Publications

November 2020
Case

Axis My India

By: Ananth Raman, Ann Winslow and Kairavi Dey

Pradeep Gupta founded Axis My India (AMI) as a printing and publishing company in 1998. In 2013, AMI expanded into consumer research and election forecasting. Although a relatively unknown entity, AMI predicted several election results accurately. Gupta describes AMI’s... View Details

Keywords: Market Research; Operations; Management; Infrastructure; Logistics; Service Operations; Political Elections; Forecasting and Prediction; Asia; India

February 2009
Article

Optimal Reserve Management and Sovereign Debt

By: Laura Alfaro and Fabio Kanczuk

Most models currently used to determine optimal foreign reserve holdings take the level of international debt as given. However, given the sovereign's willingness-to-pay incentive problems, reserve accumulation may reduce sustainable debt levels. In addition, assuming... View Details

Keywords: Borrowing and Debt; Motivation and Incentives; Decisions; Emerging Markets; Balance and Stability; Earnings Management; Policy; Interest Rates; International Finance; Cost

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Read Now

28 Apr 2015
First Look

First Look: April 28

http://www.amazon.com/Strategy-Rules-Timeless-Lessons-Gates/dp/0062373951/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1427236936&sr=8-1 April 2015 Harvard Business Review Leaders as Decision Architects: Structure Your Organization's Work to... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

December 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Goldman Sachs: A Bank for All Seasons (A)

By: Lena G. Goldberg and Tiffany Lynne Obenchain

Facing the worldwide financial crisis, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein considered his options including whether his company could avoid a forced marriage and what steps Goldman Sachs should take to try to restore confidence in financial services companies. View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Crisis; Commercial Banking; Investment Banking; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Crisis Management; Business Strategy; Banking Industry

Teaching Interest

Launching Technology Ventures

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

This course takes the perspective of founders struggling to achieve product market fit in their early-stage startups. Our cases focus on founder decision during this search and discovery phase, both in the experiments that they design and run as well as the... View Details

07 Jun 2004
Research & Ideas

What Drives Supply Chain Behavior?

forecasts as well as decisions about inventory. In this interview with HBS Working Knowledge, Oliva and Watson say a key to understanding and avoiding supply chain inefficiency may be a better understanding... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Johnston

16 Apr 2019
Blog Post

How Being an Introvert Influenced My Business School Experience

respond, and actively avoiding being the center of attention. I list these out because 1) many of them seem to be in direct contradiction with the case method style of learning, and 2) I’ve found that acknowledging these traits is... View Details

August 1987 (Revised December 1998)
Background Note

Capital Market Myopia

By: William A. Sahlman and Howard H. Stevenson

Focuses attention on a phenomenon we call capital market myopia, a situation in which participants in the capital markets ignore the logical implications of their individual investment decisions. Viewed in isolation, each decision seems to make sense. When taken... View Details

Keywords: Capital Markets

January 2018 (Revised May 2019)
Case

Adeo Health Science: Turning a Product into a Brand

By: Elizabeth A. Keenan and Jill Avery

For decades, American parents were warned to avoid introducing potential allergens to their babies prior to their first birthday. But two influential clinical studies caused the medical establishment to radically reverse its position. Parents were now warned that... View Details

Keywords: Startup; Health Care; Consumer; Consumer Products; Branding; Distribution; Retailing; Go To Market Strategy; Marketing; Marketing Channels; Marketing Communications; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Consumer Products Industry; Health Industry; United States; North America

June 2001 (Revised June 2001)
Case

Student Who Was Missing-in-Action, The

Assistant Professor Sam Benson was about to end the class session portion of his course with only student projects remaining. Then, he received a phone call from a student, George McHenry, who had missed 11 of 20 sessions. McHenry wanted to know what he needed to do to... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Higher Education; Decision Choices and Conditions; Learning; Education Industry

July 2020 (Revised January 2021)
Case

Pattern Brands

By: Sunil Gupta, Elie Ofek and Julia Kelley

In March 2020, direct-to-consumer (DTC) company Pattern Brands needed to decide how to allocate resources across its different brands. Pattern Co-Founders Nick Ling and Emmett Shine hoped to avoid the pitfalls faced by some DTC companies—such as inability to scale and... View Details

25 Aug 2021
News

Why People Feel Guilty about Using Effort-Saving Products When Taking Care of Loved Ones

2007
Working Paper

Optimal Reserve Management and Sovereign Debt

By: Laura Alfaro and Fabio Kanczuk

Most models currently used to determine optimal foreign reserve holdings take the level of international debt as given. However, given the sovereign's willingness-to-pay incentive problems, reserve accumulation may reduce sustainable debt levels. In addition, assuming... View Details

Keywords: Sovereign Finance; Borrowing and Debt; Financial Liquidity; International Finance; Emerging Markets; Mathematical Methods

February 2015 (Revised August 2016)
Case

Nokia's Bridge Program: Redesigning Layoffs (A)

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Susan J. Winterberg

"Not another Bochum." Nokia Board Chairman Jorma Ollila was clear in the goals he set for the 2011 restructuring that Nokia's new CEO, Stephen Elop, had decided was necessary to address the dramatically changed competitive environment the company faced in smartphones... View Details

Keywords: Layoffs; Plant Closure; Outplacement; Shared Value; Business or Company Management; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Restructuring; Employee Relationship Management; Telecommunications Industry

10 Jan 2005
What Do You Think?

Public Pension Reform: Does Mexico Have the Answer?

Summing Up Judging from responses to the January column, the debate concerning reform of the social security system in the U.S. will take many directions before the question can even be framed adequately. If the responses are an indication, any attempt to encourage a... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Financial Services

27 Jul 2023
Blog Post

Recruiting International Students is Easy and Beneficial for Employers

international experience that these candidates bring not only to HBS but to the U.S. workforce in general, many employers choose to restrict their recruiting to U.S. citizens only. In doing so, they lose out on highly skilled and qualified candidates in hopes of View Details

12 Jul 2021
News

The Art of Constructing Apologies, with Sandra Sucher

March 2016
Article

The Role of Investor Gut Feel in Managing Complexity and Extreme Risk

By: Laura Huang

Securing financial resources from investors is a key challenge for many early stage entrepreneurial ventures. Given the inherent uncertainty surrounding a decision to invest in these ventures, prior research has found that experienced investors rely heavily on their... View Details

Keywords: Angel Investors; Gut Feel; Intuition; Entrepreneurship; Finance; Risk and Uncertainty; Complexity; Decision Making

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January 2013 (Revised April 2017)
Supplement

Maxum Petroleum, Inc.

By: W. Carl Kester

Maxum seeks an oil-price hedging strategy that yields substantial cash during oil price spikes, is affordable under ordinary circumstances, and is easily managed. It is striving to avoid a repeat of the challenging situation encountered in 2008 when spiking oil prices... View Details

Keywords: Hedging; Options; Commodities; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Risk Management; Futures and Commodity Futures; Financial Strategy; Volatility