Publications

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June 2012 (Revised July 2013)
Exercise

Competition Simulator Exercise: Instructions

By: Eric Van den Steen

In the Competition Simulator Exercise, students explore through trial and error some important economic foundations of competitive strategy and managerial economics. In particular, the nine simulator exercises let students explore horizontal differentiation with and... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Economics; Strategy; Game Theory

October 1998 (Revised May 1999)
Case

Commercial Financial Services, Inc.: Securitization of Charged-off Credit Card Receivables

By: Kenneth A. Froot and Ivan G. Farman

Commercial Financial Services (CFS) is a company that buys charged-off credit card receivables, securitizes them, and then attempts to collect on the receivables. The case deals with how the firm makes money and the limits of securitization as an efficient financing... View Details

Keywords: Financing; Asset-back Finance; Financial Policy; Securitization; Credit; Financial Strategy; Business Strategy; Policy; Financial Services Industry

Find at Harvard

06 Aug 2012
News

Family Offices Seeing Fastest Growth as Firms Oust Banks

January 2010 (Revised August 2011)
Case

Ganeden Biotech, Inc.

By: Robert C. Pozen, Dale Alan Winger and Matthew Kenneth Ahlers

The CEO of Ganeden Biotech, a small firm with several viable probiotic products but limited resources, must decide what markets to invest in and what intellectual property strategies will best serve its immediate and longer-term business interests. View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Investment; Intellectual Property; Market Entry and Exit; Business Strategy; Biotechnology Industry

February 2018 (Revised March 2019)
Case

Sandlands Vineyards

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Gregory Saldutte

Approximately 80% of the wineries in the U.S. break even or lose money. An even greater percentage lose money on an economic basis (i.e., after a charge for the cost of equity). Tegan Passalacqua is a successful, young, Californian winemaker who specializes in making... View Details

8:30 AM – 4:30 PM EST, 13 Nov 2015

HBS MBA Career Reboot Camp in New York City

Career Reboot Camp is coming to New York! Led by Professor Tim Butler and facilitated by HBS career coaches, participants will work through exercises to reflect on their key career interests, what's important to them in work and life, and create a plan to move forward... View Details

November 1999
Case

Long-Term Capital Management, L.P. (A)

By: Andre F. Perold

Long-Term Capital Management, L.P. (LTCM) was in the business of engaging in trading strategies to exploit market pricing discrepancies. Because the firm employed strategies designed to make money over long horizons--from six months to two years or more--it adopted a... View Details

Keywords: Fluctuation; Capital; Financial Liquidity; Financing and Loans; Investment Funds; Investment Portfolio; Corporate Governance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Management; Risk Management; Marketing; Motivation and Incentives; Financial Services Industry

September 2024
Case

XYZ Robotics

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Brian Mao Fu, Shu Lin and Jamie Gong

Founded in 2018, XYZ Robotics was a China-based startup specializing in robotic picking solutions and 3D machine vision products. Amid an economic downturn and intense competition, the company faced considerable financial challenges and needed to determine the best way... View Details

Keywords: Robotics; 3D Systems; China; Resource Allocation; Business Startups; Competition; Product; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Technology Industry; China

October 2002 (Revised June 2005)
Case

McDonald's Corporation (Abridged)

McDonald's has over many years built an operating strategy based on consistency and quality through a limited product range. Competitive forces have drawn the company into a much wider variety of foods and services to maintain growth. Now, new competitors threaten to... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Competition; Brands and Branding; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

February 2023
Case

Roblox: Virtual Commerce in the Metaverse

By: Ayelet Israeli and Nicole Tempest Keller

In 2022, Roblox had 58.8 million daily active users, including over half of all children and teens under the age of 16 in the United States. Roblox, a free-to-use “co-experience platform”, allowed users to come together in immersive 3D experiences to socialize, work,... View Details

March 2011 (Revised March 2014)
Case

The IASB at a Crossroads: The Future of International Financial Reporting Standards (A)

By: Karthik Ramanna, Karol Misztal and Daniela Beyersdorfer

What are the major challenges to the continued growth of IFRS worldwide? Should countries be encouraged to pursue "full adoption" of IFRS or should each country determine its own IFRS "convergence" strategy? Given the limitations of governance and... View Details

Keywords: International Accounting; Emerging Markets; Financial Reporting; Global Strategy; Fair Value Accounting; Corporate Governance; Standards; Adoption; Growth and Development Strategy

March 2023 (Revised November 2023)
Module Note

The Social Purpose of the Firm

By: Debora L. Spar and Julia M. Comeau

The Social Purpose of the Firm (SPF) is a short module designed to explore how, and under what circumstances, business leaders can harness the power of capitalism and markets to “make a difference in the world” – that is, to address a significant societal problem as a... View Details

Keywords: Social Accounting; Purpose; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Social Enterprise; Mission and Purpose; United States; Sweden; Kenya; Netherlands

14 Feb 2005
Research & Ideas

The World in Your Palm?

As makers of everything engage in an all-out features war to cram the most services, accessories, and functions into a single product, the real question for many is this: Does the consumer really want an all-in-one digital device? A panel... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

June 2011 (Revised December 2013)
Case

FIJI Water: Carbon Negative?

By: Francesca Gino, Michael W. Toffel and Stephanie van Sice

Seeking to go beyond global best practices in reducing environmental impacts, FIJI Water, a premium artesian bottled water company in the United States, launched a Carbon Negative campaign that would offset more greenhouse gas emissions than were released by the... View Details

Keywords: Carbon Footprint; Carbon Offsetting; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Brands and Branding; Negotiation Tactics; Business and Government Relations; Corporate Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Fiji

21 Feb 2018
HBS Seminar

Modupe Akinola, Columbia Business School

May 1993
Background Note

Managing International Alliances: Conceptual Framework

Provides an overview of key issues on management of international alliances, including: 1) the logic of collaboration; 2) selecting partners; 3) structuring alliances; 4) alliance networks; 5) alliance dynamics; 6) limits to alliances; and 7) the role of governments. View Details

Keywords: Management; Alliances; Globalization

June 2023
Article

The Salary Taboo: Privacy Norms and the Diffusion of Information

By: Zoë Cullen and Ricardo Perez-Truglia

The limited diffusion of salary information has implications for labor markets, such as wage discrimination policies and collective bargaining. Access to salary information is believed to be limited and unequal, but there is little direct evidence on the sources of... View Details

Keywords: Search Costs; Privacy; Norms; Compensation; Financial Industry; Field Experiment; Knowledge Dissemination; Equality and Inequality; Gender; Compensation and Benefits; Societal Protocols