Publications

2009
Working Paper

Banking Deregulations, Financing Constraints and Firm Entry Size

By: William R. Kerr and Ramana Nanda

We examine the effect of US branch banking deregulations on the entry size of new firms using micro-data from the US Census Bureau. We find that the average entry size for startups did not change following the deregulations. However, among firms that survived at least... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Financing and Loans; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Market Entry and Exit; Banking Industry; United States

SSRN

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02 Dec 2019
News

Championing the HBS Fund

with their Harvard contacts, both in the Boston area and around the world. Dosiou, who participated in a health care Executive Education program at HBS in January 2019, has found members of the Harvard community to be “very open-minded, eager to share knowledge, and... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

June 2020
Teaching Note

Shiseido Acquires Drunk Elephant

By: Jill Avery

On October 7, 2019, the Shiseido Group announced that it would acquire clean skincare brand Drunk Elephant for $845 million, a valuation of 8.5 times sales. Did Shiseido pay too much or too little for this brand asset? How much was the Drunk Elephant brand worth and... View Details

16 Aug 2022
Op-Ed

Now Is the Time for Entrepreneurs to Play Offense

begging to have the opportunity to re-engage. Rigorously evaluate the quality and capacity of your senior team and take advantage of the extraordinary executive talent looking for new homes and more promising pastures. 3. Make process... View Details

Keywords: by Jeffrey Bussgang

April 2008 (Revised December 2008)
Case

Leveraged Loans 2007

By: Andre F. Perold and Erik Stafford

The leveraged loan market was in a crisis during the summer of 2007, following many years of low realized volatility (less than 4% per annum), an index of leveraged loans had fallen over 5% in the month of July. A sudden drop in capital market prices for an asset class... View Details

Keywords: History; Financial Liquidity; Investment; Financial Crisis; Market Transactions; Disruption; Decision Choices and Conditions; Competitive Strategy; Capital Markets; Crisis Management; Commercial Banking; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry

01 Dec 2022
News

Full Court Press

vuvuzelas competes with the arena’s mix of American hip-hop and regional hits. It is a distinctly regional take on an iconic American export. The league is a core pillar of NBA Africa, a two-year-old venture whose value NBA Commissioner... View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell

01 Dec 2018
News

Innovation Outside the Boundaries

Kent Thiry and Denise O’Leary (both MBA 1983) Noting the accelerated pace of change in society today, venture capital private investor Denise O’Leary (MBA 1983) calls innovation in the MBA curriculum “the flywheel that drives continued... View Details

16 Oct 2007
First Look

First Look: October 16, 2007

companies, anti-trust legislation, expropriations, and rising competition from international and local rivals. Focuses on developing a new global strategy for a company that placed a premium on a consensual... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2017
Case

Dick's Sporting Goods

By: Rajiv Lal, Jose B. Alvarez and Matthew G. Preble

Edward Stack, chairman and CEO of Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS), faced a rapidly changing sporting goods landscape in October 2016. Two large competitors—The Sports Authority and Sport Chalet—had folded earlier that year, and DKS had to contend with increasingly robust... View Details

23 Aug 2011
First Look

First Look: August 23

Discussion of new model of social enterprise that applies the venture capital model to social enterprise. Purchase this case:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/811053-PDF-ENG Redesigning a 401(k) Plan at... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

03 Oct 2005
Research & Ideas

The Box Office Power of Stars

power. For example, movie studios are probably more confident that a Tom Cruise movie will emerge as the winner of a competitive July 4 opening weekend than a movie with an unknown actor, and will adjust their release strategy... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Entertainment & Recreation; Motion Pictures & Video

July 2019 (Revised November 2019)
Case

Osaro: Picking the Best Path

By: William R. Kerr, James Palano and Bastiane Huang

The founder of Osaro saw the potential of deep reinforcement learning to allow robots to be applied to new applications. Osaro targeted warehousing, already a dynamic industry for robotics and automation, for its initial product—a system which would allow robotic arms... View Details

22 Sep 2009
First Look

First Look: September 22

Working PapersMixed Source Authors:Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Gastón Llanes Abstract We study competitive interaction between profit-maximizing firms that sell software and complementary goods or services. In addition to tactical... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

September 2018 (Revised November 2018)
Case

From Beirut With Love (A)

By: Christina R. Wing, Esel Y. Cekin and Samer Al-Rachedy

This case describes how Robert Fadel, CEO and chairman of ABC, one of Lebanon’s leading retail and real estate groups, professionalized the family business. Robert was the second son of the company’s founder, Maurice Fadel, who had run it single-handedly. Concerned... View Details

31 May 2017
What Do You Think?

Can Amazon Do What Walmart Couldn’t, Stop the 'Wheel of Retailing'?

of customers and the volume of sales increase, the retailer gains a dominant position in the market. The goal gradually shifts from attracting more customers to increasing prices and margins in order to achieve higher profits. That subjects retailers to View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Retail

June 2024
Supplement

Zeswitz Music (A)

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Pre-Abstract: Instructors should consider the timing of making videos available to students, as they may reveal key case details.
Abstract: In July of 2013, Randy Shayler (HBS, 2012) acquired Zeswitz Music, a musical instrument rental company based in Reading,... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Business Strategy; Acquisition; Revenue; Marketing; Music Industry; Retail Industry; Pennsylvania

November 2008 (Revised January 2009)
Case

The Restructuring of Daiei

By: Richard S. Ruback

In 2004, the Industrial Revitalization Corporation of Japan (IRCJ) was given the task of restructuring Daiei, one of the largest Japanese retailers and the country's most prominent zombie companies. The IRCJ was a government-sponsored organization that was funded with... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Capital Structure; Private Equity; Performance Effectiveness; Retail Industry; Japan