Publications

September 2008 (Revised October 2008)
Supplement

Shareholder Activists at Friendly Ice Cream (A2)

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

The A1 and A2 versions of the “Shareholder Activists at Friendly Ice Cream (A)” split the original A case into two parts. The A1 case ends as activists Sardar Biglari and Phil Cooley prepare to meet with CEO Don Smith at Friendly's headquarters in September 2006. The... View Details

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

05 May 2003
Research & Ideas

Sharing the Responsibility of Corporate Governance

each company in the portfolio is acting in a socially responsible manner. So-called green funds attempt to invest in socially responsible companies but often their selection criteria, which are often based on the View Details

Keywords: by Carla Tishler

February 2011 (Revised April 2012)
Case

PepsiCo Peru Foods: More than Small Potatoes

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter, Rakesh Khurana, Rajiv Lal and Matthew Bird

The regional head of supply chain for PepsiCo South America Foods and his team had worked for 10 years to realize their dream of creating an agricultural research center in Peru that could provide more productive and healthier varieties of potatoes for the Frito-Lay... View Details

Keywords: Food; Supply Chain; Planning; Growth and Development Strategy; Leading Change; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Peru

01 Mar 2015
News

Case Study: The Speed of Light

that maintains and expands your repeatable service/solution yet keeps your employees, managers, and leaders fully engaged. Keys to your future growth are servicing new contracts with your repeatable solution, and the skill set View Details

Keywords: Electric Power Generation, Transmission, Distribution; Utilities

July 2010
Case

Fidelity Retires in Canada

By: Robert C. Pozen and Edward Warren Scott

The head of Fidelity Canada was faced with a decision about what to do with its retirement business there. Although Fidelity as a fund manager has made some headway in Canada, the competition has been very tough for the administration of retirement plans—a separate... View Details

Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Investment Funds; Globalized Firms and Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Retirement; Competition; Financial Services Industry; Canada; United States

Find at Harvard

30 Nov 2020
Research & Ideas

COVID Not Slowing VC Investment

expect their investments to outperform major equity indexes going forward, and they’re continuing to fund new endeavors. “It’s sort of the opposite of doom and gloom,” Gompers... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Financial Services; Banking

Research Summary

Cross-Boundary Coordination and Airline Performance

In the context of global airline alliances, this study explores how organizations engaged in partnerships for service delivery achieve coordination with each other. We will assess the impact of both cross-functional and cross-organizational coordination on the quality... View Details

18 Oct 2004
Research & Ideas

The Bias of Wall Street Analysts

brokerages are working on repairing the tarnished image of the sell-side analyst profession while at the same time reconfiguring the economics of that function. Up until brokerage commissions were... View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen; Financial Services

Research Summary

Formulating technology commercialization strategies

Even if young organizations succeed in acquiring the specialized talent necessary to further develop a recently-discovered technology, they may face an uncertain path in commercializing the original invention. Initial conceptions of what might constitute a useful... View Details

November 2002 (Revised October 2003)
Case

Circles: Series D Financing

By: Paul W. Marshall and Kristin Lieb

Circles, a corporate concierge company on the verge of profitability, must make a decision whether to take a D-round venture capital despite ever-changing and ever-worsening terms. A four-year-old company with several major clients, it has met its business plan... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Financing and Loans; Management Teams; Growth and Development Strategy; Negotiation Process; Venture Capital; Governing and Advisory Boards; Entrepreneurship; Service Industry; Service Industry; Massachusetts

11 Feb 2019
Research & Ideas

The Business of Saving the Planet

2018: Implications for Business This background note provides general information about climate change and its implications for business. Working Knowledge Stories on the Business of Environmental Sustainability Should a Pension View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Energy; Green Technology

04 Apr 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research, April 4

investors provide a little funding and limited governance to an increased number of startups that they are more likely to abandon, but where initial experiments significantly inform beliefs about the future... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Mar 2018
News

Making Sense of the Modern Startup

matter who funds it? How does it evolve logically over time? What insights could you derive from studying that particular set of circumstances, where there’s lots of... View Details

Keywords: Jeffrey L. Cruikshank (PMD 51, 1986)

January 1996 (Revised November 1997)
Case

Weston Presidio Offshore Capital: Confronting the Fundraising Challenge

By: Josh Lerner

Weston Presidio Capital encounters substantial difficulties while raising its first fund. The incentives and roles of investment advisors ("gatekeepers") pension funds and consultants are explored. The relationship with lead investors is considered. View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Financing and Loans; Investment Funds; Markets; Problems and Challenges; Relationships; Motivation and Incentives; Financial Services Industry

April 2024 (Revised August 2024)
Case

The Engine

By: Joshua Lev Krieger, Jim Matheson, Fiona Murray and Nicholas Christman

The Engine, a venture capital firm founded by MIT to fill a gap in the technology funding landscape by commercializing breakthrough science and technology. Led by managing partner and CEO Katie Rae, the Engine's unique approach involved an unusually longer fund life,... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Mission and Purpose; Venture Capital; Business Startups; Entrepreneurial Finance; Financial Services Industry

October 2006 (Revised December 2012)
Background Note

Note on U.S. Public Education Finance (A): Revenues

Describes the revenue structure of U.S. public education. Covers funding by federal, state, and local governments. Examines in detail two federal education laws: the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act... View Details

Keywords: Education; Revenue; Public Administration Industry; Public Administration Industry; United States

01 Oct 2000
News

Class of 1975 Endows Chair in Entrepreneurship

With the study of entrepreneurial management flourishing at HBS, the challenge to find and support new faculty and to fund curriculum development is more pressing than ever. Recently these needs were... View Details

Keywords: Nancy O. Perry

August 2000
Case

AMVESCAP in 1999

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Kathleen E. E Danoher

Deals with the problems faced by a major mutual fund company as it attempts to respond to the threats and opportunities posed by the explosion of the Internet and the changing landscape of retail financial services. View Details

Keywords: Trends; Investment Funds; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Problems and Challenges; Alignment; Internet; Financial Services Industry