Publications

March 2024
Case

Nomad: A License to Bank

By: Paul A. Gompers and Pedro Levindo

In late 2023, Lucas Vargas, CEO and co-founder of Nomad, a fintech that offered financial services in the United States for Brazilian residents, had to decide what to do to ensure the company’s continued expansion. Nomad launched its first product, a U.S. digital bank... View Details

June 2025
Teaching Note

AI at QuantumBlack: McKinsey's Open Source Dilemma

By: Frank Nagle, Sam Boysel and Susan Pinckney

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 725-433. The case describes the history of QuantumBlack. In 2015, McKinsey acquired data analytics company QuantumBlack. QuantumBlack produced Kedro, a ML data pipeline tool that helped McKinsey’s customers manage their data in an... View Details

November 1999 (Revised June 2006)
Case

DLJdirect: "Putting Our Reputation Online"

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Gillian Morris

Online broker DLJdirect faced two decisions during the fall of 1999: what customer segments should it target and how much should it spend on marketing? Unlike its competitors, who focused either on day traders or more mainstream investors, DLJdirect differentiated its... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Marketing Communications; Competitive Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Investment; Cost Management; Business Plan; Research and Development; Customers; Budgets and Budgeting; Online Advertising; Internet; Financial Services Industry

July 2013 (Revised October 2013)
Supplement

United Rentals (B)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Kathleen Durante

In April 2012, Jenne Britell, the Chairman of the board of directors of United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE: URI) was preparing her notes for an upcoming stockholders' meeting. It was a meeting unlike most other meetings she had chaired. Stockholders were about to vote on a... View Details

Keywords: Boards Of Directors; Board Committees; Chairman; Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Governance; Construction Industry; North America

07 Apr 2009
First Look

First Look: April 7, 2009

the original proofs of Ehlers and Klaus (2003) using his stronger independence condition, here we offer a short proof that uses the established result of Theorem 1 for the restricted domain R0. Download the working paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/09-110.pdf Debt... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

September 2004 (Revised May 2006)
Case

Bohemian Crowns: Ceskoslovenska Obchodni Banka (A)

By: Rawi E. Abdelal, Vincent Dessain and Monika Stachowiak

Tells the story of the Czech transition from a centrally planned to a free market economy, describing the first economic reforms, the fixed-exchange rate regime, and the voucher privatization. Also explains why, in the middle of the 1990s, the Czech Republic... View Details

Keywords: History; Currency Exchange Rate; Credit; Government Administration; Decisions; Economic Systems; Expansion; Mergers and Acquisitions; Developing Countries and Economies; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; Czech Republic

December 2002 (Revised January 2004)
Case

Basel II: Assessing the Default and Loss Characteristics of Project Finance Loans (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Aldo Sesia

In June 1999, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision announced plans to revise the capital standards for banks. The Basel Committee believed that project loans were significantly riskier than corporate loans and, therefore, warranted higher capital charges under... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Project Finance; Financing and Loans; Projects; Standards; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry

June 2010 (Revised July 2011)
Case

China Environment Fund: Doing Well by Doing Good

By: Christopher Marquis and Nancy Dai

In early 2010, cleantech investment pioneer Tsing Capital was planning for the China Environment Fund IV and considering how to maintain its commitment to social and environmental practices. Tsing Capital embraced its philosophy of "Doing Well by Doing Good" and... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business Strategy; Balance and Stability; Environmental Sustainability; Climate Change; Energy Conservation; Business Organization; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Venture Capital; Financial Services Industry; China

March – April 2010
Article

The Need for Ideological Consciousness

By: George C. Lodge

Every so often in American history a crisis comes along that requires Americans to inspect cherished assumptions and to act in a way that many find ideologically repulsive. Although our leaders insist that such actions are pragmatic-the only sensible way to deal with... View Details

Keywords: History; Leadership; Competition; Framework; Consumer Behavior; Business and Community Relations; Government and Politics; Financial Crisis; Planning; United States