Publications

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February 2017
Case

Clear Channel (A): The Rise, 1972–2003

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

At the end of 2003, Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a diversified media group with revenues of $8.9 billion, could claim leadership positions in all three of its main businesses. Clear Channel Broadcasting was the largest radio-station operator in the world, with... View Details

Keywords: Clear Channel; Clear Channel Outdoor; Radio; Outdoor Advertising; Concert Industry; Lowry Mays; Federal Communications Commission; Regulation; Regulations; Regulatory Environment; JCDecaux; Media; Growth Management; Consolidation; Competitive Strategy; Fair Value Accounting; Advertising; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Growth and Maturation; For-Profit Firms; Entertainment; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Public Equity; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Government Legislation; Business History; Laws and Statutes; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Channels; Industry Structures; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Sales; Opportunities; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Commercialization; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Wireless Technology; Valuation; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Advertising Industry; Music Industry; United States; Texas

06 Sep 2016
First Look

September 6, 2016

https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51587 Is No News (Perceived as) Bad News? An Experimental Investigation of Information Disclosure By: Jin, Ginger Zhe, Michael Luca, and Daniel Martin Abstract—This paper uses laboratory experiments to directly test a... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

12 Apr 2004
Research & Ideas

What Great American Leaders Teach Us

complete financial information across the twentieth century (especially pre-1925), a multi-tiered financial analysis approach was utilized: (1) Tobin's Q Performance (market to book value); (2) Return on Assets Ratios; and (3) Market... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

May 2014
Case

Goldman Sachs: Anchoring Standards After the Financial Crisis

By: Rajiv Lal and Lisa Mazzanti

Goldman Sachs, a longtime venerable financial institution headquartered in New York City, had a partnership culture that was known to value its clients. But when the financial crisis hit in 2008 and Goldman Sachs emerged relatively unscathed, its public image took a... View Details

Keywords: Brand Management; Public Image; Corporate Accountability; Reputation; Standards; Financial Crisis; Brands and Branding; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry

November 2007 (Revised October 2009)
Case

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated

In an activist role, the hedge fund Third Point LLC has three board seats and an ownership stake of 9.5% in Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company. Third Point believed that Ligand had a strong drug portfolio and pipeline but that it was... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Private Equity; Investment Activism; Investment Funds; Governing and Advisory Boards; Bids and Bidding; Ownership Stake; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

03 Feb 2011
What Do You Think?

Are We Going “Back to the Future” In Researching Management?

which we take collaboration to the level of megacommunities from the private and public sectors working together to solve large-scale social problems." Others, including Jay Somasundaram, wonder about the relative roles of the private sector and View Details

Keywords: Re: James L. Heskett

January 2025 (Revised April 2025)
Case

Doing Business in Cairo: Navigating a Path to Economic Resilience

By: A. Zelleke and Ahmed Dahawy

Egypt has long been a pivotal force in the Middle East and North Africa. Located at a crossroads of global trade routes, the country was a strategic partner for numerous regional and global powers. However, a substantial currency devaluation in 2016 brought many... View Details

Keywords: Business; Developing Countries and Economies; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Inflation and Deflation; Macroeconomics; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Globalized Economies and Regions; International Relations; Emerging Markets; Risk and Uncertainty; Culture; Economy; Country; Currency; Investment; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Egypt

30 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

Entering the Age of Alliances

positively by Visa cardholders became the basis for a cause-related marketing collaboration in which Visa donates to RIF a percentage of charges during certain periods when the reading program is promoted. Another unexpected fit is that... View Details

Keywords: by James Austin

07 Feb 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research: February 7

policy solutions, a challenging proposition in a politically polarized environment. This paper focuses on how CEOs engage in the political process to encourage government policies that will foster sustainability transitions and address... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2010
Teaching Note

Australia: The Riches and Challenges of Commodities (TN)

By: Laura Alfaro and Renee Kim

Teaching Note for 709007. View Details

Keywords: Futures and Commodity Futures; Financial Crisis; Demand and Consumers; Trade; Natural Environment; Business and Government Relations; Policy; Growth and Development Strategy; Australia

June 2005 (Revised March 2007)
Case

ACHAP (African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnerships): the Merck/Gates Initiative in Botswana

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

By June 2004, ACHAP, a three-way partnership of The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Merck, and the Botswana government, had committed nearly $60 million of the $100 million toward various AIDS education, prevention, and treatment programs. It was time to evaluate... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Social Marketing; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Performance Evaluation; Business and Government Relations; Partners and Partnerships; Health Industry

10 May 2011
First Look

First Look: May 10

without controversy, to be a tool for empowering women. Here, using a randomized controlled trial, we examine whether access to and marketing of an individually held commitment savings product lead to an increase in female decision-making... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2003 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Pharmaceutical Industry, The: Challenges in the New Century

By: Stephen P. Bradley and James Weber

Provides a broad overview of the numerous internal and external forces that were driving change in the global pharmaceutical industry in 2003. These forces--including downward price pressures, political and social pressures, increased development costs, new... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Change; Cost; Price; Globalization; Government and Politics; Brands and Branding; Industry Growth; Society; Competition; Consolidation; Technology; Pharmaceutical Industry

03 Sep 2009
What Do You Think?

Are Retention Bonuses Worth the Investment?

if an employer provides some special training/skill to an employee that increases his market value substantially ." Naseem Khan suggested that " a retention bonus may be doled out in lieu of base pay increases." Steve... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

22 Sep 2014
Op-Ed

Online Banks Fill Funding Needs for Small Business

access capital” Historically, this segment of the market has been small compared to the $700 billion in small business bank credit assets. But since the onset of the financial crisis, and particularly during the economic recovery, there... View Details

Keywords: by Karen Mills; Banking; Financial Services

06 May 2002
Research & Ideas

Profits for Nonprofits: Earning Your Own Way

"Pay our own way? No way." Not long ago, that was the mantra of many a proud nonprofit organization, living on the largesse of government grants and private donations. But with those income sources drying up, suddenly nonprofits... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

07 Jan 2015
What Do You Think?

SUMMING UP: What Are the Limits On Workplace Transparency?

our personal computers. In an effort to shape our individual images through the use of networking devices, we are nevertheless disclosing many things about ourselves that can be employed by clever marketers in ways that appear to violate... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

November–December 1994
Article

A Framework for Risk Management

By: K. Froot, David S. Scharfstein and J. Stein

Keywords: Catastrophe Risk; Cost Of Capital; Banking And Insurance; Hedging; Banking; Decision Choice And Uncertainty; Framework; Risk Management; Corporate Finance; Asset Pricing; Financial Markets; Insurance; Policy; Natural Disasters; Insurance Industry

Read Now

July 2014
Article

Accounting for Crises

By: Venky Nagar and Gwen Yu

We provide among the first empirical evidence consistent with recent macro global-game crisis models, which show that the precision of public signals can coordinate crises (e.g., Angeletos and Werning, 2006; Morris and Shin, 2002, 2003). In these models,... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Disclosure; Mathematical Methods; Game Theory; Financial Markets; Forecasting and Prediction; Accounting; Financial Crisis

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