Publications

June 2013 (Revised July 2013)
Case

Blackstone Alternative Asset Management

By: Robin Greenwood, Luis M. Viceira and Jared Dourdeville

This case explores reasons for Blackstone Alternative Asset Management's (BAAM's) growth from 2007-2013, a time when the overall fund of hedge funds industry contracted substantially. Additionally, the case analyzes evolving business models and value propositions... View Details

Keywords: Hedge Fund; Fund Of Hedge Funds; Hedge Fund Industry Growth; Fund Of Hedge Funds Industry Growth; Evolving Business Models; Value Propositions In The Fund Of Hege Funds Industry; Business Model; Investment Funds; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry; United States

06 Aug 2021
Book

Steve Jobs and the Rise of the Celebrity CEO

marketing was dreadful, and its finances would have collapsed had it not been for CFO Fred Anderson’s work. The world of computers was dominated by Microsoft, especially after the introduction of its breakthrough product, Windows 95, in... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

01 Sep 2010
News

Now Starring: Single Dad

Wand said he hoped it would show people in similar situations that there can be happy endings. “I’ve had a pretty wonderful life,” said Wand, who in 1983 married classmate Beverly Patton (MBA ’81) and today is an adjunct finance professor... View Details

Keywords: single parents; fatherhood; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

09 Jan 2006
Research & Ideas

When Benchmarks Don’t Work

standardized processes that are intended to produce low-cost, nondifferentiated services for internal or external customers. Perhaps many HR, IT, and finance departments do indeed strive to be low-cost suppliers of standardized services.... View Details

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan; Service

July 2022 (Revised October 2024)
Case

3G Capital

By: Jo Tango and Alys Ferragamo

In June 2022, 3G Capital Co-Managing Partners Alex Behring and Daniel Schwartz were in a partners’ meeting. On the agenda were three potential investments. Code named “Alpha,” “Bravo,” and “Charlie” (real target companies that have been disguised), they were the... View Details

Keywords: Investment Decisions; Investment Funds; Investment Portfolio; Decision Choices and Conditions; Private Equity; Leveraged Buyouts

21 Nov 2019
Research & Ideas

Do TV Debates Sway Voters?

voters have already made up their mind,” the team writes. Given the importance of a campaign’s ground game, Pons says that governments should consider ways to improve the quality of information that voters receive. That might involve setting campaign View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

June 2023 (Revised November 2023)
Case

Sober Sidekick

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Kumba Sennaar

Case on the nascent business model of a mobile health IT startup. In particular, should they pivot away from their successful lead generation business model to charging health plans. View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Operations; Business Startups; Business Model; Health Industry; United States

September 1997 (Revised August 2007)
Case

Bankruptcy and Restructuring at Marvel Entertainment Group

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Jason Auerbach

Marvel Entertainment Group is the leading comic book publisher in the United States, with superheros like Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, the X-Men, and Captain America. It is also one of the leading manufacturers of sports and entertainment trading cards under the... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Decision Choices and Conditions; Borrowing and Debt; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Governance Controls; Courts and Trials; Planning; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

December 2016
Simulation

Venture Capital and Private Equity Game

By: Matthew Rhodes-Kropf, Josh Lerner, G. Felda Hardymon and Nathaniel Burbank

The Venture Capital and Private Equity Simulation enables groups of students to play the role of either an early or later stage private equity firm. Within the simulation, students raise funds, search for companies to invest in, complete deals, and manage a portfolio... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Private Equity

12 Oct 2021
News

Apollo Hires Legendary Banker Bill Lewis (MBA 1982) to Boost Top Ranks

Photo source: Apollo Global Management Inc. Investment banker Bill Lewis (MBA 1982) has joined Apollo Global Management Inc. as a senior partner and a member of Apollo’s Management Committee. Lewis had previously been Chairman of Investment Banking at Lazard, which he... View Details

September 2023
Case

Diamond Standard

By: Lauren H. Cohen, Zhaoheng Gong and Grace Headinger

Cormac Kinney, Founder and CEO of Diamond Standard, was on a mission to transform the U.S. diamond market through unlocking the precious gems as market-traded assets. As a serial FinTech entrepreneur, he hoped to add an additional service to his vault: Carats. The... View Details

27 May 2015
Blog Post

What is an HBS Section?

backgrounds: section mates with in-depth finance experience from investment banking and private equity, with marketing expertise from CPG, who have successfully started and sold companies, who have served in the Navy and who are from the... View Details

March 2024
Case

East Rock Capital: 'Talent Is the Best Asset Class'

By: Boris Groysberg, Sarah L. Abbott and Izzy Yeoh

Adam Shapiro and Graham Duncan launched East Rock Capital, LLC in 2006 with a seed investment from Stuart Miller, executive chairman of Lennar Corporation. East Rock managed long-term assets for high-net-worth families, primarily working with external managers who had... View Details

Keywords: Alternative Assets; Hiring; HNW Products And Services; Recruiting; Hedge Funds; Wealth Management; Asset Management; Private Equity; Financial Institutions; Marketing Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Financial Services Industry; United States

December 2005 (Revised February 2019)
Case

Brighter Smiles for the Masses--Colgate vs. P&G

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Dennis Yao and Filipa Azevedo Jorge

In 2000, Procter & Gamble Co. introduced Crest Whitestrips, a new, revolutionary product that allowed consumers to whiten their teeth at home. With Whitestrips, P&G created an entire new category in oral care, worth $460 million in 2002. Whitestrips sent P&G's main... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Advertising; Product Launch; Patents; Price; Performance Effectiveness; Consumer Products Industry

11 Aug 2003
Research & Ideas

Why Budgeting Kills Your Company

Baxter also doesn't advocate the wholesale replacement of traditional budgeting, he does believe that changes must be made to reforge the link between a company's strategic planning and resource allocation. "Budgeting and performance are typically overseen by the... View Details

Keywords: by Loren Gary

January 2009 (Revised November 2010)
Case

The Dojima Rice Market and the Origins of Futures Trading

By: David A. Moss and Eugene Kintgen

In 1730, Japanese merchants petitioned shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune to officially authorize trade in rice futures at the Dojima Exchange, the world's first organized (but unsanctioned) futures market. For many years, the Japanese government had prohibited the trade of... View Details

Keywords: Futures and Commodity Futures; Price; Food; Business History; Market Transactions; Business and Government Relations; Japan