Publications

January 2002 (Revised January 2003)
Case

Finova Group, Inc. (A), The

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Perry Fagan

Finova Group, a $14 billion commercial finance company, filed for Chapter 11 in early March 2001, in what was one of the largest U.S. bankruptcy filings of all time and the largest corporate bond default since the Great Depression. While in Chapter 11, Finova became... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Business Startups; Borrowing and Debt; Equity; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Debt Securities; Price; Crisis Management; Bids and Bidding; Partners and Partnerships; Strategy; Valuation; Financial Services Industry; United States

July 2022
Case

David Crane’s Clean(er) Energy Strategy at NRG

By: George Serafeim, Michael W. Toffel and Tom Quinn

In 2015, David Crane was the CEO of NRG, the second-largest energy producer in the United States. NRG got most of its power from fossil fuels, but Crane – hired as CEO in 2003 as NRG emerged from bankruptcy – had invested heavily in alternative energy, loudly... View Details

Keywords: Energy; Leadership; Corporate Governance; Transformation; Alternative Energy; Energy Generation; Climate Change; Corporate Accountability; Renewable Energy; Energy Industry; United States

October 2023
Article

Product Variety, the Cost of Living, and Welfare Across Countries

By: Alberto Cavallo, Robert C. Feenstra and Robert Inklaar

We use the structure of the Melitz (2003) model to compute the cost of living and welfare across 47 countries, and compare these to conventional measures of prices and real consumption from the International Comparisons Project (ICP). The cost of living is inferred... View Details

Keywords: Macroeconomics; Trade

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2018
Simulation

Financial Analysis Simulation: Data Detective

By: Suraj Srinivasan and V.G. Narayanan

In this simulation, students learn to identify typical industry characteristics revealed in financial data. Equipped with an interactive and flexible set of tools, students analyze disguised financials and—using their knowledge of operational practices and reasoning... View Details

Keywords: Financial Analysis; Financial Accounting; Financial Ratios; Accounting; Financial Statements; Analysis

April 2023 (Revised September 2023)
Case

Apple's iPhone Revolution: Pioneering the Circular Economy

By: George Serafeim

When asked to identify an example of a circular economy business model that has generated billions in revenues for a company, ChatGPT, the famous chatbot that in 2022 rocked the world with its ability to perform a variety of tasks, immediately identified and... View Details

Keywords: Iphone; Smartphone; Waste Management; Recycling; Innovation; Product Upgrade; Product Life Cycle; Sustainability; Climate Impact; Digital; Business Model Innovation; Climate Change; Information Technology; Business Model; Electronics Industry; Information Technology Industry

09 Aug 2018
News

Gutenberg’s Revenge

Web

Introduction - Option Pricing in Theory & Practice: The Nobel Prize Research of Robert C. Merton - Exhibits - Historical Collections

the trading floor. The model offers a methodology to predict the seemingly unpredictable by using the lessons of complex mathematics and probability theory to forecast stock valuations, making it possible to successfully manage risk View Details

03 Mar 2017
News

Why We Don’t Value Flextime Enough

May 1988 (Revised November 1990)
Supplement

Airbus vs. Boeing (C): Steps Toward Dispute Resolution

By: Malcolm S. Salter

Presents partial resolution of problem. Cites points still to be resolved in trade dispute between U.S. aircraft manufacturers and Airbus Industrie. To be used as a handout after discussion of the case. View Details

Keywords: Trade; Problems and Challenges; Conflict and Resolution; Aerospace Industry; United States

Research Summary

The Servicification of the U.S. Economy: The Role of Startups versus Incumbent Firms

Over the last few decades, the U.S. economy has exhibited a significant shift from manufacturing towards services. This transition has been particularly prominent in an important subcategory of services industries that drives innovation and employs many high-wage... View Details

2022
Chapter

The Servicification of the U.S. Economy: The Role of Startups versus Incumbent Firms

By: Mercedes Delgado, J. Daniel Kim and Karen G. Mills

Over the last few decades, the U.S. economy has exhibited a significant shift from manufacturing towards services. This transition has been particularly prominent in an important subcategory of services industries that drives innovation and employs many high-wage... View Details

Keywords: Servicification; Supply Chain Industries; STEM Labor; Innovation; Growth; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Invention; Economic Growth; Policy; Service Industry; United States

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August 2000
Article

Corporate Reorganizations and Non-Cash Auctions

By: Matthew Rhodes-Kropf and S. Viswanathan

This paper extends the theory of non-cash auctions by considering the revenue and efficiency of using different securities. Research on bankruptcy and privatization suggests using non-cash auctions to increase cash-constrained bidder participation. We examine this... View Details

Keywords: Auctions; Revenue; Debt Securities; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Privatization; Capital Structure; Bids and Bidding; Motivation and Incentives; Performance Efficiency; Contracts

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Research Summary

Financial Regulation and the Japanese Banking Crisis of the 1990s

As part of a long-term research interest in financial regulation and the role of the Ministry of Finance, Ulrike Schaede has studied various segments of Japan's financial markets to understand better the interaction between regulators and regulatees. This includes... View Details

April 2020 (Revised August 2021)
Case

Singapore: 'Facing Challenges Together'

By: Richard H.K. Vietor

Since its expulsion from Malaysia in 1965, Singapore had transformed itself from a third world island nation into a vibrant city-state with one of the highest levels of GDP per capita in the world. However, sluggish demand among Singapore's major trade partners began... View Details

Research Summary

Research and Publication Interests

Michelle Craig McDonald is currently writing a Harvard Business School case study on the impact of the International Coffee Act on small producers. She is interested in early American economic development, especially the role of foreign trade and re-exported... View Details

01 Feb 2019
HBS Seminar

Xavier Jaravel, London School of Economics

October 2013 (Revised October 2013)
Case

Rhythm & Blues

By: Willy Shih

The bankruptcy filing of Rhythm & Hues, who received an Oscar for the arresting visual effects in Life of Pi, raised questions about the challenges faced by the firms like it as well as the broader post-production industry. The rapid pace of technology certainly... View Details

Keywords: Post-production; Visual Effects; Digital; Entertainment; Animation Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Theater Entertainment; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Information Infrastructure; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Los Angeles

2002
Other Unpublished Work

A View of Ontario: Ontario's Clusters of Innovation

By: Michael E. Porter

In Working Paper 1, A view of Ontario: Ontario's clusters of innovation, we reviewed the importance of clusters of traded industries to an economy's productivity, innovation, and standard of living. Professor Michael Porter of the Institute for Strategy and... View Details

Keywords: Economics; Growth and Development; Canada