Publications

November 2002 (Revised February 2009)
Teaching Note

Value Retail (TN)

By: Arthur I Segel and Ani M Vartanian

Teaching Note for (9-803-008). View Details

Keywords: Investment; Risk and Uncertainty; Performance Effectiveness; Brands and Branding; Planning; Strategy; Luxury; Milan

26 Sep 2024
HBS Case

If a Car Can Drive Itself, Can It Make Life-or-Death Decisions?

What would Aristotle think about self-driving cars? As the abilities of artificial intelligence systems to automate complex tasks accelerate, warnings about the dangers of outsourcing life-and-death decisions to machines are pumping the brakes on the powerful... View Details

Keywords: by Tom Quinn; Auto; Technology

Article

Spanning the Institutional Abyss: The Intergovernmental Network and the Governance of Foreign Direct Investment

By: Juan Alcacer and Paul Ingram

Global economic transactions such as foreign direct investment must extend over an institutional abyss between the jurisdiction, and therefore protection, of the states involved. Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), whose members are states, represent an important... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Market Transactions; Foreign Direct Investment; Government and Politics; Risk and Uncertainty; Networks; Culture; Complexity; Public Administration Industry

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November 2007
Article

Standing Out from the Crowd: The Visibility-Enhancing Effects of IPO-related Signals on Alliance Formation by Entrepreneurial Firms

By: Tim Pollock and Ranjay Gulati

In this study, we explore how multiple signals related to entrepreneurial companies at the time of their initial public offering (IPO) influence the firms' ability to acquire non-financial resources over time. Specifically, the study looks at how signals based on... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Initial Public Offering; Investment; Alliances; Risk and Uncertainty; Power and Influence

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May 2005 (Revised January 2006)
Case

Ticonderoga: Inverse Floating Rate Bond

Presents a simple interest hedging exercise. A hedge fund is considering an investment in a structured fixed--income product: an inverse floating-rate bond, or inverse floater, designed by a U.S. investment bank. The hedge fund's normal policy is to hedge interest rate... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Bonds; Investment Funds; Interest Rates

October 2001 (Revised March 2008)
Case

Anagene, Inc.

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Christina L. Darwall

An entrepreneurial, publicly traded biotech company has begun production and sales of its core product--cartridges that permit DNA samples to be analyzed on a microchip. In the early quarters, sales are difficult to forecast and the company has experienced fluctuating... View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Financial Reporting; Production; Performance Capacity; Risk and Uncertainty; Genetics; Governing and Advisory Boards; Biotechnology Industry; California

27 Mar 2012
First Look

First Look: March 27

where the firm chooses capacities in two technologies in stage one, demand uncertainty resolves between stages (as does emissions price uncertainty under cap-and-trade), and then the firm chooses production... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

01 Mar 2008
News

Innovation, Inc.

uncertainty — not just the uncertainty surrounding the survival of their own firm, but that of the industry itself. The implications of this are that pioneer-entrepreneurs have to adopt specific strategies... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Mary Tripsas; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Management

January 2006 (Revised July 2006)
Case

Drug Testing in Nigeria (A)

By: Debora L. Spar

In 1996, a meningitis epidemic swept across Nigeria. Thousands of children were struck and, lacking appropriate medicine, were liable to die from the disease. Doctors at Pfizer had an antibiotic that could probably save most of these children's lives. The drug was new,... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Health Pandemics; Health Testing and Trials; Developing Countries and Economies; Pharmaceutical Industry; Nigeria

Profile

Sebastian Vargas

listen to your breathing, all while enjoying the moment and uncertainty of what is ahead with those around you. Being part of the HBS community is like... ...finding the map to all unknown paths in your world. The community opens your... View Details

25 May 2016
Blog Post

Favorite Memories from HBS

major changes about to come, I keep thinking about some of the happiest moments from the last two years. Many of these memories involve my HBS friends. I came to HBS filled with the same uncertainty that possibly everybody feels, but... View Details

15 Dec 2024
News

Crucible: Give It Up

Here’s a great saying that’s been particularly relevant in my life over the past few years: “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.” To rewind a bit, I was named president of Micron Technology in January 2012. Five days later, my boss, the CEO, died in a... View Details

Keywords: Mark Adams; Illustration by Caroline Tomlinson

15 Feb 2017
Op-Ed

What Africa Can Teach the United States About Funding Infrastructure Projects

risk, no competitors, and no political uncertainty around election outcomes, regime change, or expropriation. Historically, all of these factors have been favorable in the United States and that’s why the municipal bond market is so... View Details

Keywords: by John Macomber; Construction

06 Sep 2016
First Look

September 6, 2016

strategic naïveté. Economic Uncertainty and Earnings Management By: Stein, Luke C.D., and Charles C.Y. Wang Abstract—In the presence of managerial short-termism and asymmetric information about skill and effort provision, firms may... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

25 Jan 2011
First Look

First Look: Jan. 25

high-beta stocks. An Empirical Analysis of Innovation Contests: Strategic Incentives, Problem Uncertainty and Independent Experimentation along Parallel Paths Authors:Kevin J. Boudreau, Nicola Lacetera, and Karim R. Lakhani... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

02 Aug 2016
First Look

August 2, 2016

supportive analysis of the impact of the 2011 Japanese tsunami on CDS markets; and (v) a discussion of why the role of dealers as prime brokers does not impact the stylized facts and results presented throughout the paper. Economic View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

December 2023
Case

The American Bully XL

By: Robin Greenwood, Richard S. Ruback, Johnathan Sun and Robert Ialenti

The American Bully XL, first introduced to the United Kingdom around 2014, had been held responsible for a disproportionate share of both dog-related attacks and deaths. The case discusses the announcement, in October 2023, that the dog breed would be added to a list... View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Government Administration; Laws and Statutes; Risk and Uncertainty; United Kingdom

June 2020
Supplement

Shellye Archambeau: Becoming a CEO (B)

By: Tsedal Neeley and Briana Richardson

With the economy in a freefall, MetricStream is losing customers, hemorrhaging cash and struggling to make payroll. Several board members are threatening to quit. Others are pressing to sell the company even at dismally low valuations. It’s 2008 and lightning has... View Details

Keywords: Race; Gender; Leadership Style; Risk and Uncertainty; Change; Prejudice and Bias; Decision Making; Personal Development and Career; Technology Industry; California

2011
Working Paper

The Cost of Capital for Alternative Investments

By: Jakub W. Jurek and Erik Stafford

This paper studies the cost of capital for alternative investments. We document that the risk profile of the aggregate hedge fund universe can be accurately matched by a simple index put option writing strategy that offers monthly liquidity and complete transparency... View Details

Keywords: Cost of Capital; Financial Liquidity; Investment; Investment Return; Mathematical Methods; Risk and Uncertainty