Publications

14 Mar 2023
In Practice

What Does the Failure of Silicon Valley Bank Say About the State of Finance?

The bank run that led to the stunning collapse of Silicon Valley Bank late last week continues to send shivers through the American financial system. SVB, the Santa Clara, California-based bank that catered to the tech industry, was the... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Financial Services; Financial Services

Teaching Interest

Finance II (MBA Required Curriculum)

By: Benjamin C. Esty

This course builds on the foundation developed in Finance I, focusing on three sets of managerial decisions:

How to evaluate complex investments.
How to set and execute financial policies within a firm.
How to integrate... View Details

Keywords: Finance

January 2017
Case

Exotic Interest Rate Swaps: Snowballs in Portugal

By: Boris Vallee, Patrick Augustin and Philippe Rich

This case explores a complex swap transaction implemented by Metro do Porto in 2007. It represents an opportunity to study fixed income derivative instruments, such as plain-vanilla swaps and structured swaps, as well as understand the opportunities and challenges of... View Details

Keywords: Swaps; Public Finance; Structured Finance; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Public Sector; Transportation Industry; Rail Industry; Portugal

05 Dec 2022
What Do You Think?

How Would Jack Welch’s Leadership Style Fare in Today’s World?

orientation. Welch visited (and taught) in my General Management classroom. I both taught and watched him teach at GE’s executive development center in Crotonville, New York. I wrote and taught a case about the company. Welch, of course, was a View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Industrial Products; Media & Broadcasting; Medical Devices & Supplies; Manufacturing

November 1994 (Revised May 1998)
Background Note

Strategic Sales Management: A Boardroom Issue

By: Benson P. Shapiro, Stephen X. Doyle and Adrian J. Slywotsky

Explains why sales management has become an increasingly important and complex topic for top managers. Demonstrates the financial impact of a superior salesforce and then describes a way to gain superiority. The focus is on a salesforce that is responsive to customer... View Details

Keywords: Salesforce Management; Strategy

August 8, 2018
Article

Hospital-based ACOs Face Challenges in Tracking Performance Indicators

By: Christiana Beveridge, Sofia Warner, Greg Leya and Thomas W. Feeley

Given that accountable care organizations (ACOs) have not achieved the degree of cost reductions and quality improvements initially hoped for, we sought to better understand the underlying reasons for their limited success. Our analysis of American Hospital Association... View Details

Keywords: ACOs; Health Care and Treatment; Cost Management; Performance; Measurement and Metrics

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August 2017 (Revised February 2024)
Teaching Note

Exotic Interest Rate Swaps: Snowballs in Portugal

By: Boris Vallee, Patrick Augustin and Philippe Rich

This case explores a complex swap transaction implemented by Metro do Porto in 2007. It represents an opportunity to study fixed income derivative instruments, such as plain-vanilla swaps and structured swaps, as well as understand the opportunities and challenges of... View Details

Keywords: Swaps; Public Finance; Structured Finance; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Public Sector; Transportation Industry; Rail Industry; Portugal

Teaching Interest

Managing Health Care Delivery

By: Rembrand M. Koning

Complex patient needs, expensive technology innovations, and constrained resources are putting a heavy strain on health care delivery—and exposing vulnerable populations to greater risk.

Managing Health Care Delivery helps you build the capabilities to... View Details

16 Feb 2023
HBS Case

ESG Activists Met the Moment at ExxonMobil, But Did They Succeed?

The impact-investment hedge fund Engine No. 1 made a big splash in May 2021 when it managed to get three nominees elected to the ExxonMobil board of directors. It was an open effort to prod the oil giant toward renewable energy and test whether activist investing could... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Financial Services

Article

The C-Suite Skills That Matter Most

By: Raffaella Sadun, Joseph B. Fuller, Stephen Hansen and PJ Neal

Landing a job as a CEO today is no longer all about industry expertise and financial savvy. What companies are really seeking are leaders with strong social skills. That’s what the authors discovered after analyzing nearly 7,000 job descriptions for C-suite roles.... View Details

Keywords: C-Suite; Skills; Skills Development; Social Skills; Management Skills; Interpersonal Communication; Talent and Talent Management

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October 1993 (Revised March 2023)
Case

Conflict on a Trading Floor (A)

By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. and Jerry Useem

A junior salesperson on FirstAmerica Bank's trading floor is assisting a top salesperson, Linda, on a deal to finance the construction of a new cruise ship for Poseidon Cruise Lines. While the terms of the deal are being worked out, he realizes Linda has taken... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Ethics; Values and Beliefs; Profit; Knowledge Use and Leverage

2013
Working Paper

Bank Failures and Output During the Great Depression

By: Jeffrey Miron and Natalia Rigol

In response to the Financial Crisis of 2008, macroeconomic policymakers employed a range of tools designed to prevent failures of large, complex financial institutions (“banks”). The Treasury and the Fed justified these actions by arguing that bank failures exacerbate... View Details

Keywords: History; Policy; Financial Crisis; Financial Institutions; Failure

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02 Apr 2024
What Do You Think?

What's Enough to Make Us Happy?

(Image created with Midjourney, an artificial intelligence tool) Happiness, an elusive condition we all want to experience, is a popular topic. It’s a complex subject. It may or may not require everything from good health to sufficient... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

31 Jul 2017
HBS Case

It’s Hard to Fix the Family Business Without Offending the Family

finds equally beneficial lessons in a much different setting: a small family-owned Vietnamese restaurant in Boston’s inner-city neighborhood of Dorchester. Challenges lie in navigating complex family relationships, transitioning from... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Food & Beverage

February 2001 (Revised March 2001)
Case

Apax Partners and Dialog Semiconductor: March 1998

By: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner, Antonio Alvarez-Cano and Borja Martinez

Apax Partners is considering a complex buyout of a semiconductor manufacturer. The firms must assess in a compressed timeframe the complex technological, financial, and operational risks that the proposed transaction poses. View Details

Keywords: Market Transactions; Leveraged Buyouts; Restructuring; Time Management; Production; Risk Management; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

August 2009
Case

Nomura's Global Growth: Picking Up Pieces of Lehman

By: C. Fritz Foley and Linnea Meyer

What issues commonly arise in international financial management? Kenichi Watanabe and Takumi Shibata, CEO and COO of Nomura Holdings Inc., one of the leading investment banks in Asia, have the opportunity to expand their firm internationally through the acquisition of... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Investment Banking; International Finance; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Expansion; Financial Services Industry; Japan

March 2011
Article

Accounting Scholarship That Advances Professional Knowledge and Practice

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Recent accounting scholarship has used statistical analysis on asset prices, financial reports and disclosures, laboratory experiments, and surveys of practice. The research has studied the interface among accounting information, capital markets, standard setters, and... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Disclosure; Asset Pricing; Risk Management; Surveys; Capital Markets; Measurement and Metrics; Valuation; Fair Value Accounting; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Financial Reporting

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November 2005 (Revised August 2006)
Case

Investor Relations at TOTAL

By: Gregory S. Miller, Vincent Marie Dessain and Anders Sjoman

Examines investor relations and financial communications in a large company with a diverse group of financial stakeholders. Total is an "energy major" based in Paris, France. The importance of its product and its impact on economies and environments combine with the... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Business and Shareholder Relations; Communication Strategy; Paris

May 1985 (Revised October 2001)
Case

Comdisco, Inc.

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin and Rita J. Seymour

Comdisco, the largest independent dealer and lessor of computers and peripheral equipment, needs financing in order to match its market's growth of 20-30% per year. The company has access to two types of risk capital, but there are substantial costs and risks... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Strategy; Cost vs Benefits; Capital Structure; Financing and Loans; Financial Strategy; Corporate Finance; Growth and Development Strategy; Computer Industry; Distribution Industry