Publications

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October 2021 (Revised May 2023)
Case

Project Maji: Pricing Water in Sub-Saharan Africa

By: Elie Ofek, Marco Bertini, Dilyana Karadzhova Botha and Esel Çekin

In July 2021, Sunil Lalvani, founder and CEO of Project Maji, a non-profit social enterprise headquartered in Dubai that had already provided sustainable, clean water solutions to 80,000 people living in rural communities across Ghana and Kenya, was facing an important... View Details

Keywords: Water; Pricing; Nonprofit Organizations; Projects; Price; Decision Making; Social Enterprise; Growth and Development Strategy; Equity; Green Technology; Social and Collaborative Networks; Africa; Dubai

25 Mar 2016
News

Why More MBAs Should Buy Small Businesses

February 2009 (Revised March 2009)
Case

AFSCME vs. Mozilo...and "Say on Pay" for All! (A)

By: Fabrizio Ferri and James Weber

Union seeks to protect its pension funds through shareholder activism focused on corporate governance and executive compensation. The case uses Countrywide Financial as an example. Richard Ferlauto, director of pensions and benefits policy at the AFSCME, the largest... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Mortgages; Investment Activism; Investment Funds; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Executive Compensation; Labor Unions; Business and Shareholder Relations; United States

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02 Jul 2008
News

Harvard University Opens Office In Shanghai

02 Dec 2014
Working Paper Summaries

International Trade, Multinational Activity, and Corporate Finance

Keywords: by C. Fritz Foley & Kalina Manova

July 2022
Article

Private Equity and COVID-19

By: Paul A. Gompers, Steven N. Kaplan and Vladimir Mukharlyamov

We survey more than 200 private equity (PE) managers from firms with $1.9 trillion of assets under management (AUM) about their portfolio performance, decisionmaking and activities during the Covid-19 pandemic. Given that PE managers have significant incentives to... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Health Pandemics; Private Equity; Management; Investment Portfolio; Performance; Decision Making; Value Creation

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Teaching Interest

Venture Capital and Private Equity (MBA)

By: Josh Lerner

The growth of private equity internationally has been dramatic, to the point that the asset class has been both lauded as the savior and vilified as the cause of our current economic malaise. Over the past two decades, private equity- ranging from venture capital to... View Details

Emily R. McComb

Emily McComb is a Senior Lecturer in the Finance Unit at HBS, teaching "Finance 2" in the required curriculum of the MBA program, as well as a co-leader of the HBS Impact Investment Fund in the elective curriculum. Prior to joining the HBS faculty in 2017, Emily was... View Details

Keywords: financial services; health care

March 1995 (Revised January 1998)
Case

Germany's Evolving Privatization Policies: The Plaschna Management KG

Describes the evolution of the German government's approach to restructuring East German firms. Three organizations and their interactions are examined: 1) the Treuhand, Germany's privatization agency; 2) the Plaschna Management KG, a private organization funded by the... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Privatization; Government and Politics; Germany

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September 2010 (Revised May 2012)
Case

Windward Investment Management

By: Luis M. Viceira and Ricardo Alberto De Armas

Windward Investment Management has experienced rapid growth in assets under management in just ten years, from under $30 million at year-end 1999 to $3.6 billion in 2010. Windward is one of the leading firms in the Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) industry that... View Details

Keywords: Asset Management; Valuation; Investment; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry

Jo Tango is the MBA Class of 1962 Senior Lecturer of Business Administration. He helps teach "The Entrepreneurial Manager" (TEM), a required course for all 900 first-year students and of which he... View Details

TeachingInterests

Venture Capital and Private Equity (MBA)

By: Archie L. Jones

The growth of private equity internationally has been dramatic, to the point that the asset class has been both lauded as the savior and vilified as the cause of our current economic malaise. Over the past two decades, private equity- ranging from venture... View Details

June 2003 (Revised August 2003)
Case

Pension Policy at The Boots Company PLC

By: Luis M. Viceira and Akiko M. Mitsui

In early 2000, the trustees of the pension scheme at Boots considered a proposal to move 100% of the pension assets into a bond portfolio, which would be passively managed. The Boots Co. PLC was a leading retailer of cosmetics and toiletries in the United Kingdom, and... View Details

Keywords: Performance Productivity; Employees; Asset Management; Capital Structure; Investment Portfolio; Consumer Products Industry; United Kingdom

Research Summary

Overview

My focus is empirical financial accounting research, with particular interests in governance, valuation, M&A, and short-sellers. All three of my papers to date fall under the broad heading of “alternative governance mechanisms”—studies of how accounting information is... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Corporate Governance; Valuation; Law

Research Summary

Overview

My focus is empirical financial accounting research, with particular interests in governance, valuation, M&A, and short-sellers. All three of my papers to date fall under the broad heading of “alternative governance mechanisms”—studies of how accounting information is... View Details

August 2022
Case

In-Q-Tel: Innovation On A Mission

By: Joshua Lev Krieger and Josh Lerner

In 2022, the leaders of In-Q-Tel (IQT) considered what was next for the unique mission-driven organization. Since 1999, IQT had one mission: to be the most sophisticated source of strategic technical knowledge and capabilities to the U.S. government and its allies. IQT... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; National Security; Technological Innovation; Research; Geopolitical Units; Risk Management; Recruitment; Growth and Development Strategy; Venture Capital; Knowledge Management; Information Industry; Banking Industry

April 2015 (Revised April 2015)
Case

Yale University Investments Office: February 2015

By: Josh Lerner

David Swensen and the Investments Office staff must decide whether to continue to allocate the bulk of the university's endowment to illiquid investments—hedge funds, private equity, real estate—given the impact of the recent market turmoil. The case explores the risks... View Details

Keywords: Asset Management; Resource Allocation; Investment; Venture Capital; Investment Funds; Property; Private Equity

Teaching Interest

MBA Elective Curriculum: Investment Strategies

By: Malcolm P. Baker

This is a CORE course for students pursuing careers in finance. Thus, students interested in pursuing careers in mutual funds, hedge funds, pension funds, endowments, wealth management, financial consulting, marketing and client service, sales and trading,... View Details

March 2018 (Revised March 2018)
Teaching Note

OpenInvest

By: Boris Vallee and Caitlin Reimers Brumme

Founded by a team of hedge fund and NGO alumni, OpenInvest launched its platform in 2015 to enable retail investors to tailor their portfolio to their personal values in an automated way, for instance by screening out weapon manufacturers stocks or overweighting LGBTQ... View Details

Keywords: Socially Responsible Investing; Investing For Impact; Robo-advisors; Investment; Values and Beliefs; Customization and Personalization; Technology; Financial Services Industry