Publications

SSRN

07 Dec 2009
Research & Ideas

Government’s Positive Role in Kick-Starting Entrepreneurship

struggled to realize good returns from investments since the year 2000. Many traditional investors are questioning whether they should continue to provide capital to these funds. But given the important role that venture capital has had... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Technology

December 2014 (Revised October 2017)
Case

Social Business at Novartis: Arogya Parivar

By: Michael E. Porter, Mark R. Kramer and David Lane

Late in 2013, Novartis CEO Joseph Jimenez was considering whether or how to deepen the company's investment in Arogya Parivar, its profitable program that sold Novartis medicines in rural India while expanding access to medicine and health information to millions of... View Details

Keywords: Shared Value; India; Kenya; Vietnam; Novartis; Arogya Parivar; Social Business; Multinational Firms and Management; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Pharmaceutical Industry; Viet Nam; Kenya; India

11 Oct 2016
Blog Post

Why We Recruit: HelloFresh

genuine passion for food and a very customer-centric mindset. What recruiting tactics have you found most successful in engaging with students and/or alumni at HBS?On-campus interviews is what we find most successful. We love investing... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products / Retail

February 2010 (Revised December 2011)
Case

Ricoh Company, Ltd.

By: Robert G. Eccles, Amy C. Edmondson, Marco Iansiti and Akiko Kanno

Ricoh, the Japanese copier manufacturer, is committed to reducing its environmental impact to one-eighth of its 2000 levels by 2050. It has already introduced three stages of environmental awareness to its operations, and its recycled copier business broke even in... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Accounting; Financial Reporting; Integrated Corporate Reporting; Investment; Operations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Electronics Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Japan

March 2010 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Whose Money Is It Anyway? (A)

By: V.G. Narayanan, Richard G. Hamermesh and Rachel Gordon

The Brigham and Women's Physician's Organization (BWPO) and its corporate parent disagree over who has jurisdiction over significant legacy funds. Are they controlled by the BWPO or do they belong to BWPO's corporate parent? The BWPO and its corporate parent must... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Investment Funds; Governance Controls; Agreements and Arrangements; Boundaries; Health Industry

Web

Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

founder of Core Innovation Capital, faced a decision on whether to invest in Hugo Insurance, an auto insurance startup. Core, an early-stage social impact VC firm, focused on “fintech for good,” by View Details

June 2018 (Revised July 2023)
Case

John Chambers, Cisco, and China: Upgrading a Golden Shield

By: Geoffrey Jones and Emily Grandjean

This case examines the role of Cisco led by John Chambers in facilitating web filtering in China. It begins by tracing the origins of Cisco as a pioneer of networking equipment. John Chambers, who had worked as a sales manager at IBM and Wang Laboratories, joined Cisco... View Details

Keywords: Cisco; Internet and the Web; Governance Controls; Ethics; Rights; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Technology Industry; China

07 Apr 2003
What Do You Think?

Should Global Business Initiatives Be Devalued?

firms with global interests—one that centers around the impact that these phenomena may have on such things as the potential benefits and costs of doing business abroad? Specifically, will questions increasingly be asked about whether... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

18 Aug 2008
Research & Ideas

How Disruptive Innovation Changes Education

their background and expertise to improving education? A: It's a good question. Given the impact businesspeople have in society, it is crucial that they understand the root causes of why schools have struggled so much and why so many... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Education

30 Oct 2014
Blog Post

Alumni: Where are they now? Featuring Robert Leke...

investment firm targeting businesses in the consumer-driven and agriculture-based sectors. My time with Tana has been nothing short of a thrill. I am grateful for the exposure and experiences gained over the past 2+ years, evaluating and... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products / Retail

22 Feb 2000
Research & Ideas

Social Capital Markets: Creating Value in the Nonprofit World

in Philanthropy, who willspearhead the effort along with Allen Grossman, Bloomberg Senior Lecturerin Philanthropy. But a new understanding is emerging: these dollars, whilecharitable, are still capital investments of precious... View Details

Keywords: by Anne Kavanagh

06 Jan 2010
What Do You Think?

Is a Stringent Climate Change Agreement a Pot of Gold?

Summing Up Do we even need a stringent climate change agreement? Judging from this month's comments, a question can be raised about the necessity of a climate change agreement, stringent or not, as a catalyst to foster innovation and the venture capital View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Energy; Utilities

19 Sep 2013
Working Paper Summaries

U.S. High-Skilled Immigration, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship: Empirical Approaches and Evidence

Keywords: by William R. Kerr

13 Nov 2020
News

Global Ambition

two kids and a dog, living in Beijing. To show their appreciation for the tremendous impact HBS has had on their lives, Kao and Chew have given back to the School consistently since graduation, both as volunteers and donors. They help out... View Details

Web

Actively Addressing Unconscious Bias in Recruiting - Recruiting

diversity can also impact a company’s bottom line. A study of venture capital firms found that “the more similar the investment partners, the lower their investments’ performance.” A study by The National... View Details

March 2004 (Revised May 2005)
Case

Foreign Exchange Hedging Strategies at General Motors

By: Mihir A. Desai and Mark Veblen

How should a multinational firm manage foreign exchange exposures? Examines transactional, translational, and competitive exposures. Describes General Motors' corporate hedging policies, its risk management structure, and how accounting rules impact hedging decisions.... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Currency Exchange Rate; Investment; Financial Markets; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; Argentina; Japan; Canada; United States

31 Jul 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Learning from Double-Digit Growth Experiences

Keywords: by Eric D. Werker

March 1980 (Revised October 1980)
Background Note

Financial Leverage, the Capital Asset Pricing Model and the Cost of Equity Capital

Demonstrates how the capital asset pricing model can be used to estimate the impact of financial leverage on the cost of equity capital. The levering and unlevering of betas are illustrated. Also presents a methodology for decomposing the cost of equity into its three... View Details

Keywords: Cost of Capital; Asset Pricing; Investment