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19 Sep 2006
First Look

First Look: September 19, 2006

transactions within a network of customers, such as financial services and telecommunications, currently face tough challenges. The factors determining success in their industries are changing rapidly and the boundaries of many of their... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

April 2008 (Revised December 2008)
Case

Leveraged Loans 2007

By: Andre F. Perold and Erik Stafford

The leveraged loan market was in a crisis during the summer of 2007, following many years of low realized volatility (less than 4% per annum), an index of leveraged loans had fallen over 5% in the month of July. A sudden drop in capital market prices for an asset class... View Details

Keywords: History; Financial Liquidity; Investment; Financial Crisis; Market Transactions; Disruption; Decision Choices and Conditions; Competitive Strategy; Capital Markets; Crisis Management; Commercial Banking; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry

13 Aug 2007
Research & Ideas

The Dark Side of Trust

double-edged sword. In the short run, working with trusted suppliers reduces transaction costs and furthers the buyer's competitive standing. This is the effect that has been emphasized in previous work. But trust can also make you blind... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Service

05 May 2003
Research & Ideas

How Bank of America Turned Branches into Service-Development Laboratories

physical facilities were prepared for. So the team decided to reconfigure the twenty Atlanta branches into three alternative models: Five branches were redesigned as "express centers," efficient, modernistic buildings where consumers could quickly perform... View Details

Keywords: by Stefan Thomke; Banking; Financial Services

February 1999 (Revised March 2001)
Case

Egghead to Egghead.com (A)

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Marie Bell

Over the course of 12 months in 1997 and 1998, Egghead senior management decided to shut down its 180 brick-and-mortar retail stores and move to an electronic store. The case describes the evolution of that process, and the role of its CEO George Orban, and poses... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Internet and the Web; Transformation; Decisions; Corporate Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Market Transactions; Buildings and Facilities; Retail Industry

24 Jul 2000
Research & Ideas

Something Ventured, Something Gained: A European View of Venture Capital

States. But that was then; this is now. Just in the past few years, said Lerner, "we've seen a lot more syndication transactions across the United States and Europe and more early-stage involvement by firms in England and the... View Details

Keywords: by James E. Aisner; Financial Services

September 1991 (Revised March 2005)
Case

WPP Group and Its Acquisitions

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

WPP Group acquired J. Walter Thompson and Ogilvy & Mather, paying high premiums in relation to earnings. In each acquisition the goodwill acquired was immediately charged off against owners' equity. Then, WPP Group established a value for the brand names of the two... View Details

Keywords: Goodwill Accounting; Accounting; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Market Transactions; Equity; Private Equity; Relationships; Mergers and Acquisitions; Management Style; Consumer Products Industry; United States; United Kingdom

04 May 2020
Research & Ideas

Predictions, Prophets, and Restarting Your Business

crisis war room, and the speech about resilience. It’s unclear whether social distancing has made people more eager to transact online, or whether it simply demonstrates the limitations of communicating virtually. The historian William... View Details

Keywords: by Frank V. Cespedes

14 Oct 2008
Research & Ideas

Should You Bring Advertising Expertise In-House?

advertiser operate an in-house agency that produces a specific set of services at a lower cost than the compensation required to retain an outside agency? In addition, there are transaction costs. How do the costs of planning, adapting,... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Advertising

16 Jul 2024
Research & Ideas

Weighing Digital Tradeoffs in Private Equity

efficiently,” says Srinivasan. “The challenge, however, is in implementing newer technologies in organizations with legacy systems.” More PE firms see the value in digital technologies To explore whether firms were turning to technology, the researchers studied some... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services

Article

Alfred D. Chandler: His Vision and Achievement

Among historians, Alfred Chandler's influence is by far the greatest, as he has affected economics, sociology, and business administration. Chandler never took short cuts, never stinted, and never published until he was satisfied that he had done his very best.... View Details

Keywords: Goals and Objectives; Mission and Purpose; Success; Books; Demand and Consumers; Power and Influence; Economic Growth; Ethics; Knowledge Sharing; Product Positioning; Market Transactions; Fair Value Accounting

Find at Harvard

14 Feb 2012
First Look

First Look: February 14

disadvantaged platform to switch from subsidizing buyers to subsidizing sellers. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/12-066.pdf The Architecture of Transaction Networks: A Comparative Analysis of Hierarchy in Two Sectors... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

30 Oct 2012
First Look

First Look: October 30

find that U.S. listed foreign companies experience securities class action lawsuits at about half the rate as do U.S. firms with similar levels of ex ante litigation risk. The lower rate appears to be driven partly by higher transaction... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 2022 (Revised December 2022)
Case

TotalEnergies’ Investment in Hyzon Motors

By: Vikram S. Gandhi and David Lane

In November 2021, Girish Nadkarni, the head of TotalEnergies’ corporate venture capital arm (TEV) was considering whether, and on what terms, to exit an investment in Hyzon Motors, a start-up supplier of hydrogen-powered trucks. TEV had invested $4 million in Hyzon,... View Details

Keywords: Business Units; Communication Intention and Meaning; Renewable Energy; Venture Capital; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Design; Standards; Commercialization; Investment Portfolio; Market Transactions; Energy Industry; Financial Services Industry; Transportation Industry; Europe; New York (city, NY)