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19 Feb 2013
First Look

First Look: Feb. 19

corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports and (b) how the risk of governmental monitoring affects the extent to which CSR reports are symbolic or substantive. First, we examine how firm characteristics reflecting dependence on the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

17 Nov 2009
First Look

First Look: Nov. 17

working capital and investment needs. In evaluating by which means Elman should raise capital, students must consider issues relating to the payment terms and financing arrangements used in world trade, as well as the risk management and... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

16 Apr 2020
Research & Ideas

Has COVID-19 Broken the Global Value Chain?

fragilities. The occurrence of a number of events that were considered rare is growing. This implies that business managers, particularly those of companies operating in the GVC, shall now devote more efforts and resources to View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

09 Nov 2010
First Look

First Look: November 9, 2010

each branch of the armed services must make. Army and Marine Corps officers operate in an inherently uncertain environment. They define the mission but then give subordinates the flexibility to adjust to realities on the ground. This... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 2004 (Revised June 2005)
Case

Fate of the Vasa, The

By: Alan D. MacCormack and Richard Mason

In 1628, the royal warship Vasa was launched. It was Sweden's most expensive naval vessel ever built, costing over 5% of GNP. On its maiden voyage, the ship sailed 1,400 yards in its own harbor, heeled over to the side, and then sank. One third of the 150 crew and... View Details

Keywords: History; Risk and Uncertainty; Technological Innovation; Ship Transportation; Product Design; Technology Adoption; Failure; Business and Government Relations; Product Development; Sweden

December 2011 (Revised September 2017)
Case

Domino's Pizza

By: David E. Bell, Phillip Andrews and Mary Shelman

Domino's Pizza is the world's second-largest pizza company with 9,436 stores globally, 95% of which are franchised. Domino's franchisees in the U.S. market were able to purchase fresh dough, cheese, pizza toppings, and other menu ingredients and store supplies directly... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Market Entry and Exit; Supply Chain Management; Global Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry

12 Dec 2006
First Look

First Look: December 12, 2006

than forty high-profile moves and interviewed team leaders in multiple industries and countries to examine the risks and opportunities that lift outs present. They concluded that, regardless of industry, nationality, or size of the team,... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

May 2013 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Gap, Inc., 2000

By: John R. Wells and Galen Danskin

From humble beginnings as a Levi jeans store, by 2000 Gap, Inc. had grown to become the world's leading specialist clothing retailer. Its CEO, Millard S. Drexler, the "merchant prince," was credited with transforming Gap into a global empire, leading the company... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Change; Fashion; Risk and Uncertainty; Competition; Performance Consistency; Problems and Challenges; Globalized Firms and Management; Competitive Strategy; Business Growth and Maturation; Strategy; Retail Industry; Fashion Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States

25 Oct 2020
Research & Ideas

The Dark Side of Fintech Borrowing

likely to default. That’s a 25 percent increase in risk of default compared to similar bank borrowers. [div class=infogram-embed data-id=_/opQUHUt2UeVJTse0okjn][/div] “Fintech borrowers only partially consolidate their debts, and then a... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Financial Services; Banking

March 2009 (Revised March 2010)
Case

Groupe Eurotunnel S.A. (A)

By: Stuart C. Gilson, Vincent Marie Dessain and Sarah Abbott

In the summer of 2006, the chairman and CEO of Eurotunnel Group is faced with the decision whether to file for bankruptcy protection, after having failed to gain creditor approval of an ambitious out-of-court restructuring plan. The company, which has been attempting... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Capital Structure; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Laws and Statutes; Risk Management; Rail Industry; France; United Kingdom

08 Mar 2011
First Look

First Look: March 8

impairment reporting and that its effect is better understood in the context of upper echelons theory and agency theory. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/11-088.pdf Risky Trust: How Multi-entity Teams Develop Trust in a High View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

18 Feb 2014
First Look

First Look: February 18

Frictions in Shadow Banking: Evidence from the Lending Behavior of Money Market Funds By: Chernenko, Sergey, and Adi Sunderam Abstract—We document the consequences of money market fund risk taking during the European sovereign debt... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

December 2017 (Revised January 2018)
Case

Alltech

By: David E. Bell and Natalie Kindred

Alltech was a Lexington, Kentucky–based producer of supplements for animal feed, with revenues of over $2 billion (projected to reach $3 billion in 2018), sales in 120 countries, 5,000 employees, and 100 manufacturing plants worldwide. For nearly four decades, Alltech... View Details

23 Aug 2016
First Look

August 23, 2016

companies has become available in the past 10 years. Myth Number 5: ESG adds value almost entirely by limiting risks. Reality: Along with lower risk and a lower cost of capital, companies with high ESG scores have also experienced... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

04 Apr 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research, April 4

votes receive relatively little media attention yet may foster investor risk perceptions. This research presents a multifaceted view of activists and their tactics and suggests that this approach in examining activists and their tactics... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March–April 2013
Article

Vaporware, Suddenware and Trueware: New Product Preannouncements under Market Uncertainty

By: Elie Ofek and Ozge Turut

A firm may want to preannounce its plans to develop a new product in order to stimulate future demand. But given that such communications can affect rivals' incentives to develop the same new product, a firm may decide to preannounce untruthfully in order to deter... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Announcements; Competition; Product Launch; Product Development

Find at Harvard

February 2009 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Shanghai Diligence Law Firm (A)

By: Robert G. Eccles and Catherine Zhang

Shanghai Diligence Law Firm, started in January 2006, is a rapidly growing law firm in China's burgeoning legal services market. In addition to the usual challenges facing all professional service firms (picking and retaining talent and building a desired client... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Compensation and Benefits; Retention; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Operations; Motivation and Incentives; Legal Services Industry; China