Publications

SSRN

Profile

Claire Freidman

Why was earning your MBA at HBS important to you? Prior to business school, I spent five years working in finance. My clients were entertainment companies and I knew I wanted to switch careers and work on the operations or strategic side of one of these companies. I... View Details

Keywords: Investment Management / Hedge Fund; Investment Management / Hedge Fund; Investment Management / Hedge Fund

01 Dec 2011
News

Uncle Sam’s Business Man

Last June, Johnson was named by the White House to head SelectUSA, a new US government–wide initiative to encourage, facilitate, and accelerate business investment in America by both domestic and foreign firms. As the organization’s... View Details

August 2010 (Revised December 2010)
Case

Malcolm Life Enhances Its Variable Annuities

By: Robert C. Pozen and David J. Pearlman

The case involves an insurance CEO choosing between different designs for a variable annuity product in light of hedging, marketing, and pricing issues. The case provides students with background on the economics and regulation of life insurance and variable annuities.... View Details

Keywords: Annuities; Insurance; Investment Return; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Product Design; Insurance Industry; United States

February 2010
Article

Global Currency Hedging

By: John Y. Campbell, Karine Serfaty-de Medeiros and Luis M. Viceira

Over the period 1975 to 2005, the US dollar (particularly in relation to the Canadian dollar) and the euro and Swiss franc (particularly in the second half of the period) have moved against world equity markets. Thus these currencies should be attractive to... View Details

Keywords: Currency; Equity; Financial Markets; International Finance; Investment Return; Globalized Markets and Industries; Risk Management

December 1998
Case

Retail Financial Services in 1998: First Union

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Takia Mahmood

Provides an overview of First Union's current strategy for retail financial services. Retail Financial Services in 1998 should be given to all students as background material. The class should then be split into groups, with each group receiving one of the following... View Details

Keywords: Investment Funds; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Industry Structures; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Financial Services Industry

March 1993
Case

Clarion Optical Co.

By: Michael J. Roberts and Howard H. Stevenson

Focuses on two individuals' attempts to purchase Clarion Optical Co. Forces students to consider alternative proposals for financing the purchase; generate pro forma cash flows to assess the feasibility of these proposals; estimate the sources and magnitude of... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Financing and Loans; Investment Return; Cash Flow; Forecasting and Prediction

September 2017
Teaching Note

Marketing Transformation at Mastercard

By: Sunil Gupta and Srinivas K. Reddy

Teaching Note for HBS No. 517-040. View Details

Keywords: Mastercard; Financial Services; Ingredient Brand; B2B2C; Experiential Marketing; Digital Marketing; ROI; Marketing; Customer Focus and Relationships; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Brands and Branding; Internet and the Web; Investment Return; Financial Services Industry

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

23 Aug 2004
Research & Ideas

New Challenges for Long-Term Investors

Is there a single best investment allocation strategy for the long-term investor? Some theories favor a one-portfolio-for-all investors approach, emphasizing a best-mix-of-assets program. The more traditional approach, which developed out... View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen

16 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

Surveying the VC Landscape

and the Impact on Innovation, you explore the implications of the recent collapse in venture activity on innovation. Given recent cuts in corporate support for R&D, do you feel this is cause for concern to the innovation process? Or do you feel private equity View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen; Financial Services

February 2023 (Revised February 2024)
Case

Doing Business in Helsinki, Finland

By: Martin A. Sinozich, Lena Duchene, Tonia Labruyere and Daniela Beyersdorfer

This case examines the challenges and opportunities of doing business in Finland. It highlights Finland's economic transformation in the decades leading up to 2024 in the context of its history, culture, and politics. The case gives an overview of some of the main... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Business and Government Relations; Corporate Strategy; Research and Development; Foreign Direct Investment; Crisis Management; Culture; Environmental Sustainability; International Relations; Food and Beverage Industry; Finland; Europe

2016
Chapter

Return Predictability in the Treasury Market: Real Rates, Inflation, and Liquidity

By: Carolin E. Pflueger and Luis M. Viceira

Keywords: Investment Return; Bonds; Forecasting and Prediction; Inflation and Deflation

April 2008 (Revised August 2008)
Supplement

Shareholder Activists at Friendly Ice Cream (B)

By: V.G. Narayanan, Fabrizio Ferri and James Weber

This case study briefly describes the outcome of the Shareholder Activists at Friendly Ice Cream (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Investment Activism; Business and Shareholder Relations; Conflict and Resolution; Outcome or Result

2005
Working Paper

Investor Sentiment and the Cross-Section of Stock Returns

By: Malcolm Baker and Jeffrey Wurgler

We examine how investor sentiment affects the cross-section of stock returns. Theory predicts that a broad wave of sentiment will disproportionately affect stocks whose valuations are highly subjective and are difficult to arbitrage. We test this prediction by studying... View Details

Keywords: Investment Return; Behavioral Finance; Stocks; Theory; Forecasting and Prediction

Web

Lehman Brothers Archives | Baker Library | Bloomberg Center | Harvard Business School

Introduction 1840s – 1880s General Merchants to Commodities Brokers 1880s – 1920s Investment Banking & Securities Underwriting 1920s – 1960s Investing in Emerging Industries 1850–1968 Lehman Brothers Family... View Details

2013
Article

Learning and the Disappearing Association Between Governance and Returns

By: Lucian A. Bebchuk, Alma Cohen and Charles C.Y. Wang

The correlation between governance indices and abnormal returns documented for 1990–1999 subsequently disappeared. The correlation and its disappearance are both due to market participants' gradually learning to appreciate the difference between good-governance and... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Investment Return; Operations; Performance; Value; Learning; Business Earnings; Behavioral Finance

March 2001 (Revised April 2002)
Case

Rent-Way, Inc. (A)

By: David F. Hawkins

The company uses the units of activity method to account for its rental inventory. A prominent hedge fund advisor recommends the company's stock be sold short. View Details

Keywords: Mathematical Methods; Stock Shares; Fair Value Accounting; Quality; Investment Funds; Service Industry

October 2007
Article

The Effectiveness of Pre-Release Advertising for Motion Pictures: An Empirical Investigation Using a Simulated Market

By: Anita Elberse and Bharat N. Anand

One of the most visible and publicized trends in the movie industry is the escalation in movie advertising expenditures over time. Yet, the returns to movie advertising are poorly understood. The main reason is that disentangling the causal effect of advertising on... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Stocks; Investment Return; Price; Revenue; Quality; Mathematical Methods; Motion Pictures and Video Industry