Publications

18 Sep 2017
Blog Post

Applying HBS Lessons in an African Context

Nigeria, I realized that I had much more to learn about doing business in my home region. I applied to Harvard Business School because I thought I would gain skills in finance and management, as well as gain access to an alumni network... View Details

Research Summary

Dynamics of Platform Competition: Exploring the Role of Installed Base, Platform Quality and Consumer Expectations

Researchers debate the role of installed base, platform quality and consumer expectations in driving the success of platforms. We analyze these three factors in a dynamic model where a new entrant with superior quality competes with an incumbent platform, and... View Details

2006
Case

Strategies for Preventing a Knowledge-Loss Crisis

When employees leave an organization, they depart with more than what they know; they also leave with critical knowledge about who they know. Thus, the departure of key people can significantly affect the relationship structure and consequent functioning of an... View Details

Keywords: Analytics; Networks; Knowledge Management; Resignation and Termination

November 2007 (Revised September 2010)
Background Note

The Rong Family: A Chinese Business History

By: Elisabeth Koll

Provides the complex historical background to understanding the development of family businesses in China from the late 19th century to the present. Using the example of the Rong family, China's most prominent industrialist family in pre-1949 China, analyzes the... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Business History; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Alliances; Business and Government Relations; Social and Collaborative Networks; China

18 Apr 2022
News

Musk Is ‘Going to Take a Machete’ to the Twitter We Know Today, Says Harvard’s Tsedal Neeley

31 Aug 2017
Video

Perfecting Your Pitch

October 2023 (Revised March 2024)
Case

KOKO Networks: Bridging Energy Transition and Affordability with Carbon Financing

By: George Serafeim, Siko Sikochi and Namrata Arora

The problem was massive: two million hectares of African forests were lost annually to charcoal production for cooking, an area equivalent to 13 times Greater London, resulting in one billion tons of carbon emissions yearly. At the same time, an estimated 700,000... View Details

March 2009 (Revised May 2011)
Case

The Credit Suisse/Gerson Lehrman Group Alliance

By: Robert G. Eccles and Laura Winig

The equity research department of Credit Suisse and the expert network firm of Gerson Lehrman Group, historically competitors, have established a strategic alliance which both believe will give them a competitive advantage. Under the leadership of its head of equity... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Financial Crisis; Investment Banking; Innovation and Invention; Alliances; Social and Collaborative Networks; Competitive Advantage; Banking Industry

September 1996 (Revised November 1999)
Case

GLSTN 1996

By: James E. Austin, Willis M. Emmons III and David Maue

The Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Teachers Network (GLSTN), which aims to create respect for all within schools regardless of sexual orientation, faces significant challenges stemming from its rapid growth into a 30-chapter national organization. Issues include... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Problems and Challenges; Leadership; Networks; Policy; Change Management; Nonprofit Organizations; Leadership Development; Growth Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Education Industry

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17 Aug 2021
Blog Post

New Associate Director: Courtney Fairbrother

BEI recently named Courtney Fairbrother as the new Associate Director. Courtney manages student and alumni engagement and creates networks and opportunities that encourage these groups to address climate change. She also oversees the... View Details

March 2008
Supplement

Carlyle Japan (B)

By: David B. Godes, Masako Egawa and Mayuka Yamazaki

This is a supplement to the (A) case. It shows that the networks that the firm had been investing in-- commercial banks--were becoming less and less valuable over time. Given this, Tamotsu Adachi must think about how to go about building a new set of networks. View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Commercial Banking; Investment; Networks; Value; Japan

Research Summary

Overview

By: Feng Zhu

Professor Zhu’s research focuses on the design of platform business models and its impact on platform performance. Platforms have become central to our economy. A platform is a product or service that enables two or more customer groups to interact. For example,... View Details

2008
Working Paper

The Small World of Investing: Board Connections and Mutual Fund Returns

By: Lauren Cohen, Andrea Frazzini and Christopher J. Malloy

This paper uses social networks to identify information transfer in security markets. We focus on connections between mutual fund managers and corporate board members via shared education networks. We find that portfolio managers place larger bets on firms they are... View Details

Keywords: Asset Pricing; Investment Portfolio; Governing and Advisory Boards; Knowledge Sharing; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Social and Collaborative Networks; Financial Services Industry

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2025
Working Paper

Incentive-Compatible Recovery from Manipulated Signals, with Applications to Decentralized Physical Infrastructure

By: Jason Milionis, Jens Ernstberger, Joseph Bonneau, Scott Duke Kominers and Tim Roughgarden

We introduce the first formal model capturing the elicitation of unverifiable information from a party (the "source") with implicit signals derived by other players (the "observers"). Our model is motivated in part by applications in decentralized physical... View Details

Keywords: Mathematical Methods; Infrastructure; Information Infrastructure

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2021
Article

An Empirical Examination of Sell-Side Brokerage Analysts' Published Research, Concierge Services, and High-Touch Services

By: David A. Maber, Boris Groysberg and Paul M. Healy

This paper uses a proprietary panel dataset to categorize and quantify the activities that sell-side brokerage analysts use to build and sustain their network of buy-side client relations. We then examine the marginal impact of these activities on key analyst outcome... View Details

Keywords: Sell-side Analysts; Analyst Ratings; Brokerage Commissions; Earnings Forecasts

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March 2008
Supplement

Carlyle Japan (C)

By: David B. Godes, Masako Egawa and Mayuka Yamazaki

This is a supplement to the (A) and (B) cases. It documents the shift in Carlyle's networking strategy. The firm decreased its focus on building contacts in commercial banking an increased instead the focus on building more contacts with industry directly. View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Banks and Banking; Investment; Growth and Development Strategy; Supply and Industry; Networks; Japan

09 Apr 2025
HBS Seminar

Marc Rysman, Boston University

March 1998 (Revised October 2001)
Case

Xedia and Silicon Valley Bank (A)

By: Paul A. Gompers and Jon Biotti

Xedia, a networking equipment manufacturer that helps provide high-speed Internet service for corporate clients through access routing, wants a bridge loan to fund daily operations until it raises its next round of equity financing. View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Equity; Financing and Loans; Negotiation; Production; Internet; Banking Industry