Publications

SSRN

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February 2017 (Revised June 2017)
Case

ExxonMobil: Business as Usual? (A)

By: George Serafeim, Shiva Rajgopal and David Freiberg

Climate change was becoming an important societal and business issue as more governments were introducing climate change related regulations and investors became increasibly worried about stranded assets within oil and gas firms. In September 2016, the U.S. Securities... View Details

Keywords: Oil ＆ Gas; Oil Prices; Oil Companies; Asset Impairment; Predictive Analytics; Sustainability; Environmental Impact; Innovation; Disclosure; Accounting; Valuation; Climate Change; Renewable Energy; Environmental Sustainability; Financial Reporting; Energy Industry

2022
Book

Purpose + Profit: How Business Can Lift Up the World

By: George Serafeim

The roadmap and best practices to reap the enormous value that can emerge when your business prioritizes social and environmental goals—such as climate change, diversity and inclusion, and sustainability—right alongside the pursuit of profit.

We not only... View Details

Keywords: ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; Profitability; Business And Society; Organizations; Mission and Purpose; Goals and Objectives; Social Issues; Environmental Sustainability; Value Creation; Organizational Change and Adaptation

February 2017 (Revised June 2017)
Supplement

ExxonMobil: Business as Usual? (B)

By: George Serafeim, Shiva Rajgopal and David Freiberg

The case presents ExxonMobil's response to growing pressure to disclose how climate change will impact their business. This includes multiple asset impairments and losing a proxy vote to shareholders to increase climate change related reporting. Supplements the (B)... View Details

Keywords: Oil ＆ Gas; Oil Prices; Oil Companies; Asset Impairment; Predictive Analytics; Sustainability; Environmental Impact; Innovation; Disclosure; Accounting; Valuation; Energy Sources; Ethics; Corporate Disclosure; Governance Compliance; Climate Change; Financial Reporting; Energy Industry; United States

October 2012 (Revised October 2016)
Case

Predilytics

By: Robert F. Higgins and Annelena Lobb

The management team at Predilytics, a healthcare analytics firm, must decide whether to accept a Series A venture capital financing deal. The company provided analytic services to healthcare plans, typically Medicare Advantage plans, in efforts to draw conclusions from... View Details

Keywords: Analytics; Healthcare; Medicare; Health Care and Treatment; Mathematical Methods; Health Industry; New England; United States

2025
Working Paper

Data-driven Technologies and Local Information Advantages in Small Business Lending

By: Wilbur Chen, Jung Koo Kang and Aditya Mohan

We investigate whether banks' adoption of data-driven technologies influences competitive dynamics in local small business lending by diminishing the information advantages traditionally held by local banks. Using local newspaper closures as an adverse shock to the... View Details

Keywords: Data-driven Technologies; Local Information Advantages; Local Banks; Relationship Lending; Small Business Loans; Small Business; Local Range; Financing and Loans; Banks and Banking; Analytics and Data Science; Banking Industry

SSRN

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Teaching Interest

Overview

I served as a Teaching Fellow for the Applied Business Analytics second-year MBA course. This course sought to teach MBA students how businesses can improve their strategic decisions using statistics and machine learning techniques. (e.g., regression models, random... View Details

Keywords: Analytics; Machine Learning; Statistics

May 1983 (Revised November 1987)
Case

Technical Data Corp.: Business Plan

By: William A. Sahlman

Contains materials extracted from a business plan developed by the company in 1980. The purpose of the business plan was to raise $100,000 to finance the commencement of operations. The firm intended to provide analytical services to bond market traders. The product... View Details

Keywords: Business Plan

July 2020
Supplement

PeopleAnswers (B): The Infor Acquisition

By: Daniel P. Gross

In the fall of 2009, founder and CEO Gab Goncalves has turned PeopleAnswers, Inc. from a fledgling startup to a steadily growing company of nearly 50 employees and $10 million recurring revenue. PeopleAnswers provides people analytics software which its clients use to... View Details

Keywords: People Analytics; Entrepreneurship; Strategy; Growth and Development; Human Resources; Selection and Staffing; Mergers and Acquisitions

January 2002
Background Note

Note on Business Model Analysis for the Entrepreneur

By: Richard G. Hamermesh, Paul W. Marshall and Taslim Pirmohamed

Describes the primary elements and defining characteristics of a company's business model from the perspective of an entrepreneur. Introduces several analytic techniques and provides illustrative examples of business models to support the analytic framework presented. View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Entrepreneurship; Framework; Mathematical Methods; Opportunities; Perspective

January 1985
Case

Business Research Corp. (A)

By: William A. Sahlman

Contains a description of a decision confronting an entrepreneur: which of two investment proposals should he accept to fund the creation and marketing of a database that comprises the full text of research reports produced by Wall Street investment banking firms? The... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Cost vs Benefits; Valuation; Investment Banking; Negotiation Participants; Negotiation Deal; Financing and Loans; Financial Strategy; Corporate Finance; Service Industry

Find at Harvard

October 2015 (Revised October 2016)
Case

Building Watson: Not So Elementary, My Dear! (Abridged)

By: Willy C. Shih

This case is set inside IBM Research's efforts to build a computer that can successfully take on human challengers playing the game show Jeopardy! It opens with the machine named Watson offering the incorrect answer "Toronto" to a seemingly simple question during the... View Details

Keywords: Analytics; Big Data; Business Analytics; Product Development Strategy; Machine Learning; Machine Intelligence; Artificial Intelligence; Product Development; AI and Machine Learning; Information Technology; Analytics and Data Science; Information Technology Industry; United States

19 Sep 2016
Research & Ideas

Why Isn't Business Research More Relevant to Business Practitioners?

managers and policymakers whose actions we study.” The consequence of the lack of relevant research is that the business world—and the rest of the world, for that matter—is losing out on some serious brainpower and View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Education

24 Jul 2009
Research & Ideas

Business Summit: Business Education in the 21st Century

data about the challenges facing the business education marketplace and presented qualitative information on innovations in top MBA programs. On the whole, MBA programs are in decline. Their value is being questioned, and they are seen as... View Details

Keywords: Re: Srikant M. Datar; Education

TeachingInterests

Creating Value in Business and Government

By: W. Carl Kester

This full-credit course is open only to students in the HBS-HKS Joint Degree Program, and is a required course for all joint degree students in the fall semester of their third year. Its purpose is to integrate on the one hand, the perspectives and analytic tools... View Details

30 Jan 2022
News

How America’s Talent Wars Are Reshaping Business

25 Mar 2025
HBS Seminar

Lou Shipley, Harvard Business School

May 2018
Case

The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation's Answer Fund

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Matthew G. Preble

February 2024
Module Note

Data-Driven Marketing in Retail Markets

By: Ayelet Israeli

This note describes an eight-class sessions module on data-driven marketing in retail markets. The module aims to familiarize students with core concepts of data-driven marketing in retail, including exploring the opportunities and challenges, adopting best practices,... View Details