Publications

17 Feb 2014
Research & Ideas

Companies Detangle from Legacy Pensions

a 401(k) program. Boeing threatened to move construction of the 777X jetliner to another state without the concession. Funding The Future Even so, companies are still on the hook for paying benefits to those employees who have already... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Aerospace; Financial Services

February 2024
Case

Tony Elumelu Foundation: Democratizing Luck Across Africa

By: Paul A. Gompers and Samir Saxena

Founded in 2010, The Tony Elumelu Foundation is Africa’s leading philanthropy working to support entrepreneurs in Africa with access to seed capital, business management training, mentorship, and access to networks. Through a $100 million commitment but its founder,... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Innovation Leadership; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Mission and Purpose; Education Industry; Nigeria; Africa

22 Apr 2020
News

Oil Prices to Remain Low, Sen Says

February 2002
Case

NeuroTherapy Ventures: Catalyzing Neurologic Innovations

Discusses the impact of limited market size on epilepsy therapies and shows how an early-stage venture fund can catalyze faster development of new treatments. View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Commercialization; Innovation and Management; Business Startups; Pharmaceutical Industry

Yuan Zou is an assistant professor in the Accounting and Management unit. She teaches Financial Reporting and Control (FRC) in the MBA required curriculum.

Professor Zou conducts theoretically-motivated empirical studies aimed at furthering the understanding... View Details

September 2006 (Revised February 2011)
Case

Empemex

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Regina Garcia-Cuellar

Studies an entrepreneurial venture in Mexico City. The protagonists, two MBAs from HBS, started a pawn shop chain funded from their private equity office after finishing business school. This is timed at a point where the protagonists have to decide how to grow the... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Investment; Growth and Development Strategy; Mexico City; United States

March 2006
Supplement

Geeli (CW)

By: Kenneth A. Froot and Li Jin

A well-performing Chinese manufacturer faces major impediments raising funding to grow. Highlights various imperfections that shape the financing decision. View Details

Keywords: Capital Costs; Diversification; Cost of Capital; Financing and Loans; Financial Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; China

30 Jun 2008
Research & Ideas

Rethinking Retirement Planning

know we should be saving for retirement, but how much should we be squirreling away? And of the funds our company's plan offers, which should we choose? According to Harvard Business School professor Robert C. Merton, the defined... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Banking; Financial Services

Guhan Subramanian

Guhan Subramanian is the Joseph Flom Professor of Law and Business at the Harvard Law School and the Douglas Weaver Professor of Business Law at the Harvard Business School. He is the first person in the history of Harvard University to hold... View Details

May 2010 (Revised January 2014)
Case

Water Shortage and Property Investing in Mexico City

By: John D. Macomber, Regina Garcia-Cuellar and Griffin James

A commercial property company evaluates water risks including the government's ability to remedy, the company's operating exposure and mitigation, and whether to relocate because of water risk. A real estate fund manager assesses investment prospects in Mexico City in... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Investment; Risk Management; Infrastructure; Privatization; Business and Government Relations; Partners and Partnerships; Financial Services Industry; Real Estate Industry; Utilities Industry; Mexico City

11 May 2021
Blog Post

IPO or M&A? How Venture Capital Shapes a Startup's Future

Entrepreneurs rarely consider who will ultimately own their startups—and what that means for founders—when they court venture capitalists. New research suggests they should. A startup funded by VCs who tend to work with the same group of... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital / Private Equity

03 Jun 2014
News

‘Victims’ of churn are accessories to the crime

19 Mar 2006
Research & Ideas

Unlocking Your Investment Capital

Many companies can double or even triple their capacity to invest in strategic assets and competencies by properly managing their "risk balance sheet," argues Harvard Business School professor Robert C. Merton. In a provocative... View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen; Financial Services

16 Jan 2012
Research & Ideas

Private Meetings of Public Companies Thwart Disclosure Rules

senior management at public firms still spends a lot of time in private powwows with hedge fund managers at corporate headquarters, road shows, or conferences—an average of 17... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Financial Services

April 1998
Case

Responding to 21st Century Financial Crisis

By: Huw Pill

During the 1990s, financial crises appear to have been almost annual events. Examples abound: the collapse of S & Ls in the United States; currency mayhem in Europe; Mexican devaluation and banking crisis; Japanese banks teetering on the verge of default; currency and... View Details

Keywords: Global Range; Financial Crisis

Find at Harvard

31 May 2016
HBS Seminar

Sandra Sucher, Harvard Business School

Mitchell B. Weiss

Mitch Weiss is the Richard L. Menschel Professor of Management Practice at the Harvard Business School. He created and teaches the school's course on Public Entrepreneurship—on public leaders and private entrepreneurs who invent a difference in the... View Details

May 2015
Case

Transforming Alkermes into a Global Biopharmaceutical Company

By: C. Fritz Foley and Nicholas Haas

In the summer of 2011, Jim Frates, CFO of Alkermes faced choices about how to finance the acquisition of Dublin, Ireland-based Elan Drug Technologies (EDT)—a deal that was expected to close in the fall. The case describes the history of Alkermes, provides information... View Details

Keywords: Financing; Debt; Merger; CFO; Financial Management; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States; Europe

February 2024 (Revised April 2024)
Case

CPP Investments—The Road to Zero

By: Vikram Gandhi and Radhika Kak

In February 2022, Canadian Pension Plan (CPP) Investments, the investment management organization that managed funds for the CPP, one of the biggest pension plans in the world, announced a net-zero commitment for its portfolio by 2050. Under its CEO, John Graham, it... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Asset Management; Investment Portfolio; Leading Change; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Financial Services Industry; Canada; California