Publications

January 2009 (Revised December 2009)
Supplement

Playing with Fire at Sittercity (B)

By: Noam T. Wasserman and Rachel Gordon

To help her finance her aggressive expansion plans, Genevieve Thiers plans to raise venture capital for the first time. She has spent the last six long years building Sittercity into the nation's leading babysitting web service, larger than all of its competitors... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Problems and Challenges; Risk Management; Agreements and Arrangements; Service Operations; Family and Family Relationships; Competition; Expansion; Internet

December 2002 (Revised December 2017)
Background Note

Teaching Old Companies New Tricks: The Challenge of Managing New Streams Within the Mainstream

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Describes the challenge of starting new ventures or new activities in established companies, especially if they diverge from the mainstream of ongoing commitments. Fledgling ventures require a different kind of management that acknowledges their uncertainty, intensity,... View Details

Keywords: Business Units; Teaching; Entrepreneurship; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Organizations; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Corporate Strategy

April 2001
Teaching Note

Katharine Graham TN

By: Kathleen L. McGinn, Lisa M. Gunther and Dina R. Pradel

Teaching Note for (9-801-276). View Details

Keywords: Leading Change; Public Ownership; Power and Influence; Experience and Expertise; Value; Decision Making; Personal Development and Career; Risk and Uncertainty

May 2000 (Revised October 2001)
Case

Dell Ventures

By: Paul A. Gompers, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Cate Reavis

Describes the rationale behind the strategy and structure of Dell Computer Corp.'s VC arm, Dell Ventures. While Dell Ventures had a phenomenal year one, it faced a number of challenges including dealing with market risks, finding and retaining talent, maintaining... View Details

Keywords: Business Divisions; Talent and Talent Management; Goals and Objectives; Risk Management; Organizational Structure; Interests; Business Strategy; Computer Industry

15 Nov 2017
Research & Ideas

How Does a Social Startup Decide to Commercialize? It May Depend on the Founder's Gender

donations or grants, hybrid organizations generate their own commercial revenues that sustain their pursuit of a social mission. While hybrid models can enhance financial sustainability, they also pose new challenges for entrepreneurs. Hybrids run the View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

24 Feb 2015
First Look

First Look: February 24

persistent but can also be associated with firms' risk or growth characteristics, implying that ICC regressions are likely confounded by spurious correlations. Moreover, I document that biases in GLS' measurement errors are driven not... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

20 May 2019
Research & Ideas

Activist CEOs Are Rising Up—and Their Customers Are Listening

the risk of alienating employees and potential recruits who don’t hold the same beliefs. Activism can present an even more significant risk in terms of how customers will respond. Lessons for managers The... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

01 Jun 2008
News

Faculty Research Online

HBS Working Knowledge is an online forum for innovation in business practice, offering a first look at new thinking from HBS faculty. Read the complete articles summarized below by visiting their Web links. Reducing Risk with Online... View Details

Keywords: Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services

Web

Doing Business with China 2035: Navigating Uncertainty - Course Catalog

while still responding to ever-changing policy directions in Beijing, Washington, and Europe. Our course will examine case studies of firms that have faced these challenges and will equip students with strategies for managing geopolitical View Details

21 May 2019
News

Confronting the Future of Climate Change in the Midwest

world on which they ultimately depend,” said HBS professor Forest Reinhardt (MBA 1987), who moderated a panel focused on the impact of climate change as part of two panels at the event titled “Confronting Climate Change: Opportunities and View Details

Keywords: Agriculture

13 Apr 2015
Research & Ideas

3 Ways Firms Can Profit From Environmental Investments

In the course of her work, Rebecca Henderson meets business executives who don't address the threat of climate change because they don't believe that it exists. Her recommendation: They should consider investments in environmental sustainability anyway, assuming that... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Energy; Utilities

16 Mar 2023
Blog Post

HySynergy and Crossbridge Energy

“chicken-and-egg” problem: Every energy producer needs off-takers (buyers) and the cooperative strategy between HySynergy and Crossbridge Energy reduces the first-mover risk in order to spur investment from both parties. Additionally, our... View Details

July 2017 (Revised November 2017)
Case

Media Markets Down South: Goldman Sachs' Investment in Grupo Clarín

By: Rafael Di Tella, Jose Liberti and Sarah McAra

Founded in 1945, Grupo Clarín expanded over several decades to become Argentina’s largest media conglomerate. With leading positions in newspapers, broadcast television, broadcast radio, cable television, and Internet services, Grupo Clarín caught the attention of... View Details

Keywords: Media; Business and Government Relations; Risk and Uncertainty; Initial Public Offering; Investment; Journalism and News Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Argentina

Spring 2011
Article

CSR as Reputation Insurance: Primum Non Nocere

By: Dylan B. Minor and John Morgan

We provide a theoretical framework showing how CSR activities can insure a firm against lost reputation in the face of adverse events. We offer evidence for this linkage through a case study and a multi-year analysis of stock price responses for S&P 500 companies... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility; Insurance; Risk Management; Marketing Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Reputation

Find at Harvard

October 2012
Teaching Note

Hill Country Snack Foods Co. (Brief Case)

By: W. Carl Kester and Craig Stephenson

Keywords: United States; Debt Management; Retail Trade; Risk Management; Food; Capital Structure; Borrowing and Debt; Financial Strategy; Retail Industry; United States

2005
Chapter

The Recovery Window: Organizational Learning Following Ambiguous Threats

By: A. Edmondson, Erika Ferlins, Laura Feldman and Richard Bohmer

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Design; Risk and Uncertainty; Opportunities

spring 1973
Article

Management of Commercial Bank Government Security Portfolios: An Optimization Approach Under Uncertainty

By: D. B. Crane and Stephen P. Bradley

Keywords: Management; Banks and Banking; Government and Politics; Investment; Risk and Uncertainty

Find at Harvard

October 1993
Supplement

The Analyst's Dilemma (B)

By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. and Jerry Useem

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Investment Banking; Ethics; Risk and Uncertainty; Problems and Challenges; Financial Services Industry