Publications

May 2025
Case

'Net Zero in Action': Impact Investing at the McKnight Foundation

By: Lauren Cohen, Christina R. Wing and Sophia Pan

Elizabeth McGeveran, Vice President of Investments at the McKnight Foundation, reflected on how to effectively advance the organization’s net-zero strategy. The foundation had committed 10% of its endowment to building a portfolio of impact investments and was among... View Details

October 2002 (Revised January 2003)
Case

Hermitage Fund, The: Media and Corporate Governance in Russia

William Browder, the top executive of the Hermitage Fund, the best-performing international equity fund over the last five years, attributed much of his funds' strong returns to its focus on shareholder activism and corporate governance. In 2001, he was putting this... View Details

Keywords: Media; Corporate Governance; Investment Activism; Financial Services Industry; Russia

05 Jan 2010
First Look

First Look: January 5

down as MD in 2006, to develop a training program for them. This request raises the question of whether this internal training capability should become the basis of an external View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

17 Apr 2019
Research & Ideas

How Managers Stifle Creativity

constraint. Among destroyers of creativity, or “creativity killers,” as I call them, excessive constraint is probably number one. When people are supposed to be coming up with new ideas or solving complex problems in new ways, they need... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

15 Aug 2007
Op-Ed

3 Steps to Reduce Financial System Risk

set of investors who previously had limited access to complex derivative products. These include insurance companies and public and private pension funds. They see the products as a way to earn higher yield.... View Details

Keywords: by Mohamed El-Erian; Financial Services; Financial Services

14 May 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Quantity vs. Quality and Exclusion by Two-Sided Platforms

Keywords: by Andrei Hagiu; Web Services; Web Services

March 2015 (Revised April 2015)
Case

The Heat Is On: Emerging Ecosystems in the Thermostat Industry

By: David Collis and Ashley Hartman

Beth Wozniak, President of Honeywell Environmental and Combustion Controls (ECC) at Honeywell International Inc., spun around in her office chair, reflecting about how the classic, mature thermostat industry was rapidly evolving. In February 2014, Google paid $3.2... View Details

January 2001
Background Note

Online Brokers

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Alastair Brown

Describes online brokers, companies that use the Internet to help clients identify prospective trading partners and sometimes help their clients complete transactions. First, summarizes the various ways that online brokers create value for their clients. Then analyzes... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Web Services Industry

03 Feb 2021
Blog Post

Faculty Spotlight: Professor Jurgen Weiss

After more than two decades in consulting, Jurgen Weiss joined the Harvard Business School faculty in 2020 as a member of the Business, Government, and the International Economy Unit. He currently teaches... View Details

June 29, 2022
Other Article

Strategic Complexity? Using Experiments to Understand and Overcome Obfuscation

By: Michael Luca, Ginger Zhe Jin and Daniel Martin

Credit card companies must decide what product features to disclose to consumers, such as payment schedules, penalties, and fees--and also whether to present them clearly or bury them in the fine print. Firms face similar choices in settings ranging from privacy... View Details

Keywords: Obfuscation; Credit Cards; Strategic Incentives; Complexity; Agreements and Arrangements; Customers; Consumer Behavior; Financial Services Industry

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June 2006 (Revised April 2007)
Case

Nephila: Innovation in Catastrophe Risk Insurance

By: Kenneth A. Froot and Michael Heinrich

At the cross-section of capital markets and the catastrophe insurance space stands the hedge fund Nephila. Nephila must decide how best to take advantage of the newly presented market opportunities post hurricanes Katrina, Wilma, and Rita. Nephila has a plethora of... View Details

Keywords: Hedge Fund; Investment Management; Uncertainty; Risk and Uncertainty; Natural Disasters; Insurance; Capital Markets; Investment Funds; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Bermuda