Publications

09 Apr 2021
News

Negotiation, Diplomacy, Leadership, and Conflict Resolution

2011
Chapter

How Does Simplified Disclosure Affect Individuals' Mutual Fund Choices?

By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson and Brigitte C. Madrian

We use an experiment to estimate the effect of the SEC's Summary Prospectus, which simplifies mutual fund disclosure. Our subjects chose an equity portfolio and a bond portfolio. Subjects received either statutory prospectuses or Summary Prospectuses. We find no... View Details

Keywords: Information; Corporate Disclosure; Decision Choices and Conditions; Consumer Behavior; Retirement; Personal Finance; Investment Funds; Microeconomics

October 2023 (Revised February 2024)
Case

Bizongo and e-B2B in India

By: Álvaro Rodríguez Arregui and Radhika Kak

Bizongo, an Indian e-B2B platform was co-founded by three college graduates in 2015 with the goal of creating the "Alibaba of India" when the B2B e-commerce landscape was practically non-existent. The founders saw a significant opportunity in connecting mid-sized... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; E-commerce; Business Strategy; India

April 2021
Teaching Note

Social Media War 2021: Snap vs. Facebook vs. TikTok

By: David B. Yoffie and Daniel Fisher

This teaching note provides analysis and a teaching plan for the Social Media War 2021: Snap vs. Facebook vs. TikTok case. View Details

Keywords: Strategy Development; Competitor Analysis; Strategy; Network Effects; Competitive Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Social Media

December 2018
Supplement

iyzico: Fundraising in Emerging Markets (B)

By: Marco Di Maggio and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in July 2016 as Barbaros Ozbugutu, co-founder and CEO of the Istanbul-based payment technology start-up iyzico, contemplates the pros and cons of the different term sheets the company has received for its Series C round. The case then informs the reader... View Details

Keywords: Iyzico; Fundraising; Business Startups; Venture Capital; Emerging Markets; Negotiation Offer; Decision Choices and Conditions

February 1996 (Revised February 1997)
Case

America Online, Inc.

By: Amy P. Hutton and Krishna G. Palepu

America Online's (AOL) stock price has soared nearly 2,000% since its IPO. However, there is considerable disagreement among analysts regarding the future prospects of AOL. Although many analysts are bullish on the stock, short sellers have sold around 7 million... View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Analysis; Stocks; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Statements; Business Strategy; Web Services Industry

July 2008 (Revised October 2020)
Case

Sam Barnstable and Blue Sky Radio Devices

By: Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

These three short vignettes depict investment professionals considering difficult financings for companies in their portfolios. For one reason or another, each company has under-performed expectations. Should the protagonist recommend that the firm participate or not,... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Strategy; Investment Portfolio; Performance

January 2008
Teaching Note

Credit Risk: Valuing Risky Debt & CDOs (TN)

By: Joshua D. Coval and Erik Stafford

Teaching Note for [208111] and [208113]. View Details

Keywords: Price; Credit; Risk Management; Investment; Bonds; Borrowing and Debt; Decisions

November 1993 (Revised November 1994)
Supplement

OfficePro (B)

By: John A. Quelch

Supplements OfficePro (A). View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Globalized Firms and Management; Business Subsidiaries; Supply Chain Management; Retail Industry; France

December 1998 (Revised May 1999)
Case

Specialty Medical Chemicals

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Lucinda Doran

A new general manager is supposed to rekindle growth. Seven months later, he questions the abilities of his direct reports. An organizational psychologist is brought in to assess his people. The general manager now has to decide who to keep and how to structure his... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Employees; Leadership Development; Management Teams; Organizational Structure; Cognition and Thinking

20 Jan 2016
News

Tough Love For Small Business: 'Nothing Happens Until Somebody Cries'

Keywords: turnarounds; family business; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management

15 Mar 2021
Office Hours

Readers Ask: What's the Next 'Big Thing' in Finance?

Question: What is your favorite podcast on finance and why? Cohen: NPR’s Hidden Brain. Look, this is not a podcast about finance, or specifically about finance. It’s a podcast more about decision-making and all the errors and wonky View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Financial Services

25 Mar 2014
Research & Ideas

Book Excerpt: ‘Can China Lead?’

nurtured in different educational and institutional settings. The question, then, is this: does China have a good institutional framework for innovation? Our answer at present is no: the governance structures of Chinese state-owned enterprises and universities still... View Details

Keywords: Re: William C. Kirby & F. Warren McFarlan; Education; Technology

Web

Private Equity Finance - Course Catalog

many of the decisions taken by PE firms have a direct parallel to the strategic and financial decisions taken by companies more broadly and by other types of investors. The majority of cases will integrate... View Details

01 Dec 2007
News

Where Are the Innovators in Health Care?

brilliant, effective innovators have forced sluggish U.S. industries to become more productive. Sam Walton’s exquisitely detailed supply chain management, coupled with his daring decision to locate Wal-Marts in rural areas, kick-started... View Details

Keywords: Regina E. Herzlinger; Health, Social Assistance; Management

16 Mar 2018
News

Giving Back to Help The Next Generation

game-changer for me,” says Sergio. “That was critical in my decision to pursue an MBA at HBS.” The former engineering major from Chicago left her operations job at GE to attend HBS. Sergio explains that the Michael J. and Mary C. Johnston... View Details

01 Mar 2018
News

What I Do: Philippe Hellich (MBA 1996)

privacy to employee and customer safety, as well as crisis management, compliance, and internal audits.” “We all make risk-based decisions every day. The same is true in my business at a higher, broader level. A few months ago, we... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; illustrations by Peter and Maria Hoey

January 2021 (Revised March 2021)
Case

Juno (A): Leveraging Student Power

By: Joshua Schwartzstein, Kathleen L. McGinn and Amy Klopfenstein

In March 2020, Chris Abkarians and Nikhil Agarwal were in the midst of preparing the annual auction for their student loan assistance startup, Juno. Both current MBA students at Harvard Business School, the duo founded Juno in 2018 to leverage student bargaining power... View Details