Publications

December 2024
Article

Large Shocks Travel Fast

By: Alberto Cavallo, Francesco Lippi and Ken Miyahara

We document a sizeable increase in the frequency of price adjustments following the large energy shocks of 2022. We use a tractable New Keynesian model, calibrated to the pre-shock data, to interpret such a pattern. The calibration highlights the state-dependence of... View Details

Keywords: System Shocks; Price; Cost; Inflation and Deflation; Financial Institutions

Read Now

May 1993 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Friendly Cards, Inc.

By: William E. Fruhan Jr.

Involves analysis of a major capital investment proposal, an acquisition of another company, an estimate of the funds required for these two possible outlays, and a recommended course of management action. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Capital; Capital Budgeting; Investment

01 Dec 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Financing Innovation

Keywords: by William R. Kerr & Ramana Nanda

Olivia S. Kim

Olivia Kim is an assistant professor of business administration in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit at Harvard Business School. She teaches the Entrepreneurial Management course in the MBA required curriculum.

Professor Kim's research examines how firms... View Details

Suraj Srinivasan

Suraj Srinivasan is the Philip J. Stomberg Professor of Business Administration, a member of the Accounting and Management faculty unit, and chair of the View Details

Keywords: accounting industry; financial services

Profile

Henry McCance

drug development, exponentially increasing the chances of finding effective treatment and prevention. In 2004, the three families founded the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund (CAF) to support Tanzi’s work and other Alzheimer’s research. At McCance’s... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital / Private Equity; Venture Capital / Private Equity; Venture Capital / Private Equity

September 2010
Article

Do Inventory and Gross Margin Data Improve Sales Forecasts for U.S. Public Retailers?

By: Saravanan Kesavan, Vishal Gaur and Ananth Raman

Firm-level sales forecasts for retailers can be improved if we incorporate cost of goods sold, inventory, and gross margin (defined here as the ratio of sales to cost of goods sold) as three endogenous variables. We construct a simultaneous equations model, estimated... View Details

Keywords: Sales; Forecasting and Prediction; Distribution; Goods and Commodities; Cost; Public Sector; Profit; Mathematical Methods; Analytics and Data Science; Retail Industry; United States

January 1994
Exercise

Walt Disney Company's Sleeping Beauty Bonds

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

Walt Disney Co. issues a 100-year bond. This case describes the terms of the bond and immediate capital market reaction. View Details

Keywords: Capital Markets; Cash Flow; Debt Securities; Bonds; Interest Rates; Value

June 2007 (Revised March 2008)
Case

Zoots - Financing Growth (A)

By: Michael J. Roberts, William A. Sahlman and Todd Krasnow

Traces the genesis and founding of Zoots, the largest chain of dry cleaning establishments in the U.S. Founded by some of the founders of the very successful Staples chain, the company raises a very large amount of capital without fully proving its business model, and... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Venture Capital; Financial Strategy; Investment Return; Growth and Development Strategy; Valuation; United States

March 1993 (Revised March 1994)
Case

Sierra On-Line, Inc. (A)

Sierra On-Line, a fast growing software developer, is criticized by a Forbes journalist for excessively capitalizing software development costs. In contrast to most other software developers that typically capitalize about 20% of R&D costs, Sierra capitalizes 80%.... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Financial Statements; Corporate Finance; Information Technology Industry

April 2021 (Revised August 2024)
Case

The Turnaround at Ford Motor Company

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Olivia Jung

This case describes the corporate turnaround of the Ford Motor Company under the charismatic leadership of Alan Mulally. Ford was in deep trouble in the early 2000s as its prices and debt ratings plummeted and employee morale suffered. In 2006, the company anticipated... View Details

Keywords: Turnaround; Transformation; Restructuring; Organizational Culture; Leading Change; Performance Improvement; Auto Industry; North America

21 Jul 2014
Research & Ideas

Is a Gap in Small-Business Credit Holding Back the American Economy?

(Editor's note: This first in a series of articles based on a Harvard Business School working paper by Karen Mills that analyzes the current state of availability of bank View Details

Keywords: by Karen Mills; Manufacturing

June 1997
Case

Massachusetts General Hospital: CABG Surgery (B)

By: Steven C. Wheelwright and Mikelle Eastley

Once the CABG care path is implemented and other care paths begun, hospital staff and administration examine the resulting data. Further methods of improving care and reducing cost are presented for analysis. View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Policy; Retention; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Operations; Performance Improvement; Health Industry

July 2019
Article

Market Reaction to Mandatory Nonfinancial Disclosure

By: Jody Grewal, Edward J. Riedl and George Serafeim

We examine the equity market reaction to events associated with the passage of a directive in the European Union (EU) mandating increased nonfinancial disclosure. These disclosures relate to firms’ environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance and would be... View Details

Keywords: Nonfinancial Information; Nonfinancial Performance; ESG; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; Investor Behavior; Disclosure; Disclosure Regulation; Regulation; Sustainability; Corporate Performance; Information; Corporate Disclosure; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Performance; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Governance; Outcome or Result

SSRN

November 2002 (Revised October 2003)
Case

Circles: Series D Financing

By: Paul W. Marshall and Kristin Lieb

Circles, a corporate concierge company on the verge of profitability, must make a decision whether to take a D-round venture capital despite ever-changing and ever-worsening terms. A four-year-old company with several major clients, it has met its business plan... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Financing and Loans; Management Teams; Growth and Development Strategy; Negotiation Process; Venture Capital; Governing and Advisory Boards; Entrepreneurship; Service Industry; Consulting Industry; Massachusetts

February 2000 (Revised February 2001)
Background Note

Ecotourism: A Brief Introduction

Introduces the concept of ecotourism, discusses consumptive and non-consumptive programs, and reviews the benefits and costs of this approach to development. View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Tourism Industry

October 2001 (Revised March 2008)
Case

Anagene, Inc.

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Christina L. Darwall

An entrepreneurial, publicly traded biotech company has begun production and sales of its core product--cartridges that permit DNA samples to be analyzed on a microchip. In the early quarters, sales are difficult to forecast and the company has experienced fluctuating... View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Financial Reporting; Production; Performance Capacity; Risk and Uncertainty; Genetics; Governing and Advisory Boards; Biotechnology Industry; California

15 Dec 2014
Research & Ideas

Deconstructing the Price Tag

consumers tend to value the product more." Mohan is an author of the paper Lifting the Veil: The Benefits of Cost Transparency, written with HBS assistant professors Ryan W.... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Retail

April 2020
Teaching Note

Cambridge Franchise Partners

By: Richard S. Ruback, Royce Yudkoff and Ahron Rosenfeld

Teaching Note for HBS No. 217-082. Cambridge Franchise Partners (CFP) was established by Matt Perelman and Alex Sloane (both HBS ’15) to pursue a roll-up strategy in the quick service restaurant (QSR) sector. Burger King (BK) approved CFP’s request to become a... View Details

Keywords: Roll-up; Franchise; Franchise Management; Small Firms Management; Franchise Ownership; Small Business; Management; Acquisition