Publications

31 Mar 2009
First Look

First Look: March 31, 2009

PE-backed firms generally have higher earnings quality than those that do not have PE sponsorship, engage less in earnings management, and report more conservatively both before and after the IPO. Further, PE-backed firms that are... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

February 2018 (Revised August 2018)
Case

Blue Haven Initiative: The PEGAfrica Investment

By: Vikram S. Gandhi, Caitlin Reimers Brumme and Amram Migdal

This case examines Blue Haven Initiative (BHI), an impact investing fund and family office, and one of its investments, PEGAfrica (PEG). BHI founder Liesel Pritzker Simmons’ motivations for using her family wealth to start a family office focused on impact investing,... View Details

Keywords: Impact Investing; Family Office; Development; International Development; International Development Investing; Development Fund; Sustainability; Solar Energy; Solar; Pay As You Go; PAYG; MFI; Social Venture; Business Ventures; Acquisition; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Economics; Development Economics; Energy; Energy Conservation; Energy Sources; Renewable Energy; Social Entrepreneurship; Finance; Assets; Asset Pricing; Capital; Capital Budgeting; Capital Structure; Venture Capital; Cash; Cash Flow; Currency; Currency Exchange Rate; Equity; Private Equity; Financial Instruments; Debt Securities; Stock Shares; Financing and Loans; Microfinance; International Finance; Investment; Investment Return; Investment Activism; Investment Funds; Investment Portfolio; Price; Geography; Geographic Location; Emerging Markets; Ownership; Ownership Stake; Private Ownership; Social Enterprise; Value; Valuation; Value Creation; Energy Industry; Financial Services Industry; Green Technology Industry; Africa; United States

24 Sep 2024
Research & Ideas

Why Small Businesses Deserve More Credit

could lead to substantial growth.” But new research suggests that small businesses are far more fiscally conservative than banks realize. In fact, firms with up to 10 employees hold back spending on their revolving credit lines to create... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Financial Services; Banking

26 May 2009
Research & Ideas

Improving Market Research in a Recession

product categories, or stores. Some are even changing long-held attitudes toward consumption. To many folks, filling the home with more stuff or keeping up with the Joneses is no longer appealing. As a result, the degree of uncertainty in business and consumer markets... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

08 Jul 2013
Research & Ideas

Everything Must Go: A Strategy for Store Liquidation

often discount heavily at the end of the liquidation process in order to achieve 100 percent sell-through of inventory, with the belief that leftover product is a clear sign of poor performance. But Craig and Raman's research shows that using more View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Retail

10 Apr 2019
HBS Case

How Entrepreneurs Can Turn Lead Into Gold

offering a common connection or larger goal, through a relationship based on trust.” By leveraging less traditional means of support, a company can ultimately do more with less, conserving valuable financial resources, and bootstrapping... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services

04 May 2009
Research & Ideas

What’s Next for the Big Financial Brands

in the world, way more important than Intel. In any recession, consumers focus closer to home. They become more local and less global in outlook. So these are times of opportunity for the thousands of conservatively run community banks... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Banking; Financial Services

27 Jan 2016
Research & Ideas

A Politician's Investment Portfolio Might Tip Off Corruption Potential

switch, the more conservative you are. This is a standard risk elicitation method that’s been used in the laboratory countless times now,” Minor says. He then compared the survey results to the investors’ actual portfolio choices. What he... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland

16 Aug 2016
First Look

August 16, 2016

ongoing need for shark conservation and management, prevailing negative sentiments marginalize these animals and legitimize permissive exploitation. These negative attitudes arise from an instinctive yet exaggerated fear, which is... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

14 Nov 2019
Book

Lifting the Lid on Turkey's Hidden Business History

it to wholly separate and autonomous agencies, supported by efficient and autonomous court systems. Sadly, the Turkish judiciary and police are bywords for corrupt practices. Silverthorne: In Chapter 5, the essay’s authors explore “Islamic Capitalism and the Rise of... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

25 Nov 2008
First Look

First Look: November 25, 2008

environmental powerhouses: Greenpeace and World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF). Active in 100 countries, WWF works with governments, businesses, other NGOs, and communities to set up conservation programs to preserve natural habitat. In... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

07 Feb 2007
Research & Ideas

Dividends from Schumpeter’s Noble Failure

plan," he writes. Instead, his book can "be used to derive practical conclusions of the most conservative as well as the most radical complexion."14 With his typical intellectual curiosity, Schumpeter strays in Business... View Details

Keywords: by Thomas K. McCraw

October 2023 (Revised November 2023)
Case

Recycle & Re-Match: The Future of Soccer Turfs

By: George Serafeim, Lena Duchene and Carlota Moniz

By August 2023, Re-Match, an artificial turf waste-to-value company, had operations in Denmark and the Netherlands and had recycled over 160,000 tons of waste and plastic fiber. With recent capital injection from the VC firm Verdane and a dual revenue business model,... View Details

14 Nov 2005
Research & Ideas

How Can Start Ups Grow?

implies that these firms would find it especially difficult to increase the scale of their operations and grow. Hence, understanding the factors that influence growth in such firms would be a conservative test of growth in other firms.... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Advertising

10 May 2016
First Look

May 10, 2016

problem-solving that conserves scarce cognitive resources. We then review 142 empirical studies, divided by organizational form into (1) industry studies, (2) firm studies, and (3) studies of open collaborative projects. The industry and... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

March 2020
Case

Voi Technology

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Olivia Hull

Voi Technology, a fast-growing start-up out of Sweden, is competing in the highly contested European e-scooter sharing market. With a presence in nearly 40 cities in Europe by February 2020, the firm is working hard to improve its unit economics to reach profitability.... View Details