Publications

March 2022
Case

The Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program: 2009-2021

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and Julia Kelley

In December 2021, more than a decade after its founding, Goldman Sachs’s 10,000 Small Businesses program was still going strong — and the firm now needed to evaluate potential program modifications to reach a wider group of small business owners. Launched in the... View Details

Web

History - Entrepreneurship

early-stage startups, through a 10-week summer fellowship that provides not only financial support but a peer network and community for students. Read More Initiatives focus on societal challenges that are too complex for any one... View Details

October 2011 (Revised July 2013)
Case

Delta/Signal Corp.

By: V.G. Narayanan, Lisa Brem and Matthew Packard

This auto parts company has just ousted its longtime CEO and founder, and the new, professional CEO is badly in need of a coherent strategy, clear objectives and metrics, and initiatives that are aligned with the strategy and objectives. Will the balanced scorecard... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Business Strategy; Financial Reporting; Leading Change; Performance Evaluation; Growth and Development Strategy; Web Services Industry; Web Services Industry

Article

Business Investment in Education in Emerging Markets Since the 1960s

By: Valeria Giacomin, Geoffrey Jones and Erica Salvaj

This article examines non-profit investments by business in education in emerging markets between the 1960s and the present day. Using a sample of 110 interviews with business leaders from an oral history database, the study shows that more than three-quarters of such... View Details

Keywords: Economic History; Oral History; Education; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Business History; Emerging Markets; Reputation; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Education Industry; Africa; Asia; Latin America; Middle East; India; Chile; Colombia; Sri Lanka; Kenya

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Web

Get Involved - Entrepreneurship

Rock Summer Fellows enables students to continue to explore their entrepreneurial path, both as founders and as those interested in joining early-stage startups, through a 10-week summer fellowship that provides not only financial support... View Details

April 1998
Case

Advent Israel Venture Capital Program, The

By: Paul A. Gompers and Jeffrey M. Anapolsky

Explores the decision by Advent, an international venture capital firm, to start a fund focused on Israel. Advent must decide who to hire to run the fund and how much money to raise. View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Global Strategy; Recruitment; Expansion; Business Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Israel

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27 Mar 2012
First Look

First Look: March 27

a new business venture is one of the most important decisions entrepreneurs will face: Should they go it alone or bring in cofounders, hires, and investors to help build the business? More than just financial rewards are at stake.... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

May 2022
Case

Rawbank's Illico Cash: Can 'Fast Money' Overcome Cash Dependency in the DRC?

By: Lauren Cohen and Grace Headinger

Thomas de Dreux-Brézé, the Head of Strategy and Project Management at Rawbank Congo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), was perplexed as he reviewed annual adoption rates for the bank’s launch of Illico Cash 2.0. As the bank’s mobile money app, Illico Cash... View Details

25 Sep 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, September 25, 2018

219-018 "Oaktree: Pierre Foods Investment This case is a setting to discuss “loan to own” investment strategy that is often pursued by distressed investors. The aftermath of the 2007 financial crisis left many companies with poor... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

09 Sep 2015
Research & Ideas

Leadership Lessons of the Great Recession: Options for Economic Downturns

company’s competitiveness after the downturn ends? For the last five years, we have been studying layoffs and their alternatives. Our goal with this research is to help leaders understand when it makes sense for companies to use layoffs to address their View Details

Keywords: by Sandra Sucher & Susan Winterberg; Aerospace; Electronics

December 2022 (Revised August 2023)
Case

Ribbit Capital and the Gauntlet Investment Opportunity

By: Shai Bernstein and Allison M. Ciechanover

Ten-year-old, Palo Alto-based Ribbit Capital is best-known for its global investments in fintech. The firm was also an early advocate of crypto and blockchain, having invested in more than two dozen startups in the space in the past decade. In the Spring of 2022,... View Details

Keywords: Alternative Assets; Cryptocurrency; Business Startups; Investment Portfolio; Decision Choices and Conditions; Negotiation Deal; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Venture Capital; Financial Services Industry; California

01 Jun 2022
News

A Sustainable Solution for Fashion

Ferdinand Stockmann (MBA 2021) and James Theuerkauf (MBA 2021) Photo courtesy Syrup Tech Fashion is one of the most polluting industries in the world, says James Theuerkauf (MBA 2021), who worked in McKinsey’s retail sector before... View Details

Keywords: April White

May 2022
Case

Deborah Quazzo at GSV Ventures

By: William A. Sahlman, Michael D. Smith and Nicole Tempest Keller

As COVID-19 swept across the globe in 2020, the education sector faced unprecedented disruption. Schools and colleges worldwide shut down, forcing over a billion students and teachers to move to online learning. Investor interest in the EdTech space exploded as... View Details

Keywords: Edtech; Technology; Online Learning; COVID-19 Pandemic; Education; Information Technology; Venture Capital; Change Management; Strategy; Education Industry; Education Industry; Chicago; California

12 Oct 2011
First Look

First Look: October 12

assured. The global financial meltdown of 2008 nearly triggered another Great Depression, economies in Europe are still teetering, and powerful forces-income inequality, resource depletion, and mass migrations from poor to rich countries,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

April 2005 (Revised January 2007)
Case

Furman Selz LLC (A): A Tale of Two Acquisitions

By: Nancy D. Beaulieu, Boris Groysberg and Kyle Doherty

Profiles a firm that was reacquired by two companies with different degrees of success. Highlights integration challenges present in acquisition deals when the primary assets of the target are human capital. Focuses on Furman Selz's acquisition by Xerox in 1987; its... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Transition; Valuation; Human Capital; Compensation and Benefits; Integration; Organizational Culture; Banking Industry; Banking Industry; United States

October 2003 (Revised February 2004)
Case

Dividend Policy at Linear Technology

By: Malcolm P. Baker and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

In 1992, Linear Technology, a designer and manufacturer of analog semiconductors, initiated a dividend. The firm increased its dividend by approximately $0.01 per share each year thereafter. In fiscal year 2002, Linear experienced its first significant drop in sales... View Details

Keywords: Financial Strategy; Investment Return; Financial Condition; Taxation; Initial Public Offering; Financial Management; Semiconductor Industry