Publications

04 Apr 2023
Book

Two Centuries of Business Leaders Who Took a Stand on Social Issues

While shareholders still reign supreme at many companies, a widespread shift toward more responsible business practices is driving more leaders to take a stand on social and environmental issues today, says Harvard Business School Professor Geoffrey Jones. Jones... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Consumer Products; Fashion; Retail; Green Technology

April 2000
Case

Francisco Partners

By: Josh Lerner and David L. Gallo

Francisco Partners (which focuses on buyouts of high-technology firms) aims to be the largest first-time fund ever raised. The rationales for the fund, fundraising strategy, and partnership terms and conditions are among the topics explored. View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Leveraged Buyouts; Venture Capital; Financial Strategy; Partners and Partnerships; Strategy; Investment Funds; Financial Services Industry

April 1998
Case

Venture Capital in Ireland: Getting Their ACT Together

By: Paul A. Gompers and Catherine M. Conneely

Analyzes the decisions of Niall Carroll, an Irish banker, to start a venture capital fund focused on Ireland. The context of the Irish markets and the nature of Irish opportunities are explored. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Venture Capital; Markets; Market Entry and Exit; Financial Services Industry; Republic of Ireland

Find at Harvard

06 Nov 2017
Research Event

Who is Responsible for the Future of Cities?

surrounded by an expanding ring of residential and industrial growth. And finally, the scrambled egg—a delicious mess but a mess nonetheless: the modern city, sprawling with opportunity, technology, and... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

19 Apr 2017
News

Chicago Becomes a Hub of Startup Action

technology, Tebbe is a chief organizer of the third annual Chicago Venture Summit this September. “We have capital returning from both coasts,” he said. Efforts are in place to ensure job growth and economic... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Emmanuel

19 Mar 2006
Research & Ideas

Unlocking Your Investment Capital

similar to long-maturity fixed-rate debt. If the pension fund enters into an equity asset swap in which it pays the total return on a standard index of the stock market (e.g., S&P 500) and receives in... View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen; Financial Services

10 May 2004
Research & Ideas

Rethink the Value of Joint Ventures

seldom map to realistic approximations of true underlying risks and that coarse rules-of-thumb are used in pretty ad hoc ways. Given the importance of large emerging markets to the future View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia Churchwell

12 May 2015
Working Paper Summaries

Financing Payouts

Keywords: by Joan Farre-Mensa, Roni Michaely & Martin C. Schmalz

TeachingInterests

Venture Capital and Private Equity (MBA)

By: Archie L. Jones

The growth of private equity internationally has been dramatic, to the point that the asset class has been both lauded as the savior and vilified as the cause of our current economic malaise. Over the past two decades, private equity- ranging from venture... View Details

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)

August 2019 (Revised August 2022)
Case

Baroo (A): Pet Concierge

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Susie L. Ma

Baroo CEO Lindsay Hyde was facing unrest from the board of her pet services startup in August 2017. One board member (and lead investor) was alarmed that Baroo’s growth was slowing while its appetite for funding was accelerating. Hyde wanted to hit the gas and continue... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Outcome or Result; Failure; Business and Shareholder Relations; Venture Capital; Governing and Advisory Boards; Opportunities; Strategy; Service Industry; United States; Massachusetts

August 2003 (Revised December 2004)
Case

Peninsula Community Foundation

By: James E. Austin, Jane Wei-Skillern and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

After leading the Peninsula Community Foundation (PCF) through a period of tremendous growth, its president, Sterling Speirn, is facing the prospect of a decline in the foundation's asset base for the first time in the foundation's history. In addition, the fact that... View Details

Keywords: Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Product Positioning; Planning; Alliances; Opportunities; Nonprofit Organizations; Valuation; Financial Services Industry

October 2021 (Revised February 2022)
Case

upGrad: Delivering Career Outcomes Online: Degree by Degree

By: John J-H Kim, Anjali Raina and Rachna Chawla

In August 2021, the founders of upGrad, the latest unicorn in the Indian higher education online space, were deciding how to best use the funds to execute on their ambitious growth plans. Ronnie Screwvala, Mayank Kumar and Phalgun Kompalli had envisioned upGrad as an... View Details

Keywords: Unicorns; COVID-19 Pandemic; Higher Education; Internet and the Web; Spending; Growth and Development Strategy; Education Industry; India

March 2010
Supplement

Whose Money Is It Anyway? (C)

By: V.G. Narayanan, Richard G. Hamermesh and Rachel Gordon

The case describes how the Brigham and Women's Physicians Organization and its corporate parent resolved the issue of how the disputed funds would be distributed and used. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Business Subsidiaries; Organizational Design; Conflict and Resolution; Resource Allocation; Health Industry

Research Summary

Overview

Professor Begenau’s research agenda is directed at better understanding how financial markets work and how they affect the real economy. She uses quantitative analysis to build both prescriptive and descriptive models concerning financial risk in banking, and she also... View Details

Article

Investor Activism and Takeovers

By: Robin Greenwood and Michael Schor

Recent work documents large positive abnormal returns around the time that a hedge fund announces its activist intentions with a publicly listed firm. We show that these returns are largely explained by the ability of activists to force target firms into a takeover: In... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Private Equity; Investment Return; Investment Activism; Investment Portfolio; Public Ownership

01 Dec 2003
What Do You Think?

Is This the Twilight Era for the Managed Mutual Fund?

a vile 'market timer' is a sad commentary on how inflexibly the mutual fund industry is viewed by academics, regulators and distributors." Richard Eckel suggests that both perceptions and real problems... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

August 1998
Supplement

Cleveland Tomorrow, Video

By: James E. Austin and Rosabeth M. Kanter

As part of Cleveland's turnaround, Cleveland Tomorrow creates new investment funds to stimulate new business development. This development is designed to earn a profit and bring new benefits to the community. Part of the HBS Social Enterprise Video Series on Business... View Details

Keywords: Investment Funds; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Business and Community Relations; Social Enterprise