Publications

28 Apr 2009
First Look

First Look: April 28, 2009

tax authorities. Download the paper from SSRN ($5): http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=884812 Cases & Course MaterialsAderans Harvard Business School Case 209-090 Steel Partners is a U.S.-based hedge View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

23 Oct 2007
First Look

First Look: October 23, 2007

Abstract We study the interplay of inequality and trust in a dynamic game, where trust increases efficiency and thus allows higher growth of the experimental economy in the future. We find that trust is initially high in a treatment... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

14 Mar 2023
In Practice

What Does the Failure of Silicon Valley Bank Say About the State of Finance?

exhaustion after several years of dealing with surprises ranging from shortages and runs on basic goods to the Fed’s limited ability to control or even forecast inflation. Something will also have to be said eventually about the profitable business of inciting runs... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Financial Services; Banking

02 Jun 2009
First Look

First Look: June 2, 2009

version of this process enabled IBM to generate more than $15 billion in growth between 2000 and 2005. Cases & Course MaterialsBrummer and the bracNet Investment Harvard Business School Case 309-065 bracNet, a for-profit/nonprofit... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

09 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

Unilever—A Case Study

the United States in 1888 and by the turn of the century had three manufacturing plants in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Philadelphia, and Vicksburg, Mississippi. 4 The subsequent growth of the business, which was by no means linear, will be... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones; Consumer Products; Entertainment & Recreation; Food & Beverage; Manufacturing; Retail

July 2019 (Revised May 2021)
Case

Acelerex

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In early 2019, Randell Johnson, Founder and Chief Executive of Acelerex, was reflecting on the company’s first year of rapid growth and the challenges of scaling the business that lay ahead. Acelerex was riding the waves of change taking place in electrical power grids... View Details

Keywords: Energy; Energy Sources; Growth Management; Expansion; Global Strategy; Cash Flow; Energy Industry; Energy Industry; Energy Industry

15 Jan 2008
First Look

First Look: January 15, 2008

addition to its traditional investment management business. The private equity industry is rapidly institutionalizing, with firms raising funds over $10 billion and some considering public offerings. A sale... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

09 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

Could Clean Hydrogen Become Affordable at Scale by 2030?

Hydrogen is poised to move from the sidelines of global clean energy as the industry learns to produce it more efficiently and at lower cost, according to newly published research led by Gunther Glenk, a climate fellow with Harvard Business School's Institute for the... View Details

Keywords: by Desmond Dodd; Energy; Green Technology

August 2024
Case

Ashesi University: The Journey from Vision to Reality

By: Ranjay Gulati and Caroline de Lacvivier

In 1997, Patrick Awuah had a dream: to bring liberal arts education to Ghana. Amid the country’s declining economy and pervasive corruption problems, Awuah saw education as an opportunity to reverse its fortunes by investing in the next generation of African leaders.... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Higher Education; Entrepreneurship; Leadership Development; Growth Management; Mission and Purpose; Private Ownership; Education Industry; Ghana

29 May 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, May 29, 2018

(BRFSS) data on 2.3 million U.S. respondents, and Eurobarometer data that cover multiple business cycles over four decades. This research provides a new perspective on the welfare cost of business cycles, with implications for growth... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

14 May 2013
First Look

First Look: May 14

entertainment industry really works-and how to navigate today's high-stakes business world at large. Publisher's link: http://www.blockbusters-thebook.com/ 2006 Journal of Economic Perspectives The Investment Strategies of Sovereign... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

09 Feb 2010
First Look

First Look: Feb. 9

investment by two prominent hedge funds when the liquidity crisis caused the hedge funds to withdraw from the transaction. Dole must now... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

16 Jun 2021
HBS Case

Cruising in Crisis: How Carnival Is Riding Out the COVID-19 Storm

companies are often considered financially distressed. “Indeed, early in the pandemic, with the financial markets in turmoil, Carnival reportedly entered into discussions with a group of private equity and hedge View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Travel

April 2013 (Revised November 2013)
Case

Growing Financial Services in India: Aditya Birla Financial Services Group

By: Paul M. Healy and Rachna Tahilyani

Aditya Birla Financial Services Group is a large, broad-based, Indian financial services institution offering products ranging from life insurance and mutual funds to private equity. The company has witnessed a turnaround in recent years and regained lost market share.... View Details

Keywords: Regulatory Environment; Finance; Asset Management; Business Growth and Maturation; Transformation; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Business Processes; Organizational Structure; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Competitive Strategy; Diversification; Segmentation; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; India

19 May 2009
First Look

First Look: May 19, 2009

commercialization and adoption. Emerging opportunities must be nurtured, and the transition to high growth must be managed. Once breakthrough innovations catch hold, growth must be View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

January 2014
Case

Steven Carpenter at Cake Financial (Abridged)

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Joseph B. Fuller and Shikhar Ghosh

Steven Carpenter reflects on the successes and failures of his recent venture, Cake Financial. Carpenter had just sold the four-year-old startup and was at work on a new business plan. But first, he wanted to understand why Cake Financial, a service that allowed users... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Internet; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

April 2025
Teaching Note

Tabby: Winning Customers' Digital Wallets

By: Eva Ascarza

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 524-056. Tabby, a Saudi-based fintech founded in 2019, rapidly became one of the MENA region’s first unicorns by offering buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) services with a unique twist: instead of charging end consumers, it partnered with... View Details

Keywords: Fintech; Business Startups; Marketing; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Business Model; Competitive Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Middle East; Saudi Arabia; United Arab Emirates