Publications

Find at Harvard

Read Now

November 2002 (Revised May 2007)
Case

Charles Schwab in 2002

By: Lynda M. Applegate, F. Warren McFarlan and Jamie Ladge

Details the evolution of the Charles Schwab business model, from its founding in 1975 to October 2002. The protagonist, David Pottruck, is faced with re-inventing the firm as a full-service brokerage at a time of tremendous industry instability as the industry reels... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Business Model; Business or Company Management; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Financial Services Industry

May 2002
Case

Mellon Investor Services

By: Thomas J. DeLong

James Aramanda, head of Mellon Investor Services, must decide how to change the focus of his business. He works with consultants to create a change strategy to enhance a business that is already doing well. Will he be able to interest his professionals in changing the... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Innovation Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Management Teams; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States

18 Feb 2002
Research & Ideas

Wrap-up: Software, Telecom, and Recovery

professor who served as panel moderator, the money flow in venture capital may have been down 51 percent in 2001 compared to 2000, but the sum total was still greater than the previous eighteen or so years combined. Ed Kania, managing... View Details

Keywords: by Wendy Guild & Martha Lagace; Financial Services; Financial Services; Financial Services; Financial Services

17 Aug 2022
News

To Serve and Protect the Markets

retired and who can have financial security in their golden years because their finances were managed well. It could be a young person buying their first stock. It could be a small-business owner needing... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley

October 2021 (Revised January 2022)
Case

Chia Network: Reimagining Programmable Money

By: William A. Sahlman and George Gonzalez

Chia Network developed a novel blockchain platform that was more eco-friendly, decentralized, and scalable than Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other blockchains. Now, company leadership must decide how to scale the startup and prioritize various partnerships, use cases, and... View Details

Keywords: Blockchain; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States

01 Dec 2008
News

Where Are They Now?

Glauber As the nation’s financial crisis unfolded in late September, Bob Glauber (DBA ’65) and his wife were exploring the old Silk Road in remote Central Asia. But that didn’t deter intrepid reporters from trying to track him down for... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Administration of Economic Programs; Government

December 2008 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Olam International

By: David E. Bell and Mary Shelman

In 20 years, Sunny Verghese had built Singapore-based Olam International from a small Nigerian export company into a $5 billion global leader in agricultural commodities with a core competence in Africa. Olam's growth had come by pursuing product and geographic... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Trade; Growth and Development Strategy; Supply Chain; Expansion; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Africa; Singapore

1999
Other Unpublished Work

Ownership and Control in Entrepreneurial Firms: An Examination of Convertible Securities in Venture Capital Investment

By: Paul A. Gompers

Keywords: Business Startups; Ownership; Management; Debt Securities; Venture Capital

October 2014
Case

Honeywell and the Great Recession (A)

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Susan J. Winterberg

CEO Dave Cote spent six years turning around an ailing Honeywell and in 2008 Cote and his team face a new challenge: how to respond to the Great Recession. Cote does not want to give up the gains he made in transforming and unifying Honeywell. With a fall-off in... View Details

Keywords: Layoffs; Furloughs; Downsizing; Work Sharing; Short Time Work; Recessions; Earnings Forecast; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Cost Management; Executive Compensation; Crisis Management; Financial Crisis; Manufacturing Industry

June 2010 (Revised January 2012)
Case

Blue Man Group: Creativity, Life and Surviving an Economic Meltdown

In 2008, Blue Man Group's three co-founders are facing the prospect of losing not just a business but a way of life they have built together. The case follows the story of Chris Wink, Matt Goldman, and Phil Stanton as they pursue their creative passion and build the... View Details

Keywords: Arts; Financial Crisis; Entrepreneurship; Crisis Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Personal Development and Career; Creativity; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

Tasneem Dohadwala is the Founding Partner of Excelestar Ventures, where she and her team are active investors in founders that exhibit compelling promise in medical technology, deep technology and beyond. Previously, her experience included working in View Details

Keywords: Healthcare

21 Jul 2006
Op-Ed

Enron Jury Sent the Right Message

hedges, the breakdowns in the company's performance review and internal control processes, the intolerance of internal dissent, and the inability of Lay and Skilling to face the reality of Enron's true financial condition. But under U.S.... View Details

Keywords: by Malcolm S. Salter

29 Jan 2021
News

Holding Business to Account

before the model Aiyer envisioned would be christened “impact investing,” she launched Walden Capital Management in 1994 to pursue these dual goals of financial return and social change on behalf her... View Details

01 May 2013
News

Michael F. Cronin, MBA 1977

“I wish more alumni could get to know the students we meet at the annual fellowship dinners,” says Michael F. Cronin, a former HBS Fund Chair and longtime supporter of fellowships at HBS. “I’ve met idealists who are committed to social enterprise, line View Details

July 2019 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Salary Finance

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In April 2019, Asesh Sarkar, co-founder and chief executive of Salary Finance Limited, a London-based FinTech, faced tough choices. Sarkar had founded Salary Finance with Dan Cobley and Daniel Shakhani in 2015. The company’s value proposition was quite simple: partner... View Details

Keywords: Credit; Financing and Loans; Wages; Innovation and Invention; Expansion; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Culture; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Services Industry

05 Apr 2004
What Do You Think?

Should We Brace Ourselves for Another Era of M&A Value Destruction?

mergers and acquisitions fail to achieve their objectives, suggesting possible remedies to this "flawed process." Kathryn Yates, for example, cited three primary reasons for M&A failure: "1) Forgetting to plan for the cost of integration… 2)... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

Profile

Kayode Ogunro

employer. How has HBS prepared you for your new job? My job will require a substantial amount of travel to Europe and Africa and more hands on management of deals and projects than I would face with a typical investment firm. My HBS... View Details

Keywords: Investment Management / Hedge Fund; Investment Management / Hedge Fund; Investment Management / Hedge Fund; Investment Management / Hedge Fund; Investment Management / Hedge Fund

Web

Creating Value Through Corporate Restructuring - Course Catalog

debt financing, including the rights of secured creditors, subordination agreements, and debt covenants. By understanding how to fix a “sick” capital structure, students will better understand how to optimally finance a business, and more effectively View Details

February 2010
Article

Global Currency Hedging

By: John Y. Campbell, Karine Serfaty-de Medeiros and Luis M. Viceira

Over the period 1975 to 2005, the US dollar (particularly in relation to the Canadian dollar) and the euro and Swiss franc (particularly in the second half of the period) have moved against world equity markets. Thus these currencies should be attractive to... View Details

Keywords: Currency; Equity; Financial Markets; International Finance; Investment Return; Globalized Markets and Industries; Risk Management