Publications

January 2018
Case

Blue Harbour's Activism at Babcock & Wilcox

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Quinn Pitcher

The case describes Blue Harbour Group's investment in Babcock & Wilcox and its transformation into BWX Technologies. In 2004, activist hedge fund Blue Harbour Group invested in Babcock & Wilcox, an energy and construction company. Blue Harbour developed an investment... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Investment Activism; Leading Change; Energy Industry; Energy Industry; United States

29 Oct 2000
Research & Ideas

The Entrepreneurial Venture: A Conversation

entrepreneurship but also in the dynamics of the free-enterprise system itself. In 1975, venture View Details

Keywords: by Susan Young

January 2021
Case

Anodot: Autonomous Business Monitoring

By: Antonio Moreno and Danielle Golan

Autonomous business monitoring platform Anodot leveraged machine learning to provide real-time alerts regarding business anomalies. Anodot’s solution was used in various industries in order to primarily monitor business health, such as revenue and payments, product... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Knowledge Sharing; Information Management; Sales; Value Creation; Product Positioning; Israel

27 Feb 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, February 27, 2018

entrepreneurial finance. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54066 forthcoming Academy of Management Journal We Ask Men to Win & Women Not to Lose: Closing the Gender Gap... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

18 Aug 2011
Lessons from the Classroom

Business Plan Contest: 15 Years of Building Better Entrepreneurs

money, bought out his partner, and relaunched the company with new people, eventually moving over to an advisory role as chairman of the board. Potentia initially accepted... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Education

July 2019 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Salary Finance

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In April 2019, Asesh Sarkar, co-founder and chief executive of Salary Finance Limited, a London-based FinTech, faced tough choices. Sarkar had founded Salary Finance with Dan Cobley and Daniel Shakhani in 2015. The company’s value proposition was quite simple: partner... View Details

Keywords: Credit; Financing and Loans; Wages; Innovation and Invention; Expansion; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Culture; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Services Industry

March 2018 (Revised March 2018)
Teaching Note

OpenInvest

By: Boris Vallee and Caitlin Reimers Brumme

Founded by a team of hedge fund and NGO alumni, OpenInvest launched its platform in 2015 to enable retail investors to tailor their portfolio to their personal values in an automated way, for instance by screening out weapon manufacturers stocks or overweighting LGBTQ... View Details

Keywords: Socially Responsible Investing; Investing For Impact; Robo-advisors; Investment; Values and Beliefs; Customization and Personalization; Technology; Financial Services Industry

November 2017 (Revised April 2019)
Case

Summa Equity: Building Purpose-Driven Organizations

By: George Serafeim and David Freiberg

In 2015, Reynir Indahl left top Nordic private equity firm Altor Equity Partners to found Summa Equity (Summa). After long contemplation following the financial crisis, Indahl was convinced the financial system was producing negative externalities and that the current... View Details

September 1985 (Revised January 1986)
Case

Peter Wendell

By: William A. Sahlman

Contains a description of a decision confronting an employee of IBM in late 1981. Should he leave IBM to become head of a new venture capital fund which will specialize in technology investments? The case is designed to expose students to the nature of the opportunity... View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Jobs and Positions; Opportunities; Valuation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Resignation and Termination; Venture Capital; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

13 Sep 2021
Research & Ideas

Science: The Unlikely Frontier for New Business Ideas

Grounding innovation in science also results in more unique products. For companies with thousands of patents, the View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

01 Mar 2014
News

The Solution to the Global Food Crisis Just Might Come from Nigeria

the problem in two different ways. The first is through AACE. The second is by managing the new $100 million View Details

Keywords: Francis Storrs; John H. Davis; Michael Halse; Administration of Economic Programs; Administration of Economic Programs; Administration of Economic Programs; Administration of Economic Programs; Administration of Economic Programs; Administration of Economic Programs

15 Dec 2024
News

Back at the Ranch

The summer training program at Bear Hug Cattle Company starts truly at square one. “The first day is about teaching the guys how to just be out here and not die,” says lead instructor Zach Aguilar, gazing out from under his broad-brimmed hat to the grassy rangelands of... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; photos by Adler and Vance Jacobs; Animal Production and Aquaculture; Agriculture

November 2020 (Revised February 2021)
Case

Integrating Beam Suntory (A)

By: David G. Fubini, Rawi Abdelal and David Lane

The spring 2014 acquisition of U.S. alcoholic spirits maker Beam Inc. by Japan’s Suntory Holdings vaulted Suntory from 15th to third-largest international spirits company in the world. Yet Suntory had borrowed nearly the entire $16 billion purchase price, and relied on... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Communication; Borrowing and Debt; Globalization; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Retention; Leadership; Supply Chain; Organizational Structure; Ownership; Relationships; Conflict and Resolution; Integration; Value Creation; Food and Beverage Industry; Japan; United States; Chicago