Investment Efficiency - Publications - Faculty & Research

01 Jun 2008
News

The Prophet of Start-Ups

entrepreneurs in an organized way,” says Arnold Kroll, an investment banker at Lehman Brothers who worked with ARD. Doriot was not a physically imposing fellow, but he exuded a magnetic aura. “It was almost like knowing someone like... View Details

Keywords: Spencer E. Ante; George Doriot; Charles F. Kettering; Lawrence Lowell; F. Warren Hellman; Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments; Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments; Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments

08 Apr 2011
Research & Ideas

Will the Japan Disaster Remake the Landscape for Green Energy in Asia?

Even before the recent earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown in Japan, many parts of Asia had already begun investing in "green" energy. But the disaster has certainly upped the urgency of the discussions. “It's driven a lot... View Details

Keywords: by Dennis Fisher; Energy; Utilities

Web

Buildings & Cities - Business & Environment

protective barriers—along with novel finance models to support the investments needed to implement these improvements Energy-sourcing innovations that allow for efficiently transitioning from fossil fuels to... View Details

18 Oct 2010
Lessons from the Classroom

Venture Capital’s Disconnect with Clean Tech

Funding: Bridging the "Valley of Death." The case discusses the Department of Energy's attempt to bolster the green economy by investing more than $32 billion in clean-energy efforts, including $16.8 million for to energy View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Energy; Utilities; Financial Services

Web

Transportation - Business & Environment

contributions are even greater; in the U.S., transportation is the top GHG contributor. [37] Transportation infrastructure--roads, bridges, airports, and ports-- is particularly at risk of disruption from climate change. Flooding, storms, and heat threaten the... View Details

Vincent A. Calarco

struggling companies. His track record of efficient cost containment, customer focus, and sales investment has enabled Crompton to not only survive, but also thrive as a leading player in a very competitive... View Details

Keywords: Chemicals & Industrial

Thomas J. Watson, Jr.

Though his father had turned IBM into a tremendously successful company, the firm that Thomas Jr. inherited was largely a mix of loosely organized divisions that competed with one another for resources. After an intensive restructuring, which improved View Details

Keywords: Computers & Electronics

John R. Simplot

Investing in businesses that ranged from cattle to potatoes to fertilizer, Simplot used his talent at achieving efficiency and at spotting a growing market to garner enormous profits. Simplot capitalized on... View Details

Keywords: Food & Tobacco

22 Nov 2022
Blog Post

Alumni Leaders on Decarbonization Strategies for Combatting Climate Change

commercial EVs (up to $40,000 for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles) means they will achieve price parity with diesel trucks in 2023, five years sooner than previously forecasted. This is leading to big investments by EV battery... View Details

06 Jun 2018
News

The Business of Social Justice

become legal in one day. These kinds of changes have decades of investment behind them.” As COO, Brooks oversees strategic planning, operations, and finances, as well as the evaluation of programs to determine ways operations can be more... View Details

25 May 2016
News

A Focus on Sustainability

Carl Ferenbach (MBA 1972) Carl Ferenbach (MBA 1972), who enjoyed a remarkably successful career in the investment business, has spent much of the last decade focused on his passion for the environment. Channeling his energy, intelligence,... View Details

24 Oct 2023
Blog Post

Alumni in Climate Networking Series: San Francisco

Entrepreneurship and the California Research Center to bring alumni together who are working on all aspects of that innovation. On September 26th, Scott Jacobs (MBA Class of 2007) and the team at Generate Capital hosted around 75 HBS alumni who wanted to learn more... View Details

01 Dec 2016
News

Ask the Expert: Energy’s Next Era

Africa’s largest oil- producing country, has expensive and unreliable energy. Whether it is lines for automobile and generator fuels or blackouts of the electricity grid, Nigeria is a perfect example of a country that cannot afford to do without View Details

07 Dec 2015
News

Making Higher Ed Accessible to Africans

who started his first company, Tribeca Designs, an efficient storage CD tower, while a student at Harvard Business School, spent his early post-HBS years working for private equity firms before joining Radio One—an American broadcasting... View Details

Web

Kraft Accelerator

developing sound investment models. Then, we divided and conquered, setting out to work in each of these four areas to propose solutions to fix the inefficiencies within them. See who helped us get here. Patient Engagement There’s so much... View Details

March 1997 (Revised November 2013)
Case

Purity Steel Corporation, 2012

By: Robert L. Simons and Antonio Davila

Managers introduce a new performance evaluation system based on sales growth and return-on-investment (ROI). A branch manager wonders whether his new warehouse should be leased to mitigate the impact on ROI. Formulas and performance calculations are provided. A... View Details

Keywords: Investment Return; Judgments; Motivation and Incentives; Performance Efficiency; Compensation and Benefits; Salesforce Management; Performance Consistency; Performance Productivity; Steel Industry

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24 Sep 2014
Op-Ed

Tackling Climate Change Will Cost Less Than We Think

No one knows how much it will cost to keep the risks of significant climate disruption to a reasonable level. One commonly cited estimate puts the cost at roughly 1 percent of world GDP a year, or about $840 billion. This is a large number, but it seems smaller when... View Details

Keywords: by Rebecca Henderson; Energy; Utilities

February 1995
Teaching Note

Vanity Fair Mills: Market Response System TN

By: David E. Bell

Teaching Note for (9-593-111). View Details

Keywords: Production; Performance Efficiency; Investment; Agreements and Arrangements; Supply Chain; Partners and Partnerships; Distribution Channels; Apparel and Accessories Industry