Publications

December 2010 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Asian Agri and the Future of Palm Oil

By: David E. Bell and Natalie Kindred

For Asian Agri and other Indonesian palm oil producers, the future promised rising demand from fast-growing Asian populations, but also intensifying criticism from environmental groups. With the highest yield and lowest production cost of any edible oil, palm oil... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Social Marketing; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business Strategy; Supply Chain Management; Natural Environment; Marketing Strategy; Environmental Sustainability; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Indonesia; Malaysia

28 May 2024
In Practice

Job Search Advice for a Tough Market: Think Broadly and Stay Flexible

‘yes’ The venture capital and startup job market is particularly slow this year. I am reaching into my network more than in prior years to put students in touch with people in the industry. Down rounds and layoffs in tech have been in the... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

09 Feb 2011
Working Paper Summaries

Sustainable Cities: Oxymoron or the Shape of the Future?

Keywords: by Annissa Alusi, Robert G. Eccles, Amy C. Edmondson & Tiona Zuzul

Web

Strategy Explained - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

UnIQUENESS Strategy is the creation of a unique and valuable position, involving a different set of activities. making TRADE-OFFS Strategy requires you to make trade-offs in competing – choosing what not to do. FIT across the value chain... View Details

30 Oct 2019
Blog Post

Candidates Seeking Opportunities After Graduation: Lessons Learned

students, their searches involved a greater level of complexity, perhaps because of specific location requirements or partner concerns. Some students want to focus on culture and work environment, and found waiting until they no longer... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

September 1992 (Revised August 2010)
Case

The Carried Interest

By: Henry B. Reiling

Makes the point that general partners and others frequently contract to receive a share of any profits that the venture they manage generates. This practice raises the question of whether the value of this contract right should be taxed when it is received or only when... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Cash Flow; Profit Sharing; Taxation; Contracts; Business or Company Management; Partners and Partnerships

Find at Harvard

23 Apr 2008
Op-Ed

The Gap in the U.S. Treasury Recommendations

not disappear. With tightened credit standards and higher capital requirements on loans, it became more profitable for banks to package loans as securities and sell the credit risk to the buyers of... View Details

Keywords: by Dwight Crane; Banking; Construction; Real Estate; Financial Services

22 Apr 2024
Research & Ideas

When Does Impact Investing Make the Biggest Impact?

majority tend to invest in companies that are also able to raise capital from non-impact investors. More than half of funding rounds involving impact investors include co-investment with traditional, profit-motivated investors. The study... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

February 2014 (Revised March 2022)
Case

School Specialty, Inc.

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Kristin Mugford

Set in 2013, School Specialty was a financially troubled supplier of educational products to primary and secondary schools in the United States. The company planned to file Chapter 11 in order to address its excessive debt load, but needed to arrange... View Details

Keywords: School Specialty; Bankruptcy; Section 363; Financing; Chapter 11; Capital Structure; Financing and Loans; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Distribution Industry; Education Industry; United States

Web

Accounting & Management - Faculty & Research

cause conservative behavior; rather, they select into firms that take fewer risks. Additional tests support altruism as the driving motive. Informal capital is thus a behaviorally distinct source of startup funding, shaped by relational... View Details

2009
Working Paper

Don't Just Survive - Thrive: Leading Innovation in Good Times and Bad

By: Lynda M. Applegate and J. Bruce Harreld

Battered by contracting markets and frozen credit, many businesses today are fighting for survival. Indeed, the current global financial crisis provides a mandate for restructuring. But survival is not the end goal. In fact, cost cutting and restructuring are simply... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Risk Management; Leading Change; Innovation and Management; Crisis Management; Growth and Development Strategy

Read Now

By 2050 the number of people living in cities will have nearly doubled, to 6 billion, and the problems created by this rampant urbanization are among the most important challenges of our time. Of all resource-management issues, the author argues, water, electricity,... View Details

March 2024 (Revised April 2024)
Case

Angel City Football Club: Scoring a New Model

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Jennifer Fonstad and Nicole Tempest Keller

In January 2024, Kara Nortman, Julie Uhrman, and Natalie Portman, the founders of Angel City Football Club (ACFC) were developing the club’s first three-year strategic plan. Founded in 2020, ACFC had a star-studded investor group, including Portman and celebrities such... View Details

Keywords: Sports; Entertainment; Entrepreneurship; Brands and Branding; Venture Capital; Business Model; Corporate Strategy; Digital Marketing; Sports Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States; California; Los Angeles

28 Jun 2016
First Look

June 28, 2016

the world of startups. It also describes how certain industries, like energy, are poorly suited to the investment profile of traditional venture capitalists. The product development cycle is too long and the capital View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Program

Aligning Strategy and Sales

marketing, HR, finance, service, or general management Executives in business-to-business product or service companies—or business units of large enterprises—that depend on a direct sales force for all or part of their revenue Executives from venture View Details

23 Jul 2013
First Look

First Look: July 23

https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/download.aspx?name=13-092.pdf Debating the Responsibility of Capitalism in Historical and Global Perspective By: Jones, Geoffrey Abstract—This working paper examines the evolution of concepts of the... View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

Web

Giving - Alumni

American Express, and Discover Online Give Online Give online via Harvard's secure donation form By Phone Alumni & Development Services 617.495.1750 HBS accepts MasterCard, Visa, American Express, and Discover Online LOG IN TO GIVE Recommended for all alumni and View Details

March 2021 (Revised August 2024)
Case

Hotwire.com: Navigating Through Turbulence

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Manny de Zarraga and Eric Levine

On September 10, 2001, after speaking at an industry conference at New York’s World Trade Center, Hotwire co-founder Spencer Rascoff boarded a flight from Newark to San Francisco. After returning home, Rascoff awoke the next morning to a phone call informing him that... View Details

Keywords: September 11; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business Growth and Maturation; Disruption; Decisions; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Growth Management; Digital Platforms; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Expansion; Internet and the Web; Leading Change; Leadership Style; Air Transportation Industry; Tourism Industry; San Francisco

January 2018
Supplement

Jumia Nigeria PowerPoint Supplement

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell

Founded in 2012, Jumia Nigeria, a startup effort by Germany-based Rocket Internet, aimed to become an African Amazon. The company entered the nascent market and immediately enjoyed an uptick in consumer spending fueled by the strength of Nigeria’s oil-based economy. By... View Details

Keywords: Retail; Marketplace; Inventory; Nigeria; Africa; Ecommerce; Funding; Business Ecosystems; Business Ecosystem; Competition; Business Model; Globalization; Emerging Markets; Expansion; Logistics; E-commerce; Retail Industry; India; Nigeria; Africa