Publications

December 2019
Article

The Ethical Perils of Personal, Communal Relations: A Language Perspective

By: Maryam Kouchaki, Francesca Gino and Yuval Feldman

The current paper focuses on how the type of relationship that exists between a group and its members influences misconduct by fostering certain perceptions of the group. Using multiple methods, lab- and field-based experiments (N = 1,679), and a large dataset of S&P... View Details

Keywords: Language; Codes Of Conduct; Ethics; Communication; Perception; Behavior

Find at Harvard

09 Nov 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Securities Litigation Risk for Foreign Companies Listed in the US

Keywords: by Beiting Cheng, Suraj Srinivasan & Gwen Yu

2021
Working Paper

Accounting for Product Impact in the Oil and Gas Industry

By: Katie Panella, George Serafeim and Katie Trinh

We apply the product impact measurement framework of the Impact-Weighted Accounts Initiative (IWAI) in two competitor companies within the oil and gas industry. We design a monetization methodology that allows us to calculate monetary product impact estimates of... View Details

SSRN

Read Now

August 2012
Case

Growing Pains at Stroz Friedberg (Abridged)

By: David A. Garvin and Michael Norris

In late spring 2009, Stroz Friedberg co-presidents Edward Stroz and Eric Friedberg had to set growth targets for 2010. The leading global consulting firm they had built specialized in managing digital risk and uncovering digital evidence and had grown very rapidly.... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Change Management; Transition; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Consulting Industry

17 Aug 2020
Research & Ideas

What the Stockdale Paradox Tells Us About Crisis Leadership

[This is the fourth installment in a monthly series on management issues in the time of COVID-19.] “You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams

June 2021
Case

Modern Endowment Management: Paula Volent and the Bowdoin Endowment

By: Luis M. Viceira, Emily R. McComb and Dean Xu

This case examines modern endowment investment management through the lens of a leadership transition between Chief Investment Officers (CIOs). In March 2021, Paula Volent is about to step down as the CIO of the endowment of Bowdoin College after twenty-one years, and... View Details

Keywords: Investment Portfolio; Investment Banking; Growth Management; Investment Return; Capital Markets; Interest Rates; Competition; Cost Management; Risk Management; Financial Liquidity; Performance Evaluation

August 2023
Case

Floward

By: Krishna Palepu and Namrata Arora

In 2022, Abdulaziz B. Al Loughani, CEO and co-founder of Floward, an online flower and gifting company established in Kuwait in 2017, contemplated the firm's growth trajectory. Floward, an e-commerce enterprise that offered fresh-cut flowers sourced directly from... View Details

Keywords: Initial Public Offering; Expansion; Growth and Development Strategy; E-commerce; Information Technology Industry; Middle East; North Africa; Saudi Arabia; Kuwait; United Arab Emirates; Jordan

October 2018 (Revised July 2023)
Case

Innovation at Uber: The Launch of Express POOL

By: Chiara Farronato, Alan MacCormack and Sarah Mehta

Set in March 2018, the case follows ride-sharing company Uber as it develops and launches a new product called Express POOL. This product offers a reduced price to riders willing to carpool, walk a short distance to/from their pick-up and drop-off points, and wait a... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Applications and Software; Digital Platforms; Decision Making; Technology Industry; California; San Francisco

John D. Dionne has been a Senior Lecturer of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School since 2014 and is a recently retired Senior Managing Director and Senior Advisor to Blackstone. He is also Managing Partner of Franconia Capital, a... View Details

Article

The End of Chimerica

For the better part of the past decade, the world economy has been marked by an economic order that combined Chinese export-led development with U.S. over-consumption. The financial crisis of 2007-09 likely marks the beginning of the end of the Chimerican relationship.... View Details

Keywords: Trade; China; United States

Research Summary

Overview

By: Ethan C. Rouen

Relying on empirical archival methodologies—as well as techniques in data science—to develop and structure new sources of data by which to approach questions of looming disclosure changes, Professor Rouen has focused on one of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s... View Details

April 2008 (Revised December 2008)
Case

North Goes East

By: Nicolas P. Retsinas, Daniela Beyersdorfer and Elena Corsi

In August 2006, Magnus Lofgren and Robert Provine, managing directors and co-founders of the "North Real Estate Opportunities Fund," need to decide which real estate investment the Fund should pursue as its first project. The Fund's target region, Central and Eastern... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Investment Funds; Risk Management; Emerging Markets; Opportunities; Real Estate Industry; Europe

28 Jan 2013
Research & Ideas

Helping Yelp Create More Accurate Reviews

over 33 million reviews for local businesses, with some sporting more than 1,000 reviews each. How, then, does a consumer make sense of the spate of opinions, many of which contradict each other? New research suggests a scientific way to aggregate reviews in a way that... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Food & Beverage

September 1998 (Revised July 1999)
Case

Costco Companies, Inc.

By: David E. Bell and Ann Leamon

Costco Companies, one of the major players in the wholesale club industry, has developed a new class of membership that offers discounted services--auto, health, and home insurance, business credit card processing, real estate services--in exchange for a higher annual... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Cost Management; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Supply and Industry; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Risk and Uncertainty; Retail Industry

Article

Conversational Receptiveness: Expressing Engagement with Opposing Views

By: M. Yeomans, J. Minson, H. Collins, H. Chen and F. Gino

We examine “conversational receptiveness”—the use of language to communicate one’s willingness to thoughtfully engage with opposing views. We develop an interpretable machine-learning algorithm to identify the linguistic profile of receptiveness (Studies 1A-B). We then... View Details

Keywords: Receptiveness; Natural Language Processing; Disagreement; Interpersonal Communication; Relationships; Conflict Management

Read Now

20 Jan 2009
Research & Ideas

Risky Business with Structured Finance

In the wake of the financial crisis, many once-esoteric investment terms have become a familiar part of our vocabulary. The role of structured finance securities such as collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), for example, and the part played by View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Banking; Financial Services

Eugene F. Soltes

Eugene Soltes is a Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School where his work focuses on corporate integrity and risk management. His research utilizes data analytics to identify organizational cultures and compliance systems that can effectively... View Details

June 2013 (Revised July 2017)
Case

Angus Cartwright IV

By: Kenneth J. Hatten, William J. Poorvu, Howard H. Stevenson, Arthur I Segel and John H. Vogel, Jr.

Judy and John DeRight, looking to diversify their investment portfolios, have retained Angus Cartwright, Jr. to identify prospective real estate acquisitions. Mr. Cartwright has four potential properties that he feels merit an in-depth financial analysis. The case... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Cash Flow; Investment Return; Investment Portfolio; Taxation; Balanced Scorecard; Valuation

February 2006 (Revised October 2006)
Case

The Children's Investment Fund, 2005

By: Randolph B. Cohen and Joshua B. Sandbulte

TCI, The Children's Investment Fund, is a London-based hedge fund. The firm donates a significant fraction of the fees it earns to a charitable foundation. In 2005, TCI took a large stake in Deutsche Borse, the stock exchange in Frankfurt. Its battle with management... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Financial Markets; Investment Activism; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Financial Services Industry; London; Germany