Publications

September 2006 (Revised April 2008)
Case

The Howland Long-Term Opportunity Fund

By: Andre F. Perold and David S. Scharfstein

Melissa Howland, founder of an investment firm, must choose between two competing investments, which differ in size, maturity, and rate of return. View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Instruments; Investment Return; Investment Funds; Value

September 2008
Supplement

Mr. Nelson Peltz, Founding Partner, Trian Partners. Interviewed by Professor John Quelch

By: John A. Quelch

Professor John Quelch interviewed Mr. Nelson Peitz, Founding Partner of Trian Partners on events and decisions leading up to the decision to acquire the Snapple brand and the results of that corporate decision. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Decision Choices and Conditions; Private Equity; Investment; Brands and Branding; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

January 2004 (Revised May 2005)
Case

Gold Hill Venture Lending

By: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon

David Fischer is trying to raise $200 million for a first-time venture debt fund that will be affiliated with Silicon Valley Bank, a major technology lender. Despite his lengthy experience in venture lending, the process is proving difficult. He and his partners are... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Value Creation; Venture Capital; Partners and Partnerships; Decision Choices and Conditions; Investment Funds; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

October 2002 (Revised August 2004)
Case

Canary Wharf

By: William J. Poorvu, Arthur I Segel and Camille Douglas

On September 25, 2002, Peter Anderson was due to meet with Morgan Stanley in ten minutes. Anderson had been the finance director of Canary Wharf Group (CWG) since Paul Reichmann and a group of investors had repurchased Canary Wharf in 1995. Anderson had joined Olympia... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Negotiation; Business or Company Management; Financial Management; Financial Strategy; Financing and Loans; Crisis Management; Problems and Challenges; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Success

November 2001 (Revised July 2011)
Case

Grupo Elektra

By: David J. Arnold, Gustavo Herrero and Luiz Felipe Monteiro

Grupo Elektra is Latin America's largest consumer finance company based on credit sales in its hard goods retail outlets. It has started to internationalize in Latin America but now must to decide whether to enter the U.S. Hispanic market and which of its two core... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Emerging Markets; Global Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Latin America; United States; Mexico

December 1999
Case

Sendwine.com

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Charmaine C Ess and Ann A. O'Hara

Sendwine.com, an online retailer of premium gifts of wine by the bottle, faced decisions about its growth strategy in mid-1999. Mike Lannon, president and founder, had established his company as a prominent player in an increasingly crowded field. But with success came... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Venture Capital; Financial Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Luxury; Diversification; Internet; Web Services Industry

October 2000 (Revised January 2002)
Case

Individual and the Corporation, The: Kathy Levinson and E*TRADE (B)

By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. and Susan Harmeling

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Conflict of Interests; Leadership; Managerial Roles; Values and Beliefs; Decision Choices and Conditions; Gender; Diversity; Financial Services Industry

01 Dec 2008
News

The CEO and the Functions of Leadership

a number of categories that will prove important when considering the CEO’s role: Direction: A core function of leadership is setting the strategy for the organization, and setting specific financial goals that the organization will seek... View Details

12 Mar 2013
First Look

First Look: March 12

even after controlling for the focal district-industry's conditions. The core patterns hold when using local industrial conditions in 1994 to instrument for incumbent conditions in 2000-2005. The results... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 2001 (Revised March 2002)
Case

Ford Motor Company's Value Enhancement Plan

By: Andre F. Perold

In April 2000, Ford Motor Co. announced a shareholder Value Enhancement Plan (VEP) to significantly recapitalize the firm's ownership structure. Ford had accumulated $23 billion in cash reserves and under the VEP would return as much as $10 billion of this cash to... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Forecasting and Prediction; Capital Structure; Cash; Financial Liquidity; Policy; Business and Shareholder Relations; Value; Auto Industry

01 Dec 2003
News

Inside MBA Admissions

The managing director of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid since June 2001, Brit K. Dewey (MBA 1996) and her Admissions team have achieved the seemingly contradictory feat of making the admissions process both more personal and more... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

January 2008
Background Note

Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDOs)

By: Joshua Coval and Erik Stafford

This lesson integrated Merton's (1974) contingent claims model of debt and equity claims with the CAPM, which allows us to examine the risks and pricing of credit portfolios and the derivative claims issued against them. In particular, this model is used to make... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Borrowing and Debt; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Investment Portfolio; Risk Management

13 Mar 2007
First Look

First Look: March 13, 2007

projects conducted by clinical managers at the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. My findings suggest that social position is an important enabling condition for divergent organizational change, and is a determinant as well of... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

November 1999 (Revised June 2006)
Case

DLJdirect: "Putting Our Reputation Online"

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Gillian Morris

Online broker DLJdirect faced two decisions during the fall of 1999: what customer segments should it target and how much should it spend on marketing? Unlike its competitors, who focused either on day traders or more mainstream investors, DLJdirect differentiated its... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Marketing Communications; Competitive Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Investment; Cost Management; Business Plan; Research and Development; Customers; Budgets and Budgeting; Online Advertising; Internet; Financial Services Industry

Web

Program Policies - HBS Online

learnings of the program. Some programs also have assignments that must be completed as part of your experience. Business Analytics , Economics for Managers , and Financial Accounting contain required quizzes, and an average score of 50%... View Details

September 2012 (Revised January 2013)
Case

Martin Smith: July 2012

By: Josh Lerner and Felda Hardymon

Martin Smith, a recently hired general partner at a Brazil-based venture capital firm, must decide among three deal opportunities. Each has different strengths (management, market, and technology) but each has its own weaknesses as well. He must also consider each deal... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Deal Choice; Venture Capital; Investments; Career Management; Management Teams; Decision Choices and Conditions; Cost vs Benefits; Personal Development and Career; Financial Services Industry; Brazil