Financial Decisions - Publications - Faculty & Research

03 Oct 2023
HBS Case

Layoffs Can Be Bad Business: 5 Strategies to Consider Before Cutting Staff

employees and asking the fundamental questions: What exactly does a company owe its employees? How will they be engaged in designing, communicating, and carrying out workplace change programs? What is the policy on severance pay, and how are View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand; Financial Services; Financial Services; Financial Services; Financial Services

12 May 2016
Blog Post

Reflecting on the JD/MBA Experience

I entered the JD/MBA program as an admitted student from Harvard College, where Ispent each of my summers working in government and financial services. At that time, I hoped to pursue a career in law after graduation, but I definitely... View Details

February 1992 (Revised July 1993)
Case

Telefonica de Argentina S.A.

Deals with the privatization of the Argentine telephone industry. Focuses on the restructuring aspect. Commercial banks owned sovereign debt of Argentina trading at a deep discount to par. The question is whether the banks should exchange their sovereign debt... View Details

Keywords: Financial Instruments; Restructuring; Privatization; Commercial Banking; Telecommunications Industry; Argentina

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Program

PLD Module 5

company build and sustain a competitive advantage. You will emerge with the leadership skills and confidence to make high-level decisions that support your organization's financial needs, legal requirements,... View Details

23 Feb 2015
News

Five HBS Faculty Members Win Awards in Global Case Writing Competition

04 Nov 2015
News

M.B.A.s Get Lessons in Income Inequality

October 2011 (Revised August 2017)
Case

PunchTab, Inc.

By: Ramana Nanda, William R. Kerr and Lauren Barley

PunchTab was a Silicon Valley startup, founded in 2011, that was developing an Internet-based turnkey customer loyalty program for website owners, mobile applications developers, and brands. Founder/CEO Ranjith Kumaran must make strategic decisions about how to fund... View Details

Keywords: Financial Strategy; Investment; Investment Funds; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; San Francisco

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December 2021 (Revised January 2023)
Case

Katerra (A)

By: Lindsay N. Hyde, Thomas R. Eisenmann and Tom Quinn

In April 2020, Katerra executives struggled with a series of decisions that would determine the fate of one of the best-funded construction startups in history. Katerra was founded in 2015 by technology-industry executive Michael Marks and commercial real estate... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Entrepreneurship; Failure; Construction; Real Estate Industry; Technology Industry; United States

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October 2009
Article

Managing Risk in the New World

By: Robert S. Kaplan, Anette Mikes, Robert Simons, Peter Tufano and Michael Hofmann Jr.

Five experts gathered recently to discuss the future of enterprise risk management: Kaplan, the Baker Foundation Professor at Harvard Business School, who with his colleague David Norton developed the balanced scorecard; Mikes, an assistant professor at HBS who studies... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Financial Crisis; Capital Structure; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Risk Management

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2016
Working Paper

Pros vs Joes: Agent Pricing Behavior in the Sharing Economy

By: Jun Li, Antonio Moreno and Dennis J. Zhang

One of the major differences between markets that follow a “sharing economy” paradigm and traditional two-sided markets is that the supply side in the sharing economy often includes individual nonprofessional decision makers, in addition to firms and professional... View Details

Keywords: Two-sided Market; Sharing Economy; Behavioral Economics; Revenue Management; Hospitality; Two-Sided Platforms; Price; Behavior; Experience and Expertise

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2022
Article

A Human-Centric Take on Model Monitoring

By: Murtuza Shergadwala, Himabindu Lakkaraju and Krishnaram Kenthapadi

Predictive models are increasingly used to make various consequential decisions in high-stakes domains such as healthcare, finance, and policy. It becomes critical to ensure that these models make accurate predictions, are robust to shifts in the data, do not rely on... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Research and Development; Demand and Consumers

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July 2017 (Revised November 2017)
Case

'Clarín Lies!': Bias, Post-Truth, and Populism in Argentina's Media War

By: Rafael Di Tella, Jose Liberti and Sarah McAra

In 2012, Argentine media conglomerate Grupo Clarín and President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner were embroiled in what some called “the mother of all battles.” Grupo Clarín was one of the preeminent media companies in Argentina, with leading newspapers, cable... View Details

Keywords: Media Regulation; Media; Government and Politics; Policy; Newspapers; Government Legislation; Business and Government Relations; Risk and Uncertainty; Monopoly; Journalism and News Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Argentina

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Designing and Executing Corporate Revitalization

Know when and how to take advantage of financial restructuring and private equity Overcome inertia and pivot the organization Create plans for addressing current and prospective obstacles Infuse the organization with a sense of purpose... View Details

10 Jan 2005
Research & Ideas

How to Put Meaning Back into Leading

organizations is circumscribed by their impact on financial results. The social impact of organizations essentially took a back seat. This tendency concerns us for two reasons. First, as many critics of leadership have argued, the ability... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

25 Aug 2015
First Look

First Look Tuesday

Abstract—U.S. money market mutual funds (MMFs) are an important source of dollar funding for global financial institutions, particularly those headquartered outside the United States. MMFs proved to be a source of considerable instability... View Details

March 2017
Supplement

eBay vs. Carl Icahn, 2014: Interview with John Donahoe, eBay CEO 2008-2015

By: David B. Yoffie, Eric Baldwin and Tom Ryder

This video, a supplement to HBS Case No. 717-417, features an interview with former eBay CEO John Donahoe, providing his perspective on eBay's response to activist investor Carl Icahn's attack on eBay, which began in January 2014. After giving some of his own... View Details

Keywords: Activist Shareholder; Activist Investors; Technology; Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Investment Activism; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

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12 May 2015
Working Paper Summaries

Financing Payouts

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

October 2013 (Revised February 2019)
Teaching Note

Red Hen Baking Company

By: Richard Ruback, Royce Yudkoff and Lisa Paige

The case explores the decision to expand in a small business setting. In 2007, the Red Hen Baking Company (RHB) was deciding whether to move from its cramped and inefficient Duxbury, Vermont facility to a new facility in nearby Middlesex, Vermont. It had been in... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Capital; Risk Management; Expansion

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January 2005 (Revised October 2005)
Case

Private Capital and Public Policy: Standard & Poor's Sovereign Credit Ratings

By: Rawi E. Abdelal and Christopher Bruner

Describes Standard & Poor's sovereign credit ratings business. Provides background on the history of credit ratings agencies, the meaning of credit ratings, the expansion of the sovereign ratings business over recent decades, and the market for credit ratings. Also,... View Details