Publications

05 Oct 2017
News

"Forged in Crisis" author on the makings of a great leader

What five extraordinary leaders during turbulent times can teach today's leaders

Historian Nancy Koehn says great leaders are not born, they're made.

Koehn, a Harvard Business School historian, is the author of a new book called "Forged in Crisis: The Power of Courageous Leadership in Turbulent Times." It examines the lives, successes... View Details

December 2010
Background Note

Risk and Reward in Venture Capital

By: William A. Sahlman

This note describes the payoff structure of investment in individual venture capital–backed companies and in venture capital portfolios. Venture Capital investments are characterized by high failure rate (0ver 50%) and a small number of given successes (greater than... View Details

Keywords: Capital Markets; Venture Capital; Investment Return; Investment Portfolio; Analytics and Data Science; Failure; Performance; Information Technology

December 1996 (Revised October 1999)
Case

Kidder, Peabody & Co.: Creating Elusive Profits

By: Robert L. Simons and Antonio Davila

On April 17, 1994, Kidder, Peabody & Co. announced a $350 million charge against earnings resulting from the discovery of false trading profits. That same day, the termination of Joseph Jett's employment with the company was made public. By illustrating the mechanics... View Details

Keywords: Bonds; Governance Controls; Crime and Corruption; Financial Reporting; Profit; Financial Strategy

April 1999 (Revised September 1999)
Case

Compaq Computer: Consumer Notebook Group

By: David E. Bell and Ann Leamon

Presents the background for a video of a focus group on Compaq Computer's new consumer notebook. Engineers, manufacturers, and retailers had collaborated on the product design, which has been approved by the executive committee. A launch is scheduled for nine months... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Product Launch; Product Design; Outcome or Result; Social and Collaborative Networks; Corporate Strategy; Computer Industry

Dec 2019
Survey

A Recovery Squandered

Despite a decade of steady economic growth since the Great Recession, America has done remarkably little to address underlying structural weaknesses in the country’s economy and society. Surveys of HBS alumni worldwide, HBS MBA students, and members of the U.S. public... View Details

May 2007 (Revised July 2007)
Case

JetBlue: Prepare for Financing

The CFO of JetBlue is trying to decide which of two financing proposals to pursue. A straight equity issue will dilute his principal shareholders' ownership, but seems like the safer alternative in an industry that is notorious for its high failure rate. On the other... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Private Equity; Public Equity; Financing and Loans; Air Transportation Industry; United States

14 Jan 2014
News

Lessons Learned From The Original 'Amazing Race'

November 2018
Case

Swissgrid: Enterprise Risk Management in a Digital Age

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Anette Mikes

Kurt Meyer, chief risk officer of Swissgrid, the Swiss national electricity transmission system operator, reflects on the risk management system he installed after the deregulation and liberalization of the European energy market. With 41 connections to other European... View Details

Keywords: Enterprise Risk Management; Energy Transmission; Risk and Uncertainty; Risk Management; Energy; Energy Industry; Utilities Industry; Switzerland

20 Sep 2017
News

Harvard Business School report highlights ranked choice voting among reforms

March 9, 2023
Article

Linking Growth and the Frontline

By: Frank V. Cespedes, Jay Galeota and Michael Wong

Most strategies are about growing the business. But about one quarter of companies do not grow at all and, even before the pandemic, only one in eight achieved more than 10% revenue growth annually, according to data from S&P Global regulatory filings. One reason is a... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Customer Focus and Relationships; Competency and Skills

Read Now

December 2021 (Revised January 2023)
Supplement

Katerra (B)

By: Lindsay N. Hyde, Thomas R. Eisenmann and Tom Quinn

In May 2020, SoftBank executives, having invested nearly $2 billion in Katerra, decided the vision of an end-to-end, vertically-integrated construction process was worth saving—with some major changes to company structure. The SoftBank Vision Fund invested $200 million... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Failure; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Entrepreneurship; Construction; Real Estate Industry; Construction Industry; Technology Industry; United States

July 2020
Article

Intra-firm Geographic Mobility: Value Creation Mechanisms and Future Research Directions

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury

This paper argues that intra-firm geographic mobility is an understudied mechanism that can help mitigate coordination failures in a geographically distributed organization. The paper presents an organizing framework on how intra-firm geographic mobility creates value... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Employees; Geographic Location; Value Creation