Publications

Career Coach

Brent Brown

Brent (HBS '02) has experience in private equity/venture capital, investment banking, and real estate, consumer products and digital media industries and currently serves on the boards of numerous private companies. Work Experience: US... View Details

Keywords: Commercial Banking; Commercial Banking; Commercial Banking; Commercial Banking; Commercial Banking; Commercial Banking; Commercial Banking; Commercial Banking; Commercial Banking; Commercial Banking; Commercial Banking; Commercial Banking; Commercial Banking; Commercial Banking; Commercial Banking; Commercial Banking; Commercial Banking; Commercial Banking; Commercial Banking

July 2003 (Revised September 2003)
Case

Refinancing of Shanghai General Motors (A), The

By: Mihir A. Desai and Mark Veblen

The CFO of General Motors' joint venture in Shanghai, Shanghai General Motors (SGM), wants to refinance almost $900 million of project finance it raised to begin operations. The highest priority is improving the terms of the financing with regard to costs and specific... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Multinational Firms and Management; Joint Ventures; Financing and Loans; Auto Industry; Shanghai

March 2011
Article

Institutional Demand Pressure and the Cost of Corporate Loans

By: Victoria Ivashina and Zheng Sun

Between 2001 and 2007, annual institutional funding in highly leveraged loans went up from $32 billion to $426 billion, accounting for nearly 70% of the jump in total syndicated loan issuance over the same period. Did the inflow of institutional funding in the... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Financial Crisis; Credit; Debt Securities; Financing and Loans; Interest Rates; Investment

SSRN

Mar 2012
Article

How to Make Finance Work

and generated new ones. The rest of the economy, however, has not been well served by the financial sector's boom. First, the shift from deposit-based banking to a market-based "shadow banking" system, without adequate... View Details

May 1998 (Revised October 1998)
Case

Teleswitch (A)

Describes the financing history of Teleswitch, a maker of small digital telephone switches for the wireless/cellular industry. As the case ends, Teleswitch is revisiting its selection of an investment banker for its hoped-for IPO. A rewritten version of an earlier... View Details

Keywords: Initial Public Offering; Investment Banking; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Wireless Technology; Manufacturing Industry; Telecommunications Industry

21 Dec 2009
Research & Ideas

Good Banks, Bad Banks, and Government’s Role as Fixer

Department should reject mergers that are likely to create more mega banks that are too big to fail. However, we should not attempt to increase competition in the financial sector by reinstating the barriers of the Glass-Steagall Act to... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson; Banking; Banking

2022
Working Paper

High-Yield Debt Covenants and Their Real Effects

By: Falk Bräuning, Victoria Ivashina and Ali Ozdagli

High-yield debt including leveraged loans is characterized by incurrence financial covenants, or “cov-lite” provisions. A traditional loan agreement includes maintenance covenants, which require continuous compliance with the covenant threshold, and their violation... View Details

Keywords: Debt Covenants; Incurrence Covenants; Borrowing and Debt; Banks and Banking

Read Now

Career Coach

Pamela Harder

Pam (HBS / HKS ‘13, Stanford ‘08 Economics) has spent the last 12 years working at the nexus of business and government. Currently, she runs Virginia's state-wide economic development talent investment strategy. As a Managing Director... View Details

Keywords: Impact Investing; Impact Investing; Impact Investing; Impact Investing; Impact Investing; Impact Investing; Impact Investing; Impact Investing; Impact Investing; Impact Investing; Impact Investing; Impact Investing

31 Oct 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Mutual Funds as Venture Capitalists? Evidence from Unicorns

Keywords: by Sergey Chernenko, Josh Lerner, and Yao Zeng; Banking; Banking

January 2006 (Revised May 2006)
Case

Akin Ongor's Journey

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

A retired bank CEO, one of Turkey's most admired leaders, wants to start a leadership institute to develop emerging leaders in the eastern Mediterranean region. Describes his biography and values, the models he established for excellent financial performance and... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Development; Values and Beliefs; Partners and Partnerships; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business Startups; Environmental Sustainability; Retirement; Education Industry; Turkey; United States

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; Banking Industry

Web

Employment Data

3% Entertainment / Media 3% Health Care 6% Investment Banking 5% Investment Management / Hedge Fund 6% Manufacturing 5% Nonprofit / Government 5% Other Financial Services 4%... View Details

May 2016
Case

The Inexorable Rise of Walmart? 1988—2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In October 2015, Walmart surprised investors by announcing that it expected flat sales growth for 2015 and growth of only 3% to 4% over the coming three years. Profits would also fall due to significant investments in people and technology. The company’s stock price... View Details

Keywords: Asda; Costco; David Glass; Convenience Stores; Discount Retailing; Dollar Stores; Doug McMillon; E-commerce; Online Retail; General Merchandise; Grocery; Lee Scott; Mike Duke; Multichannel Retailing; Omnichannel; Neighborhood Market; Sam Walton; Sam's Club; Store Formats; Supercenter; Supermarket; Warehouse Clubs; Merchandising; Walmart; Wal-Mart; Globalized Firms and Management; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Units; Business Divisions; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Banks and Banking; Price; Profit; Revenue; Food; Global Range; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Global Strategy; Business History; Compensation and Benefits; Employees; Human Capital; Labor Unions; Wages; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Management Succession; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Distribution; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Diversification; Expansion; Segmentation; Information Technology; Internet; Mobile Technology; Online Technology; Web; Web Sites; Banking Industry; Banking Industry; Banking Industry; Banking Industry; United States; Arkansas; Bentonville

Clubs

Finance Club

Keywords: Investment Banking / Sales & Trading

March 2012
Article

How to Make Finance Work

By: Robin Greenwood and David S. Scharfstein

Once a sleepy old boys' club, the U.S. financial sector is now a dynamic and growing business that attracts the best and the brightest. It is tempting to declare the industry a roaring success. But its purpose is to serve the needs of U.S. households and firms, and by... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Value; Competitive Advantage; Investment; Performance Evaluation; Household; Financial Crisis; Finance; Financial Services Industry; United States

March 2008
Supplement

Carlyle Japan (B)

By: David B. Godes, Masako Egawa and Mayuka Yamazaki

This is a supplement to the (A) case. It shows that the networks that the firm had been investing in-- commercial banks--were becoming less and less valuable over time. Given this, Tamotsu Adachi must think about how to go about building a new set of networks. View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Commercial Banking; Investment; Networks; Value; Japan