Publications

December 2010 (Revised January 2013)
Case

Triple Point Technology

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

The founding CEO of Triple Point Technology, Peter Armstrong, was considering the sale of the company. The company specialized in providing its clients with software used for transaction processing and risk management in various commodity markets. Triple Point... View Details

Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Private Equity; Financial Management; Negotiation Offer; Sales; Valuation

January 2001 (Revised June 2004)
Case

PetroChina

By: Alexander Dyck, Yasheng Huang and David Lane

In March 2000, plans for the initial public offering of shares in PetroChina were proceeding on schedule, and institutional investors were evaluating the deal. PetroChina was China's largest oil and gas company and an attractive play on China's continued economic... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Corporate Governance; Energy Sources; Energy Industry; China

Rakesh Khurana is the Marvin Bower Professor of Leadership Development at the Harvard Business School. He is also Professor of Sociology at Harvard University, co-Master of Cabot House at Harvard College, and the Danoff Dean of Harvard College.

Professor... View Details

Keywords: executive search

September 2004 (Revised January 2006)
Case

Catastrophe Bonds at Swiss Re

In 2002, Swiss Re, the world's second--largest insurance company, is considering securitizing parts of its risk portfolio in the capital markets. This would be a first for the company that, until then, had never transferred risk off its balance sheet. Peter Giessmann,... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Bonds; Natural Disasters; Insurance; Capital Markets; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; Insurance Industry; Switzerland

July 1998 (Revised February 1999)
Case

Private Communications Corporation (A)

Ann Meceda is a soon-to-be MBA graduate. She has been working as the director of marketing in an Internet start-up, and now the founder wants her to become CEO. She must weigh the personal and business risks and assess her own objectives and tolerance for risks. View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Internet and the Web; Management Succession; Marketing; Personal Development and Career; Business Startups; Service Industry

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April 2012 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Dovernet

By: Robert Simons and Natalie Kindred

This case illustrates the implications of using stringent performance measurement systems to create performance pressure, motivate employee achievement, and sharpen a firm's competitiveness. It opens by describing the downsides of the ruthlessly competitive culture at... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Information Technology; Competitive Advantage; Decision Choices and Conditions; Organizational Culture; Performance Evaluation; Compensation and Benefits; Web Services Industry; Information Technology Industry; Vancouver

March 2018
Article

In Pursuit of Enhanced Customer Retention Management: Review, Key Issues, and Future Directions

By: Eva Ascarza, Scott A. Neslin, Oded Netzer, Zachery Anderson, Peter S. Fader, Sunil Gupta, Bruce Hardie, Aurelie Lemmens, Barak Libai, David T. Neal, Foster Provost and Rom Schrift

In today’s turbulent business environment, customer retention presents a significant challenge for many service companies. Academics have generated a large body of research that addresses part of that challenge—with a particular focus on predicting customer churn.... View Details

Keywords: Customer Retention; Churn; Customer Relationship Management; Measurement and Metrics

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Profile

Lara Hodgson

your HBS experience impact your career? The two things I gained the most from HBS were 1) an ability to assess risk and creatively think about ways to manage it. Risk doesn’t... View Details

2021
Working Paper

Granular Corporate Hedging Under Dominant Currency

By: Laura Alfaro, Mauricio Calani and Liliana Varela

Foreign currency use can be a source of risk associated with currency mismatches, which firms can hedge using FX derivatives. This paper uncovers five novel facts about firms’ use of foreign currency (FX) derivatives employing a unique dataset covering the universe of... View Details

Keywords: FX Derivatives; Hedging; Currency; Cash Flow; Emerging Markets; Chile

March 2025
Case

The Changing Climate on Wall Street

By: Clayton S. Rose, Maxim Pike Harrell and Michael Norris

Increasing and conflicting regulatory requirements and political pressures regarding climate change tested the leaders of U.S. financial institutions, as they struggled to determine how best to comply while managing their business and its risks.
In October 2024,... View Details

03 Mar 2003
Research & Ideas

The Ingredients of a Deal Disaster

signed may sour. Risk Factors The most common causes of social contract problems are lack of awareness and benign neglect. The parties involved inevitably form expectations about how the deal will be carried out, whether they discuss them... View Details

Keywords: by Ron S. Fortgang, David A. Lax & James K. Sebenius

January 2010 (Revised December 2010)
Case

Toward Golden Pond (A)

By: Nicolas P. Retsinas, G.A. Donovan, Nancy Dai and Justin Seth Ginsburgh

The Rong-D companies must decide whether to build a luxury senior housing development in Chengdu, China. Demographics are very encouraging for this new product type, but there are numerous cultural, market, financial, and political risks that they must assess before... View Details

Keywords: Age; Investment; Housing; Risk Management; Emerging Markets; Business and Government Relations; Luxury; Chengdu

29 May 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, May 29, 2018

February 2018 Journal of Accounting & Economics Bank CEO Materialism: Risk Controls, Culture and Tail Risk By: Bushman, Robert, Robert Davidson, Aiyesha Dey, and Abbie Smith Abstract—We investigate how... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

05 Jul 2006
Working Paper Summaries

The Motion Picture Industry: Critical Issues in Practice, Current Research & New Research Directions

Keywords: by Jehoshua Eliashberg, Anita Elberse & Mark A. A. M. Leenders; Entertainment & Recreation; Motion Pictures & Video; Advertising

January 2021
Case

Rio Tinto Aluminum: Can Purpose Lead to Profit?

By: David Fubini and Agastya Muthanna

This case describes the tradeoffs Rio Tinto faces as it considers investments to ensure environmentally friendly, sustainability produced aluminum with the potential risks of competitive pricing and profit loses. View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Investment; Price; Competition; Profit; Cost vs Benefits; Mining Industry