Publications

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01 Oct 2002
News

Lessons in Leadership

HBS professor Nancy F. Koehn found the leadership lessons in the ill-fated voyage of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance so valuable that she wrote a case study on it. HBS Working Knowledge senior editor Martha Lagace recently asked Koehn what prompted her to author... View Details

Keywords: Antarctica

10 Nov 2008
What Do You Think?

How Much Can You Ask of Your Customers?

constraints." M. J. Fleming cautioned, "If you (as a customer) have influence, you can lead in a horrible direction We should all be very careful of what we wish." To avoid these predicaments, Neil Jackson recommended, "Before we encourage too much,... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

Web

Real Estate Private Equity - Course Catalog

investing, managing, and developing investments in real estate and private asset backed companies. The course will be divided into three modules. The first module will focus on portfolio construction and understanding investment risks... View Details

April 6, 2022
Article

In Uncertain Times, Big Companies Need to Take Care of Their Suppliers

By: Willy C. Shih

Many large original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have long been ruthless with their suppliers, demanding extremely low prices and loading them up with risks. Given that the current turmoil buffeting global supply chains is unlikely to end anytime soon, OEMs should... View Details

Keywords: Supplier Relationship; Supply Chain Management; Supply Chain; Relationships; Risk and Uncertainty; Auto Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United States

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July 2011
Background Note

Just an MOU or a Real Deal?

By: Lena G. Goldberg and Mary Beth Findlay

Notwithstanding the professed intention of a party to an MOU, a "preliminary" agreement can have binding effect. This note explores the circumstances under which MOUs may give rise to binding and enforceable agreements. View Details

Keywords: Curriculum and Courses; Contracts; Legal Liability; Management; Risk Management

2010
Chapter

Lessons from Catastrophe Reinsurance

By: Kenneth A. Froot

Of the 20 most costly catastrophes since 1970, more than half have occurred since 2001. Is this an omen of what the 21st century will be? How might we behave in this new, uncertain, and more dangerous environment? Will our actions be rational or irrational? A select... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Insurance; Risk and Uncertainty; Natural Disasters; Behavior

January 2001 (Revised August 2003)
Case

Student Educational Loan Fund, Inc. (Abridged)

By: Peter Tufano

Rick Melnick oversees the Student Educational Loan Fund (SELF), which provides loans to Harvard Business School students. SELF is changing the terms of student loans from variable-rate with semiannual payments to fixed-rate loans with equal monthly payments. Melnick... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Financing and Loans; Business Education; Interest Rates; Education Industry; Boston

November 1996 (Revised July 1997)
Case

Alexander Plaza

By: Arthur I Segel and William J. Poorvu

In May 1996, Henry Bower, an asset manager for a real estate adviser, Medcem, has to negotiate the details of a lease after signing a letter of intent with a high technology company, Defentek, Inc. Defentek, Inc. is a fast-growing company with limited net worth that is... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Tactics; Negotiation Preparation; Agreements and Arrangements; Risk and Uncertainty; Real Estate Industry; Financial Services Industry; District of Columbia

May 2003
Article

Managing the Sources of Uncertainty: Matching Process and Context in Software Development

By: Alan MacCormack and Roberto Verganti

Keywords: Management; Risk and Uncertainty; Applications and Software; Research and Development; Technology Industry

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18 Sep 2000
Research & Ideas

Big Deals: Financing Large-Scale Investments

and destroyed much of the country's infrastructure, Mozambique presented formidable risks as a project site. The cost of the plant, which was approximately equal to the country's gross domestic product, made the investment decision even... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

01 Dec 1999
News

New Jakurski Chair Supports Research in Global Finance

Director of Research and teaches courses in capital markets, international finance, and risk management. He received a BA from Stanford in 1980 and a Ph.D. in 1986 from the University of California at Berkeley, where he studied... View Details

08 May 2015
News

A new view of the cost of equity and capital requirements for banks

positive relationship between risk and return is strong between asset classes (say, stocks and bonds), it is weak within classes, such as the stock market. By analyzing a large sample of historical data from US banks, Baker has found that... View Details

23 Apr 2014
News

Think about the unexpected to get the best results

Byron Wien, (AB 1954, MBA 1956), chief investment strategist of Pequot Capital Management, on learning to deal with the unexpected and taking risks to get the best results. (Published April 2014) View Details

June 2010 (Revised April 2011)
Case

Continental Media Group: Business Highlights

By: Robert L. Simons and Kathryn Rosenberg

Continental Media Group has a series of business reviews struggling to achieve profitability. This case focuses on the use of management control systems to identify emerging opportunities and the formulation of new strategies. The interactive system used by top... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Governance Controls; Management Systems; Risk Management; Business Strategy; Publishing Industry