Publications

September 2021 (Revised November 2022)
Case

Community Solutions

By: Brian Trelstad and Tom Quinn

Community Solutions was an anti-homelessness nonprofit founded in 2011 after protagonist Rosanne Haggerty grew frustrated with the limited impact of traditional housing and outreach strategies. It set an ambitious goal, reached in some partner communities, of ending... View Details

Keywords: Change; Change Management; Disruption; Transformation; Communication; Communication Strategy; Decision Making; Cost vs Benefits; Decision Choices and Conditions; Decisions; Forecasting and Prediction; Social Entrepreneurship; Ethics; Values and Beliefs; Capital Budgeting; Capital Markets; Country; Government Administration; Government Legislation; Housing; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation and Invention; Innovation Strategy; Knowledge Sharing; Leading Change; Resource Allocation; Mission and Purpose; Performance Evaluation; Performance Improvement; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Opportunities; Social Enterprise; Nonprofit Organizations; Human Needs; Public Opinion; Social Issues; Societal Protocols; Poverty; Welfare; Well-being; System; Equality and Inequality; Real Estate Industry; Real Estate Industry; United States; New York (city, NY); Florida; Texas

December 2019
Case

WeWork Files for an IPO

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

For the board of The We Company—better known as WeWork—August 14, 2019, promised to be a pivotal day. It was then that WeWork’s IPO prospectus, known as an S-1 filing, would be made public, giving potential investors, the media, and the general public a window into the... View Details

Keywords: Capital Structure; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Going Public; Leadership; Management; Private Equity; Valuation; Venture Capital; Real Estate Industry; Real Estate Industry; United States

July 1989 (Revised May 2004)
Case

Colonial Homes

By: David E. Bell

Colonial Homes supplies a complete raw materials package to build entire homes. The price of the package is guaranteed at the signing of the sales contract, while delivery (and payment) are not effected for up to six months. In an effort to reduce its exposure to... View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Contracts; Price; Price Bubble; Fluctuation; Monopoly; Problems and Challenges; Sales; Real Estate Industry; Real Estate Industry

September 2002 (Revised May 2008)
Case

The Arts Property and Hotel

By: Arthur I Segel and Ani M Vartanian

Julio Martinez finds himself as one of the owners of the Arts Hotel Project in Barcelona, Spain. The 455-room hotel is managed by the Ritz Carlton and is in a 44-story tower along Barcelona's beachfront. Julio needs to figure out a strategy to maximize his investment,... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Agreements and Arrangements; Property; Strategy; Real Estate Industry; Real Estate Industry; Barcelona

May 1999 (Revised August 1999)
Case

Westfield America

By: William J. Poorvu, Richard S. Tedlow and Daniel J. Rudd

The company is attempting to duplicate its Australian formula for successful mall ownership in the U.S. market. It must deal with rapidly evolving financial markets while recognizing and capitalizing on emerging trends in retailing. View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Adaptation; Financial Markets; Property; Trends; Real Estate Industry; Real Estate Industry; Australia; United States

Find at Harvard

16 Apr 2013
First Look

First Look: April 16

publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) to her fellow board members and company management. The case explores interpersonal communications, influencing one's peers, leadership style, and board... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

16 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 16, 2019

complex. The deal was proof-of-concept for Fluidity, which hoped to develop a business digitizing securities issuance for other real estate assets on the basis of its technical facility with blockchain... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

29 Aug 2024
News

A Kick Start for Latin American Startups

When Monica Saggioro Leal (MBA 2018) and her business partner, Lara Lemann, started MAYA Capital, a tech-focused, Brazilian VC firm launched in 2018, they wanted to take a hands-on approach with their startup investments in their first 12 months. They wanted to support... View Details

22 Apr 2013
Research & Ideas

Earth Day: Recent Research on Sustainability

Funding the Design of Livable CitiesAs a burgeoning global population migrates to the world's urban centers, it's crucial to design livable cities that function with scarce natural resources. John Macomber discusses the critical connection between View Details

13 Jun 2014
News

The Art of Effecting Change

director at Summit Partners, says her connection to the contemporary art world began casually. The mother of four had taken a break from real estate development (Rouse & Associates, then AEW Capital... View Details

Keywords: Jill Radsken; Arts, Entertainment

01 Feb 2001
News

The Road Taken: One Family's Worldly Adventure

estate investment and commercial development firm based in Newton, Massachusetts. "We knew they'd be very excited to learn about volcanoes, for instance, when they could be right there, seeing a real one,"... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley

14 Apr 2010
News

The First African-American MBAs at HBS

exact center, third from the top. The “Notes on the 1914-1915 Picture” on p. 107 of the 1927-28 Bulletin lists Cunningham as being in real estate and living at 114 Rockwell Street in Atlanta. The 1941 HBS... View Details

Keywords: Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services

12 Sep 2016
Blog Post

An Interview with Corporate Relations Director, Jonathan Shepherd

alumni. I spend a large part of my time in one-to-one coaching appointments. While the conversations often revolve around the finance and real estate industries, I’m happy to speak with any student or... View Details

15 Nov 2020
News

Podcasts Engage New Audiences with HBS

among US millennials. Climate Change Challenges Facing the Real Estate Industry Arthur Segal and a Boston Properties EVP talk about the difficulty of financing development in coastal cities and the need to... View Details

April 2023
Case

Burning the Sails to Save the Ship: The Pilati Family Dilemma

By: Lauren Cohen, Hao Gao, Jiawei Ye and Grace Headinger

Octavian Graf Pilati, rising generation member of an Austrian princely family, prepared to sell the palace his family had held for over three hundred years. In recent years, the Pilati family lands had been leveraged as loan collateral for an international venture that... View Details

Keywords: Family Office; Family; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Agribusiness; Family Business; Property; Identity; Culture; Ethics; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Governance; Crisis Management; Family and Family Relationships; Real Estate Industry; Real Estate Industry; Austria

2022
Report

The First Four Healthy Building Strategies Every Building Should Pursue to Reduce Risk from COVID-19

By: Joseph G. Allen, Emily Jones, Marissa V. Rainbolt, Linsey C. Marr, David Michaels, Leslie R. Cadet, Shelly L. Miller, Meira Levinson, Lidia Morawska, Richard L. Corsi, Nira R. Pollock, Yuguo Li, Alasdair P.S. Munro, Kelly Grier, Qingyan Chen, John D. Macomber and Xiaodong Cao

Understanding of the most probable transmission routes and identifying the risk environments for disease spread should always be among the first critical steps in the response to future disease threats. This is one of the most vital public health lessons of the... View Details

Keywords: Health Pandemics; Buildings and Facilities; Risk and Uncertainty; Real Estate Industry; Real Estate Industry; Real Estate Industry

Read Now

May 2015 (Revised September 2015)
Case

AIP Healthcare Japan: Investing in Japan's Retirement Home Market

By: John A. Quelch and Qing Xia

The CEO of a health care-based REIT is considering alternative nursing home investment strategies. Students must consider macro-industry trends, scale and scope issues and consumer segmentation data in making their recommendations. View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Health Care Services; REIT; Marketing; Investment; Health Care and Treatment; Segmentation; Real Estate Industry; Real Estate Industry; Real Estate Industry; Japan