Publications

January 2020
Case

Terra Nova: A Social Business Trying to Unlock Land Rights for the Urban Poor in Brazil

By: Julie Battilana, Ruth Costas, Marissa Kimsey and Priscilla Zogbi

Brothers André and Daniel Albuquerque founded the company Terra Nova in 2001 to mediate land disputes between poor families illegally living in urban areas and the official landowners—with the aspiration to improve the lives of the poor. A business-led approach to the... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Social Enterprise; Entrepreneurship; Negotiation; Power and Influence; Social Issues; Conflict and Resolution; Business and Government Relations; Infrastructure; Urban Development; Real Estate Industry; Brazil; Latin America

Educators

2021
Working Paper

Technology Differentiation and Firm Performance

By: Sam Arts, Bruno Cassiman and Jianan Hou

Prior work has extensively studied how investing in R&D and building a technology portfolio relate to superior firm performance. However, the value of a firm’s technology portfolio should also be driven by the degree to which it is more unique and technologically... View Details

Keywords: Technology Portfolio; Differentiation; Competitiveness; Organizations; Technology; Performance; United States

SSRN

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October 2009
Case

Low-k Dielectrics at IBM

By: Willy C. Shih and Giovanni Carraro

Innovations at the frontiers of technology carry enormous risk of making wrong choices. This case examines a decision made by IBM in its semiconductor process technology strategy: a material to use as a dielectric insulator in its leading edge silicon chip technology.... View Details

Keywords: Competency and Skills; Decision Choices and Conditions; Technological Innovation; Product Development; Science; Creativity; Semiconductor Industry; United States

01 Jul 2013
Research & Ideas

Crowdfunding a Poor Investment?

for the Securities and Exchange Commission to pass rules that would allow for crowdfunding investment on a large scale. Already, companies have dipped their toes into crowdfunding through websites such as Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services

01 Aug 2007
Op-Ed

Company Town: Fixing Corrupt Governments

Corporations could do a good job of running corrupt Third World governments. Corruption rules in too many of the world's democratically elected governments. From Achocalla, Bolivia, to Mayuge, Uganda, voters pick their leaders through the... View Details

Keywords: by Eric Werker

June 2021
Technical Note

SPAC Space

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In 2020, over half of all initial public offerings (IPOs) in the United States were special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), blank-check companies that typically had two years to find a business to take public, usually through a reverse merger. Together, 248... View Details

Keywords: Special Purpose Acquisition Companies; SPACs; Mergers and Acquisitions; Going Public; Initial Public Offering; Investment; Strategy

Educators

24 Oct 2024
Research & Ideas

Charting the US-China Trade War: What Does 'Made in Vietnam' Mean?

“microdata” from firms’ transactions suggests that a significant portion of the imported Chinese goods added value to Vietnam’s economy through new investments that resulted in jobs and increased production.... View Details

Keywords: by Ana Elena Azpúrua; Manufacturing; Shipping

January 15, 2019
Article

Is Your Company's Strategy Aligned with Your Ownership Model?

By: Josh Baron

The legacy of Vanguard founder John Bogle has brought attention to the transformative influence of ownership structures within the business world. Bogle's revolutionary insight into the limitations of active fund management led to the widespread adoption of index... View Details

Keywords: Ownership Type; Business Strategy; Organizational Structure; Strength and Weakness; Competitive Advantage

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03 Dec 2018
Research & Ideas

How Companies Can Increase Market Rewards for Sustainability Efforts

that believe their sustainability efforts are not being fully rewarded by the market. In particular, the research shows companies with overall good performance in their Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) programs can increase... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

May–June 2020
Article

Interfirm Ties Between Ventures and Limited Partners of Venture Capital Funds: Performance Effects in Financial Markets

By: Umit Ozmel, M. Deniz Yavuz, Timothy E. Trombley and Ranjay Gulati

We argue that strong indirect ties are conducive to the transfer of private information, which provides an advantage in identifying profitable investment opportunities. In our context, a strong indirect tie is generated between an investor and a focal firm if the... View Details

Keywords: Interfirm Ties; Social Networks; Venture Capital; Entrepreneurship; Performance

08 Sep 2015
First Look

September 8, 2015

that exists at the top of organizational hierarchies. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=49601 forthcoming Management Science Financing Risk and Innovation By: Nanda, Ramana, and Matthew Rhodes-Kropf Abstract—We provide a model of View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

24 Feb 2021
Blog Post

My HBS Student Loan Story: Les Williams (MBA 2005)

Business school is a valuable investment in your future. HBS supports that investment through generous need-based scholarships. In addition to scholarships, many HBS students utilize student loans to help... View Details

21 Nov 2005
Research & Ideas

Making Credibility Your Strongest Asset

still operates, a sporting goods store in suburban Boston. Having worked in business for decades, he was well known in his niche but not beyond it. In a telling anecdote, Tony relayed to me how, one October afternoon, he got a call from a... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Wheeler

November 2004 (Revised March 2007)
Case

10 Uncommon Values®: Optimizing the Stock-Selection Process

By: Paul M. Healy and Boris Groysberg

In 2003, Steve Hash, research director at Lehman Brothers, prepared to initiate the firm's "Ten Uncommon Values" stock-picking process for the year. An investment committee had to pick the 10 best stocks from about 100 stock ideas presented by the firm's analysts. The... View Details

Keywords: Stocks; Investment; Financial Strategy; Decision Making; Groups and Teams; Financial Services Industry; United States

Educators

Article

Operational Efficiency and Effective Management in the Catheterization Laboratory

By: Grant W. Reed, Michael L. Tushman and Samir R. Kapadia

Operational efficiency is a core business principle in which organizations strive to deliver high-quality goods or services in a cost-effective manner. This concept has become increasingly relevant to cardiac catheterization laboratories, as insurers move away from... View Details

Keywords: Cath Lab; Catheterization Laboratory; Health Care and Treatment; Performance Efficiency; Management; Performance Productivity; Cost Management; Health Industry

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March 2010
Article

The Evolution of Corporate Ownership after IPO: The Impact of Investor Protection

By: C. Fritz Foley and Robin Greenwood

We use firm-level data from 34 countries covering the 1995-2006 period to analyze how the characteristics of public markets shape the process by which firms become widely held. Firms in all countries in the sample tend to have concentrated ownership at the time they go... View Details

Keywords: Blockholding; Float; Shareholder Rights; Investor Protection; Ownership; Financial Liquidity; Business History; Market Timing; Going Public; Business and Government Relations; Business and Shareholder Relations

20 Jun 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, June 20

“waver” over time in the relative weight they put on them. The model predicts that good news about fundamentals can trigger large price bubbles. We analyze the patterns of cash-flow news that generate the largest bubbles, the reasons why... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2010
Working Paper

Accelerating Energy Innovation: Insights from Multiple Sectors

By: Rebecca Henderson and Richard G. Newell

A combination of concerns about climate change and energy security has recently led to significant increases in public funding for energy R&D. Some commentators are suggesting that these increases need to be sustained, and are advocating for increases of as much as... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Technological Innovation; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Research and Development; Pollutants; Climate Change; Energy Industry

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February 2010
Supplement

Valuing Visa? Priceless (CW)

By: Peter Tufano

Students must determine whether or not Visa, which had an IPO one month prior, is a good investment. The case provides an overview of multisided platform businesses and the payments industry in general. Visa's business model and economics are reviewed. View Details

Keywords: Credit Cards; Initial Public Offering; Valuation; Multi-Sided Platforms; Microeconomics