Publications

April 2023 (Revised July 2023)
Case

Fermenting Accounting Problems at Vermont Kombucha Corp.

By: Tatiana Sandino and Marshal Herrmann

Founded in 2005, Vermont Kombucha Corp. (V-Ko) was an early mover in the fledgling U.S. market for kombucha, a drink brewed for its health benefits. Early on, the company captured more than 90% of market share. Under the leadership of its founder and CEO, Joe Williams,... View Details

Keywords: Going Public; Business Model; Financial Reporting; Ethics; Corporate Governance; Stock Shares; Food and Beverage Industry

12 May 2014
News

The Alibaba Effect

01 Dec 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Financing Innovation

Keywords: by William R. Kerr & Ramana Nanda

October 2009 (Revised June 2011)
Case

Zappos.com 2009: Clothing, Customer Service, and Company Culture

By: Frances X. Frei, Robin J. Ely and Laura Winig

On July 17, 2009, Zappos.com, a privately held online retailer of shoes, clothing, and other soft line retail categories, learned that Amazon.com, a $19 billion multinational online retailer, had won its board of directors' approval to offer to merge the two companies.... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Customer Focus and Relationships; Decision Choices and Conditions; Governing and Advisory Boards; Service Delivery; Organizational Culture; Internet and the Web; Valuation; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry

Scott Mayfield is a Senior Lecturer of Business Administration in the Finance Unit at the Harvard Business School. Prior rejoining the faculty in 2011, Professor Mayfield was an assistant professor and member of the Finance Unit at HBS from 1997 to... View Details

October 1994 (Revised April 1995)
Case

Visionary Design Systems: Are Incentives Enough?

By: George P. Baker III and Karin B Monsler

A compensation case about Visionary Design Systems (VDS), a small, high-tech full service systems integration firm based in Silicon Valley with eleven offices throughout the country. All employees, including engineers, administrators, and receptionists, received a... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Cost vs Benefits; Compensation and Benefits; Employee Stock Ownership Plan; San Francisco

March 2012
Article

How to Make Finance Work

By: Robin Greenwood and David S. Scharfstein

Once a sleepy old boys' club, the U.S. financial sector is now a dynamic and growing business that attracts the best and the brightest. It is tempting to declare the industry a roaring success. But its purpose is to serve the needs of U.S. households and firms, and by... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Value; Competitive Advantage; Investment; Performance Evaluation; Household; Financial Crisis; Finance; Financial Services Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

Malcolm Baker is the Robert G. Kirby Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, where he teaches the required course in finance and a short immersive program on investing in life sciences.

His research is in the... View Details

Keywords: financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services

December 2020
Case

XP: Dual Track Financing Alternatives

By: Marco Di Maggio, Pedro Levindo and Carla Larangeira

XP, an investment platform, was on the verge of defining whether to do an IPO or selling off a majority stake to Itaú Unibanco, Brazil´s largest financial conglomerate. Under the leadership of Guilherme Benchimol, XP´s co-founder and CEO, XP had risen to become the... View Details

Keywords: Financing Decisions; Expansion; Decision Choices and Conditions; Latin America; Brazil

Mr. Crane was a member of the Finance Faculty at Harvard Business School for a number of years, working primarily in the field of financial institutions and corporate governance. He taught in the MBA and executive education programs at the School, most recently... View Details

July 2020
Case

Amanda and Kristen: Mented Cosmetics

By: Steven Rogers, Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Alterrell Mills

The co-founders (Black HBS alumnae) of an e-commerce beauty startup explore the unmet needs within the beauty industry. This case study examines the entrepreneurial opportunities that come from identifying an underserved market, specifically within the Black community... View Details

October 2023
Case

Leading Transformation at IHCL

By: Krishna G. Palepu, V.G. Narayanan and Malini Sen

In November 2017, Puneet Chhatwal, took charge as MD and CEO of IHCL, popularly referred to as the Taj Hotels. Despite being India’s largest hospitality company by market capitalization and respected for its values and service, IHCL had made losses for the last seven... View Details

Keywords: Turn Around Management; Hospitality Industry; Brand Management; Financial Strategy; Business Model; Restructuring; Asset Management; Leadership Style; Crisis Management; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Segmentation; Asia; India

Spring 2014
Article

Leveraging Crowdsourced Peer-to-Peer Assessments to Enhance the Case Method of Learning

By: Jill Avery

Many marketing educators use the case method to help their students strengthen their decision-making skills. Rigorous class participation is essential to achieving learning objectives in case method learning. One challenge for case method instructors is the assessment... View Details

Keywords: Case Method Teaching; Marketing; Business Education; Teaching; Education Industry