Publications

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Article

MIT Roundtable on Corporate Risk Management

By: Robert C. Merton

Against the backdrop of financial crisis, a distinguished group of academics and practitioners discusses the contribution of financial management and innovation to corporate growth and value, along with the pitfalls and unintended consequences of such innovation.... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Market Participation; Finance; Innovation and Invention; Growth and Development Strategy; Value; Distribution; Capital Structure; Risk Management; Business Ventures; Business Model; Strategy

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30 Apr 2014
Research & Ideas

Venture Investors Prefer Funding Handsome Men

personal persuasion. Kearney, her twin sister, is an entrepreneur and scholar whose research is fueled by both a frustration with and curiosity about the dearth of venture capital for women. (In the first... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Financial Services

October 2019
Case

Hony Capital and Jushi Group

By: Josh Lerner, Shai Bernstein and Ann Leamon

Hony Capital, a multi-billion dollar private equity firm based in China, is investing in a subsidiary of Jushi Group, a Chinese company that is one of the world's largest fiberglass producers. The specific project will build a plant in the United States. In this case,... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; Investing; Fundraising; Manufacturing; Private Equity; Asset Management; Finance; Investment; Venture Capital; China; United States

2012
Working Paper

Issuer Quality and Corporate Bond Returns

By: Robin Greenwood and Samuel G. Hanson

We show that the credit quality of corporate debt issuers deteriorates during credit booms, and that this deterioration forecasts low excess returns to corporate bondholders. The key insight is that changes in the pricing of credit risk disproportionately affect the... View Details

Keywords: Price; Credit; Risk and Uncertainty; Investment Return; Forecasting and Prediction; Bonds; Market Design; Cost of Capital; Mathematical Methods; System Shocks

07 May 2007
Research & Ideas

Rediscovering Schumpeter: The Power of Capitalism

If capitalism was the most influential single economic and social force of the 20th century (and continuing today), there is no better guide to understanding its power and complexity than famed economist Joseph Schumpeter, says Harvard... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Education

02 Jul 2018
Research & Ideas

Corporate Tax Cuts Don't Increase Middle Class Incomes

they’re more likely to be investing in capital. So, it would increase returns, but those returns are going to the capital owners.” “Compensation and income inequality are very relevant to managers” In the paper View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland

14 May 2015
Blog Post

Venture Capitalist Returns to HBS to Mentor MBA Students

your career? As a partner in a venture capital firm, I have the opportunity to meet and fund amazing entrepreneurs who are building innovative companies in large markets. I am constantly inspired by their... View Details

Web

Scaling Technology Ventures - Course Catalog

HBS Course Catalog Scaling Technology Ventures Course Number 1788 Senior Lecturer Jeffrey Rayport Spring; Q3Q4; 3.0 credits 27 Sessions Exam or Project Career Focus Scaling Technology Ventures (STV) is... View Details

Fast Answer

Companies: capital changes and distributions

Type DVD then hit GO for a history of stock splits and dividends for that company. OR, type CACS then hit GO for a corporate actions calendar, including events such as stock... View Details

August 2008
Case

Du Pont: The Birth of the Modern Multidivisional Corporation

By: Richard S. Tedlow and David Ruben

Du Pont's realization in 1921 that its "U-form" corporate structure was ill-suited to its new diversification strategy led to a pioneering new kind of organization—the "M" or multidivisional form—that has been called the most important innovation of capitalism in the... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Innovation and Invention; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Alignment; Corporate Strategy

January 2004
Article

Corporate Venturing: The Origins of Unilever's Pregnancy Test

By: Geoffrey Jones and Alison Kraft

The relative ability of different sizes of firm and organisational designs to develop and sustain dynamic capabilities in innovation and create new businesses remains a matter of contention. While Chandler among many others has emphasised the pre-eminent role of large... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Organizational Design; Technological Innovation; Business Startups; Venture Capital; Brands and Branding; Multinational Firms and Management; Product Development; Product Launch; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Great Britain

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13 Aug 2018
Blog Post

Following My Dream: Launching a Venture

product (MVP) one could imagine, and I’m very grateful for the advice. Our extensive MVP testing at corporate offices allowed us to validate key assumptions of our business model and value proposition, e.g. more than 70% of our users... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship

Forthcoming
Article

Corporate Alignment with the EU Taxonomy for Sustainable Activities: First Evidence from Financial Accounting Data

By: Alex Cheema-Fox, Megan Czasonis, Piyush Kontu and George Serafeim

What is sustainable? This question is of paramount importance given the trillions of assets invested according to different sustainability criteria. While until now we have had no standard for answering this question, the European Union's (EU) Taxonomy for sustainable... View Details

Keywords: Financial Accounting; Capital Expenditures; Revenues; Sustainability; Regulation; Accounting; Finance; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Disclosure; Europe; European Union

February 2020 (Revised March 2020)
Case

Prime Coalition: Catalytic Capital for Climate Innovation

By: Ramana Nanda, Benjamin N. Roth and Olivia Hull

With long development timelines and high risk, new energy technologies were often left to languish in the “valley of death,” unable to raise enough funds to bring a product to market. In 2014, Sarah Kearney founded the nonprofit Prime Coalition to solve this problem.... View Details

Keywords: Energy Conservation; Renewable Energy; Social Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Investment; Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Mission and Purpose; Science-Based Business; Nonprofit Organizations; Social Enterprise; Energy Industry; Technology Industry; Green Technology Industry; United States

Web

Winners & Runners-Up | New Venture Competition

Winners & Runners-Up 2024 Winners Play Crop Diagnostix: Dubilier Grand Prize Winner, Student Business Track, 2024 New Venture Competition video Play Video duration: 1:31 2024 New Venture Competition Winner,... View Details

June 2021
Case

Building the Governance to Take Capital SAFI to the Next Level

By: V.G. Narayanan, Asis Martinez Jerez and Mariana Cal

Asset management firm Capital SAFI wanted to attract new strategic investors and expand to other countries. Having the right corporate governance in place was critical to achieve this goal. View Details

Keywords: Board Of Directors; Transparency; Sustainable Finance; South America; Latin America; Corporate Governance; Governance Controls; Governing and Advisory Boards; Business Organization; Corporate Strategy; Transformation; Investment Funds; Financial Services Industry; Bolivia; South America; Latin America

May 2017
Article

Distracted Shareholders and Corporate Actions

By: Elisabeth Kempf, Alberto Manconi and Oliver Spalt

Investor attention matters for corporate actions. Our new identification approach constructs firm-level shareholder "distraction" measures, by exploiting exogenous shocks to unrelated parts of institutional shareholders' portfolios. Firms with "distracted" shareholders... View Details

Keywords: Investors; Business and Shareholder Relations; Executive Compensation; Stocks; Mergers and Acquisitions

September 2008 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Loews Corporation: Corporate Strategy as a Portfolio

By: Joseph L. Bower

In 2007, Loews Inc., under the leadership of James Tisch, was considering whether to buy natural gas properties from Dominion Resources. The question is whether the acquisition fits the corporate strategy. In exploring the questions, students will have the chance to... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Business Strategy; Business or Company Management; Value Creation; Acquisition; Management Teams