Publications

February 2007 (Revised March 2007)
Case

UBS and Climate Change--Warming Up to Global Action?

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Forest L. Reinhardt and Elizabeth Raabe

Marco Suter, Executive Vice-Chairman, UBS Board of Directors, carefully studied the chart on his desk. It showed the public commitment of major financial institutions to help mitigate global warming. Evidently, UBS lagged behind its competitors. The graph was part of a... View Details

Keywords: Climate Change; Energy Conservation; Cost vs Benefits; Law; Financial Institutions; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Accountability; Financial Services Industry

April 2011 (Revised May 2012)
Case

City Year: The Journey

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and James Weber

Throughout its first two decades, City Year, a non-profit organization, was dedicated to recruiting young adults to give a year of public service. It had passed through several growth phases but by 2010 a new challenge, and opportunity, had arisen when City Year and... View Details

Keywords: Education; Service Operations; Nonprofit Organizations; Growth and Development Strategy; Performance Efficiency; Resource Allocation

June 2014 (Revised January 2017)
Case

Focus Financial Partners and the U.S. RIA Industry in 2014

By: Luis Viceira and Emily A. Chien

In the Spring of 2014, Rudy Adolf, CEO and founder of Focus Financial, and the two other co-founders of the firm are considering alternative growth strategies to solidify Focus Financial's position as a leading aggregator of independent wealth management firms in the... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Model; Financial Services Industry

05 Feb 2013
First Look

First Look: Feb. 5

their subsequent career choices. Early work experiences are key among these forces. Recognizing this, youth service programs have emerged worldwide with the hope of shaping participants' future trajectories... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 2011 (Revised August 2012)
Case

JetBlue Airways: Deicing at Logan Airport

By: Douglas Fearing and Robert S. Huckman

The case explores a deicing capacity expansion decision made by JetBlue at Boston Logan International Airport in the summer of 2010. The need for capacity expansion was driven by significant challenges faced during the previous winter combined with substantial... View Details

Keywords: Operational Disruptions; Strategic Planning; Disruption; Cost vs Benefits; Air Transportation; Service Operations; Logistics; Operations; Air Transportation Industry; Boston

March 2025
Case

Silicon Valley Bank: Gone in 36 Hours

By: Jung Koo Kang, Krishna G. Palepu, Charles C.Y. Wang and David Lane

This case examines factors contributing to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in March 2023, an event as unpredicted as it was quick. SVB funded nearly half of all U.S. venture-backed startups and at the end of 2022 held $173 billion in deposits, largely... View Details

May 2010 (Revised August 2010)
Case

Breaking the Buck

By: Robert C. Pozen and Elizabeth Leonard

After an incredibly volatile six months since Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy, Finbar McCall contemplated his options. As the investment manager of RPG Prime Reserve Fund, Inc. (RPGXX), McCall had just heard the news that the U.S. Treasury was extending the... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Financial Crisis; Financial Management; Insurance; Investment Funds; Business and Government Relations; Business and Shareholder Relations; Financial Services Industry

29 May 2001
Research & Ideas

Race Does Matter in Mentoring

and design assignments. The education facilitated his transition into management when he was finally promoted two years later. Once in middle management, Williams's career took off; he was charged with coordinating the engineering, manufacturing, and field View Details

Keywords: by David A. Thomas

14 May 2013
First Look

First Look: May 14

Abstract—To set inventory service levels, firms must understand how changes in service level affect customer demand. While the effects of service... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

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

21 Jul 2023
Blog Post

Malcolm McClain (MBA/MPP 2023) Named First RISE Career Fellow

credit, especially for people who may be traditionally left out of capital markets.” BrightUp blends technology and behavioral science to help under-supported people become more financially healthy, delivering View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit / Government

24 May 2011
First Look

First Look: May 24

development projects in an Indian software services firm, we find that knowledge repository use has a positive effect on project efficiency but not on project quality. However, when we examine two moderators, geographic dispersion and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2000 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Cisco Systems: Web-enablement

By: Richard L. Nolan, Kelley Porter and Christina Akers

Describes how Cisco web-enabled their ERP systems and developed the "front office" systems to electronically link to their customers and suppliers. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Information Technology; Technological Innovation; Internet and the Web; Service Operations; Information Technology Industry

01 Sep 2007
News

Giving New Ventures a Boost

Some $80,000 in cash and in-kind legal and accounting services were awarded to winners and runners-up in the 11th annual HBS Business Plan Contest last April. Traditional track winner Sandra Nudelman (MBA ’07) and her sister Michele, a... View Details

Keywords: Educational Services; Educational Services

26 Feb 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Long-Run Stockholder Consumption Risk and Asset Returns

Keywords: by Christopher J. Malloy, Tobias J. Moskowitz & Annette Vissing-Jørgensen; Financial Services

June 1999 (Revised March 2001)
Case

New Business Investment Company: October 1997

By: Josh Lerner, Lee Branstetter and Takeshi Nakabayashi

A quasi-government organization seeks to stimulate entrepreneurship in Japan by making venture capital investments. The organization of the fund, identification of transactions, and oversight of portfolio firms pose considerable challenges. View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Entrepreneurship; Government and Politics; Problems and Challenges; Financial Services Industry; Japan