Publications

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

22 Aug 2020
News

Bluemercury’s Marla Beck on How Covid-19 Is Changing the Beauty Business

“We’ve taken so many good things from them,” Beck tells the podcast. “They have technology infrastructure that we don’t have. They have incredible financial infrastructure. We’ve piggybacked onto some of their relationships with digital... View Details

February 1985 (Revised August 2008)
Case

Arrow Electronics

Arrow Electronics is the fastest growing distributor of electronic components in North America and the second largest. Its capital structure policy of heavy reliance on debt financing contrasts sharply with that of its leading competitor, Arnet. Students are asked to... View Details

Keywords: Borrowing and Debt; Capital Structure; Financial Management; Risk Management; Distribution; Competition; Hardware; Electronics Industry; United States

03 Nov 2003
What Do You Think?

Can Investors Have Too Much Accounting Transparency?

Summing Up Basic conclusions that can be drawn from responses to this month's column are that it may or may not be useful to try to legislate accounting transparency. But such efforts address symptoms, not causes, of behaviors leading to purposely misleading View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

August 2016 (Revised August 2017)
Case

AnswerDash (Abridged)

By: Elie Ofek and Jeffrey D. Shulman

It is 2014 and AnswerDash, a startup backed by venture capital, has not seen the widespread adoption of their online self-service customer support solution that they were expecting based on early success in helping clients save and generate substantial amounts of... View Details

Keywords: Pricing; Economic Value Estimation; Price Metrics; Organizational Selling; Innovation Adoption; Business To Business; Marketing; Customer Lifetime Value; Venture Capital; Customer Relationship Management; Price; Marketing Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Technology Adoption; Business Startups; Sales; Innovation and Invention; Product Marketing; Financial Services Industry

June 2016 (Revised August 2017)
Case

AnswerDash

By: Elie Ofek and Jeffrey D. Shulman

It is 2014, and AnswerDash, a startup backed by venture capital, has not seen the widespread adoption of their online self-service customer support solution that they were expecting based on early success in helping clients save and generate substantial amounts of... View Details

Keywords: Pricing; Economic Value Estimation; Price Metrics; Organizational Selling; Innovation Adoption; Business To Business; Marketing; Customer Lifetime Value; Venture Capital; Customer Relationship Management; Price; Marketing Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Technology Adoption; Business Startups; Sales; Innovation and Invention; Product Marketing; Financial Services Industry

January 2020 (Revised May 2021)
Case

Salary Finance US

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In October 2019, Dan Macklin, the newly-appointed chief executive of Salary Finance Inc., was weighing his options for the future of the business. The company’s value proposition was quite simple: partner with employers to offer employees affordable loans that were... View Details

Keywords: Employees; Credit; Financing and Loans; Wages; Innovation and Invention; Expansion; Growth Management; Decision Making; Financial Services Industry; United States

01 Mar 2009
News

Buddy, Can You Spare a Trillion

Beijing is America’s largest foreign creditor. But how long will the Chinese continue to finance U.S. deficit spending? Illustration by Stuart Bradford In his new book, The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World, HBS professor... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

29 Jan 2008
First Look

First Look: January 29, 2008

potential: (1) project complexity, (2) cross-functionality, (3) temporary membership, (4) fluid team boundaries and (5) embeddedness in organizational structures. We argue that effective management of these five attributes allows not only... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

January 2014
Case

Entrepreneurial Finance Lab: Scaling an Innovative Start-up Financing Venture

By: Joan Farre-Mensa, William R. Kerr and Alexis Brownell

EFL provides credit-scoring services in developing countries using psychometric assessment, but the potential loss of a large customer makes them reconsider their scaling narrative. View Details

Keywords: Finance; Developing Countries; Lending; Psychometrics; Scaling; Entrepreneurship; Credit; Developing Countries and Economies; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Africa; Latin America

March 2008
Supplement

Patel Food and Chemicals Private Limited (C)

By: Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

Alok Patel, the founder and chairman of a Gujarat-based, privately held edible oils processor, is considering long-term liquidity opportunities for the company and its investors. He could list the company on one of the Indian exchanges, opt for a trade sale, or acquire... View Details

Keywords: Financial Liquidity; Financial Management; Mergers and Acquisitions; Going Public; Opportunities; Chemical Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Gujarat

Find at Harvard

14 Nov 2017
First Look

New Research and Ideas: November 14, 2017

suited for a young, entrepreneurial organization. Start-up joiners need to do three things well: manage uncertainty, push the limits, and think like an owner. He then outlines four steps for choosing the right company: Pick a domain (find... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

Web

Staff Directory | Baker Library

Specialist Baker Research & Data Services Areas of Expertise: data licensing and vendor relationships, data sourcing and access. Jen Beauregard Information Research Specialist Baker Research & Data Services Areas of Expertise: financial... View Details

Web

MBA/MPP & MBA/MPA-ID | MBA

MBA/MPP & MBA/MPA-ID Joint degrees with Harvard Kennedy School The HBS/HKS joint degree programs serve a growing need of critical importance to global society: their mission is to develop leaders, skilled in management and the shaping of... View Details

2022
Article

The Pricing and Ownership of U.S. Green Bonds

By: Malcolm Baker, Daniel Bergstresser, George Serafeim and Jeffrey Wurgler

We study green bonds, which are bonds whose proceeds are used for environmentally sensitive purposes. After an overview of the U.S. corporate and municipal green bonds markets, we study pricing and ownership patterns using a simple framework that incorporates assets... View Details

Keywords: Green Bond; Pricing; Climate Finance; ESG; SRI; Sustainable; Municipal; Bonds; Environmental Sustainability; Financial Markets; Price; Ownership; United States