Publications

December 2001
Exercise

Exercise on Employee Stock Option Dilution

By: Brian J. Hall

Discusses the effects of option dilution on stock prices and shareholder value. To simplify the example and isolate the complexity of option dilution, we make a number of simplifying assumptions. View Details

Keywords: Stocks; Price; Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Business and Shareholder Relations; Complexity; Value

March 2022
Case

Tensions at SearchLight Cures

By: Laura Huang and Sarah Mehta

This general experience case tells the story of SearchLight Cures, a fictional biotechnology startup. Having discovered a new therapy for a rare disease, the company’s co-founders find themselves at an impasse over a pricing disagreement. View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Communication; Interpersonal Communication; Values and Beliefs; Management; Negotiation; Relationships; Partners and Partnerships; Science; Biotechnology Industry; United States; California; San Francisco

October 2022
Exercise

Shanty Real Estate: Confidential Information for Homebuyer 1

By: Michael Luca, Jesse M. Shapiro and Nathan Sun

Shanty is a simulation in which students inhabit the role of either a traditional home buyer or an iBuyer, both bidding on the same condo. The traditional home buyer has access to a “comp sheet” of similar properties that have recently sold, and has done a walkthrough.... View Details

Keywords: Data-driven Decision-making; Decisions; Negotiation; Bids and Bidding; Valuation; Consumer Behavior; Real Estate Industry

11 Dec 2020
Research & Ideas

Economic Jitters Push Pandemic Job Seekers to Big Companies, Not Startups

The coronavirus pandemic is spurring job applicants to seek positions at big companies and avoid startups in what new research calls an economic “flight to safety.” Job applicants using AngelList Talent, the largest online recruitment... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

January 2008 (Revised March 2009)
Case

Fortress Investment Group

By: Malcolm Baker, Carlos M. Galvez and James Quinn

CEO Wesley Edens and the five Fortress principals are contemplating a move unprecedented in the industry: becoming the first hedge fund and private equity firm to complete an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). This case examines potential reasons for a leading... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Public Equity; Initial Public Offering; Investment Funds; Going Public; Valuation; Financial Services Industry

05 Oct 2010
First Look

First Look: October 5, 2010

Demand: Model and Estimation Methodology Authors:Nathan Craig, Nicole DeHoratius, and Ananth Raman Abstract To set service levels, firms must understand how changes in service affect customer demand. Supply... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

03 Mar 2014
Research & Ideas

Facebook’s Future

Editor's note: Now 10 years old, Facebook's growth is starting to slow. That's one reason it purchased What'sApp last month in a jaw-dropping deal valued at $19 billion. What might the next decade be like? Harvard Business School... View Details

Keywords: by Mikolaj Piskorski

September 1987 (Revised December 1996)
Case

Patten Corp.

By: Krishna G. Palepu

Forbes Magazine criticized the revenue recognition policy of Patten Corp. As a result, the company's stock price dropped by a significant amount. The students are asked to discuss if the criticism by Forbes is justified, and if not, what the company should do. View Details

Keywords: Fair Value Accounting; Financial Statements; Budgets and Budgeting; Problems and Challenges; Financial Condition; Spending; Revenue; Planning; Quality; Stocks; Journalism and News Industry

24 Jul 2019
Blog Post

Growing the Seeds of an Early-Stage Startup

couldn’t afford, especially when Aaron’s baby was due a week after my start date. Yet, the lean experience has proven to be a blessing. The first thing I saw is that all of us have a deep belief in Brass Roots’ mission. We live View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Consumer Products / Retail

November 2000
Case

Dean Foods

By: Ray A. Goldberg, David E. Bell, Ann Leamon and Kim Slack

After 50 years of successful growth, mostly by acquisition, Dean Foods, the nation's second-largest dairy processor, has established a division to develop and market branded products nationally. Can a $4 billion company rely on a $300 million growth vehicle? Is this... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Divisions; Transition; Food; Goods and Commodities; Brands and Branding; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Product Development; Value Creation; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

27 Jul 2011
Research & Ideas

Customer Loyalty Programs That Work

The customer rewards cards that clutter wallets and clog key chains of many a shopper may soon be no more, as retailers move from physical to digital (read: mobile apps) forms of loyalty program member identification. It's a smart... View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish; Retail

07 Jan 2008
Research & Ideas

Pursuing a Deadly Opportunity

raising instinctive fears of bodysnatchers looking for a quick payday. It's just these kinds of gray zones that HBS assistant professor Michel Anteby likes to research, areas where questions of legitimacy and moral View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Health

21 Feb 2012
Research & Ideas

Leadership Program for Women Targets Subtle Promotion Biases

her or his sense of purpose. Leaders are most effective—both with themselves and with those they lead—when their personal values align with the work they are doing and connect... View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish

December 2000
Case

Drug Wars, The: Pfizer's Hostile Bid for Warner-Lambert in 1999

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Matthew Sandoval

Describes Pfizer's hostile bid for Warner-Lambert in the fall of 1999. Allows for an evaluation of the possible synergies created and poses the question as to whether Pfizer will pay too much. View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Bids and Bidding; Competitive Strategy; Valuation

09 Jul 2001
Research & Ideas

Does Misery Love Companies? How Social Performance Pays Off

groups, such as the Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum, work in partnership with business, government, and community leaders to promote business models that emphasize the public good. Beyond government View Details

Keywords: by Joshua D. Margolis & James P. Walsh

01 Sep 2013
News

The New Rules of E-Commerce

Mikitani (MBA 1993) is not shy about pursuing the big idea, in this case a belief that English is the lingua franca of business and learning it would give his organization a competitive edge. Rakuten,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne; e-commerce; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services

September 1994 (Revised March 1995)
Case

RailTex, Inc. (A)

By: Norman A. Berg and James Weber

By 1992, RailTex, Inc., had acquired and was operating 23 geographically separate short-line railroads (feeder lines for larger railroads) in Mexico, Canada, and primarily in the United States. Founded in 1977 with $500,000 of capital as a railcar leasing company, the... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Business Divisions; Cost Management; Growth and Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Systems; Product Marketing; Logistics; Risk and Uncertainty; Valuation

20 Jun 2016
Research & Ideas

When Predicting Other People's Preferences, You're Probably Wrong

would select the higher-quality dissimilar movie. WHAT DRIVES OUR ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE’S BELIEFS In the fifth and final study, the researchers showed why people mistakenly assume other people... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Retail

2013
Working Paper

Network Effects in Countries' Adoption of IFRS

By: Karthik Ramanna and Ewa Sletten

If the differences in accounting standards across countries reflect relatively stable institutional differences (e.g., auditing technology, the rule of law, etc.), why did several countries rapidly, albeit in a staggered manner, adopt IFRS over local standards in the... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; International Accounting; Network Effects; Standards; Adoption; Value