Publications

14 Nov 2005
Research & Ideas

How Can Start Ups Grow?

because all economic transactions are embedded in a social supra-structure. Since most young firms are financially constrained, intangible assets that do not require outlays of View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Advertising

Research Summary

Relying on empirical archival methodologies—as well as techniques in data science—to develop and structure new sources of data by which to approach questions of looming disclosure changes, Professor Rouen has focused on one of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s... View Details

Malcolm S. Salter

Malcolm Salter has been a member of the Harvard Business School faculty since 1967. His teaching and research focus on issues of corporate strategy, organization, and governance.

In addition to teaching at HBS, he has held faculty positions at the Harvard... View Details

Keywords: arts; automobiles; energy; investment banking industry; retailing; venture capital industry

19 May 2008
Research & Ideas

Connecting School Ties and Stock Recommendations

would come out strong, in fact ties from non–Ivy League schools were just as powerful, the researchers learned. They detail the results and implications in an HBS working paper, "Sell Side School Ties" [PDF]. "Our findings suggest that agents in View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Financial Services

November 1999 (Revised February 2000)
Case

Woodland Partners: Field of Dreams?

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Ashish Nanda and Theodore D. Seides

Elizabeth Lilly, Richard Rinkett, and Richard Jensen are pondering whether to launch a new investment management firm and, if so, what growth strategy to chart for the potential firm. View Details

Keywords: Goals and Objectives; Decision Making; Problems and Challenges; Business Startups; Business Processes; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry

October 2009 (Revised April 2010)
Case

Societe Generale (A): The Jerome Kerviel Affair

By: Francois Brochet

This case illustrates the tension/balance that firms with complex and risky business models must consider in designing their internal controls. It describes the environment in which a derivatives trader engaged in massive directional positions on major European stocks... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Problems and Challenges; Complexity; Cost Management; Balance and Stability; Business Model; Design; Stocks; Crisis Management; Financial Markets; Consulting Industry; Europe

December 1999 (Revised December 2000)
Case

Charles Schwab: A Category of One

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Thomas H. Esperson

Examines Charles Schwab's on-line discount brokerage firm and questions whether or not Schwab has effectively balanced the old and new world of stock trading, and has remained a leader between giants like Merrill Lynch and Internet pure plays like E-Trade. Also looks... View Details

Keywords: Financial Institutions; Banks and Banking; Technological Innovation; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Where Main Street Meets Wall Street

compete now as a full-service investment firm without charging the hefty commissions that 'full service' usually implies. Our online presence is just part of a larger operation designed to help customers achieve their long-term View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons; Financial Services

December 2019 (Revised January 2021)
Supplement

The Leveraged Buyout of TXU: (B) Energy Future Holdings

By: Trevor Fetter, Erik Snowberg and Rebecca M. Henderson

This case is designed to support a lively discussion about the relative merits of shareholder vs. stakeholder perspectives in the context of a company that provides a vital public service that has important environmental implications. The 2007 purchase of TXU, the... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Transformation; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Environmental Sustainability; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Energy Generation; Utilities Industry; Energy Industry; Texas

02 Aug 2004
What Do You Think?

For Greater Transparency, Is Section 404 an Effective Response?

Summing Up Responses to this month's column raise questions about whether Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, requiring that senior managers certify the integrity of the processes by which their companies' financial reports are... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

11 Aug 2009
First Look

First Look: August 11, 2009

two days in the future do not show this want/should pattern, and we discuss a potential explanation. Signaling Firm Performance Through Financial Statement Presentation: An Analysis Using Special Items... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

February 2016
Supplement

Financing Curtis LLP

By: Nikolaos Trichakis

This is a follow-up to "Curtis LLP: A Case on Cases," HBS case No. 616-049. It explores the challenges facing debtors when dealing with borrowing firms that have operational flexibility. View Details

Keywords: Management; Operations; Borrowing and Debt; Financial Services Industry

09 Jul 2001
Research & Ideas

Does Misery Love Companies? How Social Performance Pays Off

doing so if the relationship is negative. While the existing body of research can be used to justify or invalidate corporations' social investments in financial terms—and thus can be mustered in debates over the appropriate role of the... View Details

Keywords: by Joshua D. Margolis & James P. Walsh

22 Aug 2007
Research & Ideas

The Hedge Fund as Activist

Managers of public corporations sometimes need to be reminded that they work for shareholders. Without proper monitoring, managers may receive excess compensation or perks, or misuse free cash flow. Historically, poorly performing managers have had little to fear. If a... View Details

Keywords: by Robin Greenwood; Financial Services

February 2023
Article

Disruption and Credit Markets

By: Bo Becker and Victoria Ivashina

We show that over the past half century innovative disruptions were central to understanding corporate defaults. In a given year, industries experiencing abnormally high VC or IPO activity subsequently see higher default rates, higher segment exits by conglomerates,... View Details

Keywords: Default; Corporate Bonds; Disruption; Corporate Finance; Bonds

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February 2025
Article

Improving Customer Compatibility with Tradeoff Transparency

By: Ryan W. Buell and MoonSoo Choi

Through a large-scale field experiment with 393,036 customers considering opening a credit card account with a nationwide retail bank, we investigate how providing transparency into an offering’s tradeoffs affects subsequent rates of customer acquisition and long-run... View Details

Keywords: Transparency; Customer Selection; Customer Compatibility; Retention; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Marketing Strategy; Marketing Communications; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Banking Industry; Australia

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2024
Working Paper

Open Source Software Policy in Industry Equilibrium

Open source software (OSS) is a form of public knowledge widely provided and relied on by the private sector. To study the effects of growing government involvement in this critical public good, I build a new empirical model where high-tech firms choose software inputs... View Details

January 2011
Supplement

ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report

By: Clayton S. Rose

The (D) case describes aspects of the Jan 2011 report by the Goldman Sach's Business Standards Committee on how the firm might strengthen its practices with respect to clients and other stakeholders. View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Financial Crisis; Corporate Governance; Management; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Core Relationships