Publications

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

September 2018
Case

Sealed Air Corporation: Deciding the Fate of VTID (Abridged)

By: Elie Ofek

In mid-2010 the Sealed Air Corporation has to decide on next steps for its novel video tracking technology (called VTID) after unsuccessful attempts to market it in three different industry settings. The company must determine whether its most recent target market, the... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Customer Focus and Relationships; Decision Choices and Conditions; Technological Innovation; Marketing Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Commercialization; Service Industry

Web

Future Positive - Managing the Future of Work

uncertainty due to many forces of change as they attempt to prepare the workforce of the future. To navigate the headwinds, employers must be more discerning in their strategic choices. As they fight the... View Details

09 Nov 2009
Research & Ideas

Come Fly with Me: A History of Airline Leadership

reenergize the industry. Will Southwest's no-frills, point-to-point approach become the new dominant business model, or will traditional carriers reinvent their businesses? This question has even more resonance in the wake of the global... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Air Transportation

March 2024 (Revised June 2024)
Case

Kashat: Navigating the Uncertainties of the Egyptian Fintech Market

By: Paul A. Gompers and Ahmed Dahawy

Karim Nour, the founder of Kashat, an Egyptian nano-lending fintech company, is contemplating how to manage the growth of his startup. Over the summer of 2022, Kashat's loan disbursements had grown by nearly 40%, fueled by macroeconomic instability in Egypt. However,... View Details

Keywords: Fintech; Business Model; Developing Countries and Economies; Acquisition; Business Exit or Shutdown; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Financing and Loans; Capital; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Egypt

23 Jul 2001
Research & Ideas

How One Center of Innovation Lost its Spark

process stalled in reverse. This study suggests opportunities for future empirical research. Future studies could analyze the evolution of once-comparable clusters such as the financial centers in Paris and... View Details

Keywords: by Donald Sull; Manufacturing; Transportation; Auto

May 2004 (Revised August 2004)
Case

Enron Odyssey (A), The: The Special Purpose of "SPEs"

The board has asked Ron Tolbert, an employee in the Risk Assessment and Control Group, to analyze three SPE transactions executed by Enron executives: the Destec, Rhythms, and Fishtail/Bacchus transactions, which were prominently featured in the Examiner's Report in... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Financial Instruments; Analysis; Accounting; Financial Strategy; Energy Industry

01 Feb 1999
News

Q&A: Camille Tang Yeh of the Asia-Pacific Research Office

include whether high-performance Asian companies can provide a business model for success in the region, the role of accounting infrastructure in transitional economies, restructuring diversified businesses... View Details

Keywords: Educational Support Services; Educational Services

December 1999 (Revised December 2012)
Background Note

Measuring Interim Period Performance

By: David F. Hawkins

Covers interim period accounting objectives, theories, and practices. Special financial analysis concerns related to this topic are discussed. A rewritten version of an earlier note. View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Business Ventures; Policy; Management Practices and Processes; Measurement and Metrics; Performance Evaluation

23 Apr 2024
Cold Call Podcast

Amazon in Seattle: The Role of Business in Causing and Solving a Housing Crisis

Keywords: Re: Paul M. Healy; Technology

07 Dec 2015
Research & Ideas

The Rise of Personalized Entrepreneurial Finance and Other VC Trends

and believe in. Consider that one of those tools, crowdfunding, is on track to account for more investment money than venture capital itself by 2016, rising from just $880 million in 2010 to an estimated $34... View Details

Keywords: Re: Josh Lerner; Financial Services; Financial Services

July–September 2014
Article

Investing in Superstars: Lessons from the World of Football [¿Cómo Invertir en Superestrellas? Lecciones del Mundo del Fútbol]

By: Anita Elberse

Markets for soccer players are winner-take-all markets in which a select few top players earn extremely high rewards. The search for effective talent strategies in these conditions has led clubs to pursue a superstar-acquisition model, a talent-development model, or a... View Details

Keywords: Sports Management; Talent Management; Talent and Talent Management; Sports; Sports Industry; Europe; Latin America

June 1989 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Thumbs-Up Video, Inc.

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

A start-up video rental business is described to provide a basis for a bookkeeping and financial reporting exercise for an accounting course. Both start-up and operating transactions are included along with situations requiring judgments about depreciation policies and... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Financial Statements; Accounting Audits; Accrual Accounting; Financial Reporting; Accounting Industry

Third Quarter 2018
Article

Why and How Investors Use ESG Information: Evidence from a Global Survey

By: Amir Amel-Zadeh and George Serafeim

Using survey data from a sample of senior investment professionals from mainstream (i.e., not SRI funds) investment organizations, we provide insights into why and how investors use reported environmental, social, and governance (ESG) information. Relevance to... View Details

Keywords: ESG; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; Sustainability; Investment Management; Investment Strategy; Metrics; Standard Setting; Accounting Standards; Finance; Investment; Information; Environmental Sustainability; Governance; Performance Effectiveness; Strategy

SSRN

Find at Harvard

Web

Site Credits - The Art of American Advertising

Home Site map Map / Directions Search: General Information HBS Home About Annual Report Campus Commencement Dean Nohria Employment Fifty Years of Women Give News New Construction Academic Programs Doctoral Programs Executive Education MBA... View Details

June 2023
Article

When Does Uncertainty Matter? Understanding the Impact of Predictive Uncertainty in ML Assisted Decision Making

By: Sean McGrath, Parth Mehta, Alexandra Zytek, Isaac Lage and Himabindu Lakkaraju

As machine learning (ML) models are increasingly being employed to assist human decision makers, it becomes critical to provide these decision makers with relevant inputs which can help them decide if and how to incorporate model predictions into their decision... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Decision Making