Publications

Career Coach

Kelsey Young

compares to traditional finance roles like investment banking and capital markets, 2) successfully executing on a networking-led job search, and 3) navigating resources for technical interview preparation,... View Details

May 2025 (Revised May 2025)
Background Note

Social Enterprise in Latin America

By: Brian L. Trelstad and Karina Souza

This research note provides an overview of the social enterprise ecosystem in Latin America, exploring current dynamics across key markets, including country-specific insights on Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, and Central America. In a region characterized... View Details

November 1990 (Revised September 1991)
Case

First Chicago Corp.: Corporate Strategy

Lays out the business challenges facing First Chicago Corp. in 1986: the banking industry has been deregulated, many corporations are bypassing banks in their search for capital, and foreign competition has increased. Their traditional market--corporate banking--has... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Investment Banking; Corporate Strategy; Emerging Markets; Commercial Banking; Banking Industry; United States

May 2004 (Revised April 2005)
Case

Prudential Securities

By: Boris Groysberg, Paul M. Healy and Amanda Cowen

Prudential Insurance Co. attempted to diversify into financial services by building an investment banking franchise. Prudential's initial foray into the industry was its acquisition of The Bache Group in 1982. In 2000, the company decided to exit investment banking.... View Details

Keywords: Investment Banking; Corporate Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Diversification; Mergers and Acquisitions; Financial Services Industry; Insurance Industry

08 Jul 2021
Video

Peter Wharton-Hood

Peter Wharton-Hood, a former senior executive at Standard Bank and Deutsche Bank in South Africa, discusses how a failed takeover attempt prompted Standard Bank in South Africa to invest in a range of new banking technologies, including an internet banking system which... View Details

Career Coach

Yanzhan Wen

Yanzhan has four years of management consulting experience within the industrials, chemicals, and healthcare industries. Recently, he made a career pivot into investment banking, interning at Lazard over the summer in their healthcare... View Details

21 Jan 2021
Video

Hemendra Kothari

Hemendra Kothari, chairman of DSP Investment Managers in India, discusses how his bank forged relationships with western institutions such as Dresdner Bank and Merrill Lynch during the 1970s and 1980s. View Details

Career Coach

Renee Pappastratis

Renee serves as the Assistant Director of Employer Relations in HBS Career & Professional Development, where she oversees relationships with our Investment Banking recruiting partners. In her role, Renee... View Details

April 2021
Case

JPMorgan Chase's Path Forward

By: Joseph L. Bower, Nien-hê Hsieh and Michael Norris

In 2020, JPMorgan Chase announced a $30 billion Commitment to Advance Racial Equity. The Commitment included investments in housing, small businesses, and financial literacy across the U.S., and diversity, equity, and inclusion within the bank. It was part of a broader... View Details

Keywords: Racial Wealth Gap; Diversity; Race; Financial Institutions; Banks and Banking; Leading Change; Banking Industry; New York (city, NY); Chicago

Career Coach

Alyssa Wilson

Alyssa wants to help students decide if a career in investing is a good fit for their interests and skillset as well as work through practical recruiting advice and tactics. Alyssa can provide insight on how different firms recruit as... View Details

Career Coach

Irtaza Ali

Irtaza started his career in investment banking at Credit Suisse New York, after completing undergrad at Wharton. At Credit Suisse he covered industrials and aerospace & defense companies. He then... View Details

15 May 2019
News

Small Business Lending Soars at Banks; Technology Is A Big Reason Why

January 2017 (Revised January 2019)
Case

The Rise and Fall of Lehman Brothers

By: Stuart C. Gilson, Kristin Mugford and Sarah L. Abbott

With nearly $700 billion in assets, Lehman was the largest U.S. bankruptcy in history. In 2007, Lehman achieved record earnings of over $4 billion on revenues of $60 billion. By September 2008 the fourth largest investment bank in the world was bankrupt. How had a... View Details

Career Coach

Asher Kinyon

Asher looks forward to helping students understand and prepare for careers in the Technology and Investment Banking industries. Having spent time as an Investment View Details

October 2012 (Revised February 2013)
Case

Jim Johnson's Re-election to the Goldman Sachs Board

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Kelly Baker

The case presents the opposition by a leading institutional investor in Goldman Sachs to the re-election of Jim Johnson to the board of directors of the company. The investor, Sequoia Fund, opposes the re-election citing Jim Johnson's prior track record as the CEO of... View Details

Keywords: Board Of Directors; Corporate Governance; Director Elections; Goldman Sachs; Reputation; Institutional Investing; Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Accountability; Banking Industry; New York (city, NY)

April 2011 (Revised March 2021)
Case

BANEX and the No Pago Movement (A)

By: Shawn Cole and Baily Blair Kempner

This case examines Grassroots Capital's decision of whether or not to continue investing in a Bolivian microfinance bank that is suffering financial distress. View Details

Keywords: Base Of The Pyramid; Political Risk; Microfinance; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Government and Politics; Investment; Risk Management; Financial Services Industry; Bolivia