Publications

January 1988
Background Note

Costs of Capital Investment Proposals

April 2007 (Revised March 2008)
Case

Dr. Iqbal Survé at Sekunjalo Investment Group (A)

By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Stecker

Dr. Iqbal Surve, a self-described "medical doctor, philanthropist, and social entrepreneur," was born in 1963 and grew up in poverty, like virtually all non-white South Africans during apartheid. During the 1970s and 1980s, he served in leadership positions in the ANC,... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Social Entrepreneurship; Investment; Leadership; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Partners and Partnerships; South Africa

June 1994
Case

Letter from an Investment Banker

By: D. Quinn Mills, G. Bruce Friesen and Richard C. Wei

Keywords: Investment Banking; Banking Industry

September 2009 (Revised May 2011)
Supplement

Acumen Fund: Measurement in Impact Investing (B)

By: Alnoor Ebrahim and V. Kasturi Rangan

As Acumen Fund, a global venture philanthropy firm, moves forward with an investment portfolio exceeding $22 million, it runs into two critical measurement problems. First, how should it track the performance of each investment when its interest is not just the bottom... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Investment Portfolio; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Standards; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Performance Evaluation; Social Enterprise; Competition; Financial Services Industry; Kenya

October 1999 (Revised November 1999)
Case

Wit Capital: Evolution of the Online Investment Bank

Wit Capital brings democracy to the IPO process via the World Wide Web. This case encourages debate about the role service will play in this technology-intermediated investment bank and the sources and sustainability of its competitive advantage. View Details

Keywords: Initial Public Offering; Service Delivery; Competitive Advantage; Investment Banking; Web; Banking Industry

1993
Chapter

Foreign Direct Investment in Semiconductors

By: D. B. Yoffie

Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment; Technology; Semiconductor Industry

2010
Working Paper

Investment Taxation and Portfolio Performance

By: Daniel B. Bergstresser and Jeffrey Pontiff

Taxes have a first-order impact on portfolio returns. Most research mistakenly assumes that portfolios command similar tax burdens, or that tax burdens are proportional to dividend yields. Portfolio strategies differ in the pace of capital gains realization. We use the... View Details

Keywords: Financial Strategy; Investment Return; Investment Portfolio; Taxation; Performance Evaluation

Read Now

May 2022 (Revised June 2022)
Case

Proposing to Redesign a Global Investment Bank

By: David G. Fubini

A major, NYC-based, global investment bank is looking to rethink its Systems strategy amid a rapidly evolving digital landscape. Your firm has served the client across most of its major geographies on a range of substantial Systems and IT efforts, but is facing... View Details

Keywords: Consulting; Professional Services; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Digital Strategy; Presentations; Competitive Strategy; Consulting Industry; New York (city, NY)

March 2025 (Revised May 2025)
Case

Primetime Partners: Investing in Healthspan, Wealthspan, and Workspan

By: Rembrand Koning, Nicole Tempest Keller and Susan Wilner Golden

In the fall of 2024, Abby Miller Levy (HBS ’01), co-founder and managing partner of Primetime Partners, was preparing to raise a second fund. Founded in 2020 with veteran investor Alan Patricof, Primetime was a horizontal fund focused on early-stage companies serving... View Details

Keywords: Investment Funds; Age; Social Issues; Financing and Loans; Investment Return; Business Strategy; Financial Services Industry; United States

August 1989
Article

Identifying New Inflation Investment Opportunities

By: David F. Hawkins

May 1984
Article

Investment Banking: Commercial Banks' Inroads

By: Samuel Hayes

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1978
Working Paper

Evolving Competition in Investment Banking

By: S. L. Hayes III

Article

The Business Case for Investing in Physician Well-Being

By: Tait D. Shanafelt, Joel Goh and Christine A. Sinsky

Importance: Widespread burnout among physicians has been recognized for more than two decades. Extensive evidence indicates that physician burnout has important personal and professional consequences.
Observations: A lack of awareness regarding... View Details

Keywords: Physicians; Well-being; ROI; Health; Welfare or Wellbeing; Ethics; Investment Return; Health Industry

September 1996 (Revised January 1997)
Case

Zambia's Agricultural Sector Investment Program

By: George C. Lodge and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Keywords: Agribusiness; Investment; Business and Government Relations; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Zambia

September 1999
Case

CIBC Corporate and Investment Banking (B): 1992-1997 (Condensed)

By: Joseph L. Bower and Michael Raynor

From 1992 to 1997, CIBC CEO Al Flood and head of investment banking John Hunkin integrate the struggling investment bank Wood Gundy with CIBC's corporate bank. The impact and interaction of organization design, compensation schemes, and communication initiatives are... View Details

Keywords: Investment Banking; Banks and Banking; Mergers and Acquisitions; Organizational Design; Business Plan; Communication; Banking Industry

November 2016 (Revised April 2018)
Case

Darby's Investment in Sirma: Professionalizing an Entrepreneurial Firm

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Eren Kuzucu

In March 2010, Burak Dalgın (HBS MBA 2004) led private equity firm Darby's investment in Sırma, a local Turkish water and beverage company. Sırma was owned and managed by members of two Turkish business families. The existing management, while being highly... View Details

Keywords: Control Systems; Variance Analysis; Emerging Markets; Debt; Family Ownership; Turkey; Valuation; Business or Company Management; Private Equity; Financial Reporting; Investment; Budgets and Budgeting; Food and Beverage Industry; Turkey

July 2005 (Revised March 2010)
Case

Foreign Direct Investment and Ireland's Tiger Economy (A)

By: Laura Alfaro, Vinati Dev and Stephen McIntyre

Describes Ireland's transformation from one of Europe's poorest countries to one of its richest in just 10 years, earning it the title Celtic Tiger. The spectacular story of growth and recovery is attributed, in large part, to foreign direct investment (FDI),... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Economic Growth; Macroeconomics; Foreign Direct Investment; Policy; Business and Government Relations; Republic of Ireland

May 2010 (Revised January 2014)
Case

Water Shortage and Property Investing in Mexico City

By: John D. Macomber, Regina Garcia-Cuellar and Griffin James

A commercial property company evaluates water risks including the government's ability to remedy, the company's operating exposure and mitigation, and whether to relocate because of water risk. A real estate fund manager assesses investment prospects in Mexico City in... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Investment; Risk Management; Infrastructure; Privatization; Business and Government Relations; Partners and Partnerships; Financial Services Industry; Real Estate Industry; Utilities Industry; Mexico City