Publications

October 2002
Article

CEO compensation, diversification, and incentives

Keywords: Management; Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives

03 Feb 2018
Op-Ed

How to Heed BlackRock's Call for Corporate Social Responsibility

Larry Fink recently created a shockwave. As cofounder, chairman, and CEO of BlackRock, one of the world’s largest global asset management firms, in an open letter to CEOs he caught the attention of financial markets and beyond by... View Details

Keywords: by Julie Battilana

July 1995 (Revised May 1997)
Case

Nutra Foods

By: David F. Hawkins

An investor reviews his equity investment and asks for help in understanding how the stock splits and dividends impact his investment and the company's stockholders' equity portion of the balance sheet. View Details

Keywords: History; Financial Management; Private Equity; Capital Structure; Valuation; Investment Return; Business and Shareholder Relations; Financial Services Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

February 1995 (Revised September 1995)
Case

The Bourland Companies

By: William J. Poorvu and John H. Vogel Jr.

Michael Bourland, the president of the Bourland Companies, needs to refinance two properties, an office building in southern New Hampshire and a retail property in Massachusetts. He is considering three alternatives: a renewal of a bank mini-perm, a 15-year mortgage... View Details

Keywords: Capital Markets; Property; Mortgages; Family Business; Financial Management; Family Ownership; Real Estate Industry; Massachusetts; North and Central America

Educators

10 Jul 2000
Research & Ideas

Entrepreneurship in Europe

push into other countries more quickly. "Building a functioning multinational firm is a huge challenge. There are many that underestimate it." A strong rise in both venture capital and private equity funds under View Details

Keywords: by Kenneth Liss

20 Jun 2011
Lessons from the Classroom

Fame, Faith, and Social Activism: Business Lessons from Bono

celebrities including Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and Oprah Winfrey, was drawn to Bono's commitment to conscious capitalism and to the question of what made Bono, well, Bono. "It so clicked for me," she says. "I hadn't listened to U2 in 10... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Entertainment & Recreation

30 Nov 2020
Research & Ideas

COVID Not Slowing VC Investment

Business School Working Knowledge. [Image: Hiraman] Related Reading Recessions Push Some Entrepreneurs to Launch Too Soon Why Backstage Capital Invests in ‘Underestimated’ Entrepreneurs Research Paper: Does Venture View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Financial Services; Banking

July 2005
Teaching Note

Utah Symphony and Utah Opera: A Merger Proposal (TN)

By: Thomas J. DeLong

Teaching Note to (9-404-116). View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Arts; Mergers and Acquisitions; Design; Organizational Culture; Voting; Integration; Human Capital; Music Industry

23 Apr 2013
First Look

First Look: April 23

high-tech venture with a staff of 35 experiencing explosive growth, or were the resignations symptomatic of bigger issues with CloudFlare's culture and management processes? After describing CloudFlare's early history, business model,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

23 Jan 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, January 23, 2018

reduce risk, though the effectiveness depends upon the role of capital structure in volatility. To address this question, we build a statistical model of equity volatility that accounts for leverage. Our approach blends Merton’s insights... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2021
Teaching Note

Amazon: Cult or Culture?

By: Boris Groysberg, Kerry Herman and Amy Klopfenstein

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 421-008. Amazon was one of the first entrants in e-commerce. Under the leadership of founder Jeff Bezos, Amazon had expanded beyond books to manufacturing and selling a wide range of products and services globally. Bezos had built a... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Organizational Culture; Growth Management; Information Technology; Human Resources; Talent and Talent Management; Retail Industry; Technology Industry

January 2010 (Revised November 2012)
Case

Savage Beast (A1)

By: Noam Wasserman and LP Maurice

For several months, things had been spiraling downwards at Savage Beast, the music-recommendation company started three years before by Tim Westergren. The company's founder-CEO recently left due to pressures both at home and within the venture. Dozens of investors... View Details

Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Lawsuits and Litigation; Management Teams; Partners and Partnerships

Educators

14 Nov 2012
Research & Ideas

New Agenda for Corporate Accountability Reporting

community activists? When and how does such reporting affect how managers make decisions in ways that increase or decrease shareholder value? What are the main welfare effects of corporate accountability reporting? Using the lessons of... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Accounting; Energy; Utilities

17 Dec 2001
Research & Ideas

Venture Capital: Hot Markets and Current Industry Trends

Capital Partners. "A lot of noise has been eliminated. The people I deal with are true believers." His company is "not looking for quick flips. We're willing to roll up our sleeves." The growing field of photonics will... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

January 1991
Supplement

Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (B)

Describes the president's long-term goals for improving employee awareness and understanding of the plan. View Details

Keywords: Goals and Objectives; Health Care and Treatment; Employees; Health Industry

11 Sep 2006
Research & Ideas

Negotiating When the Rules Suddenly Change

objectives and plans. While you're striving to influence their behavior, they're just as determined to shape your decisions to their advantage. According to Warfighting, appreciating this dynamic interplay between opposing human wills is... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Wheeler; Sports

30 Jun 2020
What Do You Think?

Is a Business School-Industry Collaboration Needed to Attract Black Talent to Campus?

suggestions, including starting early (Kcorey: “How about connecting with youth at an earlier age who are interested in business?”), emulating efforts to bring women into management education (Roslyn Payne: “In the 1980’s when University... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Education

18 Jun 2001
Lessons from the Classroom

Why Leaders Need Great Books

senior lecturer Sandra Sucher will teach a section as well. Although The Moral Leader adheres to a pedagogical framework, it eschews the traditional HBS case method involving a manager and his or her business problems. Instead, it focuses... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

April 2019 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Clear Link Technologies, LLC: Driving Sales with Peer Effects

By: Christopher Stanton, Richard Saouma and Olivia Hull

The importance of a good peer or coworker is widely discussed, but understanding the glue that makes coworkers valuable is less understood. This case sheds light on the importance of peers and the practices and environments that make a group greater than the sum of its... View Details

Educators