Publications

05 Dec 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, December 5, 2017

that addresses part of that challenge—with a particular focus on predicting customer churn. However, several other equally important aspects of managing retention have not received similar level of attention, leaving many managerial... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

December 2010 (Revised January 2013)
Case

Triple Point Technology

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

The founding CEO of Triple Point Technology, Peter Armstrong, was considering the sale of the company. The company specialized in providing its clients with software used for transaction processing and risk management in various commodity markets. Triple Point... View Details

Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Private Equity; Financial Management; Negotiation Offer; Sales; Valuation

25 Aug 2008
Research & Ideas

HBS Cases: Walking Away from a $3 Billion Deal

becomes clear you can raise $4 billion for your next fund instead of the planned $1 billion. Professor of Management Practice Nabil N. El-Hage coauthored the case with HBS professor and Finance unit head Richard Ruback. "Very few... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Financial Services

29 Apr 2008
First Look

First Look: April 29, 2008

Working PapersNone this week Cases & Course MaterialsAvaya (A) Harvard Business School Case 508-048 Avaya's top management wants to improve demand generation. This requires an improvement in the relationship between Sales and... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

November 2024 (Revised December 2024)
Case

Moonfare and the Democratization of Private Equity

By: Victoria Ivashina and Srimayi Mylavarapu

Founded in 2016, Moonfare headquartered in Europe, was a pioneer in the “democratization” of private equity investments. Historically, private equity was accessible only to institutional investors like pension funds, endowments, sovereign wealth funds, and large family... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Customers; Wealth; Business Strategy; Segmentation; Technological Innovation; Product Launch; Financial Services Industry; Europe

June 2013
Teaching Note

A Politician in a Leather Suit and the Paradox of Japanese Capitalism

By: Karthik Ramanna

Two lost decades later, capitalism in Japan embodies peculiar contradictions—preserving wealth and social stability in the face of declining economic power. Scant transparency in Japanese corporate practices plays an important role in this phenomenon. Sometimes... View Details

Keywords: Japan; Tokyo; Economic Systems; Corporate Accountability; Values and Beliefs; Fairness; Crime and Corruption; Civil Society or Community; Corporate Governance; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Tokyo

Research Summary

Reflection

By: Joseph L. Badaracco

Corporations as Critical Social Institutions

My current research examines the extent to which corporations are emerging as critical social institutions. Over the past century, and especially in recent decades, firms have taken on... View Details

Keywords: Reflection

March 2016 (Revised August 2016)
Case

CreditEase: Taking Inclusive Finance Online

By: Michael Chu, John S. Ji and Nancy Hua Dai

The world’s largest peer-to-peer (P2P) lender annually disbursing over a million loans totaling $10 billion, China’s CreditEase, must decide whether to IPO in the NYSE its online lending platform, Yirendai, before the year-end window closes in 2015. Yirendai sought to... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Internet and the Web; Financing and Loans; Credit; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry; China

September 2022 (Revised September 2024)
Case

Esas Group: Investing Together, Staying Together

By: Christina R. Wing and Alpana Thapar

This case opens in June 2022, after Esas Group, one of Turkey’s largest family-owned investment firms, implements a series of changes to professionalize the business and help transition family members from operators to responsible investors. In December 2019, the Group... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Transition; Business or Company Management; Organizational Structure; Governing and Advisory Boards; Governance; Financial Services Industry; Turkey

January 2015
Case

Monte-Carlo Weddings

By: Anat Keinan and Sandrine Crener

Monte-Carlo Weddings, established by Frank Damgaard in 2005, is the most respectable and exclusive wedding planning business in the South of France. Frank has organized the largest, most expensive and luxurious weddings in Europe, serving celebrities, CEOs, and other... View Details

July 2024
Case

Knowledge-Enabled Financial Advice: Digital Transformation at Edward Jones

By: Lauren Cohen, Richard Ryffel, Grace Headinger and Sophia Pan

Edward Jones, a wealth management advisory firm that prided itself on its interpersonal connections and face-to-face interactions, was eager to augment their services with AI capabilities. Built on 1-to-1 close-knit relationships, the firm had more than 15,000 offices... View Details

November 2010 (Revised October 2012)
Background Note

Farmland Investing: A Technical Note

By: Ray Goldberg, Arthur I Segel, Gustavo Herrero and Andrew Terris

This note seeks to provide an overview of farmland investing, the investment thesis behind investing in agriculture, how and why investors would choose farmland, and the general risks and return characteristics of this asset class. In recent years, a growing number of... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Investment; Investment Return; Risk Management; Property; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Financial Services Industry; Real Estate Industry; Asia; United States; South America

14 Apr 2009
First Look

First Look: April 14, 2009

Working Papers The Investment Strategies of Sovereign Wealth Funds Authors: Shai Bernstein, Josh Lerner, and Antoinette Schoar Abstract This paper examines the direct private equity investment strategies across sovereign View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

October 1993 (Revised December 1997)
Case

General Dynamics: Compensation and Strategy (A)

William Anders became CEO of defense giant General Dynamics in 1991 as the Cold War was ending and as the industry became saddled with excess capacity. Observing that the company was underserving shareholders and required a massive change in its culture, Anders brought... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Corporate Strategy; Executive Compensation; Manufacturing Industry; United States

2015
Working Paper

Corporate Sponsorship in Culture—A Case of Partnership in Relationship Building and Collaborative Marketing by a Global Financial Institution and a Major Art Museum

By: Ragnar Lund and Stephen A. Greyser

Purpose: This paper examines cultural sponsorship from a partnership and relationship marketing perspective. It studies a case of how a partnership between two international institutions, a bank and a museum, adds value to both in terms of interaction with... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Partners and Partnerships; Marketing Strategy; Culture; Banks and Banking

Read Now

February 2018 (Revised December 2019)
Case

The Tax Man: Taxes in Private Equity Real Estate

By: Nori Gerardo Lietz, Timothy J. Becker, Ricardo Andrade and Sayiddah F. McCree

In January 2018, Caelan Langan, an associate at KSW Partners LLC (“KSW”), was asked by Katherine Scott, the partner for whom he worked, to recommend a proposed structure to acquire a prominent office building in San Francisco for their most recent fund. Caelan was... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; Alternative Investment Structures; Property; Acquisition; Private Equity; Investment; Management; Taxation; Policy