Publications

28 Aug 2012
First Look

First Look: August 28

facing fewer conflicts of interest and having a preference for liquid stocks. Tests with no controls for these effects indicate that annualized buy-side Strong Buy/Buy recommendations underperform those for sell-side peers by 5.9% using... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

09 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

Unilever—A Case Study

synthetic detergents, including Dreft, in 1933, and came out with Drene, a liquid shampoo, in 1934 both were more effective than solid soap in areas of hard water. However, such products had "teething problems," and their impact... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones; Consumer Products; Entertainment & Recreation; Food & Beverage; Manufacturing; Retail

07 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

Why Companies Fail—and How Their Founders Can Bounce Back

a potential for improvement. The statistics are disheartening no matter how an entrepreneur defines failure. If failure means liquidating all assets, with investors losing most or all the money they put into the company, then the failure... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

2024
Working Paper

Does the Case for Private Equity Still Hold?

By: Nori Gerardo Lietz and Philipp Chvanov

Private Equity (“PE”) received a 10-fold increase in capital flows since the Great Financial Crisis (“GFC”) Investors sought higher nominal returns relative to those they could obtain in the public capital markets. This paper questions the fundamental assumptions... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Investment Return; Investment Portfolio; Financial Markets

SSRN

Read Now

21 Jun 2011
First Look

First Look: June 21

Publications Civilization: The Six Ways the West Beat the Rest Author: Niall Ferguson Publication: Allen Lane/Penguin Press, 2011 An abstract is unavailable at this time. Review the book:... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2009 (Revised June 2009)
Case

VidaGas: VillageReach - The Mozambican Foundation for Community Development Joint Venture

This case describes the evolution of a liquid petroleum gas (LPG) distributor start-up, incubated by two not-for-profit NGOs to help improve the vaccine cold chain in Northern Mozambique. These NGOs must face the decision whether and how to sell their participation in... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Supply Chain; Health Care and Treatment; Investment; Non-Governmental Organizations; Energy Sources; Energy Industry; Health Industry; Mozambique

21 Nov 2022
Research & Ideas

Buy Now, Pay Later: How Retail's Hot Feature Hurts Low-Income Shoppers

track some 20,000 specific retailers to identify merchants using BNPL, including the top US retailers. Penalizing lower-income consumers The loans create what the authors call the “flypaper effect.” Consumers with healthy access to View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Retail; Financial Services; Technology

15 Nov 2011
First Look

First Look: November 15

PublicationsTrue North Groups: A Powerful Path to Personal and Leadership Development Authors:Bill George and Doug Baker Publication:Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 2011 Abstract All too often, we find ourselves forced to confront life's challenges on our own. What... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

20 Mar 2012
Working Paper Summaries

The Stock Selection and Performance of Buy-Side Analysts

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg, Paul Healy, George Serafeim, Devin Shanthikumar & Gui Yang; Financial Services

14 Mar 2023
In Practice

What Does the Failure of Silicon Valley Bank Say About the State of Finance?

deposits and its business of revolving credit, on which it had substantial exposure. To add to that, the SVB leadership’s unorthodox approach to management of liquidity pressures clearly backfired. The bottom line: The art is not to... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Financial Services; Banking

Research Summary

Overview

By: Charlotte L. Robertson

Professor Robertson conducts research on the history of financial markets. Her book manuscript and working papers shed light on the evolution of securities markets and the relationship between finance, governance, and society. Some of the topics she pursues include:... View Details

16 Jun 2021
HBS Case

Cruising in Crisis: How Carnival Is Riding Out the COVID-19 Storm

including the massive infusion of liquidity and confidence into capital markets that took place under the Federal Reserve’s and US government’s various COVID-relief programs, a belief in the long-term growth prospects of the cruise... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Travel

19 Apr 2010
Research & Ideas

The History of Beauty

metal lipstick container was invented by Maurice Levy in Connecticut in 1915. The first screw-up lipstick appeared six years later.19 In 1916 Northam Warren created the first commercial liquid nail polish when he launched the Cutex brand... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Beauty & Cosmetics

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

October 2016
Case

The Quiet Ascension of LA Fitness

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In 2016, LA Fitness was the largest chain of non-franchised fitness clubs in North America, operating 676 clubs, serving 4.9 million members, and generating revenues of over $1.9 billion. Founded by Chinyol Yi, Louis Welch, and Paul Norris in 1984, the privately held... View Details

Keywords: LA Fitness; Health Clubs; Fitness; Gyms; Chain; Exercise; Personal Training; Retention; Bally Total Fitness; 24 Hour Fitness; Planet Fitness; Buildings and Facilities; Acquisition; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Customers; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Demographics; Age; Gender; Income; Residency; Borrowing and Debt; Capital; Capital Structure; Cash; Cash Flow; Cost; Private Equity; Financial Condition; Financial Liquidity; Financing and Loans; Investment Return; Price; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Location; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Business History; Employees; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Human Capital; Contracts; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Operations; Service Operations; Leasing; Private Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Sales; Salesforce Management; Situation or Environment; Opportunities; Sports; Strategy; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Segmentation; Information Technology; Mobile Technology; Technology Platform; Health Industry; United States; California; Los Angeles

25 Oct 2020
Research & Ideas

The Dark Side of Fintech Borrowing

that were careful in their lending practices during the boom market, “there's going to be an issue in that the liquidity on the investor side may dry up.” About the author Rachel Layne is a writer based in the Boston area. [Image:... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Financial Services; Banking

31 Jan 2023
Op-Ed

Can Insurance Technology Solve the Uninsured Driver Problem?

days that they drive. This type of contract is common in other markets, for instance in cell-phone contracts, where pay-as-you-go enabled the proliferation of smartphone adoption across the world by allowing consumers to “top up” their balance when they were View Details

Keywords: by Ray Kluender; Insurance

November – December 2008
Article

Chief Risk Officers at Crunch Time: Compliance Champions or Business Partners?

By: Anette Mikes

Risk management departments in financial institutions have been undergoing major transformations. New regulatory requirements have raised the bar on compliance, and expanded the remit of risk management significantly. The compliance imperative requires banks to... View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Corporate Governance; Governance Compliance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Managerial Roles; Risk Management; Partners and Partnerships