Publications

June 2010 (Revised February 2011)
Case

The Fox Islands Wind Project (A)

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, James Thomas Corcoran, Max Gazor, Dylan Hogarty and Alexander H. Somers, Jr.

The market for electricity on the Fox Islands of North Haven and Vinalhaven, Maine is unique and costly for residents. Historically, electricity prices on the islands had been three times the national average because of the high cost of importing electricity via an... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Renewable Energy; Social Entrepreneurship; Cost; Financing and Loans; Projects; Business and Community Relations; Environmental Sustainability; Green Technology Industry; Maine

16 Apr 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Gray Markets and Multinational Transfer Pricing

Keywords: by Romana L. Autrey & Francesco Bova

March 2003 (Revised March 2004)
Case

P&G Japan: The SK-II Globalization Project

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Traces changes in P&G's international strategy and structure, culminating in Organization 2005, a reorganization that places strategic emphasis on product innovation rather than geographic expansion and shifts power from local subsidiary to global business management.... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Trade; Globalization; Global Strategy; Innovation Strategy; Business or Company Management; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Hong Kong; Japan; Taiwan; Europe

February 1986
Case

General Foods Corp.: Project Duck Soup

General Foods must decide whether to acquire Entenmann's Bakery. Price and financing must also be decided. The teaching objectives include analysis of strategic fit, selection of purchase price, and financing method. Another issue is the debt to equity ratio that is... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Corporate Finance; Manufacturing Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

2021
Working Paper

The Project on Impact Investments' Impact Investment Database

By: M. Diane Burton, Shawn Cole, Abhishek Dev, Christina Jarymowycz, Leslie Jeng, Josh Lerner, Fanele Mashwama, Yue (Cynthia) Xu and T. Robert Zochowski

Impact investing has grown significantly over the past 15 years. From a niche investing segment with only $25 billion AUM in 2013 (WEF 2013), it experienced double-digit growth and developed into a market with an estimated $502 billion AUM (Mudaliapar and Dithrich... View Details

Keywords: Impact Investing; Investment; Analytics and Data Science; Analysis

SSRN

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June 2014
Supplement

Intuit Inc.: Project AgriNova PowerPoint Supplement

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

In late 2008, a team from Intuit's office in Bangalore, India, is evaluating an opportunity to launch a new venture that would use SMS to deliver crop price information to farmers in India. The case describes the structure of Indian agriculture and the problems... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Venturing; Entrepreneurship; Research; Business Ventures; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Information Technology Industry; Bangalore

February 2005 (Revised July 2005)
Case

Aluminium Bahrain (Alba): The Pot Line 5 Expansion Project

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Aldo Sesia

In September 2002, Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) needed to decide how to finance its proposed $1.7 billion pot line. The company's financial adviser, Taylor De-Jongh (TDJ), had recommended Alba employ a multisourced financing strategy using as many as five sources of debt... View Details

Keywords: Project Finance; Emerging Markets; Financing and Loans; Investment; Capital; Financial Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Bahrain

15 Dec 2014
Research & Ideas

Deconstructing the Price Tag

When a company sets a price for a product, shoppers typically have no idea what it costs to produce that item. But it turns out that consumers reward efforts to lay out these figures—to deconstruct the price... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Retail

April 2002 (Revised February 2003)
Module Note

Teaching Project Finance: An Overview of the Large-Scale Investment Course

By: Benjamin C. Esty

Large-Scale Investment is a case-based course about project finance for second-year MBA students. Project finance involves the creation of a legally independent project company financed with nonrecourse debt for the purpose of investing in a single-purpose industrial... View Details

Keywords: Projects; Financing and Loans

October 2001 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Chad-Cameroon Petroleum Development and Pipeline Project (A), The

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Carrie Ferman

On June 6, 2000, the World Bank's and IFC's board of directors was scheduled to vote on whether to approve funding for the $4 billion Chad-Cameroon Petroleum Development and Pipeline project. Although the project presented a unique opportunity to alleviate poverty in... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Negotiation; Ethics; Social Issues; Economic Sectors; Investment; Cost vs Benefits; Project Finance; Developing Countries and Economies; Corporate Finance; Mining Industry; Chad; Cameroon

October 1997 (Revised March 1998)
Case

Komatsu Ltd.: Project G's Globalization

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

This case describes the major strategic and organizational transformation at Komatsu aimed at changing it from a Japan-based producer of construction equipment to a truly global company with the ability to leverage its groupwide portfolio of resources and capabilities... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Construction; Asset Pricing; Investment Portfolio; Global Strategy; Leadership; Resource Allocation; Risk Management; Expansion; Manufacturing Industry; Japan

March 2004 (Revised November 2012)
Teaching Note

P&G Japan: The SK-II Globalization Project (TN)

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Traces changes in P&G's international strategy and structure, culminating in Organization 2005, a reorganization that places strategic emphasis on product innovation rather than geographic expansion and shifts power from local subsidiary to global business management.... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Trade; Globalization; Global Strategy; Innovation Strategy; Business or Company Management; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Hong Kong; Japan; Taiwan; Europe

Fast Answer

Carbon emissions: basic information, prices

How can I get prices and basic information on carbon emissions trading? Bloomberg has data on prices. Use one of the following commands: EMIT EMIS EMMK NI ecredits (for news) Carbon Disclosure Project... View Details

09 Mar 2020
Research & Ideas

Warring Algorithms Could Be Driving Up Consumer Prices

to all personal care products sold online by the five firms implies that customers spent an additional $300 million annually as a result of pricing algorithms, out of a total of about $6 billion in... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Retail

26 Jul 2010
Research & Ideas

Yes, You Can Raise Prices in a Downturn

UPS prided itself on the fact that "your grandmother paid the same price GM did." When it entered the market, FedEx became the fastest company to reach $1 billion in sales in part because its View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail; Consumer Products

23 Jan 2015
Research & Ideas

Oil Price Fallout: What Happens Next?

The last six years have proved just how fluid the international oil market is. And if recent support of the Keystone Pipeline by the U.S. House of Representatives and the Nebraska Supreme Court (which approved the pipeline's path through that state) are any indication,... View Details

Keywords: Re: Richard H.K. Vietor; Energy; Utilities

Web

Propose an Independent Project | MBA

Propose an Independent Project Independent Projects allow second-year Harvard Business School (HBS) students to partner with an organization on a real-time challenge of strategic importance. Students are... View Details

14 Jun 2004
Research & Ideas

The Big Money for Big Projects

of the funds—at the state level the Massachusetts Transportation Authority will issue revenue bonds to finance construction. While it is true the cost of the project has risen from $2.2 billion in 1983 (not... View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen; Financial Services

June 2014
Article

The Price of Wall Street's Power

By: Gautam Mukunda

Over and over again, executives make decisions that aren't in their companies' best interests, in response to pressure from Wall Street. Though many believe this happens because firms have a "fiduciary duty" to maximize shareholder returns, U.S. executives do not, as a... View Details