Publications

26 Apr 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Is the SEC Captured? Evidence from Comment-Letter Reviews

Keywords: by Jonas Heese, Mozaffar Khan, and Karthik Ramanna

October 1993 (Revised June 1997)
Case

Champion International

By: David F. Hawkins

Management must decide which first quarter's earnings numbers to report. The company is classified by its securities market as a "growth" company. The corporate controller prefers a quarterly earnings figure that represents a decline in earnings. View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Financial Reporting; Judgments; Leadership; Management Teams; Corporate Disclosure

August 2014 (Revised March 2015)
Case

Molycorp: Morgan Brothers' Reverse Convertible Notes (C)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and E. Scott Mayfield

In August 2011, Morgan Brothers Bank was issuing a $2.5 million reverse convertible note with payoffs linked to the price of Molycorp's common stock. These financially engineered securities were just one of many kinds of structured notes available in the retail market.... View Details

Keywords: Structured Products; Reverse Convertible Notes; Replication; Option Pricing; Bond Pricing; Financial Engineering; Valuation; Metals and Minerals; Debt Securities; Finance; Investment; Mining Industry; Financial Services Industry; Canada; California

21 Sep 2020
Video

Pedro Gómez

Pedro Gómez, who founded the construction company Pedro Gómez y Cia in Colombia in 1968, discusses how he built the first shopping mall in Bogotá by visiting foreign projects and contacting an old friend to secure finance. View Details

January 2021 (Revised August 2021)
Case

ByteDance: TikTok and the Trials of Going Viral

By: William C. Kirby and John P. McHugh

In 2020, TikTok became the most valuable start-up ever. The short-form, video-sharing social media platform emerged as the crown jewel of the Chinese technology firm ByteDance, realizing 850 million monthly users and an estimated worth of $180 billion. However, a... View Details

March 2024
Teaching Note

CyberArk: Fearlessly Forward in a Digital World

By: David B. Yoffie

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 724-382. CyberArk was a leader in privileged access management and was an emerging leader in security identity. This case explores strategies in cybersecurity and whether big bets are needed to become a global leader. View Details

Keywords: Cybersecurity; Strategy

Human factors like trust are a major question of interest in cybersecurity. Uma Karmarkar's talk at the 2017 Enigma conference explores how the neuroscience and psychology of uncertainty can offer insights into how people handle security issues in digital spaces. View Details

11 Sep 2020
Video

James Mwangi

James Mwangi, CEO of Kenya’s Equity Bank, which has one of the largest customer bases of any bank in Africa, explains the challenges faced by his bank as it expanded into neighboring countries, especially lack of infrastructure, security and politics View Details

October 2022 (Revised December 2022)
Case

SMART: AI and Machine Learning for Wildlife Conservation

By: Brian Trelstad and Bonnie Yining Cao

Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART), a set of software and analytical tools designed for the purpose of wildlife conservation, had demonstrated significant improvements in patrol coverage, with some observed reductions in poaching and contributing to wildlife... View Details

Keywords: Business and Government Relations; Emerging Markets; Technology Adoption; Strategy; Management; Ethics; Social Enterprise; AI and Machine Learning; Analytics and Data Science; Natural Environment; Technology Industry; Cambodia; United States; Africa

January 2017 (Revised August 2017)
Case

Earl Gordon - Eastern Circle

By: Steven Rogers and Greg White

This case follows an African-American entrepreneur through the process of sourcing a potential acquisition, valuing a company, and securing the funding to purchase the company. This entrepreneur must decide if he should close the deal and which financing term sheet to... View Details

19 Jul 2010
News

Business School boost

June 2005 (Revised May 2006)
Case

Vidient (A)

Vidient, a young company, is in the process of being spun out of a much larger, established Japanese business. Vidient is in the business of analyzing the feeds from security cameras and catches security breaches automatically, without human assistance. The parent... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Business Growth and Maturation; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Business Startups; Service Industry; Japan

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February 2001 (Revised April 2001)
Case

Warnaco Group, Inc. (A)

By: David F. Hawkins

Warnaco's history of nonrecurring charges is traced from 1990 through 2000 along with the stock market and security analysts' response to these charges. Teaching Purpose: To expose students to the accounting for a variety of new recurring accounting items. View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Financial Reporting; Restructuring; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry

Find at Harvard

December 2008 (Revised October 2009)
Case

Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)

By: David E. Bell and Brian Matthew Milder

In 2006, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation joined together to form a new organization, AGRA, to tackle the historic challenge of increasing agricultural production in Africa. Launched with much fanfare and led by former U.N.... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Investment Funds; Food; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Business and Government Relations; Non-Governmental Organizations; Poverty; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Africa

April 1993 (Revised December 1994)
Case

American Express TRS Charge-Card Receivables

By: Andre F. Perold and Kuljot Singh

American Express (TRS) Co. is considering a proposal to securitize a portion of their consumer charge-card receivables portfolio. In the past, they have relied exclusively on a captive finance subsidiary, Credco, to perform this function. The proposed securitization... View Details

Keywords: Credit Cards; Restructuring; Borrowing and Debt; Financial Management; Financial Strategy; Debt Securities; Travel Industry

06 Jun 2025
Video

Inside the U.S. AI Safety Institute: What’s Next for AI Risk & Innovation?

03 Jun 2021
News

Insurance to Mitigate the Risk of AI Systems Coming into View

December 1985 (Revised August 1994)
Case

Metromedia Broadcasting Corp.

Describes the market for high-yield, or "junk," bonds and includes summaries of academic research on the risk/return characteristics of high-yield securities. Describes the role of Drexel Burnham Lambert in the primary and secondary markets for high-yield debt.... View Details

Keywords: Financial Instruments; Capital Markets; Media and Broadcasting Industry