Publications

02 Jul 2012
Research & Ideas

Why Good Deeds Invite Bad Publicity

exactly like fire insurance. On any given day, you won't see any benefit. In fact, you could go years shelling out money for a service you aren't using. But on the day that, heaven forbid, your house does burn down, then you will definitely be glad you View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Energy

December 1998 (Revised March 1999)
Case

Guangdong Nowada Group, The

By: Ray A. Goldberg, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Anthony St. George

In late 1998, 38-year-old He Boquan, CEO of the Guangdong Nowada Group, a health beverage producer, needs to decide how to fund his company's growth and ambition to become China's number one domestic health beverage producer by 2002. A consultants study revealed that... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Capital; Foreign Direct Investment; Growth and Development; Leadership Style; Management Skills; Negotiation Offer; Competitive Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; China

March 2010 (Revised February 2013)
Supplement

Baltic Beverages Holding: Competing in a Globalizing World (B)

By: Juan Alcacer, Rasmus Karl Gustaf Molander and Rakeen Mabud

In 1991, Hartwall and Pripps made the decision to found Baltic Beverages Holding (BBH) and invest in the former USSR by buying Estonia's biggest brewery, Saku. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Investment; Globalized Economies and Regions; Competition; Corporate Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Estonia; Finland; Sweden

(With Emilie Feldman and Belen Villalonga) This article investigates how securities analysts help investors understand the value of diversification. By studying the research that analysts produce about companies that have announced corporate spin-offs, we gain... View Details

11 Jun 2014
Research & Ideas

In the Future of Sports Investing, Media Is the Best Bet

But if you ask Bob Higgins, Wyc Grousbeck, and Mark Wan—all seasoned sports team owners-—about the secret to investment success in sports, they'll tell you it has little to do with owning a team. Rather, it's all about the media... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Sports; Financial Services

January 1985
Case

Business Research Corp. (A)

By: William A. Sahlman

Contains a description of a decision confronting an entrepreneur: which of two investment proposals should he accept to fund the creation and marketing of a database that comprises the full text of research reports produced by Wall Street investment banking firms? The... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Cost vs Benefits; Valuation; Investment Banking; Negotiation Participants; Negotiation Deal; Financing and Loans; Financial Strategy; Corporate Finance; Service Industry

Find at Harvard

June 2014
Teaching Note

Steve Carpenter at Cake Financial

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

After investing $9 million of venture capital, Cake Financial had failed to reach critical mass. In early 2010 Cake's assets were sold and the company was dissolved. Founded in 2006, the San Francisco-based Internet company allowed users to monitor their investments... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Internet; Financial Services Industry; Web Services Industry

March 2025
Supplement

Intuition Robotics: An AI Companion for Older Adults (B)

By: Amit Goldenberg, Elie Ofek and Orna Dan

Two years after Intuition Robotics opted to pursue a business-to-government contract with the New York State Office of the Aging, and put direct-to-consumer efforts on the back burner, it was at a crossroads. The partnership had been successful, and the company had... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; AI and Machine Learning; Resource Allocation; Business and Government Relations; Partners and Partnerships; Business Strategy; Health Industry; Technology Industry; New York (state, US); United States

Web

Faculty & Research

OSS, the source code is freely available for use, modification, and redistribution under open licenses, while OSH makes hardware designs publicly accessible. Early skepticism about the viability of “free” products gave way to creative View Details

Web

Faculty & Advisors | MBA

Underscore VC, she invested in fast growing B2B software startups, including life sciences tech products used by leading biopharma companies across the drug development cycle from R&D to commercial stages. She began her career at Michael... View Details

06 Dec 2010
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Doing Business in Emerging Markets

emerging economies? What are the best ways to leverage local resources? How Do I Identify Opportunities In Emerging Markets? Strategy and Execution for Emerging Markets How can multinationals, entrepreneurs, and investors identify and... View Details

14 Nov 2006
First Look

First Look: November 14, 2006

Working PapersThe Business of Free Software: Enterprise Incentives, Investment, and Motivation in the Open Source Community Authors:Marco Iansiti and Gregory L. Richards Abstract In this paper, we examine the motivations of large information technology... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

20 Mar 2012
First Look

First Look: March 20

Market Governments—Qualitative Evidence from a Biotechnology Multinational Authors:Prithwiraj Choudhury, James Geraghty, and Tarun Khanna Publication:Global Strategy Journal 2, no. 1 (February 2012) Abstract We build on the emerging... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Program

Creating Brand Value

Expand your brand's profitably Develop an effective brand portfolio strategy Manage brand risk Leverage a brand as a significant corporate asset Determine the value of a brand Invest in brands and evaluate... View Details

December 1998 (Revised March 2000)
Case

Knot, The

By: William A. Sahlman, Michael J. Roberts and Matthew C. Lieb

An online wedding resource company is seeking an equity investment to grow the business. View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Venture Capital; Value Creation; Internet and the Web; Finance; Expansion; Strategic Planning; Service Industry; Consulting Industry

02 Oct 2006
Research & Ideas

Negotiating in Three Dimensions

Business School and a principal of Lax Sebenius LLC, a negotiation strategy firm. He also serves on the Executive Committee of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. David A. Lax, a former faculty member at Harvard Business... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

January 2023 (Revised June 2024)
Case

Zaoui & Co. (A): Consigliere for High Stakes M&A Transactions

By: Ashish Nanda, Alex Kitsberg and Zack Kurtovich

In September 2019, Zaoui & Co.’s close-knit team of professionals convened for their annual off-site. In its nine years of operation, the boutique investment bank founded by the brothers Michael (HBS ’83) and Yoel Zaoui (Stanford GSB ’88), had garnered a track record... View Details

Keywords: Professional Service Firm; Entrepreneurship; Finance; Strategy; Investment Banking; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Growth and Development Strategy; Europe; United Kingdom

Web

Curriculum | MBA

Strategy Harvard Business School Social Purpose of the Firm (SPF) Harvard Business School Life Science, Ethics, and Management Seminar More on the MBA Required Curriculum SUMMER Students are free to pursue an internship of their choosing... View Details

October 2018
Case

Fairview Capital

By: Steven Rogers and Derrick Collins

JoAnn Price and Dr. Larry Morse were the first African-Americans to launch a fund of funds in the private equity industry. Their fund, Fairview capital, was created in response to the dearth of capital invested in private equity funds managed by black and other... View Details

Keywords: Alternative Assets; Fund Of Funds; Private Equity; Venture Capital; Decision Making; Strategy; United States