Publications

April 2007 (Revised August 2014)
Case

Foreign Direct Investment and South Africa (A)

By: Eric Werker

Incoming and outgoing foreign direct investment in an environment of politics, geography, globalization, and history. Since the end of apartheid, South Africa had undertaken substantial economic reforms in order to attract more foreign direct investment, but it was... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Macroeconomics; Foreign Direct Investment; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business and Government Relations; Africa; South Africa

November 2004 (Revised February 2008)
Case

Jerry Rao: Diaspora and Entrepreneurship in the Global Economy

Focusing on one entrepreneur, Jerry Rao, this case examines the international career paths of Indian business professionals and engineers since the development of public policies beginning in the 1960s to attract them to developed countries like the United States.... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Diasporas; Entrepreneurship; Globalized Economies and Regions; Personal Development and Career; Opportunities; Information Technology Industry; India

20 Nov 2014
News

When Activist Investors Aim at Strong Companies

13 Mar 2021
News

A three-week trip to New Orleans was a time for vocation and vacation

14 Aug 2017
News

U.S. Cities Increasingly Focused on Resilience, but Funding Challenges Persist

29 Nov 2006
Research & Ideas

Rich or Royal: What Do Founders Want?

imperiled the achievement of the other. Q: What impact do the tradeoffs between these two core motivators have on resources? A: As I delved into the tradeoff, I realized that the conflict usually emerges at the point where entrepreneurs have to View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Financial Services

22 Jan 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Competing Ad Auctions

Keywords: by Itai Ashlagi, Benjamin G. Edelman & Hoan Soo Lee; Advertising

2014
Working Paper

The Cost of Friendship

By: Paul A. Gompers, Vladimir Mukharlyamov and Yuhai Xuan

We investigate how personal characteristics affect people's desire to collaborate and whether this attraction enhances or detracts from performance in venture capital. We find that venture capitalists who share the same ethnic, educational, or career background are... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Partners and Partnerships; Decision Making; Identity

Read Now

October 2013 (Revised April 2016)
Case

StriveTogether: Reinventing the Local Education Ecosystem

By: Allen Grossman, Ann Lombard and Noah Fisher

StriveTogether aimed to improve education outcomes by coordinating the actions of diverse community stakeholders—nonprofit service providers, school districts, government, parents, businesses and others. StriveTogether had an intense focus on collective impact—"the... View Details

Keywords: Education Reform; Not For Profit; Communities; Collaboration; Collective Impact; Nonprofit Organizations; Education; Business and Community Relations; Education Industry; United States

April 2013 (Revised October 2014)
Case

SaferTaxi: Connecting Taxis and Passengers in South America

By: Peter Coles and Benjamin Edelman

SaferTaxi, a taxi booking service in South America must develop its mobilization strategy; that is, it must attract enough passengers and drivers to make its service worthwhile for all. Drivers hesitate to pay for SaferTaxi's smartphones and service unless these will... View Details

Keywords: Taxi Booking; Smartphone; Transportation Networks; Network Effects; Laws and Statutes; South America; Argentina; Brazil; Chile

March 2013 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Brazos Partners and the Tri-Northern Exit

By: Matthew Rhodes-Kropf and Nathaniel Burbank

Randall Fojtasek, a partner at the Dallas-based Brazos Private Equity Partners, must decide whether now is the time to sell his firm's investment in Tri-Northern Distribution. Brazos, a middle-market leveraged buyout group, created the company two years earlier through... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity Exit; LBO; Leveraged Buyout Transaction; Texas; Security; Brazos; Tri-Northern; Tri-Ed; Northern Video; Private Equity; Partners and Partnerships; Distribution; Leveraged Buyouts; Decision Choices and Conditions; Investment Funds; Financial Services Industry; Distribution Industry; Texas

2009
Working Paper

Clusters of Entrepreneurship

By: Edward L. Glaeser, William R. Kerr and Giacomo A.M. Ponzetto

Employment growth is strongly predicted by smaller average establishment size, both across cities and across industries within cities, but there is little consensus on why this relationship exists. Traditional economic explanations emphasize factors that reduce entry... View Details

Keywords: Economic Growth; Entrepreneurship; Cost; Employment; Market Entry and Exit

Read Now

August 2005 (Revised August 2007)
Background Note

Why Study Emerging Markets

By: Tarun Khanna, Krishna G. Palepu and Kjell Ke-Li Carlsson

Emerging markets have attracted considerable attention and are likely to become an increasingly important political and economic force. They represent an enormous opportunity for entrepreneurs, multinationals, and investors but also pose a threat for products, jobs,... View Details

Keywords: Profit; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Governance; Emerging Markets; Problems and Challenges; Opportunities

December 2002 (Revised June 2003)
Case

Vignette: The Rebar Dilemma

By: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon

Martin Smith, a new associate at an LBO firm, must respond to a problem posed by his boss, based on an historical deal that suddenly came undone. After months of negotiation, his firm's plan to buy a bankrupt competitor of one of its portfolio companies and close it... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Competition; Growth and Development Strategy; Business or Company Management

June 2000 (Revised July 2000)
Case

ORIX KK

By: Malcolm S. Salter and Andrew Eggers

Describes the challenges facing a Japanese financial services company as it attempts to maintain its ability to attract and retain talented employees. The CEO's ideas of corporate governance and evidence from the competitive labor environment suggest the need for more... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Geographic Location; Financial Services Industry; Japan

31 Jan 2014
News

How to really measure the value in health care

2012
Book

The Founder's Dilemmas: Anticipating and Avoiding the Pitfalls That Can Sink a Startup

By: Noam Wasserman

Often downplayed in the excitement of starting up a new business venture is one of the most important decisions entrepreneurs will face: Should they go it alone or bring in cofounders, hires, and investors to help build the business? More than just financial rewards... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Partners and Partnerships; Social Psychology; Outcome or Result

Find at Harvard

2014
Article

In Search of the Self at Work: Young Adults' Experiences of a Dual Identity Organization

By: Michel Anteby and Amy Wrzesniewski

Purpose: Multiple forces that shape the identities of adolescents and young adults also influence their subsequent career choices. Early work experiences are key among these forces. Recognizing this, youth service programs have emerged worldwide with the hope of... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Identity; Socialization; Youth; Youth Service Programs; Identity; Mission and Purpose; Age; Personal Development and Career; Service Industry; Europe

Read Now

August 1994
Case

Saturn Corp.'s Module II Decision

In the Spring of 1994, Saturn Corp. was setting sales records by attracting more than 25,000 buyers per month. Saturn officials believed there was a long-term opportunity to sell 400,000 to 500,000 cars per year in the United States and selected international markets.... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Production; Expansion; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; Retail Industry; Tennessee; United States