Publications

January 2006
Article

Are Perks Purely Managerial Excess?

By: Raghuram G. Rajan and Julie Wulf

A widespread view is that executive perks exemplify agency problems--they are a route through which managers misappropriate a firm's surplus. Accordingly, firms with high free cash flow, operating in industries with limited investment prospects, should offer more... View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Cash Flow; Business or Company Management; Situation or Environment; Performance Productivity; Investment; Executive Compensation

Find at Harvard

Read Now

March 2000 (Revised May 2000)
Case

Spec's Music (A)

By: John A. Davis and Susan Harmeling

Presents the story of a music retailer in Miami which started in the late 1940s, grew throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and went public in 1985 before experiencing a deep industry crisis in the mid-1990s. At issue in 1996 is whether the company should attempt to sell... View Details

Keywords: History; Family Business; Business Exit or Shutdown; Decision Choices and Conditions; Management Succession; Entrepreneurship; Crisis Management; Performance Improvement; Music Industry; Miami

17 Apr 2012
First Look

First Look: April 17

asymmetry in message strength in turn permits cutoff equilibria, where players take action after receiving a minimum number of confirmations. Good Morning Creativity: Task Reactivation During Sleep Enhances Beneficial Effect of Sleep on Creative View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

05 Aug 2008
First Look

First Look: August 5, 2008

tend to rebalance more actively. We find some evidence that households rebalance towards a higher risky share as they become richer. We also study the decisions to trade individual assets. Households are more likely to fully sell directly held stocks if those stocks... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

18 Jul 2016
Research & Ideas

Is Greed Ruining Private Equity Firms?

performance doesn’t merit higher rewards. This creates a ripple effect, where other senior partners become resentful, disenchanted, and leave their jobs, causing instability that spooks potential investors and could lead to a firm’s... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Banking; Financial Services

12 Nov 2008
First Look

First Look: November 12, 2008

problems in the renovation of the 27-floor, 60,000 square meter complex. The WTC owners, two Dutch financial institutions, had hired TvT in 1995 to advise how to best handle their property's underperformance, which stood 20% empty and had prematurely aged. 1. Should... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

December 1997 (Revised March 1998)
Case

Mid Ocean Limited: Trading Catastrophe Index Options

By: Kenneth A. Froot and Markus Mullarkey

An insurance industry executive must evaluate the potential of a set of newly-offered catastrophe insurance derivatives. The background addresses the roles of traditional reinsurance and securitization efforts in providing risk transfer and risk financing in the "cat"... View Details

Keywords: Commodity Market; Derivatives; Insurance; Capital Markets; Natural Disasters; Risk Management; Financial Management; Financial Strategy; Performance Evaluation; Insurance Industry; Bermuda

February 1995 (Revised October 1995)
Case

Doing Business in a Distributed World: Clients, Servers, and the Stuff in Between

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Geoffrey Bock

Examines business computing as it is evolving in the 1990s. Compares the highly centralized and tightly controlled systems of the past with today's flexible, networked, client/server technology. Serves as an introduction to client/server terminology and technology. View Details

Keywords: Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Performance Improvement; Transformation; Technological Innovation; Business Strategy; Adoption; Information Technology Industry

April 2012
Supplement

Meli Marine, Instructor Supplement (Brief Case)

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Sunru Yong

Keywords: Asia; Singapore; Industry Structure; Operations Management; Capacity Analysis; Packaging Cartons ＆Containers; Supply Chain Management; Competitive Strategy; Logistics; Industry Structures; Performance Capacity; Singapore

April 2012
Supplement

Meli Marine, Spreadsheet Supplement (Brief Case)

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Sunru Yong

Keywords: Asia; Singapore; Industry Structure; Operations Management; Capacity Analysis; Packaging Cartons ＆Containers; Supply Chain Management; Competitive Strategy; Logistics; Industry Structures; Performance Capacity; Singapore

September 2010 (Revised July 2012)
Supplement

Recruiting Andrew Yard (B)

By: Brian J. Hall, Nicole Shae Bennett and Sara del Nido

This case describes a compensation negotiation between a global HR director and a candidate for a high-level executive position. The situation becomes awkward when the candidate feels insulted because he is given a monetary incentive to join the company more quickly... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Recruitment; Negotiation Offer; Performance Effectiveness; Emotions; Motivation and Incentives; Strategy

2008
Working Paper

Using Financial Innovation to Support Savers: From Coercion to Excitement

By: Peter Tufano

We review a wide variety of programs that support savings by families, in particular by low- and moderate-income families. These programs range from ones that literally compel families to save, to those that make it hard not to save, make it easier to save, provide... View Details

Keywords: Saving; Motivation and Incentives; Programs; Income; Personal Finance; Family and Family Relationships; Performance Effectiveness

Read Now

September 1999 (Revised November 1999)
Case

Explore, Inc.

By: Allen S. Grossman, James E. Austin, Myra M. Hart and Sharon Peyus

Documents the creation of a national before and after-school day care program aimed at bridging the gap between school and parents' work schedules. This high-growth, for-profit social enterprise organization operated in what was historically the domain of nonprofit or... View Details

Keywords: Microeconomics; Growth and Development; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Mission and Purpose; Performance Expectations; Quality; Social Enterprise; Travel Industry