Publications

05 Jul 2006
Research & Ideas

Reinventing the Dowdy Savings Bond

Schneider, Tufano proposes a slight renovation of the program that will make it easier for asset-poor families to use savings bonds to build a nest egg for the future. Families... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Banking; Financial Services

April 2015 (Revised April 2022)
Case

Bankruptcy in the City of Detroit

By: Stuart Gilson, Kristin Mugford and Annelena Lobb

The June 2013 bankruptcy of the city of Detroit, Michigan was, at the time, the largest municipal bankruptcy in American history. Detroit had struggled for years with a weakening tax base, high unemployment, a heavy debt load and increasing retiree costs. These... View Details

28 Sep 2010
News

Hey Big Spenders: The Trickle-Down Argument

August 2019 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Zillow Offers: Winning Online Real Estate 2.0

By: Luis Viceira, Marco Di Maggio and Allison Ciechanover

Founded in 2005, Zillow had become the leading online real estate and home-related marketplace. The brand was recognized as a trusted resource for players in the real estate market, providing information and transparency on home prices. Revenue, which was historically... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; Corporate Culture; Intermediation; Brokerage; Startup; Evaluating Business Investments; Property; Information Technology; Business Model; Expansion; Business Startups; Real Estate Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States

January 2008 (Revised August 2009)
Module Note

Competing through Business Models (A)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Joan E. Ricart

This note defines the concepts of business model and the value loop. It also introduces business model representations and proposes four tests for evaluating business models in isolation. This is the first note in a series of three written for the HBS elective course... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Competitive Strategy; Value

23 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

Partnering and the Balanced Scorecard

diverse units, employees, and constituencies. In this chapter, we describe how effective leaders customize their organization's measurement and management system to partner with their employees for strategy implementation. We also discuss... View Details

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan & David P. Norton

December 2017 (Revised January 2019)
Case

In the Eye of a Geopolitical Storm: South Korea's Lotte Group, China and the U.S. THAAD Missile Defense System (A)

By: Andy Zelleke and Brian Tilley

By late 2016 and early 2017, Lotte Group, a South Korean chaebol (large family-controlled business group) had become embroiled not only in the domestic political turmoil surrounding President Park Geun-hye, but also—uncomfortably—in a four-country geopolitical storm. ... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility; Politics; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; National Security; International Relations; Decision Making; Government and Politics; Leadership; South Korea; China; Japan

December 1999
Case

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (A1): "Dot-comming" the World: Philip Nenon on a Billion Dollar Bet

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Jane Roessner

A group at Sun Microsystems, Inc. proposed that a recent acquisition that made fault-tolerant computers for telecommunications was a major opportunity for Sun. If the board provided funding to expand the acquisition's portfolio of products and make them part of the... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Governing and Advisory Boards; Motivation and Incentives; Expansion; Technology Industry

17 Nov 2016
HBS Seminar

Fiona Scott Morton, Yale University

22 Jul 2014
News

Senate Panel Takes On Tax Inversions

June 2022 (Revised November 2023)
Case

Individual FoodService, Kelso, and Ken Sweder

By: Jo Tango and Alys Ferragamo

When and how much risk to take? In October 2020, Ken Sweder, CEO of Individual FoodService (“IFS”), contemplated this question as he evaluated a proposal to acquire Brady Industries, a distributor of janitorial and sanitation products. Sweder and his private equity... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Risk Management; Mergers and Acquisitions; Value Creation; Business Divisions

April 2010
Case

Groupe Ariel S.A.: Parity Conditions and Cross-Border Valuation

By: Timothy A. Luehrman and James Quinn

Groupe Ariel evaluates a proposal from its Mexican subsidiary to purchase and install cost-saving equipment at a manufacturing facility in Monterrey. The improvements will allow the plant to automate recycling and remanufacturing of toner and printer cartridges, an... View Details

Keywords: Exchange Rates; Securities Analysis; Project Evaluation; International Finance; Debt Securities; Currency Exchange Rate; Cash Flow; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Capital Budgeting; Europe; Mexico

May 2019
Article

The Role of Gatekeepers in Capital Markets

By: Sugata Roychowdhury and Suraj Srinivasan

Gatekeepers in financial markets have the power to provide the institutional stability, fortitude and direction necessary for the development and the smooth functioning of capital markets. At the same time, they are often motivated by their own private incentives.... View Details

Keywords: Gatekeepers; Capital Markets; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Performance Effectiveness

SSRN

Find at Harvard

08 May 2020
Working Paper Summaries

Corporate Environmental Impact: Measurement, Data and Information

Keywords: by George Serafeim, DG Park, David Freiberg, and T. Robert Zochowski

Article

How Actors Change Institutions: Towards a Theory of Institutional Entrepreneurship

By: Julie Battilana, Bernard Leca and Eva Boxenbaum

As well as review the literature on the notion of institutional entrepreneurship introduced by Paul DiMaggio in 1988, we propose a model of the process of institutional entrepreneurship. We first present theoretical and definitional issues associated with the concept... View Details

Keywords: Change; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Framework; Research; Theory; Organizations; Management Practices and Processes

Find at Harvard

17 May 2016
News

The One Thing You Should Always Ignore During Negotiations

June 2018 (Revised February 2019)
Teaching Note

Rose Electronics Distributing Company

By: Richard S. Ruback, Royce Yudkoff and Ahron Rosenfeld

Itamar Frankenthal (HBS ’13) wanted a $4.5 million bank loan to partially finance his planned acquisition of a small company, Rose Electronics. He received nine proposals which varied widely in term, interest rate, amortization schedule, and covenants. Frankenthal had... View Details

Keywords: Financing and Loans; Acquisition; Decision Making; Electronics Industry

March 2016 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Hello Alfred: Come Home Happy

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Carin-Isabel Knoop

On a mission to "automate the on-demand economy," Harvard Business School classmates Marcela Sapone and Jessica Beck launched Hello Alfred in 2013 to provide subscribers with an "Alfred" to complete various chores for a monthly fee. In early 2016, the company has built... View Details

Keywords: On-demand Economy; Sharing Economy; Technology Startup; Technology; Growth Strategy; Business Startups; Business Growth and Maturation; Entrepreneurship; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Strategic Planning; Service Industry; United States; Boston; Cambridge; New York (city, NY); California