Publications

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

September 1991
Case

Momenta Corp. (B)

Momenta is a one-year-old corporation that has sought to build a distinct culture and identity through a structured process and organized rituals. The company is seeking to be a major player in the highly competitive pen-based computer market and has attracted... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Organizational Culture; Business Startups

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

October 2024
Case

Estímulo: Blended Finance in Brazil

By: Vikram S. Gandhi, James Barnett, Maxim Pike Harrell and Marina Osborn

In December 2022, Estímulo—a Brazilian impact investment fund supporting small businesses—found itself at a crossroads. The fund was established in 2020 to provide emergency relief through accessible credit and financial education. When low default rates from borrowers... View Details

Keywords: Credit; Financial Management; Financing and Loans; Investment; Social Enterprise; Business Model; Financial Services Industry; Brazil; South America; Latin America

Article

Collection, Exploration and Analysis of Crowdfunding Social Networks

By: Miao Cheng, Anand Sriramulu, Sudarshan Muralidhar, Boon Thau Loo, Laura Huang and Po-Ling Loh

Crowdfunding is a recent financing phenomenon that is gaining wide popularity as a means for startups to raise seed funding for their companies. This paper presents our initial results at understanding this phenomenon using an exploratory data driven approach. We have... View Details

Find at Harvard

11 Oct 2013
News

Shedding Light on the Shutdown

October 2020
Article

IQ from IP: Simplifying Search in Portfolio Choice

By: Huaizhi Chen, Lauren Cohen, Umit Gurun, Dong Lou and Christopher J. Malloy

Using a novel database that tracks web traffic on the SEC’s EDGAR servers between 2004 and 2015, we show that mutual fund managers gather information on a very particular subset of firms and insiders, and their surveillance is very persistent over time. This tracking... View Details

Keywords: Tracked Trades; Return Predictability; Institutional Trading; Insider Trading; Institutional Investing; Information; Investment Portfolio; Decisions; Management

SSRN

Find at Harvard

September 2008 (Revised October 2008)
Case

Shareholder Activists at Friendly Ice Cream (A1)

By: Fabrizio Ferri, V.G. Narayanan and James Weber

Two activist investors, one a founder and one a hedge fund manager, seek to improve board oversight at a chain restaurant company. Prestley Blake founded Friendly Ice Cream in 1935 with his brother, and the two created a chain of full-service restaurants. In 1979, they... View Details

Keywords: Investment Activism; Governing and Advisory Boards; Lawsuits and Litigation; Business or Company Management; Business and Shareholder Relations; Conflict of Interests; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

February 2000 (Revised April 2003)
Case

InSite Marketing Technology (A)

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Genevieve J.S. Feraud and Sheila L Marcelo

Introduces students to products and services that improve customers' online shopping experience. Also discusses the challenges of marketing new product concepts and finding funding for start-up ventures. View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Financing and Loans; Technological Innovation; Business or Company Management; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Service Delivery; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Service Industry; Web Services Industry

October 2023 (Revised November 2023)
Case

Sprout Solutions

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Bonnie Yining Cao and Dawn H. Lau

Husband-and-wife co-founders Patrick and Alexandria Gentry had built Sprout Solutions to be one of the biggest Software-as-a-Service human resources management platforms in the Philippines, guided by the mission to "impact the life of every Filipino by improving... View Details

Keywords: Software; Startup; Technology Ventures; Human Resources; Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Emerging Markets; Business Startups; Applications and Software; Venture Capital; Philippines

December 2024
Supplement

Core Innovation Capital: Investing in Fintech for Good (B)

By: Ray Kluender, Natalia Rigol, Benjamin Roth and Nicole Tempest Keller

In 2017, Core Innovation Capital invested $725,000 in Hugo Insurance, a pay-as-you-drive auto insurance startup targeting the non-standard market. Core followed with $300,000 in 2019 during a Seed II round. By 2022, Hugo founder, David Bergendahl, sought $10 million in... View Details

Keywords: Fintech; Venture Capital; Social Entrepreneurship; Insurance; Measurement and Metrics; Investment; Financial Services Industry; Technology Industry; Insurance Industry; United States

KRISHNA G. PALEPU is the Ross Graham Walker Professor of Business Administration, and has served previously as Senior Advisor to the President of Harvard University, and Senior Associate Dean at the... View Details

Keywords: accounting industry; banking; financial services; information technology industry; pharmaceuticals; retailing

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

15 Jun 2016
Research & Ideas

These VC Partners May Make Your Firm Less Innovative

Capital, Competitor Ties, and Entrepreneurial Innovation, published in the October 2015 Academy of Management Journal and co-written with Emily Cox Pahnke and Benjamin Hallen of the University of Washington and Dan Wang of Columbia... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services; Banking

03 Jun 2002
Research & Ideas

How to Succeed With Your New Boss

your mandate and negotiate for resources is a clear early priority. Defining Your Goals When you think about working with your new boss, keep the following goals in mind: Clarify mutual expectations early. Begin managing expectations... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Watkins

The Relevance of Broker Networks for Information Diffusion in the Stock Market

This paper shows that the network of relationships between brokers and institutional investors shapes the information diffusion in the stock market. We exploit trade-level data to show that trades channeled through central brokers earn significantly positive... View Details

January 2004 (Revised July 2006)
Case

Mondavi Winery

Examines Mondavi Winery's struggle to communicate its value proposition to the market following an apparently successful IPO. The Mondavi Winery had a strong reputation for innovation in the wine industry and had undertaken an IPO to secure the funding needed to... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Initial Public Offering; Innovation and Management; Communication Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

15 May 2012
First Look

First Look: May 15

PublicationsThe Two Facets of Collaboration: Cooperation and Coordination in Strategic Alliances Authors:Ranjay Gulati, Franz Wohlgezogen, and Pavel Zhelyazkov Publication:The Academy of Management Annals (forthcoming) Abstract This... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

September 2019 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Dove and Real Beauty: Building a Brand with Purpose

By: Mark R. Kramer, Myriam Sidibe and Gunjan Veda

Unilever subsidiary Dove soap became a "brand with a purpose" and created shared value when the company decided to launch a Campaign for Real Beauty to combat the artificial media-driven stereotype of female beauty that causes appearance anxiety in women and girls... View Details

Keywords: Stereotype; Body Image; Female; Self-Esteem; Brands and Branding; Mission and Purpose; Advertising Campaigns; Gender; Resource Allocation