Publications

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15 Jun 2018
News

Skydeck Live: The Science of a Meaningful Life

loving, and having more passion because we are crafting meaningful lives instead of just happy ones. Thank you so much for having me. Skydeck is produced by the External Relations department at Harvard View Details

01 Feb 1999
News

Q&A: Camille Tang Yeh of the Asia-Pacific Research Office

include whether high-performance Asian companies can provide a business model for success in the region, the role of accounting infrastructure in transitional economies, restructuring diversified View Details

Keywords: Educational Support Services; Educational Services

01 Jun 2023
News

Buy Big, Sell Small

least 75 percent of India’s consumer goods sales despite the significant inefficiencies of an outdated business model. “Kiranas are limited-inventory, 2,000- to... View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg; retail; supply chain management; entrepreneurship; leadership; innovation; Miscellaneous Store Retailers; Retail Trade

02 Oct 2019

Information Session at the University of Notre Dame

Do you know where an MBA can take you? Open your mind to the breadth of career opportunities available in business and feel the flexibility of the MBA degree. It's not about... View Details

December 2019 (Revised August 2022)
Exercise

Janet Ames (B)

By: Brian Trelstad and Brian Trelstad

The series of Janet Ames cases follow a fictional alumna of Harvard Business School into her consulting career in Boston. Over the series of cases, Ames is first offered the opportunity to join the board of a Boston-based non-profit organization, which offers students... View Details

Keywords: Philanthropy; Board; Non-profit Management; Career Changes And Transitions; Evaluation; Personal Development and Career; Opportunities; Decision Choices and Conditions; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Governing and Advisory Boards; Social Enterprise; Social Entrepreneurship; Nonprofit Organizations; Management; United States

March 2015
Case

Unilever: Combatting Global Food Waste

By: David F. Drake, Janice H. Hammond and Matthew G. Preble

The global consumer goods company Unilever was on pace to hit a number of aggressive targets by 2020 as part of the Unilever Sustainable Living Project, including a goal to halve the waste associated with the disposal of its products. Unilever's chief supply chain... View Details

10 Mar 2021
News

Turning Point: Coming to Cambodia

wreaked by Pol Pot and his followers (the Khmer Rouge regime killed nearly 2 million Cambodians), the next generation was building a new society. Their idealism and their hopes were palpable, and their enthusiasm was contagious. I wanted to help, if I could—maybe by... View Details

Keywords: mentorship; nonprofit management; retirement; leadership

01 Apr 1998
News

HBS Alumni Association Board of Directors: President's Report

are discovering, articulating, and institutionalizing the management practices that will keep companies innovative and entrepreneurial in the new millennium. While I cannot possibly list all the presentations, I hope the following samples... View Details

February 2021 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Barbarians at the Gate or Turnaround Gurus? Private Equity and the Rise of the LBO

By: Tom Nicholas and John Masko

During the 1980s, leveraged buyouts (LBOs) and the private equity (PE) firms responsible for carrying them out revolutionized both investment and management in the U.S. Between 1980 and 1989, buyout activity in the U.S. surged from $1 billion per year to $60 billion.... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Restructuring; Borrowing and Debt; Private Equity; Bonds; Investment Return; Institutional Investing; Profit Sharing; Business History; Management Style; Private Ownership; Performance Effectiveness; Value Creation; Financial Services Industry; United States

Article

Was the Wealth of Nations Determined in 1000 B.C.?

By: Diego A. Comin, Bill Easterly and Erick Gong

We assemble a dataset on technology adoption in 1000 B.C., 0 A.D., and 1500 A.D. for the predecessors to today's nation states. We find that this very old history of technology adoption is surprisingly significant for today's national development outcomes. Our strong... View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Growth and Development; Adoption; Business Strategy; Cost; Cost Management; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Culture; Technology Industry

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October 2010
Journal Article

The Flattening Firm and Product Market Competition: The Effect of Trade Liberalization on Corporate Hierarchies

By: Maria Guadalupe and Julie Wulf

This paper establishes a causal effect of product market competition on various characteristics of organizational design. Using a unique panel-dataset on firm hierarchies of large U.S. firms (1986-1999) and a quasi-natural experiment (trade liberalization), we find... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Product; Markets; Competition; Organizational Design; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Rank and Position; Organizational Structure; Decision Choices and Conditions; Change; Trade; United States

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01 Oct 1999
News

The Class of 1974: Timed for a Change

his greeting: "A general manager has a social responsibility that requires a professional response. I hope that your two years at the Harvard Business School will enable you to contribute an effective... View Details

Keywords: Charles B. ("Chuck") Mercer

July 2012
Case

New Century Financial Corporation (Abridged)

By: Krishna G. Palepu, Suraj Srinivasan and Ian Cornell

After years of rapid growth and stock price appreciation, New Century Financial Corporation, one of the largest subprime loan originators in the U.S., reported accounting problems in early 2007. The resulting liquidity crisis forced the company to file for Chapter 11... View Details

Keywords: Audit Committees; Financial Management; Control Systems; Securities; Loan Evaluation; Accounting; Value; Financial Services Industry; United States

June 2016
Case

Duff & Phelps: Scaling an Entrepreneurial Venture (A)

By: Lynda M. Applegate and David Lane

Having teamed up to launch their own financial services business, Noah Gottdiener and Jacob Silverman soon discover a venerable brand and viable business in an established bank subsidiary. They then work for many months to acquire the business as a platform for... View Details

Keywords: Duff ＆ Phelps; Entrepreneurial Management; Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Entrepreneurial Financing; Entrepreneurship; Mergers and Acquisitions; Integration; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry

December 2002 (Revised February 2015)
Case

Jim Sharpe: Extrusion Technology, Inc. (Abridged)

By: H. Kent Bowen and Barbara Feinberg

Jim Sharpe, 10 years after receiving his MBA from Harvard and working for others, has finally become his own boss and 100% owner of manufacturer of aluminum extrusions. After 10 months of an unfunded search, he acquires the business in an LBO and prepares to face his... View Details

Web

Speeding Up the Trade: Clippers and Steamships - A Chronicle of the China Trade

of the China Trade Introduction Doing Business with China Augustine Heard & Co. The Canton Trade Commodities & Currencies Treaty Ports & Compradors Clippers & Steamships Exploring Trade Links Chinese... View Details

February 2025
Case

What's Heiring Next? The Saga of the Murdoch Media Empire

By: Lauren Cohen, Mayra Gazel and Sophia Pan

As Lachlan Murdoch left the courthouse, he puzzled on the next phase of his battle for control over his father Rupert Murdoch’s media empire. With Rupert aging and his siblings determined to retain their voting rights, Lachlan was convinced that the future of News... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Lawsuits and Litigation; Rights; Management Succession; Family Ownership; Family and Family Relationships; Power and Influence; Media and Broadcasting Industry

01 Dec 2000
News

HBS Alumni Association Board of Directors: President's Report

their cue from alumni feedback, the organizers have assembled a first-rate roster of HBS faculty members who will present their latest research in one of four timely areas: View Details

Keywords: Educational Support Services; Educational Services

June 2020
Supplement

Career Karma: Growth in a Time of Global Uncertainty (B)

By: Laura Huang and Elizabeth Jiang

This (B) case expands upon the journey of Career Karma’s three founders by presenting a fictionalized Investor Meeting scenario. View Details