Publications

August 2013 (Revised November 2013)
Case

Gordon Brothers: Collateralizing Corporate Loans by Brands

By: Paul Healy and Maria Loumioti

The case explores the collateralization of intellectual property in a loan agreement between a highly leveraged apparel company and a large US bank. Leveraging intangibles in the credit market is a new practice that has significantly grown over the past few years.... View Details

Keywords: Intangible Assets; Accounting; Valuation; Finance; Restructuring; United States

January 2021 (Revised March 2021)
Case

Juno (A): Leveraging Student Power

By: Joshua Schwartzstein, Kathleen L. McGinn and Amy Klopfenstein

In March 2020, Chris Abkarians and Nikhil Agarwal were in the midst of preparing the annual auction for their student loan assistance startup, Juno. Both current MBA students at Harvard Business School, the duo founded Juno in 2018 to leverage student bargaining power... View Details

December 2022
Article

Entry Points: Gaining Momentum in Early-Stage Cross-Boundary Collaborations

By: Eva Flavia Martínez Orbegozo, Jorrit de Jong, Hannah Riley Bowles, Amy Edmondson, Anahide Nahhal and Lisa Cox

To address complex social challenges, it is widely recognized that leaders from public, for-profit, and civic organizations should join forces. Yet, well-intended collaborators often struggle to achieve alignment and fail to gain traction in their joint efforts. This... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Social and Collaborative Networks; Goals and Objectives

Read Now

November 2012 (Revised September 2013)
Case

Restructuring at Nova Chemical Corporation (Abridged)

By: Scott P. Mason

Management of a diversified chemicals company faces two financial decisions: whether to finance a major investment in new production facilities for its rapidly expanding Environmental Products Division, and whether to sell a more slowly growing non-specialty chemicals... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Decision Choices and Conditions; Chemicals; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Finance; Chemical Industry

04 Aug 2021
News

Will Remote Workers Get Left Behind in the Hybrid Office?

September 1994 (Revised April 1995)
Case

Banque Paribas: Paribas Derives Garantis

In March 1993, the management of Paribas Capital Markets is making a final review of the proposal to set up Paribas Derives Garantis (PDG), a special-purpose subsidiary of Compagnie Financiere de Paribas (CFP), that would guarantee derivative products offered by Banque... View Details

Keywords: Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Business Subsidiaries; Banks and Banking; Financial Services Industry

Find at Harvard

2010
Other Unpublished Work

Why Takeover Vulnerability Matters to Debtholders

By: Joan Farre-Mensa

Recent work documents that firms that are more vulnerable to takeover have higher borrowing costs. This paper investigates the reasons behind this stylized fact. My results show that firms with few antitakeover defenses face a higher cost of debt because lenders are... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Borrowing and Debt; Cost; Equity; Banks and Banking; Investment Portfolio; Risk Management; Agreements and Arrangements; Business and Shareholder Relations; Conflict and Resolution

SSRN

March 2008
Supplement

Patel Food and Chemicals Private Limited (B)

By: Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

Alok Patel, the founder and chairman of a Gujarat-based, privately held edible oils processor, has hired a CFO and the company is doing extremely well. He wants to add a new plant to process oilive oil, but estimates he will need $20 million. He must decide among... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Financing and Loans; Investment; Financial Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Chemical Industry; Gujarat

Find at Harvard

March 2013
Article

Why 'Fair Value' Is the Rule: How a Controversial Accounting Approach Gained Support

By: Karthik Ramanna

For the past two decades, fair-value accounting—the practice of measuring assets and liabilities at estimates of their current values—has been on the ascent. This marks a major departure from the centuries-old tradition of keeping books at historical cost. It also has... View Details

Keywords: Fair Value; FASB; Finance; Politics; Financial History; Accounting; Fair Value Accounting; Financial Reporting; Accounting Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States

Read Now

January 2021 (Revised March 2021)
Supplement

Juno (B): Leveraging Student Power

By: Joshua Schwartzstein, Kathleen L. McGinn and Amy Klopfenstein

In March 2020, Juno co-founders Chris Abkarians and Nikhil Agarwal decided to pitch banks in anticipation of their annual auction while negotiating directly with private lender Eager. Responses from the majority of private lenders—including Juno’s 2019 partner—were not... View Details

Article

Immigrant Entrepreneurs in U.S. Financial History, 1775-1914

Throughout its history, the U.S. has been the beneficiary of a worldwide in-migration of entrepreneurial talent. This article surveys finance, one of the many sectors in which immigrants made a conspicuous impact. Part I demonstrates the dominant role of immigrants in... View Details

Keywords: History; Talent and Talent Management; Groups and Teams; Entrepreneurship; Policy; Immigration; Banks and Banking; United States

Find at Harvard

December 2014 (Revised August 2015)
Case

Muñoz Group: Sustaining Global Vertical Integration Through Innovation

By: Jose B. Alvarez and Annelena Lobb

Muñoz Group, which supplied supermarket chains and food distribution chains around the world with fruit, flowers, juice and ice cream, was at a strategic crossroads in 2014. CEO Alvaro Muñoz had to choose the best way to achieve profit goals and provide his company... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Supply Chain; Retail; Agribusiness Industry; Globalized Firms and Management; Supply Chain Management; Competitive Advantage; Vertical Integration; Profit; Innovation and Invention; Retail Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; North and Central America

July 2017 (Revised December 2018)
Case

Populism in America: Fake News, Alternative Facts and Elite Betrayal in the Trump Era

By: Rafael Di Tella and Sarah McAra

During the 2016 U.S. election, long-time politician Hillary Clinton, a Democrat, and celebrity billionaire Donald Trump, a Republican, faced off in a contentious race for president. In the primaries, candidates from both major political parties used anti-establishment... View Details

Keywords: Populism; Elites; Income Inequality; Government and Politics; Globalization; Political Elections; News; Media; Labor; Prejudice and Bias; Public Opinion; Social Issues; Wealth and Poverty; Social Media