Publications

11 Feb 2008
Research & Ideas

Does Democracy Need a Marketing Manager?

Very little scholarship has been done around the subject of marketing and democracy. In fact, many believe that politics needs less marketing. Harvard Business School professor John A. Quelch and research associate Katherine E. Jocz see... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

April 2005 (Revised July 2005)
Case

Ilene Lang and the Catalyst Search (A)

By: Myra M. Hart and Laura L. Nash

Catalyst, the nonprofit organization dedicated to championing women in professional ranks, is searching for a new president--only the third in its 42-year history. Ilene Lang, a corporate executive and entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience in high-tech... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Nonprofit Organizations; Work-Life Balance; Job Search; Gender; Service Industry

April 2012 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Social Strategy at American Express

By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski and David Chen

American Express has developed a number of strategic partnerships with Facebook, Foursquare and Twitter to improve their card members experience and lower its customer acquisition cost. The case details the history of these partnerships, examines American Express' own... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Partners and Partnerships; Social Marketing; Financial Services Industry

September 2016 (Revised March 2021)
Case

DBL Partners: Double Bottom Line Venture Capital

By: Shawn Cole, Mark Kramer, Tony L. He, Anshul Maudar and T. Robert Zochowski

This case explores the origins and current practices of DBL, a San Francisco–based venture capital fund and one of the first impact investment funds to achieve significant financial returns to scale. This case allows for a competitive analysis of DBL's investment... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Investment Funds; Financial Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Tanzania

November 2011
Article

Ownership Structure and Financial Constraints: Evidence from a Structural Estimation

By: Chen Lin, Yue Ma and Yuhai Xuan

This article examines the impact of the divergence between corporate insiders' control rights and cash-flow rights on firms' external finance constraints via generalized method of moments estimation of an investment Euler equation. Using a large sample of U.S.... View Details

Keywords: Ownership; Social Enterprise; Reputation; Cash Flow; Annuities; Investment; Investment Funds; Financial Reporting; Accounting Audits; Financial Services Industry; United States

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29 May 2001
Research & Ideas

Good News, Not Blues, For the Inner City

of globalization, Porter said, is that people tend to think of the world as a giant shopping basket. Ironically, he continued, the world is in fact becoming increasingly specialized down geographical lines.... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

01 Jun 2001
News

Reunions Offer Job Search, Career Assistance

Services and author of The Harvard Business School Guide to Finding Your Next Job. Holding numerous seminars during reunion weekends, Gardella — with easel, flip chart, and Magic Marker at the ready —... View Details

Keywords: Rogelio Fussa; Professional Services

March 2005 (Revised December 2005)
Case

Actis & CDC: A New Partnership

By: G. Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

The senior managing partner of Actis, a leading private equity investor in emerging markets, must decide whether to go into the market to raise money. Actis was spun out of CDC, a 50-year-old division of the U.K.'s Department for International Development, and is... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Partners and Partnerships; Emerging Markets; Financial Services Industry; United Kingdom

June 2009 (Revised July 2010)
Case

Microfin

By: Michael Chu and Enrique Kramer

The case presents the management dilemmas of a new institution in an undeveloped microfinance market in Latin America. Supported by a globally recognized industry player, it is the result of the efforts of two fledgling local entrepreneurs with a business model they... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Developing Countries and Economies; Social Entrepreneurship; Microfinance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Industry Structures; Competitive Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Latin America

Fall 2007
Article

A Comprehensive Look at the Private Equity Industry in Mexico (1990–2006)

By: Roberto Charvel

This article is one of the few historical numerical reviews of a private equity industry in an emerging market. View Details

Keywords: Emerging Market; Latin America; Mexico; Economic Sectors; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Capital Markets; Private Equity; Financial Services Industry; Latin America; North and Central America

2003
Chapter

Short-Term America Revisited? Boom and Bust in the Venture Capital Industry and the Impact on Innovation

By: Josh Lerner and Paul A. Gompers

This chapter seeks to understand the implications of the recent decline in venture activity for innovation. It argues that the situation may not be as grim as it initially appears. While there are many reasons for believing that on average venture capital has a... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Innovation and Invention; Business Cycles; Financial Services Industry; United States

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February 1999 (Revised June 1999)
Case

Hotmail

Sabeer Bhatia, cofounder and CEO of Hotmail, is making efforts to finance and grow this business, which is based on free Web-based e-mail. Describes early, successful efforts at raising several rounds of venture capital and presents choices around a next stage of... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Internet; Financing and Loans; Problems and Challenges; Business Startups; Web Services Industry

March 2025
Case

No One Left Behind (C)

By: Lynn S. Paine, Herman B. "Dutch" Leonard, Max Hancock and David Lane

In September 2021, the board of directors for the nonprofit No One Left Behind (NOLB) faced a crucial decision. Since its 2013 founding, NOLB had helped resettle in the United States thousands of Afghans and Iraqis who had assisted U.S. forces as combat translators;... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Mission and Purpose; Nonprofit Organizations; Service Industry; Afghanistan; United States

March 2025
Case

No One Left Behind (B)

By: Lynn S. Paine, Herman B. "Dutch" Leonard, Max Hancock and David Lane

In September 2021, the board of directors for the nonprofit No One Left Behind (NOLB) faced a crucial decision. Since its 2013 founding, NOLB had helped resettle in the United States thousands of Afghans and Iraqis who had assisted U.S. forces as combat translators;... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Mission and Purpose; Nonprofit Organizations; Service Industry; Afghanistan; United States

March 2025
Case

No One Left Behind (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine, Herman B. "Dutch" Leonard, Max Hancock and David Lane

In September 2021, the board of directors for the nonprofit No One Left Behind (NOLB) faced a crucial decision. Since its 2013 founding, NOLB had helped resettle in the United States thousands of Afghans and Iraqis who had assisted U.S. forces as combat translators;... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Mission and Purpose; Nonprofit Organizations; Service Industry; Afghanistan; United States

Career Coach

Matt Spielman

Matt (Columbia ’94, HBS ’99) is the Founder and Managing Partner of Inflection Point Partners, an executive coaching and leadership development firm dedicated to igniting careers and energizing lives. Matt and his team at Inflection... View Details

Keywords: Financial Services (All); Financial Services (All); Financial Services (All); Financial Services (All); Financial Services (All); Financial Services (All); Financial Services (All); Financial Services (All); Financial Services (All); Financial Services (All); Financial Services (All); Financial Services (All)

August 2007 (Revised June 2010)
Case

JetBlue Airways: Valentine's Day 2007 (A)

By: Robert S. Huckman, Gary P. Pisano and Virginia Fuller

Describes an operational crisis for JetBlue Airways during an ice storm in the eastern United States in February 2007 and chronicles the airline's immediate response. Provides detail concerning the history of the airline from its founding in 1999 through the February... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Crisis Management; Growth Management; Management Teams; Service Delivery; Air Transportation Industry; Eastern United States