Publications

18 Sep 2000
Research & Ideas

Big Deals: Financing Large-Scale Investments

Disney, and Iridium, and Boston's Central Artery Project (the "Big Dig") in the public sector, are examples of some recent efforts that went bankrupt or had to be restructured. The managerial challenge is to figure out how to... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

November 2000
Case

Wit Capital: Evolution of the Online Investment Bank (B)

Describes the evolution of Wit Capital from its origins as a small brewery to an online investment bank advising both small technology-based companies seeking to raise capital and large companies seeking to acquire Internet companies, as well as offering retail... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Disruptive Innovation; Service Delivery; Investment Banking; Entrepreneurship

Research Summary

Profitable Souls: Foreign Investment and the Fate of Human Rights

By: Debora L. Spar

This is a project about foreign investment, about what happens when big multinational firms invest in small, poor, and often nasty places. Typically, most observers assume that this is a largely negative relationship: that multinationals exploit the local population,... View Details

October 2022
Case

Spaceport America, Public Sector Risk-taking, and Political Accountability (A)

By: Matthew Weinzierl, Dava Newman, Rebecca Browder and Angela Acocella

Sitting quietly in the heart of the New Mexico desert in the summer of 2014, Spaceport America (SA) housed little of the activity its supporters anticipated when opening its hangar doors in 2011. Despite $1 million in annual rent from Virgin Galactic, British... View Details

Keywords: Funding Sources; Risk and Uncertainty; Public Sector; Business and Government Relations; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Aerospace Industry; New Mexico

02 Jan 2020
Op-Ed

Medicare for All or Public Option: Can Either Heal Health Care?

its share of the capital that American taxpayers have invested in Medicare’s infrastructure, including its buildings, equipment, and workers. "The public option would harness Medicare’s pricing... View Details

Keywords: by Regina E. Herzlinger and James Wallace; Public Administration; Public Administration

25 Apr 2014
News

An investment in meaningful results

nearly $1.5 billion in grants to the city's neediest residents since 1988. Robin Hood is New York City's largest funder of emergency food programs and largest private funder of job training and housing programs. It serves nearly half a million struggling New Yorkers,... View Details

24 Jan 2018
Research & Ideas

How to Get People Addicted to a Good Habit

activity, and even when provided with free supplies, people continue to wash their hands without soap—if they wash their hands at all. “If you look at these public health initiatives, you see that they are often a complicated combination... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

13 Apr 2015
Research & Ideas

3 Ways Firms Can Profit From Environmental Investments

In the course of her work, Rebecca Henderson meets business executives who don't address the threat of climate change because they don't believe that it exists. Her recommendation: They should consider investments in environmental... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Energy; Utilities

07 Jul 2021
Book

Good News for Disgraced Companies: You Can Regain Trust

with customers, employees, and investors by being “the real deal,” creating valuable products and services, acting on good intentions, treating people fairly, and taking responsibility for how an organization impacts business and society,... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

10 Sep 2010
Working Paper Summaries

The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Investment Recommendations

Keywords: by Ioannis Ioannou & George Serafeim; Financial Services

October 1999 (Revised November 1999)
Case

Wit Capital: Evolution of the Online Investment Bank

Wit Capital brings democracy to the IPO process via the World Wide Web. This case encourages debate about the role service will play in this technology-intermediated investment bank and the sources and sustainability of its competitive advantage. View Details

Keywords: Initial Public Offering; Service Delivery; Competitive Advantage; Investment Banking; Web; Banking Industry

July – August 2008
Article

Should You Invest in the Long Tail?

By: Anita Elberse

The blockbuster strategy is a time-honored approach, particularly in media and entertainment. When space is limited on store shelves and in traditional distribution channels, producers tend to focus on a few likely best sellers, hoping that one or two big hits will... View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Distribution Channels; Sales; Marketing Strategy; Online Technology; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Retail Industry