Publications

14 Mar 2018
News

Do the Things You Love

very rich people who are not at all happy. The people who are alive, the people who are glowing, the people who are excited to be who they are, are the people who took risks and took chances. Some of them have worked for not-for-profits,... View Details

16 Dec 2014
First Look

First Look: December 16

effectiveness because people were not accountable to each other for progress, did not have shared understanding of their work, and faced interpersonal risks when reaching out to other roles. The redesign introduced new mesolevel... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Web

Protecting Data at HBS | Information Technology

High Risk Confidential Information DSL 5: Information which could be life threatening. Data Classification Examples Harvard maintains two pages for Data Classification documents with examples of how to consider your data. Administrative... View Details

04 Apr 2018
News

Rebuilding the Girl Scouts Brand

Mishka Pitter-Armand (MBA 2003) was never a Girl Scout; but she is a go-getter, an innovator, a risk taker, and a leader. “When you bring those four words together,” Pitter-Armand says, “they form the acronym G.I.R.L.” In late 2016,... View Details

09 Dec 2015
Research Event

When Hosts Attack: The Competitive Threat of Online Platforms

economy. “A platform owner may imitate them and enter their markets by offering similar products,” Zhu explained. “Before you build your business model around platforms, you need to think about how to minimize the risk from these... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Retail; Technology; Web Services

18 Dec 2023
Blog Post

Climate Symposium 2023: Adopting Climate Solutions at Scale

consider what you stand to gain instead of what you risk losing. She recognized that while financing can be complicated because of the risks associated with climate investments, it is far riskier to turn... View Details

01 Feb 1999
News

Short Takes

No Mistake About It: Trust Is Key in Learning It's a real Catch-22: Learning is more critical than ever to firm success, yet the process often requires making mistakes. And many people believe mistakes lead to failure and thus avoid View Details

Keywords: Judith A. Ross

April 1993 (Revised December 1994)
Case

Lehman Brothers and the Securitization of American Express Charge-Card Receivables

By: Andre F. Perold and Kuljot Singh

In early 1992, Lehman Brothers had received a mandate from its affiliate, American Express Travel Related Services (TRS) Co., to securitize a portion of its consumer charge-card receivables portfolio. It is now July 22, and Lehman and TRS have just returned from a... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Credit Cards; Financial Instruments; Stocks; Asset Pricing

September 2009
Supplement

Consumer Lending in Japan: Citi CFJ (B)

By: J. Gunnar Trumbull and Akiko Kanno

As the regulatory environment for consumer lending evolves, CFJ has to decide how to respond. View Details

Keywords: Personal Finance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Risk Management; Business and Government Relations; Banking Industry; Japan

September 2003 (Revised January 2004)
Case

Giant Cinema

By: Malcolm P. Baker, Richard S. Ruback, Erik Stafford and Kathleen Luchs

The owner of Giant Cinema must decide whether to invest in a digital projector, a new technology for screening films, or purchase a traditional projector. The impact of the new technology is uncertain, and the case describes probabilities for different outcomes that... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Film Entertainment; Technology Adoption; Financial Strategy; Investment; Outcome or Result; Risk and Uncertainty; Technology; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

Find at Harvard

June 2000 (Revised June 2000)
Case

Microsoft Office 2000

By: Alan D. MacCormack and Kerry Herman

Describes the history of Microsoft's Office product suite. Discusses evolution of the Office 2000 project. Set at the end of the project when Steven Sinofsky, Office vice president, must decide upon the direction for the next version of Office, as well as make changes... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Product Development; Risk and Uncertainty; Change; Innovation and Management; Information Technology Industry

October 1996 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Eric Wood (A)

By: Myra M. Hart

Describes the early career of an MBA who went to work in a small business, bought the company, and is now contemplating an acquisition to expand the business. The issues involve personal/business finance and financial risk, as well as valuation and financial... View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Business Growth and Maturation; Mergers and Acquisitions; Risk and Uncertainty

26 May 2011
News

A Prescription for 2011 Graduates

Keywords: Ambulatory Health Care Services; Health, Social Assistance

February 2011
Teaching Note

Citigroup's Exchange Offer (TN)

By: Robin Greenwood

Teaching Note for 210009. View Details

Keywords: Equity; Government and Politics; Stocks; Price; Capital; Banks and Banking; Performance Evaluation; Risk and Uncertainty; Capital Markets; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States

June 2008
Article

Bringing the Context Back In: Settings and the Search for Syndicate Partners in Venture Capital Investment Networks

Most existing network-based theories of relationship formation, whether based on homophily or structural constraint, imply that actors form highly cohesive, homogenous clusters. Yet real networks also include many "bridging" ties—isolated links between parties that... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Networks; Theory; Partners and Partnerships; Investment; Risk and Uncertainty; Business Growth and Maturation; Size; Geographic Location

Find at Harvard

January 1999
Case

Ciba Specialty Chemicals

By: Forest L. Reinhardt

Based on extensive interviews, this case discusses the environmental policies of a successful firm in the specialty chemicals business. Executives at Ciba have differentiated products along environmental lines and have used environmental scrutiny as a tool for cutting... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Business or Company Management; Cost Management; Risk Management; Business Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Competitive Advantage; Chemical Industry

Find at Harvard

08 Jan 2001
Research & Ideas

Can Japan Compete? [Part Two]

new industries in Japan are things like highly skilled specialist personnel; a lack of risk capital because of heavily controlled financial markets; barriers to commercializing university research; and limited incentives for View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace & Hilah Geer

24 Sep 2014
Op-Ed

The ABCs of Addressing Climate Change (From a Business Perspective)

Change What role should business leaders play in trying to affect climate change? Harvard Business School faculty share their thoughts. A: Actuarial Thinking. Assessing probabilities and portfolio risk is how property insurance companies... View Details

Keywords: by John Macomber; Energy; Utilities

November 2007 (Revised February 2011)
Case

The Ice King

By: Tom Nicholas and Sandra Nicholas

Provides an opportunity to examine the risk-reward tradeoff and the travails of entrepreneurial venturing in the nascent U.S. economy. Traces the origins and development of Frederic Tudor's Ice Company, a business which developed during the 19th century to hack chunks... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Cost vs Benefits; Entrepreneurship; Globalization; Business History; Operations; Risk and Uncertainty; United States