Publications

August 2011 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Mike Mayo Takes on Citigroup (A)

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Amy Kaser

The case details the conflict between Mike Mayo, an influential banking analyst and Citigroup about what Mayo considers aggressive accounting policies. Mike Mayo questions Citigroup's lack of a valuation allowance against their Deferred Tax Assets despite Citi's recent... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Taxation; Capital; Financial Reporting; Corporate Disclosure; Valuation; Banks and Banking; Financial Strategy; Money; Conflict Management; Capital Budgeting; Asset Management; Banking Industry

March 2011
Supplement

Countrywide plc (CW)

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Sarah L. Abbott

One of the world's leading investors in distressed companies, Oaktree Capital Management is contemplating a "loan to own" investment in the debt f Countrywide plc, a financially troubled residential real estate agent based in the U.K. Only sixteen months earlier,... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Restructuring; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Assets; Borrowing and Debt; Private Equity; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Investment Portfolio; Crisis Management; Strategy; Valuation; Real Estate Industry; United Kingdom

2024
Working Paper

Economic Budgeting for Endowment-Dependent Universities

By: John Y. Campbell, Jeremy C. Stein and Alex A. Wu

To understand their financial position, universities need to understand the long-term implications of their operating revenues and costs in relation to the financial assets they have available. Standard budgeting procedures that focus on one or two years at a time and... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Cash Flow; Cost; Revenue; Education Industry

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November 2021 (Revised December 2021)
Case

Praava Health: A New Model for Bangladesh

By: Michael Chu

Launched in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2018, Praava Health (‘Praava’) delivered high-quality in-clinic primary and specialist care, backed by its own high quality diagnostic laboratories, imaging and pharmacy. Praava was founder Sylvana Sinha’s response to what she saw as a... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Investment Return; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Health Industry; Bangladesh; Asia

2020
Chapter

Foreign Direct Investment, Finance and Economic Development

By: Laura Alfaro and Jasmina Chauvin

Research has sought to understand how foreign direct investment affects host economies. This paper reviews the empirical literature, specifically addressing the question: How does FDI affect economic development of host countries and what is the role of local financial... View Details

Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment; Developing Countries and Economies; Financial Condition; Development Economics

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January – February 2011
Article

Creating Shared Value

By: Michael E. Porter and Mark R. Kramer

The capitalist system is under siege. In recent years business has been criticized as a major cause of social, environmental, and economic problems. Companies are widely thought to be prospering at the expense of their communities. Trust in business has fallen to new... View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Economic Growth; Economic Systems; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Trust; Human Needs; Welfare; Competitive Advantage; Value Creation

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Article

ESG Integration in Investment Management: Myths and Realities

By: Sakis Kotsantonis, Christopher Pinney and George Serafeim

The authors’ aim in this article is to set the record straight on the financial performance of sustainable investing while also correcting a number of other widespread misconceptions about this rapidly growing set of principles and methods. Myth Number 1:... View Details

Keywords: ESG; Sustainability; Investment Management; Finance; Corporate Social Responsibility; Integrated Corporate Reporting; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Investment; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Governance

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11 Jan 2021
Research & Ideas

Is A/B Testing Effective? Evidence from 35,000 Startups

ideas, you’re more likely to generate new products.” Further research is needed to determine whether and how established firms might benefit from A/B testing. Koning thinks the beneficial effects might be even greater for such firms... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

11 Mar 2019
Research & Ideas

Branding Sells Cereal, Handbags, and Vacations. Can It Sell a Country?

Santa Clara County into Silicon Valley. “Countries are beginning to realize—Israel being one of them—that they need to engage in public diplomacy, not just a foreign diplomacy, and in place branding, not just political advocacy, ” says... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Tourism

July 2021 (Revised December 2021)
Case

Pershing Square's Pandemic Trade (A)

By: Emil N. Siriwardane, Luis M. Viceira, Dean Xu and Lucas Baker

This case explores the decision that Bill Ackman, CEO and founder of the hedge fund Pershing Square Capital, was considering in late February 2020 about hedging the exposure of the fund’s portfolio from the potential financial fallout ensuing from an extreme event like... View Details

Keywords: Health Pandemics; Financial Liquidity; Cost Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Risk Management

18 Dec 2017
Op-Ed

Why Employers Must Stop Requiring College Degrees For Middle-Skill Jobs

Credit: Pixsooz American companies have a problem. Over the past decade, they have begun to demand a bachelor’s degree in hiring workers for jobs that traditionally haven’t required one. This uptick in credentialing, or “degree inflation,” rested on the belief that... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph Fuller

Article

Best Practices in Estimating the Cost of Capital: Survey and Synthesis

By: Robert Bruner, Kenneth M. Eades, Robert S. Harris and Robert F. Higgins

This paper presents the results of a cost-of-capital survey of 27 highly regarded corporations, ten leading financial advisers, and seven best selling textbooks and trade books. The results show close alignment among all these groups on the use of common theoretical... View Details

Keywords: Cost of Capital

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February 2001 (Revised March 2003)
Case

ICICI (A)

By: Bharat N. Anand, Nitin Nohria and John Pegg

ICICI was the first Indian company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. This case is set in 1998, when the company had to decide whether to enter the retail credit segment of the Indian financial market. Although the retail credit sector presents attractive... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Strategic Planning; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Growth Management; Markets; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; India

April 2012
Case

Meli Marine

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Sunru Yong

Meli Marine, a container shipping company, is facing an important strategic decision after an interesting acquisition opportunity presents itself. Founded in 1974 by the Chang Family, the Singapore-based company has carved out a niche in the intra-Asia transport... View Details

October 2006 (Revised September 2014)
Case

Summit Partners - The FleetCor Investment (A)

By: Michael J. Roberts

Part of a 3-case series in which students get to see the unfolding of due diligence on private equity (buy out) deal. In this, the A case, the deal team has negotiated a letter of intent with FleetCor, a firm that operates a fuel payment network for vehicle fleets.... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Preparation; Private Equity; Leveraged Buyouts; Investment; Negotiation Offer; Service Industry

August 2021
Supplement

Aligning Mission and Margin at Southern Bancorp

By: Brian Trelstad

Video Supplement for HBS Case No. 321-099. In October 2020, after spending almost a decade to turnaround Southern Bancorp, an Arkansan bank founded with the mission to provide financial services to rural, underserved communities, CEO Darrin Williams is wondering how... View Details

Keywords: Racial Wealth Gap; Banks and Banking; Growth and Development; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Going Public; Investment Return; Social Issues; Wealth and Poverty; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States; Arkansas

09 May 2017
What Do You Think?

Should Management Be Primarily Responsible to Shareholders?

changing the tax laws to render tax-free those capital gains earned on stock held for ten years or more. Shann Turnbull suggested the need for education in “new organizational forms” such as “Network... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

June 2011 (Revised October 2012)
Case

Patagonia Sur: For-Profit Land Conservation in Chile

By: Arthur I Segel, Nicolas Ibanez and Jay Verjee

Warren Adams founded Patagonia Sur in 2007 as one of the world's first for-profit land conservation businesses. His goal was to purchase over 100,000 acres of land in southern Chile and to run a variety of sustainable businesses to generate annual returns for... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Environmental Sustainability; Profit; Investment; For-Profit Firms; Entrepreneurship; Investment Return; Revenue; Risk and Uncertainty; Capital; SWOT Analysis; Real Estate Industry; Chile