Publications

March 2002 (Revised July 2004)
Case

Price of Light, The: Privatization, Regulation and Valuation in Brazil

Asks students to produce a valuation for Rio Light, a Brazilian power company that is state owned and to be sold in March 1996. If successful, the privatization would bring in over $2 billion to the Brazilian treasury. But success was far from assured. Members of the... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Energy Generation; Privatization; Corporate Governance; Energy Industry; Brazil

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2005
Article

Increasing Exploration: Evidence from International Expansion

By: Juan Alcacer, Heather Berry and Wilbur Chung

While firms balance exploitation and exploration to maximize profits, specifics of how firms pursue this balance are scarce. We focus on how firms increase their exploration after obtaining greater capabilities and experience via sequential international expansion.... View Details

Keywords: Price Bubble; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Industry Growth; Research and Development; Profit; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Disruptive Innovation; Five Forces Framework; SWOT Analysis; Duopoly and Oligopoly; Manufacturing Industry; Japan; United States

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04 Mar 2016
Research & Ideas

Is E-commerce at Risk in Apple's Security Dispute with the FBI?

stakes at play in the San Bernardino iPhone case. Christian Camerota: Was it a good strategic move on Apple’s part to bring the FBI’s request into the public eye? Sunil Gupta: There are arguments on both sides. The FBI was smart in making... View Details

Keywords: Re: Sunil Gupta; Technology

June 2021
Case

Building the Governance to Take Capital SAFI to the Next Level

By: V.G. Narayanan, Asis Martinez Jerez and Mariana Cal

Asset management firm Capital SAFI wanted to attract new strategic investors and expand to other countries. Having the right corporate governance in place was critical to achieve this goal. View Details

Keywords: Board Of Directors; Transparency; Sustainable Finance; South America; Latin America; Corporate Governance; Governance Controls; Governing and Advisory Boards; Business Organization; Corporate Strategy; Transformation; Investment Funds; Financial Services Industry; Bolivia; South America; Latin America

May 2006 (Revised June 2006)
Case

Codon Devices

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and David Kiron

In December 2005, 40-year-old John Danner was about to make his first presentation to the board of directors of Codon Devices, a one-year-old biotechnology start-up based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After a month as the company's CEO, Danner was prepared to lay out... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Venture Capital; Intellectual Property; Governing and Advisory Boards; Genetics; Competitive Advantage; Science-Based Business; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Biotechnology Industry; Cambridge

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30 Jan 2017
Research & Ideas

Vanguard, Trian And The Problem With 'Passive' Index Funds

management in long-term strategic planning. Vanguard Corporate Governance Principles Source: Letter by F. William McNabb II to the independent leaders of the boards of directors, February 27, 2015, Vanguard.com. “The letters from the... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services

November 2024
Case

Demond Martin and WellWithAll

By: Hise Gibson, Archie L. Jones and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

This case study chronicles the transformative entrepreneurial path of Demond Martin, co-founder and CEO of WellWithAll, a health and wellness startup. Motivated by a pivotal life experience and deep concern for racial health inequities, Martin transitions from a... View Details

Career Coach

Phil Wong

operational foundation for running healthcare practices. Prior to pivoting into healthcare, Phil was a portfolio manager at a fund of hedge funds managing $1Bn+ on behalf of pension plans and insurance companies. His investing role... View Details

Keywords: Investment Banking; Investment Banking; Investment Banking; Investment Banking; Investment Banking; Investment Banking; Investment Banking; Investment Banking; Investment Banking; Investment Banking; Investment Banking; Investment Banking; Investment Banking; Investment Banking

Benjamin C. Esty

Benjamin Esty is the Roy and Elizabeth Simmons Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. Over the years, he has taught a variety of courses ranging from advanced corporate finance and project finance to competitive strategy and leadership. He... View Details

Keywords: investment banking industry; investment banking industry; investment banking industry; investment banking industry; investment banking industry; investment banking industry; investment banking industry

C. Fritz Foley

C. Fritz Foley is the Andre R. Jakurski Professor of Business Administration and Senior Associate Dean (SAD) for External Relations. As SAD, Foley works with ER to enhance alumni engagement, expand opportunities for lifelong learning, and develop fundraising... View Details

06 Oct 2003
Research & Ideas

The Growth of the Social Enterprise

less ambitious growth plans than affiliate organizations. While this finding is perhaps not surprising given that branching would likely entail a greater investment of resources by the central organization than expansion via affiliates... View Details

Keywords: by Carla Tishler

15 Jan 2008
First Look

First Look: January 15, 2008

and vertical mergers. Our model highlights a collective action problem: what is good for an individual firm is often not good for the cluster. We speculate that this conflict may be a source of strategic tension in platform firms.... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

November 2000 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Tellme Networks, Inc.

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Nicole Tempest

Tellme, an early-stage, venture-backed company based in Silicon Valley, leverages speech-recognition technologies to provide: 1) a "voice portal" with news and other information accessible through any telephone, and 2) turnkey application development and hosting... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Business Conglomerates; Business Startups; Internet and the Web; Venture Capital; Technology Adoption; Internet and the Web; Brands and Branding; Information Technology; Telecommunications Industry; Technology Industry

06 Dec 2004
What Do You Think?

Why Do Managers Fail to Act on Their Predictions?

lie in the distant future; are unwilling to make smaller investments now to prevent uncertain future risks with higher costs; have a bias for the status quo, regardless of how much they talk about the importance of change; and have a... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

12 May 2021
Working Paper Summaries

Accounting for Product Impact in the Water Utilities Industry

Keywords: by George Serafeim and Katie Trinh

November 2024
Case

Polish Agro: Where Do We Grow From Here?

By: Willy C. Shih, Lena Duchene and Daniela Beyersdorfer

By July 2024, Polish Agro had grown into one of Poland’s fastest-growing agribusinesses, with €230 million in revenue, 82 employees, and operations across Northern Poland. The company supported farmers with essential agricultural inputs like fertilizers and seeds,... View Details

August 2021 (Revised April 2022)
Case

KKR

By: Jo Tango and Alys Ferragamo

In June of 2021, KKR’s executive team convened to prepare for an upcoming board meeting. From a small, three-person partnership that started in 1976 and invested only in U.S. LBOs, the firm 45 years later was a public company that employed over 1,600 people and managed... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Public Equity; Globalized Markets and Industries; Growth and Development Strategy; Profit; Strategy; Finance; Private Equity; United States

August 2013 (Revised November 2015)
Case

Prudential Financial - General Motors Pension Risk Transfer: Back to the Future?

By: Luis M. Viceira and Emily A. Chien

In November 2012, Prudential Financial and General Motors closed on a $25.1B pension risk transfer (PRT) transaction, the largest of its kind to date by an order of magnitude both in the U.S. market and globally. In exchange for an in-kind transfer of $25.1B in... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Asset Management; Insurance; Retirement; Financial Services Industry; Insurance Industry