. The company’s response was a first for the 25-year Harvard Business School professor: The executives had a... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland; Fashion

December 2003 (Revised December 2004)
Case

Building Hedge Funds at Prospero Capital

This case discusses the issues facing a relatively new and small equity hedge fund as it attempts to expand its investor base. View Details

Keywords: Expansion; Business Startups; Finance; Financial Services Industry

August 2007
Article

Financial Contracting in Biotech Strategic Alliances

Keywords: Finance; Contracts; Science; Strategy; Alliances; Biotechnology Industry

Find at Harvard

November 1985 (Revised July 1989)
Supplement

Signode Industries, Inc. (D)

Signode's packaging division president makes a final decision on the price-flex policy. View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Price; Policy; Steel Industry

October 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Case

1366 Technologies

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, Ramana Nanda and David Kiron

Just months after declaring their intent to become a solar cell equipment supplier, van Mierlo and Sachs were again revisiting the issue of what the company should be. Becoming a successful solar cell manufacturer would potentially be much more lucrative than becoming... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Energy Generation; Renewable Energy; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Commercialization; Corporate Strategy; Green Technology Industry

January 2009 (Revised May 2010)
Case

Altoona State Investment Board: December 2008

By: Josh Lerner

Rod Calhoun, the head of the Altoona State Investment Board's private equity investment program, considered the communication he had just received. It was from Permira, the leading European buyout fund, and concerned its fourth fund, to which Altoona had made a £ 100... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Financial Management; Financial Strategy; Investment Funds; Partners and Partnerships

10 Sep 2020
News

Jane Fraser Named CEO of Citi, Breaking Wall Street’s Glass Ceiling

Latin American division and its corporate strategy and M&A group. “I am honored by the Board's decision and grateful to Mike for his leadership and support,” Fraser said in the statement. “Citi is an incredible institution with a proud... View Details

24 Apr 2014
News

Uniting business, industry, and governments to save the planet

of the solution for global conservation and natural-resource management. “We will not succeed in our work unless we encourage business leaders to understand the degree to which their businesses depend on the planet,” he says. Roberts's View Details

February 2018
Supplement

Ant Financial (B)

By: Feng Zhu, Ying Zhang, Krishna G. Palepu and Anthony K. Woo

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Global Strategy; Finance; Opportunities; Financial Services Industry; Technology Industry

March 2000 (Revised February 2005)
Case

Thomas Weisel Partners (B): Year One

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Ashish Nanda and Scott D Landry

After its launch in February 1999, Thomas Weisel Partners experiences rapid growth in its first year. This case details the inaugural year's development and probes what steps the firm should take to continue the momentum. View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Financial Institutions; Management Teams; Growth Management; Financial Services Industry

31 Jul 2015
News

Sam Adams Could Turn Benedict Arnold Because of Taxes

Keywords: Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing; Manufacturing

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

15 Jan 2019
Working Paper Summaries

The Creation and Evolution of Entrepreneurial Public Markets

Keywords: by Shai Bernstein, Abhishek Dev, and Josh Lerner; Banking; Financial Services

May 2013
Teaching Plan

High Wire Act: Credit Suisse and Contingent Capital

By: Clayton Rose and David Lane

Late in 2010, Credit Suisse CEO Brady Dougan and his team considered whether or not to issue contingent capital, which Swiss regulators would require by 2019. They faced a number of substantial issues, including: Would contingent capital actually work as conceptualized... View Details

Keywords: Financial Institutions; Capital Markets; Financial Crisis; Decision Choices and Conditions; Leadership; International Finance; Financial Liquidity; Risk and Uncertainty; Competitive Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Switzerland

01 Dec 2018
News

Hard Choices

the way I want to discuss it is by asking questions. They may sometimes seem rhetorical, but they’re not. They may sometimes seem straightforward, but they’re not. Because these choices are usually hard ones, and tests not just of intellect but of character. They are... View Details

Keywords: Seth Klarman (MBA 1982)

10 Sep 2013
First Look

First Look: September 10

sustainability strategies of leading German and American firms until the 1970s. However during that decade the German firms diverged from their American counterparts in using public relations strategies not... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2006 (Revised July 2021)
Case

Kerr-McGee

By: Robin Greenwood and André Perold

Activist investors Carl Icahn and Barry Rosenstein acquire a stake in Oklahoma-based company Kerr-McGee. They demand two board seats and ask the company to make several operational and financial changes, including the repurchase of equity and divestiture of their... View Details

Keywords: Investment Activism; Restructuring; Equity; Investment; Management; Governance Controls; Corporate Strategy; Chemical Industry; Energy Industry; United States

24 Mar 2009
First Look

First Look: March 24, 2009

innovative new product for the treatment of acne that they hope to sell to consumers via direct-response television. The unconventional nature of the product and its distribution has led the company to seek angel financing. The Silicon Valley Band of Angels has agreed... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

October 2006
Background Note

China's Financial Markets: 2006

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Li Jin and Tracy Manty

Provides an overview of capital markets in mainland China, evaluating the up-to-date performance of key components of the markets, highlighting concerns as China strives to modernize its financial system to meet global competition and support its fast growing economy. View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Capital Markets; Financial Markets; Financial Strategy; Global Strategy; Markets; Competition; China