Publications

June 2001
Case

ESL Golf (A)

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin and Christopher R Gordon

Todd Peterson and his colleagues have spent five weeks analyzing CMP Capital Partners' potential leveraged buyout of ESL Golf. They are about to present their analysis and bid proposal to the investment committee, consisting of all CMP partners, which must approve any... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Private Equity; Auctions; Bids and Bidding; Valuation

Research Summary

Output and asset price fluctuations

What are the sources of business cycles? How are these shocks propagated in the economy? Why are their effects so persistent? How can we explain asset price fluctuations? How are shocks transmitted internationally?To study these questions, I have developed a series... View Details

February 2006
Case

Millions of Customers and the Search for a Business: the Challenge of IRC-Hispano

Like many online services, IRC-Hispano, the world's largest Spanish-language chat organization, has many customers but sees few revenues. As an association, its structure presents many limitations and hurdles to overcome involving investing in technology platform... View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Decision Choices and Conditions; Digital Platforms; Technology Adoption; Internet and the Web; Organizational Structure; Technological Innovation; Revenue; Web Services Industry; Technology Industry; Spain

2024
Working Paper

Hidden Alpha

By: Manuel Amman, Alexander Cochardt, Lauren Cohen and Stephan Heller

This paper documents the central role of hidden connections between fund managers and firm officers in financial markets, drawing on an extensive dataset of over 100 thousand manually identified Facebook profiles and their 35 million Facebook friends. Our findings... View Details

Keywords: Returns; Investment Return; Networks

Article

Heuristics Guide the Implementation of Social Preferences in One-Shot Prisoner's Dilemma Experiments

By: Jillian J. Jordan, Valerio Capraro and David G. Rand

Cooperation in one-shot anonymous interactions is a widely documented aspect of human behavior. Here we shed light on the motivations behind this behavior by experimentally exploring cooperation in a one-shot continuous-strategy Prisoner’s Dilemma (i.e. one-shot... View Details

Keywords: Human Behavior; Social Evolution; Behavior; Cooperation; Decision Making; Game Theory

December 2009
Article

Who Owns Metrics?: Building a Bill of Rights for Online Advertisers

By: Benjamin Edelman

I offer five rights to protect advertisers from increasingly powerful ad networks-avoiding fraudulent charges for services not rendered, guaranteeing data portability so advertisers get the best possible value, and assuring price transparency so advertisers know what... View Details

Keywords: Online Advertising; Crime and Corruption; Price; Measurement and Metrics; Technology Networks; Value; Advertising Industry

January 2021
Article

Turbulence, Firm Decentralization and Growth in Bad Times

By: Philippe Aghion, Nicholas Bloom, Brian Lucking, Raffaella Sadun and John Van Reenen

What is the optimal form of firm organization during “bad times”? We present a model of delegation within the firm to show that the effect is ambiguous. The greater turbulence following macro shocks may benefit decentralized firms because the value of local information... View Details

Keywords: Decentralization; Growth; Turbulence; Great Recession; Organizational Design; System Shocks; Economic Growth; Performance

December 2007
Article

Contingent Political Capital and International Alliances: Evidence from South Korea

By: Jordan I. Siegel

Though prior research has suggested that a company's ties to political networks have only a positive value or no value, this study examines whether political network ties can also be a significant liability for companies. Analyzing South Korea as a representative... View Details

Keywords: Political Networks; Sociopolitical Networks; Government and Politics; Capital; Alliances; South Korea

23 Mar 2023
HBS Seminar

Tinglong Dai, Johns Hopkins

16 Jul 2018
Blog Post

3 Key Take-a-Ways From My Summer at Zalando

culture. There are different avenues where the Management Board sits in front of employees to answer any questions that might concern individuals (e.g., monthly Ask.Us.Anything open Q&A). Today, I would like to highlight the View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products / Retail

2010
Book

Seven Strategy Questions: A Simple Approach for Better Execution

By: Robert L. Simons

To stay ahead of the pack, you must translate your organization's competitive strategy into day-to-day actions that will enable your company to win in the marketplace. This means channeling resources into the right efforts, striking a balance between innovation and... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Innovation and Management; Resource Allocation; Business Processes; Organizational Culture; Competitive Strategy

18 Feb 2015
First Look

First Look: February 18

Publications February 2015 Little, Brown and Company Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges By: Cuddy, Amy Abstract—We often meet life's challenges with fear and anxiety. We fail to be our best and end up feeling regretful and powerless. In... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Article

Business Investment in Education in Emerging Markets Since the 1960s

By: Valeria Giacomin, Geoffrey Jones and Erica Salvaj

This article examines non-profit investments by business in education in emerging markets between the 1960s and the present day. Using a sample of 110 interviews with business leaders from an oral history database, the study shows that more than three-quarters of such... View Details

Keywords: Economic History; Oral History; Education; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Business History; Emerging Markets; Reputation; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Education Industry; Africa; Asia; Latin America; Middle East; India; Chile; Colombia; Sri Lanka; Kenya

24 Jan 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research: January 24, 2017

January 2017 Review of Financial Studies Being Surprised by the Unsurprising: Earnings Seasonality and Stock Returns By: Chang, Tom Y., Samuel M. Hartzmark, David H. Solomon, and Eugene F. Soltes Abstract—We present evidence consistent... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 1992 (Revised July 1992)
Background Note

Note on Cross-Border Valuation

By: W. Carl Kester and Julia Morley

Provides a fundamental technical review of valuation techniques used to assess cross-border investments. Discusses the discounting of free cash flows with a weighted average cost of capital, the use of adjusted present value, and the importance of considering real... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues

February 2002 (Revised March 2002)
Case

Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group

By: V.G. Narayanan and Lisa Brem

The Royal Bank of Canada uses customer relationship management and customer profitability tools to gain a competitive advantage in Canada's increasingly crowded financial services market. The case presents two pricing and customer management issues: one from the point... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Price; Customer Relationship Management; Marketing; Customer Value and Value Chain; Financial Services Industry; Banking Industry; Canada

John A. Quelch is Executive Vice Chancellor and Distinguished Professor of Social Science at Duke Kunshan University. He is also John DeButts Professor at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. Between 2017 and 2023 he was the Leonard M. Miller University... View Details

Keywords: advertising; broadcasting; consumer products; e-commerce industry; fashion; fast food; federal government; financial services; food; food processing; health care; high technology; marketing industry; media

02 Oct 2007
First Look

First Look: October 2, 2007

options. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/08-020.pdf How to Capture Value from Innovation: Shaping Intellectual Property and Industry Architecture Authors:Gary P. Pisano and David J. Teece Abstract In making strategic... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

December 1994
Case

CNW Corporation

The Blackstone Group, an LBO firm, is considering a $1.7 billion leveraged acquisition of CNW Corp., a railroad holding company. Information is provided concerning historic and protected results and the proposed financial structure of the entity. Data is presented... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Capital Structure; Leveraged Buyouts