Publications

April 2002 (Revised February 2003)
Background Note

An Economic Framework for Assessing Development Impact

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Frank J. Lysy and Carrie Ferman

Discusses the differences between private and social returns and describes an economic framework for assessing a project's social return [known as the economic rate of return (ERR)]. The framework begins by analyzing the impact of a new project on private financiers... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Microeconomics; Investment Return; Framework; Projects; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Valuation

Career Coach

Ellen Harris

that may not be readily obvious. Her background in advertising and marketing, and subsequently Organizational Behavior and Development/Facilitation/Consulting, shaped her View Details

Keywords: Consulting; Consumer Products; Education; Hospitality; Manufacturing; Retail; Social Enterprise

May 1995 (Revised November 2001)
Case

Microsoft/Intuit

By: William E. Fruhan Jr.

Microsoft Corp. proposes to acquire Intuit Corp. Examines the strategic fit and the price proposed to complete the transaction. View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Applications and Software; Acquisition; Business Strategy; Information Technology Industry; United States

10 Apr 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research, April 10, 2018

activities, we found that they feel compelled to address hot-button issues and are guided by their own values as well as the history and culture of their organization. They... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

15 Sep 2011
Research & Ideas

High Ambition Leadership

of their people with marketplace opportunity. These CEOs spent a great deal of time crystallizing their values and purpose and how strategy could be defined in a way that... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

March 2024
Case

Madrigal: Conducting a Customer-Base Audit

By: Eva Ascarza, Bruce Hardie, Michael Ross and Peter S. Fader

This case presents a scenario where Madrigal, a U.S. retailer with a rich 20-year history and a solid loyalty program, faces a turning point with the arrival of a new CEO. This leadership change reveals a critical gap in understanding the customer base, prompting an... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Analytics and Data Science; Growth and Development Strategy; Customer Value and Value Chain; Retail Industry; United States

September 1998 (Revised July 1999)
Case

Integral Capital Partners

By: Andre F. Perold and Markus Mullarkey

Integral Capital Partners is a small firm with a very distinctive approach to investing in high-technology stocks. The firm invests privately in small start-ups as well as in publicly traded companies, and it develops important financial and advisory relationships with... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Value Creation; Venture Capital; Asset Management; Partners and Partnerships; Public Sector; Private Sector; Business Startups; Corporate Finance; Financial Services Industry

Find at Harvard

January 1998
Case

Sideco Americana S.A. (C)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Harold F. Hogan Jr

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Change; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Moral Sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Ethics; Culture; Argentina

Find at Harvard

March 2022
Case

DealShare: Social E-Commerce for the Indian Mass Market

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Malini Sen

Launched in September 2018, e-retail startup DealShare has created a tech-enabled model for the Indian mass market that allows customers to buy together, save money on good quality goods, and at the same time have fun. It targets customers who are still getting used to... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Disruption; Trends; Talent and Talent Management; Customer Focus and Relationships; Value; Cost vs Benefits; Value Creation; Internet and the Web; India

June 2018
Background Note

Valuation Techniques in Private Equity: LBO Model

By: Victoria Ivashina, Alexey Tuzikov and Abhijit Tagade

This note introduces an "LBO model," the main performance assessment and valuation technique used in the private equity industry. View Details

Keywords: LBO Model; Valuation; Private Equity; Performance Evaluation

01 Jan 2014
News

To Spot Financial Trouble Early, Use Three Circles: A conversation with Blythe McGarvie of Harvard Business School

January 2001
Case

First Community Bank (B): Community Banking Group

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Daniel Galvin

After nine years of leading First Community Bank (FCB), BankBoston's unique venture targeting low- to moderate-income communities, and finally gaining recognition and respect for her efforts, Gail Snowden must once again faces the challenge of justifying FCB's value,... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Valuation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Problems and Challenges; Business and Community Relations; Banking Industry

May 2008 (Revised June 2009)
Case

Finansbank 2006

By: C. Fritz Foley and Linnea Meyer

How do financial policy requirements and benefits of ownership concentration affect the need for and process of corporate restructuring? This case provides students with an opportunity to analyze the restructuring of a Turkish multinational business group by way of a... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Mergers and Acquisitions; Restructuring; Capital Budgeting; Agreements and Arrangements; Valuation; Turkey; Greece

June 2000 (Revised February 2003)
Teaching Note

Amazon.com Series TN

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Meredith Collura

Teaching Note for (9-800-330), (9-800-441), (9-801-194), and (9-801-392). View Details

Keywords: Value; Infrastructure

Person Page

Press / Media

By: Karim R. Lakhani

Can America Invent Its Way Back?

BusinessWeek, by Michael Mandel, 12 Sept. 2008

Today, researchers are focusing on ways to make those... View Details

January 2024 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Pioneer Natural Resources: Enhancing the Capital Return Strategy with Variable Dividends

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Elisabeth Kempf and E. Scott Mayfield

In February 2021, Scott Sheffield, the CEO of Pioneer Natural Resources (an independent oil and gas company based in Texas), was considering the possibility of enhancing the firm’s capital return strategy by introducing a variable dividend tied to cash flows in... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Finance; Cash Flow; Financial Management; Financial Strategy; Value Creation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Investment Return; Profit; Policy; Business and Shareholder Relations; Energy Industry; United States; North America; Texas

August 2000 (Revised February 2003)
Case

Borders Group, Inc.

By: Zeynep Ton and Ananth Raman

Describes Borders Group, a well-known retail chain, in late 1999 and its traditional strengths and rapid growth in the 1990s. By 1990, however, the company had fallen behind Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble in leveraging the Internet for book retailing, although it... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain Management; Customer Value and Value Chain; Distribution Channels; Service Operations; Business Growth and Maturation; Economic Growth; Industry Growth; Growth and Development; Internet; Business Model; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Supply and Industry; Retail Industry; Publishing Industry